Windows needs to stop showing tabloid news

There could be (and probably is) some little app that sets good defaults in Windows and turns off all the abuseware. But who would trust such an app? At some level, the problem is that any company big enough to build a trusted brand is going to follow its incentives to just stick a few ads on your screen. We see it also with VPNs and adblockers.

There are a couple well-followed free utilities that turn off all the Windows telemetry and clean up the junk from a fresh Windows install. They're trusted by communities that would instantly abandon them if they showed signs of "selling out". They manage to stay free and trustworthy as passion projects, mostly.