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Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

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Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#91

Post by hokkos »

Windows has a new feature called "Controlled Folder Access", it is a security mecanism that protect from ransomware. It is a great idea, but the implementation is annoying. It block write access to selected directories, so lot of software fail to add a link to the desktop, or add files in the Documents folder. It should have protect agains delete not new file creation. Also the default Defender antivirus is so slow, it make the installation of software package 2 or 3 slower.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/windows-10s-...

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#92

Post by falcolas »

makecheck wrote: post #66
falcolas wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's never that simple, especially for professional users and gamers. Those whose applications are only available for Windows. Sure, there are some open source alternatives, but they are only rarely as good, and even more seldom better, than their Windows counterparts.

Yes “but” how do expect open alternatives to become better? Contribute to a project (with a very low bar for “contribute”, anything from “file a bug” to “fix the documentation” to “make artwork”). Yes, some big companies also push Linux forward but individuals who want good alternatives can do something to make those alternatives happen.

An open source project for external customers (i.e. us) operated by a bunch of unpaid volunteers will never really be able to compete with an application with paid developers, invested users, and the supporting departments.

I'm not saying that open source projects can't get better, that they can't be good, but they will never be as good.

For a corollary: https://twitter.com/patio11/status/936629310785437696

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#93

Post by Retra »

keithnz wrote: post #88

It's a tricky problem. I think tech people are fringe. For me, I would want to disable it all. But if people can turn it off then it doesn't let microsoft improve and adapt. In concept, I kind of like the idea the OS could anticipate the things I need. It's how we imagine futuristic computer systems. It's a bit different from the traditional OS where you are the master over everything. I'm not sure many on HN are goi…

I would naively expect that Microsoft's market share is too large for any real adapting to occur. They've made my machines significantly worse enough times that I've stopped using their OSs completely, and since then I just hear more of the same. They can get away with making things worse, so why shouldn't they?

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#94

Post by gcb0 »

m_fayer wrote: post #41
jbigelow76 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using their products, you can so easily taste how Microsoft is trying to become an "ecosystem", a "lifestyle brand", a "platform", and so on, and to use their OS as the relentless foot in the door for getting there. I think the irony of that statement is from Windows 3.1 and on Windows (25-ish years) was already THE defacto PC platform. I was a pretty big MS fanboy for a long time (and make my living with .NET and th…

They don't want to be just a PC platform anymore. They're looking at Apple's high-end lifestyle brand and trying to get in on some of that. I wish they'd be happy with the organic brand they're building around XBox and Minecraft and all that, but kids and education just don't have the same money or cachet as the upper middle class and up consumer. And I'm no fanboy but boy am I a fan of .NET. So far it seems like tha…

they are going all wrong at that.

people dont buy apple because of the walled garden or spyware or iphoto bugs that expose your pictures. they buy apple despite all that.

if microsoft can produce better and more innovative hardware, which they already did with the surface line, they could have kept windows xp model of online isolation and not only got the people that want the flashy hardware but also the people that want to actively avoid the online tie-in.

instead they are doing the worst they could. you cant even use oneNote with your surface pen, I kid you not, without login in to a live.com account! and minesweeper is a 100mb app that you have to download from the store, and it have in-app purchases.

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#95

Post by tmorton »

keithnz wrote: post #88

It's a tricky problem. I think tech people are fringe. For me, I would want to disable it all. But if people can turn it off then it doesn't let microsoft improve and adapt. In concept, I kind of like the idea the OS could anticipate the things I need. It's how we imagine futuristic computer systems. It's a bit different from the traditional OS where you are the master over everything. I'm not sure many on HN are goi…

boggle

What?

NO. Just no.

This doesn't "anticipate the things I need". It doesn't "anticipate" anything. It's not "the things I need", it's whatever MS decides to promote.

There's a vaguely similar feature, that would be vaguely defensible - but this isn't it. This is malware, plain and simple.

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#96

Post by suby »

Sir_Substance wrote: post #58
falcolas wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's never that simple, especially for professional users and gamers. Those whose applications are only available for Windows. Sure, there are some open source alternatives, but they are only rarely as good, and even more seldom better, than their Windows counterparts.

>It's never that simple, especially for professional users and gamers. Those whose applications are only available for Windows. I'm both, and you're definitely wrong. 155 of my 343 steam games have direct native ports. I've just stopped playing stellaris and started playing KSP. I've been a linux gamer for the last three years and it's been a better experience, not worse. I dominate on ballistic overkill because the…

Maybe I'm misreading this, but if I'm not, just posting to let you know that Stellaris definitely has a Linux port.

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#97

Post by BinaryIdiot »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #89

Many (most?) people on Hacker News might be too young to remember the Halloween Documents. They were internal Microsoft documents describing their proposed strategy for dealing with competition from then-new Free Software alternatives: http://www.catb.org/esr/halloween/ If you want to understand why Microsoft is acting the way they are, read those documents. It's not that I think they are still executing the strategi…

Those memos are over 20 years old. You can't point to something 20 years old and say "see, they did it before therefore that's what's happening today".

I'm not a fan of what they're doing with some of the Windows 10 defaults. But you gotta be crazy to not see the user improvements they've done in so many other areas. They are a very, very different company than they were back then. I'm not saying that excuses anything but you're drawing false equivalences using a 2 decades old set of memos to try and back it.

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#98

Post by titanix2 »

tmorton wrote: post #95
keithnz wrote: post #88

It's a tricky problem. I think tech people are fringe. For me, I would want to disable it all. But if people can turn it off then it doesn't let microsoft improve and adapt. In concept, I kind of like the idea the OS could anticipate the things I need. It's how we imagine futuristic computer systems. It's a bit different from the traditional OS where you are the master over everything. I'm not sure many on HN are goi…

boggle What? NO. Just no. This doesn't "anticipate the things I need". It doesn't "anticipate" anything. It's not "the things I need", it's whatever MS decides to promote. There's a vaguely similar feature, that would be vaguely defensible - but this isn't it. This is malware, plain and simple.

Totally agree. My computers are my things and should be under my control only. That’s why I’m wary of Win 10 which forces system replacement, install softwares without consent, display advertisements, can preload UWP apps in memory, etc. All this things might be an acceptable comprise on mobile for some people (which include myself) but is a big no go on anything desktop or server class.

My harware is not here to be part of someone else botnet. If MS wants my money, let’s make good product without subscription and let me pay for it. I would be glad to pay 20 to 50€ for Visual Studio if it encourages user friendly business practices.

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#99

Post by rjbwork »

xeromal wrote: post #81

I'd recommend running Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10 LTSB to avoid the entire mess. I run WS 2016 for my dev machine and I haven't had any issues and I don't have to deal with the damned Windows Store.

Isn't that a bit expensive?

Re: Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

#100

Post by Retra »

makecheck wrote: post #66
falcolas wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's never that simple, especially for professional users and gamers. Those whose applications are only available for Windows. Sure, there are some open source alternatives, but they are only rarely as good, and even more seldom better, than their Windows counterparts.

Yes “but” how do expect open alternatives to become better? Contribute to a project (with a very low bar for “contribute”, anything from “file a bug” to “fix the documentation” to “make artwork”). Yes, some big companies also push Linux forward but individuals who want good alternatives can do something to make those alternatives happen.

I think if you make development of portable software much easier, then people'll have no excuse for not building software that works on multiple platforms except "we specifically choose to not target that platform."
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