Windows 11 default desktop Chat/Teams widgets are Edge web views that eat up hundreds of MB of memory: https://archive.is/pyvEO
Edge also preloads in the background even if it's not the default browser: https://archive.md/AAjz4
Both links also detail how to disable these "features."
You can still have words on the taskbar (at least in w10, idk if they removed it in W11). Thats more user friendly, and you can pop in the W95 theme if you feel nostalgic. good move away from Wdohs.