This is patently false, and I don’t understand how this rumor is going around still. This started because people found code in windows 11 previews for subscription based windows. That was related to windows 11 enterprise iot. Not windows 12. Not windows 11. The iot version of windows.
Idk why anybody would use windows on embedded systems, but I also don’t know how this rumor is still going around.
There are many tools and scripts to remove bloatware from Windows, which is why I specified a stock install, since the majority of users will use the stock install.
Also I haven't daily driven Windows in over a decade now. Been using Linux.
Linux FTW. I have Windows 10 on my desktop only because I heavily mod Skyrim and it's a bitch to get all the tools and external mods to work under Linux. My laptop runs Linux and so does pretty much every other device I use.
It starts to grind you down when you're dealing with multiple users per PC and unmanaged PCs from a bunch of different sources. Propagating start menu changes to all profiles post install is a hassle in 10 & 11. Sysprep is a lot less useful for setting up the defaults pre install now. The out of the box install process is smoother these days without as much waiting to click through various stages but the post install environment reduces your quality of life with a bunch of clicky fiddling.
Windows 11 has way more nonsense than just CandyCrush. I got a new PC with Windows 11 on it and didn't connect it to the internet after signing in. It was waiting to autoinstall ELEVEN apps I didn't ask for.