Making Windows 11 Bearable
So I got a new laptop for school. It's a 14-inch Asus Zenbook, made in 2023. So far the hardware seems pretty good, but the software... Let's just say that using stock Microsoft Windows 11 makes me angry
Preface: Why not Stick to Linux?
I've been daily-driving various Linux distributions on my desktop PC for a while. Laptops are a different breed though.
First of all, there's drivers support. You see, this specific laptop has 3 different drivers for the sound alone. Initially, I was worried that Linux wouldn't pick up any of those. Surprisingly, when I booted into the EndevourOS live environment, everything worked perfectly (despite some minor things like fingerprint scanner). As it turns out, Linux does have the best hardware support.
For me, the deal breaker was battery life. It is a known fact that Linux just doesn't handle power very efficiently. You typically expect battery life to drop in range of around 30% compared to Windows. It's important for me because I need this machine to handle long periods of time without any charging.
Making Windows 11 Somewhat Decent to Use
Debloating
I'm not going to dive into that aspect. Everybody knows that Windows is a complete mess of ads, telemetry, auto-updates, locked settings, etc.
There's a lot of "debloating" tools that let you specify what parts of the operating system to change. I've used Chris Titus' winutil and this script. Obviously, backup your system before executing these tools.
UX
While using Linux, I've grown used to tiling window managers. They add so much more clarity and order to my workflow that I'm basically handicapped with the default "stacking" window management.
There are some tiling WMs for Windows. The first one I've installed was Komorebi. It follows a similar philosophy to BSPWM, meaning that keyboard and window management are dedicated to separate programs. Maybe it was a skill issue, but Komorebi just refused to work they way I wanted it to. Constant bugs, issues with hotkey mapping and confusing documentation sent me on search for something else.
And then I discovered GlazeWM. It's a smaller project than Komorebi, having only half the start on Github, and it's currently being rewritten in Rust. GlazeWM can be installed as a simple exe file, meaning you can easily make it run on login. It also can be configured in one single file. Continuing comparisons to tiling WMs on Linux, Glaze is more like i3 - the user manually specifies where to tile the next opened window. But the biggest feature is the configurable bar. This thing really elevates your user experience, making Windows look and feel like riced-out Linux. GlazeWM doesn't have comprehensive documentation, but it is robust and to the point. It just works.
Package Management
The usual Windows way of installing software is actually two very different ways - you either download installation files directly from the developer, or use the Microsoft Store. Both are really bad either from the stand point of security or being locked in the Microsoft "ecosystem".
There is a built-in package manager in Windows called "winget". It's fine, but package names can be consistent and/or confusing, meaning that searching is not really an option.
The one I use is Chocolatey. It has a wide selection of packages, it's fast and searching is actually useful.
Applications
This section provides all kinds of programs I use daily
- Flow launcher - extensive plugin ecosystem and customization options. An actual life saver
- Everything - incredibly fast file indexing throughout the whole system. Even more amazing when paired with flow launcher via a plugin
- PowerToys - a suite of multiple programs and extensions that let you customize and tailor the user experience. Peek, keyboard manager and color picker are the highlights
- One-commander - file manager with must-have features like dual-pane view
- Ditto - clipboard manager that isn't a keylogger
- ShareX - screenshots and screen recording
- qBittorrent - torrent client
- mpv - video playback
- qimgv - image viewing and simple editing
And that is basically it. We've successfully turned Windows 11 into somewhat enjoyable experience. Congratulations!