It's all good, dawg. You can do this. 1) Windows debloater. Use it well and use it carefully because if you've got a computer running a bunch of bullshit (lookin' at you, Lenovo), the imprudent use of debloater will make it legit not boot. But if you take it easy, you can purge a bunch of useless shit. 2) Clover. Yes, it's in Japanese. Yes, it basically turns your Explorer into sort-of-kind-of-not-quite Chrome. But it gives you tabs like a civilized human being. It can also be oddly crashy. 3) Folder colorizer. Particularly handy if you have a file structure that you copy over and over (like if you have to use Adobe suite and AutoCAD). 4) eM Client. this is a soft recommend especially if you're running AutoCAD 'cuz that means you probably have a space puck like I do and you'll probably be tempted to map the middle button to "delete mail" and I'm here to tell you BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL DOING THAT because sometimes between Logitech and eM Client it forgets you let go of the button and ZIP your inbox is empty. I've talked to them about this. It's not great. But if you don't do that macro thing, eM Client won't empty your entire unified inbox in six seconds. And then give you one level of undo. Aside from that it's pretty f'n dope. And it's cross-platform; you can get used to the same hierarchy and structure on OS X which is nice. By the way the reason you can't do a unified inbox in Outlook is because fuck you, that's why, Satya knows better than you. 5) Rainmeter. No, it's not particularly useful but it gives you information that you can actually use. The best thing to keep in mind is that when you mash the "windows" button and start typing, it basically acts like quicksilver, except shittier, and less useful, but at least it will launch apps in a non-terrible way. I knew a guy who explained XP by saying "yeah once you get rid of the Fisher Price interface it's actually not too bad." 10 is like that. I know the Windows guys are all hot'n'bothered about how everything is worse than 7 and 10 will never be any good and herp derp 7 7 7 but you know what? 7 is fuggly and 10 isn't a decade old and I'm sorry, but it looks exactly you would expect Windows NT to look if it were slowly but surely crawling up its own Galapagos ass for 20 years and that's fine. BTW, Adobe and AutoCAD are both plenty available on OS X. The latter of which blows my mind but there it is. I can virtually guarantee that Adobe writes on OS X and ports to Windows, and I can virtually guaranted that Autodesk writes on Windows and ports to OS X.
AutoCAD being available for OS X is what kept me there for so long, even though Apple has managed to break it with every single OS upgrade. Now if Apple could get back to making great hardware in the(ir) low/mid-end I'd love to come back, but I don't see it happening in the foreseeable future and my 2013 Macbook Pro was is on life support. I ended up building a desktop PC, so the only bloatware is the ones provided by Microsoft themselves, which still is a lot. I'm already loving eM Client, it's the first software I've installed on Windows that I can't think of a better Mac alternative for!
Hear you 5x5. I beta-test professionally and Apple has grown increasingly hostile to all software not made by them. I went PC when the new Mac Pro came out: I discovered that you couldn't really throw more than $3k at the Windows world to get the fastest PC imaginable while a Mac Pro that would beat my 2008 would cost me $12k. Now? Now Mac Pros are in "SGI money" territory and I have a laptop with a quadro card, a xeon chip and a 4k screen for $2800.AutoCAD being available for OS X is what kept me there for so long, even though Apple has managed to break it with every single OS upgrade.
Now if Apple could get back to making great hardware in the(ir) low/mid-end I'd love to come back, but I don't see it happening in the foreseeable future and my 2013 Macbook Pro was is on life support.
