This is kind of what I mean when I say I'm ditching Big Tech
One of the many tasks on my to-do list today was to install Ubuntu on the last Windows device in the house: my behemoth Dell desktop computer.
I forgot that Windows 11 enabled Bitlocker by default.
In case you're unfamiliar (as I was, apparently!), Bitlocker is Windows 11's full disk encryption. Basically, it turns everything on your hard drive into random noise for someone who doesn't have the password.
Full disk encryption is, generally speaking, a good security measure. Having Bitlocker encrypting your hard drive means that if you lose your computer or someone steals it, that someone can't access your tax returns, emails with your doctor, or collection of "hamsters wearing Speedos" gifs. It may suck to lose your computer, but your entire life isn't compromised for it.
Of course, what happens when someone tries to install a new OS when Bitlocker is active is that the hard drive locks down. Then you need a recovery key. Microsoft will make you prove your identity in multiple ways before giving you a recovery key. Again, probably a good thing for your security, if inconvenient.
Then you have to decrypt the hard drive. This takes time. Mine has been at it for four hours now and is about 2/3 done.
I got really frustrated when all this happened. It took me a couple hours and a hard cleaning of my kitchen to figure out why. Why was I so annoyed, when what happened was that full-disk encryption and recovery worked exactly the way it was designed to do, and the mistake (trying to install Ubuntu without decrypting first) was entirely my own?
Finally I realized: I was annoyed because I was never given a notice that Bitlocker was running, nor was I given the chance to opt in or out.
Yet again: for the average user, this might not be a terrible thing. But it doesn't sit well with me. It's yet another example of tech companies deciding what is good for us. Deciding what we need. Deciding which inconveniences (like sitting through a full hard drive decrypt) we'll just have to tolerate if we're going to use their products - and the vast majority of us will have no choice other than to use their products.
I'd eat my mistake and move on if I had been alerted and given the chance to change my settings from the start. But I wasn't. I messed up due to the lack of alert or option. I messed up due to unnecessary paternalism from a tech company that already owns far too much of my data and attention.
It's going to feel very good to install Ubuntu on that machine.