[timanderson]

Agreed that Windows has become rather unpleasant but this:

"So, there is basically little you can do with Windows out of the box but buy subscriptions and log into pre-installed social media apps."

is not true at all. Well, I suppose if you don't install anything. But what you are going to do with Windows "out of the box" is not to buy subscriptions, but to install stuff. LibreOffice, VSCode, Audacity, Paint.Net, VLC, etc. There is so much fantastic productivity software for free. In the end it's just an OS with its share of annoyances. The big advantage of Mac for me is not the OS but Apple Silicon.