If Only I Were a Normal Windows User … (Premium)

I need to keep up on the Windows 11 defaults because of the Windows 11 Field Guide and this website. But what if that wasn't the case? How would I really configure this system to be optimal for my needs?

This much is clear. Things would be a bit different.

Earlier today, I wrote about Wintoys, which is just one of dozens if not hundreds of Windows 11 "tweak" utilities that one can use to configure the system in ways that Microsoft either hides completely or makes difficult to find. But as noted, it's one of the better utilities in this field, and as I stepped through each of its several top-level views, I found myself thinking for the umpteenth time about what it is that I'm looking for in any personal computing platform, be it a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux), a smartphone or tablet (Android, iPhone, iPad), or even a smartwatch (Apple Watch, Pixel Watch).

And that can be summed up quickly: I'm looking for efficiency.

Efficiency probably means different things to different people. But to me, this is about the user experience, and how I can configure it so that I can get to what it is I'm trying to accomplish as quickly as possible at all times. Tied to this, perhaps, is something I think of as minimalism, though that might be the wrong term in this context. This is about removing those things that are distracting or get in the way, visually or literally, again with the top-level goal of being more efficient. And leaving things alone that are not distracting or in the way.

Efficiency feels like it should be objective, something we might all agree on. But because we all work differently, it's actually subjective. You can see that in things like the Start menu, which is on a spectrum of usage that varies by person. For me, the Start menu--despite its name--is secondary, because I use the Taskbar as the primary way to launch apps.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Before we can even think about Start, or the Taskbar, we have to go back to the beginning. What am I doing right now? What's the first step?
? Why we're here in the first place
Windows exists for the same reasons as any OS, regardless of the device. It's a platform for running apps and services. It abstracts the underlying hardware, allowing those apps and services to run more efficiently. And it's a user interface, hopefully one that is consistent across those experiences. The details have changed a bit over the last four decades, but that's been true at a high level since Windows was still called Interface Manager and was being delayed again and again before it finally made its way to market in 1985.

Here, I'm mostly concerned about the interface and the apps and services, those things that Windows can do for me. Microsoft has its own ideas about all that, and we might think about its contrary aims as those things Windows can do to me. This is where enshittification creeps in, as it does these days in virtually all personal computing products and...