Live data from Hacker News

Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

thenextweb.com

161–170 of 351 posts

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's great. Here's why most people don't: they like editing Word documents, using Bluetooth, playing AAA games, printing and scanning, connecting to external monitors, watching DVDs, and transferring files from their phones.

>they like editing Word documents LibreOffice supports this and it works quite well. I would guess most people prefer google drive these days, though. >using Bluetooth Do you actually know anyone non-technical who has used bluetooth at all in the past 5 years? Or technical for that matter, I've used bluetooth maybe 3 times in that time frame and always had no issues on Linux. >playing AAA games This is your only legi…

What you call "uninformed FUD" are unfortunately real problems I have had in the past 12 months on Lenovo Thinkpad W530 with Ubuntu 14.04.

Perhaps I am missing the ever elusive combination of distro and machine.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#162

Serious question: does MS sell a version of Window 10 outright that doesn't include all of the snooping? I've been a Windows user my whole life but I will NEVER use an OS that collects data on the OS level.

The LTSB edition is supposed to be this version, except it still includes the ads for OneDrive, so who knows what they're doing.

For people who like dead comments: get the Windows (N) LTSB Enterprise edition. It's not _just_ the LTSB edition.

Some perks to note of:

* No bloatware

* Updates every 60-90 days (as opposed to the oppressive every 5-7 days); choice to reboot auto or not.

* No Windows Media Player

* No MSFT Edge; Only Windows Explorer classic

* Classic calculator

* No Windows App Store

* No background apps

* No upselling shenanigans annoying my experience

* No MSFT cloud

* Cortana is removed completely not disabled

* Mission-critical updates only...avoids needless flair in favor of stable security.

* Never seen an ad ever.

All in all, I would highly recommend it. For those that can see dead comments: you're welcome.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#163

In browsers, ad blockers are being used more and more commonly for even non-technical folks. In native apps mobile apps, there are some okay ad-blocking solutions. But when the ads are baked into the operating system itself... I have a hard time seeing Microsoft or Apple losing the ad blocking battle. So, instead of getting ads somewhat sandboxed inside a browser, in the future we may be getting ads inside the start…

>I have a hard time seeing Microsoft or Apple losing the ad blocking battle At the risk of hijacking your comment, what's the present situation with regards to running Linux on Apple hardware? I quite like my Macbook and am generally tolerant of MacOS (mostly because it's POSIX-y enough to feel familiar), but would definitely consider installing a Linux distro depending on how well it worked.

Your only real issue would be with Broadcom drivers(they aren't too bad though). I tried Fedora a while ago and everything worked from my first boot up(including keyboard backlights). Honestly, I'm not too worried about Apple and privacy/advertising for now, after they made photos.app do image processing on decide, and the lack of current iOS exploits in Vault 7.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#164
post #114

This sucks, of course. Yet all the comments on this thread saying the solution is to simply switch platforms ignore something very fundamental. I like to say "Nobody goes to Home Depot to buy a drill bit; what they want to buy is a hole." I don't use Windows because I want to use Windows. I use it because there are things I need to do that can only be done with it. The "just switch to Linux" reaction is an understand…

> an understandable engineering reaction The point about switching to an alternative isn't an engineering reaction, it's a political suggestion that is based on sending the right message. When MS does something you find objectionable, the way to signal that you strongly disagree in a capitalist system is to vote with your wallet. Continuing to use Window only sends the message that the recent changes are acceptable.…

Free as in speech is the only point where Windows is still ok, it's free as in beer and free as in freedom where it falls down.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#165
post #152
post #58

Are the ads only for storage service? At first I was thinking we'd start seeing banner ads like we do on blogs. If it's only Microsoft pushing their own integrated services I don't really have much of a problem, but for software I paid for showing third party ads when I never ever had an expectation of such a thing then I do agree it is very horrible. The "Not now" button does seem like a anti-pattern instead of a si…

Just to clarify, this is basically the same exact thing that macOS does with regards to storage. Try running low on storage and see how long it takes to get spammed with notifications to buy more icloud storage.

