In my ongoing quest to own the tech that I buy AND make life easier for me and my less-tech-literate friends and family (I love you, please stop calling me at midnight to fix your latest virus you got from Temu), I have a couple more links for programs you should use on a Windows machine that 1) do not have ads embedded in them, 2) do not use AI or AI scrapers, and 3) are free and super easy to download and use. That last one is important when you are The Tech Person in your social sphere.
1. Don't use Notepad, it has AI and Discovery bullshit embedded in it. (Link is to Microsoft's website describing these new "features," date Oct 2025).
Alternative I like: Notepad++ (essentially, old school Notepad preserved for modern use, open source program).
2. Don't use Microsoft Word/Office (and most of us will be forced out of it soon anyway to Microsoft 365 CoPilot, which is full of AI, AI scrapers, ads, and other malware these days. Seriously, they call it "vibe working" and if you read between the upbeat corporate speak, its awful. (Links are to ZDNET, GeekWire, and Ars Technica, and also it's plastered all over Microsoft's Office homepage).
Alternative I like: LibreOffice - pretty much feels like old-school Microsoft Office without...all that.
Bonus: Office Watch has a list of free alts. Choose your fighter.
Anyway. Just some things to do after you have debloated Windows.
And yes, Linux Nation, I know we could all just get Linux. We could all be doing crossfit, too. My elderly parents are not going to do crossfit, and they are not going to get Linux. But maybe, just maybe, I can get them to scrape off some of the ad-bloated AI-scraping malware from the computer where they access their bank. Little by little, we fight back.
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