this laptop comes with Windows 10 [which is SO much better than 11] but loaded in 'S mode', or 'Security mode', which among other things restricts loading or using any non-Microsoft software -- as well as things like Command Prompt (!).  it's what you load on a computer for an eight-year-old if you don't trust them, and it requires creating a Microsoft account to disable.  but this isn't for an eight-year-old, this is for my wife, and yes, i trust her on the internet, and no, she doesn't need a Microsoft account.  nobody needs a Microsoft account.  so i dock three stars for this annoyance alone, because i consider the operating system to be more than half of any computer, and it is unforgivable for HP to actively decide to install an OS that resorts to extortion -- in addition to the standard 'telemetry' spyware -- in order to get personal information from people and force them to sign up for something they don't need.  all other annoyances, security holes, and spyware are easily remedied with something like ShutUp10, a handful of registry scripts, and ten minutes in Control Panel.so far, the other two-fifths of the laptop are fine, although on first boot there was a 'CMOS checksum is invalid' message.  i haven't been able to deduce why, and if any BIOS settings have changed, naturally i wouldn't know what those changes would be because this was the first time i started the machine.  but fortunately this was the only instance of this error, and nothing seems to have come of it.a major disappointment here is that the letters on the keyboard have absolutely no contrast, and are *extremely* difficult to see in even a moderately sunlit room.  backlighting does not remedy this.  the problem is so bad that i had to DRAW THE LETTERS ON WITH A FINE-TIP PAINT PEN so my wife could read them.  the fact that HP completely ignored keyboard legibility is bizarre.lastly, there was nothing in the product description about this at the time of purchase, but this laptop comes with a touchscreen.  for my wife's purposes this is neither good nor bad, just a bit of a surprise.  admittedly, it does help with vertical scrolling in cases where the scroll bar (or handle) is very thin or small, especially if you're moving the cursor via the touchpad.honestly, if i had bought this for myself, i would have returned it IMMEDIATELY upon discovering that it had been crippled by Microsoft's infamous 'S mode' -- which was nowhere documented on the product page.  that's not just an unpleasant surprise from HP, it's downright unethical, and the only reason they get two stars instead of one is that the Microsoft account you're forced to sign up for can be activated with disposable information and then quickly ditched and forgotten.