Setting Up a New Windows Laptop in 2026

Quiza12

Like many IT-inclined folk, I was recently tasked with setting up two new laptops for my father and brother, who run a mortgage broking business. Bog-standard Office 365 apps, OneDrive, Chrome over Edge, Outlook set up and all that. Given all the commentary I've read about the decline in quality of Windows, I was interested to see how frustrating the set up would be and how much bloatware and unasked-for installs were weighing it down. Bit of fun too because it coincided with Australia's first World Cup game!

rationalist

> 24. Download and install Google Chrome. (Yeah, nah, ~6 minutes) > 1. Make default browser Install Chrome sure, but also install Firefox with the uBlock Origin addon and make Firefox the default browser. Seriously, having an adblocker will help older people avoid scams and such. Even the U.S.'s FBI recommends it.

0xbadcafebee

That's at least 24 hours faster than it took me to set up my Ubuntu Linux Thinkpad new from Lenovo. I have a document of some 70+ steps in case I ever need to format and set it up again. (My fault for expecting Ubuntu to operate like a normal desktop out of the box) Turns out there are also multiple bugs in the AMD drivers (it was an AMD version of the Thinkpad) that have been known issues for years, and the fix is basically to turn off power saving. Windows version doesn't have those bugs of course.