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Even for users who want to use Windows, even for them there are distros, like LinuxFX (WindowsFX), distro which has a look and feel like W11, even run Windows apps, but without all these crap of M$. (OSS freemium), alternativly Q4OS
https://www.linuxfx.org
https://q4os.org
For all others who want to stay with Windows (f.E. gamers)
https://github.com/hellzerg/optimizer (it will remove all bad Windows habits for sure)
I would be cautious using them because they do not teach you how to use a different operating system properly. Using Linux is going to a learning curve and you should try something that does not try to be windows.
Optimizer is good but it's a bit hard to use and lacks any kind of explanation, I'd recommend Bloatbox to the average user. It removes all the ads and all telemetry you can disable, as well as opt for removing potentially useless apps Windows forces on you. It also runs Windows10Debloater as an extra measure: https://github.com/builtbybel/bloatbox
In terms of "windows-like" Linux operating systems I'd avoid ones that literally copy Windows, more often than not they don't have good support and are kind of awkward, check out Zorin OS, it's really polished and comes pre-installed with Wine and is very user friendly to people coming from Windows.
Well, I don't find the Optimizer that bad or difficult to use, at least for me it has been quite useful. I know that there are several apps to remove the desire to spy of Windows, advanced users can even get it without external apps through GodMode that comes with Windows itself by default (although naturally poorly documented), perhaps also with PowerShell. Windows itself is very configurable, although it is not through the Control Panel, most of the settings are deliberately very hidden, but accessible. MS conforms and trusts that 90% of users do not know them.
Respect to the Windows imitations, ok, it's a bit of self-deception, although there is a big difference between LinuxFX, which is quite successful, and poor attempts like ReactOS, which has not come out of alpha for more than 10 years to make a poor Windows XP fork and is used as an insider joke by MS devs.
Don't talk shit about a project you demonstrably know next to nothing about. The ReactOS devs reverse engineered lots of Windows code without looking at it to prevent copyright infringement. They also contributed a lot to WINE which in turn enables lots of users switch to Linux.
You're simply not the target audience for ReactOS. It's rather an ecosystem to explore the Win32 API and run legacy applications on a completely reverse engineered system. See also, this forum thread: https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19782 with a few links where you can educate yourself on the scope of ReactOS.
Comparing this to LinuxFX which basically is a reskin of upstream distributions is plain insulting to the ReactOS devs who arguably have a lot harder job than some kids mashing together software they didn't write.
A simple cuestion, ReactOS is valid as a every day OS or only as a educational project without a practical use? For your daily tasks and activities, if you could choose, would you use ReactOS or LinuxFX? I do not deny that ReactOS is a great programming job, but that, apart from this,there is little point in trying to fork an old Windows XP, at least for me it would be the last OS that would use.
I would use neither ReactOS nor LinuxFX because they both don't fit my use case.
You can use it as both, but this is not an either/or situation. There are more applications for an OS than being an everyday driver for regular people and an educational project. For example, one of my clients runs an electron microscope on ReactOS. Supporting WinXP or upgrading the software would cost dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of Euros.
ReactOS is not a fork, it's a reverse engineered rewrite. Did you even read the thread I linked?
While React os and Linuxfx are cool projects, they are not designed for actual use. I would recommend learning how to use a good linux distro such as Linux mint. There is going to be a learning curve but many beginner friendly distros try to make the transition as smooth as possible.
I personally think that React os is a very cool project. It is unstable but still easier to use than windows . . . .