Thanks to the user-hostile and inherently insecure nature of Windows, it takes me nearly 16 hours to comprehensively lock down, disinfect, and largely neuter any install of Windows.
I mean, the actual install takes about a half hour, and slightly more if you have to trigger the OOBE to bypass the Microsoft Account requirement (you can create a bootable USB installer that does this automatically). So the other 15½ hours is spent ripping spyware out of the system and forcibly disabling “features” that only enrage people who are used to “traditional” style user interfaces (like a start menu that actually looks like a start menu… thank you, StartIsBack!!). Registry work alone takes nearly two hours, since most changes are security-protected; I cannot just create a reg file and apply it.
I am able to get an install into a place where anyone can use it without getting massively confused by the newer UI garbage, so I am quite proud of those skills, but the time needed to do so is a damning indication of how bad things have gotten.
I mean, the actual install takes about a half hour, and slightly more if you have to trigger the OOBE to bypass the Microsoft Account requirement (you can create a bootable USB installer that does this automatically). So the other 15½ hours is spent ripping spyware out of the system and forcibly disabling “features” that only enrage people who are used to “traditional” style user interfaces (like a start menu that actually looks like a start menu… thank you, StartIsBack!!). Registry work alone takes nearly two hours, since most changes are security-protected; I cannot just create a reg file and apply it.
I am able to get an install into a place where anyone can use it without getting massively confused by the newer UI garbage, so I am quite proud of those skills, but the time needed to do so is a damning indication of how bad things have gotten.