The forced upgrade scheme - Microsoft wants YOU to use Windows 11.

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As with Windows 10, Microsoft seems enthusiastic about forcing users to upgrade to Windows 11. With that, there is a way around this forced upgrade.

Why wouldn't you want to upgrade?

For many, the answer may be privacy, since Windows 11 requires the use of a Microsoft account for ~~Home edition~~ ALL users. Additionally, 11 requires that you submit to extensive telemetry out of the box (which can be mitigated/blocked with software such as OOSU10).

For others, the answer may be as simple as they like Windows 10, given that it has a more traditional UI (borderline reminiscent of 2000/XP/Vista/7), might run programs better, or might run better on older hardware.

"Halting the beast" - Blocking Microsoft's attempts to own YOUR hardware

WARNING: KONAT IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE POTENTIALLY INCURRED FROM ATTEMPTING TO PERFORM MODIFICATIONS ON YOUR SYSTEM. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Without further ado, the fix that I've tried (and had work) is as follows:

Press WIN+R and type in "REGEDIT." Click "Yes" on the user account control (UAC) popup that appears.
Navigate to "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate."
Right click, hover over "New," and create a new DWORD (32-bit) value.
Add the data/name "TargetReleaseVersion" with a value of "1" (don't add the quotation marks).
Right click, hover over "New" again, and create a new string value.
Add the data/name "TargetReleaseVersionInfo" and give it the value of your current Windows 10 version (e.g. "21H2"). NOTE: you will need to edit this once your version of Windows reaches its end of life date.
I should add that I found this fix through the Youtube channel (NOTE: the following URLs are Invidious URLs, which allow more private access to Youtube) Britec09, to be more specific, I discovered these fixes through this video.

Closing memos

In the digital age, it's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain control over your hardware, with forced updates on smartphones, Windows apparently being a service now, and people increasingly turning to DRM-ridden "streaming" services, in lieu of using physical media or torrenting.

It is my whole-hearted belief that Windows 11 is just another big tech-originating attempt to take control over hardware you paid money for out of your hands and into theirs. As of 2017, ~71% of Windows 10 users had telemetry fully enabled-- just another sign that people either don't care much about privacy (if they care at all) or might be "blissfully unaware" of the risks of not caring about privacy.