Out of the box MS narrator activation to set up brand new Windows 11 PC

Think someone said with windows 11 Narrator starts automatically just in case the user needs accessibility and sighted people opt for no. However, if that isn't true then Cntrl+windows key + enter starts and stops narrator.

Yes, ctrl windows enter will do the trick. Note, this won't work in the bios exactly, but rarely if ever do you need to go in there, but the above shortcut will work all throughout Windows setup.

I suppose there is still no way of having speech if you should have to enter the bios? Guess something as meaningless as needing to see your computer's bios is still too trivial for today's screen readers. [sigh]

There is a patch to allow sound while in Safe Mode, thus allowing the screen reader to function. I do not know if this works while in BIOS, however.

No because the bios is effectively its own operating system, entirely independent of Windows regardless of safe mode. Its entire purpose is to prepare the computer and to load the operating system, a little like how a car has a starter motor to start the engine. Unfortunately I don't think the chip it's stored on has enough space for a TTS voice but a way to access it would be extremely welcome.

Just as an example earlier AMD Ryzen motherboards didn't have enough space to store the settings for the entire range of processor chips the boards could support. There was a one way update to support the newer processors which removed the ability to run the older processors. We're talking a total memory in the hundreds of kilobites range for some features and the megabyte range for others. An ability to change settings from Windows would be my ideal option butthis would require a lot of testing especially with regard to security.

First, I'll echo other comments here narrator is accessible enough to set up windows out of the box. It works well enough to get another screen reader up and running. As for the BIOS I've found I can kind of do it with an OCR app on my phone, you'll only need to go in there if you want to overclock your processor (don't), or want to set up a dual boot for linux. It's clunky but can be done with patience, cursing and maybe your favorite drink handy.

If the laptop comes preinstalled with Windows, as most laptops do, then you need not worry about Bios. Windows setup process takes over, and pressing win+ctrl+enter should start the builtin narrator to help you go through setup process.
Bios only comes in to picture if you need to completely wipe the internal storage of your laptop, install a new operating system, or something like that. Most general consumers won't be touching Bios anytime soon.

the only reason why I find accessing bios is still needed is to disable fn keys. Most of the times, laptops would have fn key enabled by default, because of which one can't smoothly use the function keys to input windows or screen-reader specific commands, like insert + f7. One has to press the f key with the fn key. I have so far failed to make various ways to disable this without going to bios that I would come across through google searches, e.g., fn + esc etc. Many of the things suggested are brand specific. So, wondering if there's any universal way of toggling fn key without going to bios!

She discusses how this can be done, universally, through power shell/Windows terminal. Find her thread below.
https://applevis.com/forum/windows/using-powershell-configure-bios-windows

After years of not using Windows, but confronted with the recent degredation in text editing functionality on MacOS Sonoma, I'm seriously considering an alternative to MacOS for text editing. It might be that I end up using iOS. It might be that I get a Windows 11 laptop. I've also read some threads and articles about Parallels.

But this thread has been very helpful and encouraging. Thanks.

*Edit: wrong info, see next post of mine below..*

Google is phasing those out. Just a heads up.

I don’t see chrome books getting fazed out. Because I’ve heard they’re really popular in some education Markets. ChromoS flex also exists which is gonna be a massive problem for Google if they want to cease support for Chrome OS. Although knowing googles not so great passed with making products and then shelving them, there’s literally a website for listing all the things that Google has made and decided to throw the towel on, it’s that long, so yeah I don’t know what Google is gonna do.

I meant to say they are phasing out ChromeOS. Though I don't think anything is "official" just yet, but they're talking about changing it to android OS.
That should be interesting ...