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caveatgez
I returned to Windows about 2 years ago after about 15 years not touching it but living in Linux instead. My general conclusion is that Linux is the best OS but has the poorest applications, Mac ecosystem has the best hardware but the worst OS and average applications, Windows is the middling OS but the best applications - but Windows with WSLv2 means you get all of the best of Windows with most of the capabilities of Linux making it an unbeatable productivity, gaming, audio/visual, and engineering environment.
Since I went full-in on Windows about a year ago I've focused on Windows 11 Pro as it uses local admin and I don't use the Microsoft Login stuff, and it has WSLv2 and Remote Desktop which I find useful.
The key things I do to a Windows machine:
How to use Windows Defender well: https://0ut3r.space/2022/03/06/windows-defender/
How to stop Edge putting a shortcut on the desktop: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-update-policies#createdesktopshortcutdefault
A useful approach to debloating (I use the approach and don't just mindlessly nuke everything): https://gabrielsieben.tech/2023/01/02/debloating-windows-10-with-one-command-and-no-scripts/ - avoid removing Windows Store, it is hard to reinstall if you later decide you need it (I got carried away once and have a laptop that I can't install anything on!)
First task on a new Windows PC: Spend an hour going through every possible option in Settings to tweak to a more sane set of defaults
WSLv2 ( https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/compare-versions ) provides a wonderful safety hatch back to a Linux. I don't think I could survive on Windows without Linux just being there and without being able to launch a Linux GUI directly inside Windows
I don't really do much else - it's just a "remove the very obvious bloat, config away Cortana and all tracking and things, dial Defender to max (including which apps can read from which directories)" and that's about it.