> Try running low on [iCloud] storage

That bit's important - I don't have to be using Microsoft's storage system at all to loose a good 200 pixels to the banner after every restart.

I'm not even signed into a Microsoft account with my account; doesn't matter.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they like editing Word documents LibreOffice supports this and it works quite well. I would guess most people prefer google drive these days, though. >using Bluetooth Do you actually know anyone non-technical who has used bluetooth at all in the past 5 years? Or technical for that matter, I've used bluetooth maybe 3 times in that time frame and always had no issues on Linux. >playing AAA games This is your only legi…

What you call "uninformed FUD" are unfortunately real problems I have had in the past 12 months on Lenovo Thinkpad W530 with Ubuntu 14.04. Perhaps I am missing the ever elusive combination of distro and machine.

Looks like there are a couple of minor issues that can be resolved with a trivial amount of research: http://www.linlap.com/lenovo_thinkpad_w530

If you hit other problems, did you do any research? Did you ask for support anywhere?

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#167

> how to turn them off Switch to Linux. Windows 10 Home is now $119 and tracks you. Microsoft is trying to sell you a product and monetize your behavior. They are pursuing a way to maintain their cash cow and have an avenue to push Google out.

I agree. To be honest I'm not even angry at Microsoft, just very disappointed and surprised. Windows 7 is a technological marvel in my eyes - it's stable and dependable with amazing backwards comparability. How many millions* of man-hours of productivity has it enabled I wonder? How can Microsoft be so quick to burn decades of credibility and trust? I switched my very very non-technically savvy parents to Ubuntu seve…

I'm really hoping for a proper GUN/Linux phone operating system. I hope Ubuntu Touch works out well eventually.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#168
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At the same time I'm don't understand how anyone with who works in tech and is thus capable of really understanding these things would voluntarily pick this stack as their daily driver. Because it's way less work. Simple as that. Windows, in my experience, just works. The things about it that don't work are the exceptions. Windows gets out of my way and lets me work with minimal setup and maintenance. Linux, on the…

Well, my point was kinda exactly that things are better now..... Yours was the exact reason I used OSX for almost 6 years; it stopped being true and I switched back to linux at the end of last year. Since then, I've had exactly one time my laptop didn't wake up from sleep in around 2 months VS daily crashes and annoying popups from my last mac. Also lots of grateful family/friends who recieved all my old apple gear ;…

> things are better now

Ubuntu 16.10 can't handle an external monitor with a DPI/resolution. And keeps throwing up error boxes after a fresh install on a Linux machine that came with Ubuntu by default.

Better? Maybe. Good? Hardly.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's great. Here's why most people don't: they like editing Word documents, using Bluetooth, playing AAA games, printing and scanning, connecting to external monitors, watching DVDs, and transferring files from their phones.

>they like editing Word documents LibreOffice supports this and it works quite well. I would guess most people prefer google drive these days, though. >using Bluetooth Do you actually know anyone non-technical who has used bluetooth at all in the past 5 years? Or technical for that matter, I've used bluetooth maybe 3 times in that time frame and always had no issues on Linux. >playing AAA games This is your only legi…

> >they like editing Word documents

> LibreOffice supports this and it works quite well. I would guess most people prefer google drive these days, though.

I run LibreOffice on my Mac and documents ALWAYS render differently than on Word. I always have to proofread on an office computer before I send files out to my colleagues.

> Do you actually know anyone non-technical who has used bluetooth at all in the past 5 years? Or technical for that matter, I've used bluetooth maybe 3 times in that time frame and always had no issues on Linux.

I literally used Bluetooth this afternoon. I was playing music on an external speaker. I also use it to connect my phone to my car, and my friend was using it late last week to play back an audio recording that we needed to pay close attention to.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#170

If you're fed up with Explorer, you might also look into alternative file managers. I'm developing one: https://fman.io

Nice, but it'd be better if the homepage mentioned that its not a free product. Also, it's unclear how long the evaluation version lasts.
Post reply on HN