Windows 11 fully streamlined in just two clicks? Talon utility promises to rip all the bloatware out of Microsoft’s OS in a hassle-free way

A woman sitting in a chair looking at a Windows 11 laptop

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Talon is a debloating tool designed for those who aren’t tech-savvy
It does everything for you in running a fully automated debloat of Windows
Bear in mind that third-party apps are used at your own risk, though the developer of Talon seems commendably transparent

Fed up with Windows 11’s bits of additional bloat, meaning all those unwanted bits of software and other elements that you’ll never use, clogging up the system?

You might not know where to start to do anything about fixing this, which is where a new utility comes in, allowing for a very easy method of debloating Windows 11 with a minimum of fuss required.

As TweakTown flagged up, this is Talon, a software tool developed by Raven with the aim of being an automated full debloat of Microsoft’s operating system that’s suitable for even novice computer users.

Analysis: An easy way to banish the bloat – but is it a sensible one?

I’ve got to say, I really like the philosophy of Talon, which is to take all the hassle out of debloating.

As Raven points out in the above video, a typical debloating tool will be a maze of check boxes and submenus, and it might even involve entering PowerShell commands. Tasks that less tech-savvy Windows 11 users will doubtless find difficult or even arcane.

So, taking all the pain out of that is a commendable goal. What Talon is really doing is bundling a bunch of these trickier utilities in a user-friendly, automated package. (For the curious, the tools drafted in under the bonnet of Talon include ChrisTitusTech’s WinUtil and Raphi’s Win11Debloat, which are the main engines of what’s happening here).

However, with any third-party app, you must be cautious. Ultimately, whether you want to install any piece of software is a decision that you must take yourself, especially when it comes to lesser-known developers.

However, Talon appears to be laudably transparent in the interview given to TweakTown, and one definite positive is that the code for the tool is open source and can be viewed and checked by anyone. (So, if there are flaws or anything amiss, hopefully they’ll be shouted about).

The developer Raven freely admits that as Talon relies on some third-party software, as mentioned, any vulnerabilities in those would also apply to the app itself (obviously).

I’ll leave the final words to the developer, as quoted from the TweakTown interview: “While it is possible for a supply chain attack to occur, where one of these [third-party] utilities gets compromised then Talon is inherently compromised as a result, they are very popular utilities with lots of eyes on their code, and with extremely talented and trusted maintainers."

“The rest of Talon is done through homemade scripts that we maintain. At the end of the day, the possibility of malware injection, a supply chain attack, or whatever else, is there for any software, no matter the size of the team or the popularity of a project. We will do our best to ensure that this day never comes, though, and if it does we will address it as fast as possible to ensure minimal impact.”

For those who aren’t convinced or would rather DIY the task of streamlining their operating system, make sure you check out TechRadar’s guide on how to find and remove bloatware from your Windows 11 PC.

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).