Talking about Windows, are you aware of LTSC version which has less bloat and longer support?
Yeah, that is what I have been using since day 1. Windows 10 LTSC Enterprise version 1809. It works pretty well, gets updated, and has never added anything in terms of bloatware, so im good. Im not sure for how long does this get you covered before they force you to update to Windows 11. I think it was 10 years, so arround 2028 I'll have to update to whatever is the next best thing that's lightweight and long term supported.
I see, that's great. Although Microsoft had history of reducing support duration for LTSC or similar product.
Perhaps,
1. OS you used isn't that old.
2. There's background application which regularly obtain new trusted certificate.
3. The browser remain up to date even though it's on old OS.
Windows Server 2008R2 is pretty old, it went EOL back in 2020. Browsers are not always up to date on older OSs. I've seen Chrome and Firefox failing to update because new version is not supported by old OS.
I mean something even older such as Windows XP (EOL on 2014) where i see some people claim they can't use internet properly due to SSL/TLS problem.