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

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

#201

Post by int_19h »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #166
paulddraper wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

This kind of response to reported problems is why Linux has been hovering at 1% desktop user share for over a decade now. It was exactly the same back when I was first installing Mandrake in 2002, and it seems like nothing has changed in that regard, even though the DEs etc look very different nowadays.

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

#202

Post by csdreamer7 »

chc wrote: post #12
csdreamer7 wrote: post #6

> 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.

This works well if your hobbies include manually editing obscure config files and replacing perfectly good hardware, and if your hobbies do not include playing games. I frequently explore the possibility of switching to Linux, and while it's not the garbage fire it was 15 years ago, it's still just not a peer to Windows for the way I use my computer.

15 years ago is a long time to base a tech argument.

I just played Tropico 5 on Ubuntu with Steam. All the hardware was detected. I installed a PPA to download the latest driver; that will keep me updated.

> This works well if your hobbies include manually editing obscure config files

I had to edit obscure entries the registry to block Microsoft's spying on my Windows 7 system. I have had to edit entries to fix obscure issues in Windows XP. I have yet to edit 'obscure config files' for my Ubuntu desktop in years.

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

#203

Post by csdreamer7 »

AndrewHMoore wrote: post #20
csdreamer7 wrote: post #6

> 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…

My mother loves Ubuntu. She has actually taken to it quite nicely once she found out she didn't have to install printer drivers.

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

#204

Post by csdreamer7 »

booleandilemma wrote: post #23
chc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This works well if your hobbies include manually editing obscure config files and replacing perfectly good hardware, and if your hobbies do not include playing games. I frequently explore the possibility of switching to Linux, and while it's not the garbage fire it was 15 years ago, it's still just not a peer to Windows for the way I use my computer.

Completely agree. I tried Ubuntu a few years ago because I heard that distro was comparably easier to use and my experience was frustrating. It took me 3 hours just to get the speakers to work, and the wifi connection would regularly drop off. Windows just works, and I'll happily pay money for a good product.

Some hardware makers do not like to play nice with Linux.

If you want a system that 'just works' with Linux you should buy from a vendor that supports Linux like System76.

Blaming Linux for not supporting hardware that the vendor did not bother to patch in support is like blaming MacOS for not working with your hackintosh.

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

#205

Post by mankash666 »

To be honest, I don't mind a plug or two about relevant Microsoft products within the OS. However, tracking usage and serving customized ads at the OS layer is unpleasant. So, I'm OK with how things are. I'm not disabling anything and giving MS the benefit of doubt that they won't turn my OS into an advertising and tracking channel

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

#206

Post by mcbits »

archon wrote: post #91
cyberpunk wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a reasonably noob-unfriendly linux distro (arch) on my bleeding edge kaby lane xps 13 laptop (month or two old) and even the touchscreen worked without any messing around with config files and so on. It came with ubuntu pre-loaded and I assumed they tweaked the arse out of the configs for it, and so expected pain when I replaced the OS. Turns out I was wrong. Vanilla with a minimal distro and even the touchscr…

> 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…

After hopping back and forth between Windows and Linux for 6-12 months at a time for a many years, I've realized that I spend at least as much time dorking around with Windows and related software after a clean install as with desktop Linux distros. Still I keep hopping, because both worlds get too frustrating after a while.

Out of the box, Ubuntu & friends (which have improved a lot in 6 years) are far more functional than Windows, assuming the hardware is properly detected and configured. When something goes askew, it's a toss-up whether it will be easier to fix on Windows or Linux. Familiarity/experience play a huge role here.

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

#207

Post by tuwtuwtuw »

H4CK3RM4N wrote: post #148
recursive wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Windows, you can change the presence of ads in Explorer to suit yourself also.

But advertising/"telemetry" preferences seem to accidentally get reset every few forced upgrades.

Which advertising preferences in Windows have you seen with this?

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

#208

Post by cube2222 »

cyberpunk wrote: post #61
booleandilemma wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree. I tried Ubuntu a few years ago because I heard that distro was comparably easier to use and my experience was frustrating. It took me 3 hours just to get the speakers to work, and the wifi connection would regularly drop off. Windows just works, and I'll happily pay money for a good product.

I have a reasonably noob-unfriendly linux distro (arch) on my bleeding edge kaby lane xps 13 laptop (month or two old) and even the touchscreen worked without any messing around with config files and so on. It came with ubuntu pre-loaded and I assumed they tweaked the arse out of the configs for it, and so expected pain when I replaced the OS. Turns out I was wrong. Vanilla with a minimal distro and even the touchscr…

As one of those people: I've used Linux for quite a while in the past but switched to windows since windows 10 came out.

As someone else in this thread pointed out, I've only seen the Candy crush ad once, that's all.

With bash on Ubuntu on windows, great hyperv based docker and the windows system I'm just much more flexible. I have an the advantages of Linux with WSL (windows subsystem for Linux) and at the same time I don't have to spend time on getting my computer to work.

Whenever I see someone presenting using Linux, they have to spend like 10 minutes configuring their beamer. I'm just connected, with great scaling handling and ready to go.

Additionally, I have a surface pro 4, so whenever I want I can just start sketching on it (great for a programmer).

Stop judging people by the technology they use, because maybe you're the one being fixated.

EDIT: Oh, and PowerShell is actually a nice to use terminal.

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

#209

Post by cube2222 »

frik wrote: post #194

When will Microsoft stop with this shit, and do a 180 degree U-turn? What does it need? It's unbelievable how MSFT turned Windows from the great Win7 to the worst spyware operating system in human history aka Win10 in just 5 years. Is it just greed? Is it that they failed with Mobile (WinPhone is dead and has 0.1% world wide market share) and Android amd iOS have a bigger market share than Windows 7? (Win10 has way s…

Well, I think we should calm down from the paranoia a little bit. Nobody has ever proven any actual spying on windows 10 (it's actually a very secure system)

What everybody's talking about are metrics. Anonymous usage metrics. And trust me, as a user and programmer I know of no company that doesn't collect metrics like that. It's totally common.

Between, as far as I know, from the next update "creators" (this or next month) you can actually turn them off too.

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

#210

Post by rakoo »

overcast wrote: post #116
grawlinson wrote: post #2

Here's a better idea - show Microsoft that you don't accept this type of behaviour by switching products/services. I'm aware that Windows 10 is a "free" OS, but trying to ram this type of behaviour down my throat is despicable unethical behaviour and I don't condone it. It is why I've switched to Linux for my daily computing needs.

Let's just be realistic here, the general public is not ever going to switch a Linux desktop. I've been hearing about it for 25 years, how this year is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop. Not ever happening. Mac MAYBE, but Linux, never. And for the handful of us nerds that do switch, Microsoft doesn't care. The Enterprise is where they make their money, and they are DEFINITELY NOT switching away from Window…

Chromebooks are having quite a success already (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromebook#Sales_and_marketing). I've seen many people say they were happy to use a Chromebook for their current use instead of trying to fix/upggrade their old Windows computer as well.
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