There's also the spying stuff, but I haven't really seen much actual analysis of the data being sent back to microsoft from a system not running all that bloat, so I don't know if it's really doing much.

Windows itself is quite nice to use, it's very stable these days and basically every piece of software and hardware will support it well.

I remember when debloating a computer was to remove OEM nonsense and get back to a "clean install".

Not that changes in Windows recently have not drawn ire: Recall is a choice, recent insider installers (bellwethers for upcoming versions) get mad if you don't have an internet connection post-installation and want to demand MSA-backed logins (rather than a local account bound to an MSA account, as has been previous), and people are still sore over the change in system requirements for Windows 11.

For those who aren't familiar because they haven't kept up: after the Spectre/meltdown bugs hit a lot of people, Microsoft quietly made Windows 11 require a processor which had microcode or silicon updates to mitigate these sorts of attacks. Basically, "Your CPU must be this secure to ride". This was in the light of software based fixes causing a lot of performance downgrade. Linux users for the most part didn't care but Microsoft wanted to solve it in the next version of Windows.

Another major spot was the requirement for machines to have a 2nd generation TPM (TPMv2).

This slammed a few nerves in a few different places. For some, the TPM is a lockout chip ala NES10; For others, the TPM is a lack of control over something critical in your security chain; For people who work in security, it's a mixed bag.

At the core of a lot of the complaint is the loud voices from what I'll call "quote-un-quote power users" -- people who tinker with their windows box like it's a toy and then complain that something broke because clearly Microsoft should build software that works after it's been lobotomized. As Windows has gotten more parts and more complicated, the windows tweaker scene has filled with more script kiddies and dogma, gamers who believe that gains of 1-2fps are caused by killing some obscure service that barely starts, and paranoid folk who are certain hat J. Random Microsoft employee can just drop on in and exfiltrate any file off their machine at will. More burnt sage and woo about how this thing or that thing causes a 2 fame boost on alternate blue moons.

By being constantly harassed by "prompts". "We help you", "We are preparing things for you". /s