For some computer owners the first thing after buying a new computer is to format and install Windows only the Microsoft operating system without third party applications from the computer manufacturers.
This time-honored practice is colloquially called a "clean install" and has been a "cure-all" for a lot of things that come with new Windows computers. Computer manufacturers often distributed pointless or unnecessary software (“bloatware” or “crapware”) to get extra money from ads.
Today in 2023 you can still do a clean install of Windows, easier than ever, since it can now also be done through Windows Update, but you won't get the effect of a "clean install" at least as much as before.
Unfortunately for us, this time it's Microsoft itself, loading its operating system with junk software and services you'll never use. So after every "clean install" of Windows you will have to delete everything from the beginning.
The “out-of-box experience” (OOBE, in Microsoft parlance) for Windows 7 guided them users In the process of creationof a local user account, naming their computer, entering their product key, creating a “Homegroup” and determining how Windows Update works. After starting Windows on the desktop, you could find applications such as Internet Explorer and standard Windows applications installed (Notepad, Paint, Numbermachine, Media Player, Wordpad and a few others).
OOBE on a clean install of Windows 11 22H2 (Home or Pro) if you don't have active plusMicrosoft 365/OneDrive/Game Pass races linked to your Microsoft account need:
- Microsoft account login required.
- Set up the screen that asks you for the data collection and settings telemetrys.
- You will see a (skippable) screen asking you to “customize your experience”.
- You will see a prompt to connect your phone to your computer.
- You will see a trial offer of Microsoft 365.
- You'll see a 100GB offer on OneDrive.
- You'll see an introductory offer on PC Game Pass for $1.
This process is pretty annoying the first time, but at some point you'll see what Microsoft calls a “second chance out-of-box experience,” or SCOOBE (no it's not a joke), which will try to get you to do it again all the steps from the beginning if you missed any of them the first time. This is not something that only appears in new installations. These notifications also appear on systems that have been running for months even if they are not signed into a Microsoft account.
The Windows desktop, taskbar and menu InceptionThey are no longer as we once knew them. Because of the Microsoft Store, you'll find several third-party apps taking up a lot of space in your Start menu by default, even if they're not installed. Spotify, Disney+, Prime Video, Netflix and Facebook Messenger must be removed if you don't want them.
Along with the pre-installed apps, Microsoft puts a few icons of other non-Windows apps and services, whether you use them or not: the ClipChamp video editor, the Microsoft 365 web apps and OneDrive, and the pre-installed version of Teams. Even the Microsoft Solitaire Collection, the stand-alone replacement applications Windows Solitaire, is now full of ads that you need a paid subscription to remove.
Then there's Bing and its “accessories”. They are in the Search menu and the Widgets menu. Meanwhile what Bing shows is completely useless (ads for games I'll never play, or apps that will tell me the name of a flower).
Do you want to say more? Microsoft account and OneDrive status messages in the Settings app, persistent reminders to use Edge as your default browser and Bing as your default search engine, a bunch of extras if you decide you want to use Edge, and more . And if all that wasn't enough for you in the fall, here comes Windows Copilot as yet another built-in service.
