[skyyler]

>Without spinning a fresh 7 machine now, I'm certain it was very toned down

Your memories are not serving you well. Windows 7 was very glass and very aero when it was first released.

You can disable the transparency and fake glossiness, but then it's just a pale blue glossy glass colour instead of transparent.

[HenryBemis]

  1) Install any Windows version from the past decade in any machine
  2) Go to 'performance' and remove all visuals
  3) download and install ClassicShell to have a decent Start button
  4) download and use (most are portable) any Privacy settings tool
  5) find, download and install WindowsFirewallControl v4.9.x.x and use it on MediumFiltering with "Display Notifications" (you get the 'ZoneAlarm experience')
  6) Uninstall all the crapware and disable many services (I use SysInternals Autoruns64)(Winternals for the older ones)
  7) Happy Days!!

[skyyler]

Wow, that's a lot more work than my Fedora setup.

Windows is only free if you don't value your time, huh?

[HenryBemis]

Microsoft put bread on my table. I started working in a company that was operating 99% of their servers with MS OS. I don't see it that "I am wasting time", I see it that there is this tech called "Windows" and the more I know about Registry, DLLs, etc. is making me better at my job.

If Fedora setup puts food on your table, go for it!! I 'bet' on Microsoft for my career and it has taken me around the world multiple times, so yeah :)

Tbh I don't change machines 'that' often. My laptop is from 2015. My desktop is 3? 4? years old, and I won't be changing either in the next 5-6 years, they do 'ok' for home use.

But every now and then (couple of years) I do buy some second-hand cheap Surface, or HP Elite, or similar Win tablets, I set them up, and keep them on the side (OS, and Firefox only) just in case someone will need an urgent laptop, or I travel somewhere and I want a 'burner' machine with zero data/sw in it.