Summary

• Windows 11 has made some strides in tablet support, but it's still not ideal
• Microsoft forces a Microsoft account during the setup process.
• Edge is shoved down users' throats even when it's not the default browser.

It may seem hard to believe, but Windows 11 is now over 2.5 years old, and in that time, the operating system has evolved and improved a lot. It's still the best version of Windows in recent years, in my opinion, and it's more streamlined UI is mostly a good thing.

That being said, Microsoft's latest operating system is still held back by a number of problems that make it a frustrating experience at times. While it's not necessarily enough for me to say you should look for an alternative, but they're definitely things Microsoft needs to fix for me to really love Windows 11.

8 It's less tablet-friendly

At least in some ways

One of the big drawbacks of Windows 11 compared to Windows 10, especially at launch, is that it was far less user-friendly if you have a tablet. And Windows 10 was already arguably less friendly than Windows 8.1, so it just felt like the experience kept deteriorating. Microsoft did make some very welcome improvements with Windows 11 version 22H2, though, adding a lot of touch gestures to make navigation easier.

With that being said, some issues still exist. For one thing, accessing the task view is now a bit harder, since the gesture that used to be available for opening the task view now opens the Widgets. And Microsoft recently made it even worse by replacing access to the notifications panel with Copilot, so these gestures just aren't as useful as they used to be.

Windows 11 version 22H2 did make it easier to open the Start menu with a touch gesture, but back in Windows 10, if you closed all your apps, tablet mode would give you a full-screen Start menu by default, which is the best way to launch apps with touch. Now, ou either have to use the taskbar or desktop icons, but desktop icons require a double tap, and it's easier to accidentally move your finger and drag the icon rather than open it.

7 You need a Microsoft account

Everyone loves data collection, right?

One of the most common complaints you'll see from certain users when it comes to Windows 11 is that you can no longer set it up without a Microsoft account, unless you're using it for work, in which case you can use your work account that's probably also linked to Microsoft servers. One way or another, your identity is linked with your computer through the internet (and yes, an internet connection is also required).

To be fair, you can remove the Microsoft account from Windows 11 after the setup process, but at that point, most users probably aren't bothered, and it's just a hassle to do it anyway. This requirement does make some things easier, like activating Windows without a product key or backing up BitLocker recovery keys, but it's annoying that it's mandatory.

6 Performance issues

Some UI elements just feel broken

Another part of Windows 11 that's kinda been hurt is the performance of certain parts of the system, and the fact that some things take just a little too long to load. One example was recently called out by a former Microsoft employee where trying to open search from the Windows 11 Start menu caused it to break and become unresponsive. A more common issue is if you try searching from the Start menu too quickly, many times, your search query will be missing the first letter you typed, which results in an incorrect search, and in turn makes it so Windows doesn't find what you're looking for.

On that note, search can also perform poorly even without typos, sometimes failing to associate a specific search term with the right app, and instead taking you to Edge to search the web using Bing.

Another part of this is File Explorer, which has been shown to have an intentional slight delay when you open a folder. If you have a fast PC, you might not even notice it, but there's just a brief period where the contents of the folder are loading. Interestingly, this loading bit goes away if you press F11 to maximize the File Explorer window and then restore its normal size, so something is clearly off here. Third-party apps like Start11 and Disk Voyager show how smoothly these things should work.

5 Windows Update

Users don't have enough control

Another problem with Windows 11 is the fact that Windows Update is too controlling and doesn't give you enough options for pausing or even skipping certain updated. Being unable to skip updates wouldn't be a huge issue if it was only done for Windows updates themselves, but many times, Windows 11 also downloads driver updates, and in many cases, the drivers that are downloaded from Windows Update are older than what you can install manually, and yet they will still override the versions you install. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to disable these updates if they're not marked as optional, which they sometimes aren't, and it causes more problems than it solves.

Windows 11 does let you pause updates, but only for a week if you have Windows 11 Home (which is the most common edition), which isn't always enough time to spot an issue with an update. The 7-week pause period available on Windows 11 Pro should be the standard.

4 Changing default apps is too hard

Why jump through all these hoops?

A major controversial change Microsoft made with Windows 11 has to do with how hard it is to change default apps now. In the past, Microsoft offered a way to set default apps for certain tasks, so you had a default media player or a default photo viewer. This made it easier to change defaults for multiple protocols and file types that fall under a similar umbrella. Now, if you choose a new default the first time you open a specific file type, your only option is to change the default for each file type or protocol manually. So if you want a new media player, you have to go ahead and make it the default for each video and audio format one by one.

It used to be this way for browsers, too, though Microsoft did add an option to set a specific app as the default browser after it got a lot of backlash. However, that's the only category where this is possible, so media players and other types of apps still have the same issue.

3 A lack of customization options

Everything is too streamlined now

Windows 11 streamlined the Windows interface overall, which, to some extent, is a good thing, since it's a bit easier to understand now. However, Microsoft went a little too far, and the things you can change with your operating system's looks are the color of the taskbar and Start menu, and the position of the icons on the taskbar. That's about it.

Previous versions let you move the taskbar to any side of the screen you wanted, and you could resize the Start menu, at least. That's gone now, and what's more, third-party apps that do change the looks of Windows have also become more limited because of the changes Microsoft makes to the underlying UI components.

That being said, apps like StartAllBack do still provide great customization options, it's just worrying that some of these may become harder and harder to do if Microsoft continues the trend of streamlining and restricting customization.

2 The setup experience

Just let me use my PC

One of the big problems I have with Windows 11 personally is how the setup experience tries to force all kinds of things on you. Once you sign in with your Microsoft account, Microsoft will blast a series of ads and forced features in your face, including Xbox Game Pass and Microsoft 365. That also includes using "recommended browser settings," as in, setting Edge as the default browser and Bing as the default search engine, syncing OneDrive files to the cloud (which is now mandatory), and choosing a usage scenario for the PC, such as development, gaming, and so on.

That's already frustrating, especially the fact that OneDrive syncing is enabled by default with no option to turn it off until you're on the desktop. But if that's not bad enough, if you try to ignore any of these features, like the browser settings or your PC's general usage purpose, Windows 11 will bring up a "second-chance out-of-box-experience," as Microsoft calls it, a few days later to remind you that use these features. On, and if you did turn off OneDrive syncing on the desktop, that screen will prompt you to enable it again, too (but this time you can skip it).

1 Forcing you to use Edge

Good products don't need shady tactics

Another extremely annoying thing about the user experience on Windows 11 is that Microsoft tries to force you to use Edge at every turn. Not only does the company sneakily ask you to use "recommended browser settings" during setup, but certain parts of Windows 11 are hardcoded so that they can only open in Edge. If you use your Widgets board to access any web content, that content will always open in Edge, regardless of your default web browser. Performing a web search from the Start menu? Yeah, that will be in Edge, too.

Edge is actually a good browser, but the fact that Microsoft keeps trying to force-feed it to everyone has actually driven me away from it because I just don't want to support these tactics. Good products shouldn't need this intrusive marketing.

Windows 11 is kind of overbearing

At the end of the day, it feels as though Windows 11 has a very paternalistic attitude towards its users, not trusting that they know what they're doing and taking control away from them. I can get behind streamlining some aspects of the UI, but Windows 11 has just gone too far in many ways, and hopefully Microsoft will dial it back at some point.