Comment by ewoodrich

FYI, nearly all of that UI/app garbage can be removed (or re-enabled like the Start/context menu) in <5 minutes with:

https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat

It persists across updates, can be customized with extremely granular control over what is removed/re-enabled, or using the default mode which works fantastically for most users with minimal risk of disabling something many people might prefer to keep (e.g Xbox app).

I’ve been using it for years on every machine/VM with Windows 11 installed. The OS gets out of my way completely both in terms of functionality and distractions like ads.

I cannot recommend it enough, I am eternally grateful to the maintainers for making Windows 11 feel like a modernized Windows 7 experience.