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Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps on My PC Without Asking

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111–120 of 342 posts

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

#111
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.

Could works for people with an MSDN subscription. However Microsoft is doing everything it can not to let the general public use the LTSB. Which is a shame as I see this version as the more consumer friendly and Win 7 like.

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

#112

It’s hard to believe that the loss of goodwill is worth whatever revenue Microsoft’s gaining from this, so I have to assume this is them dipping their toe into a strategy that attempts to make them more relevant to users. Maybe a reaction to the Windows app store’s lack of success? Thoughts?

I think it shows how little value Windows is to Microsoft anymore. Office 365 and Azure are where the money is at for the company now. I use Win 10 Enterprise at work so I don't have to worry about any of the Candy Crush or FB malware trash on my PC but no way would I buy a consumer Windows based laptop anymore.

I use Windows 10 Enterprise at work and our image team had to specifically remove Candy Crush. It’s actually more annoying than that, the semiannual OS updates cause Candy Crush to be reinstalled.

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

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you also own a PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii, and a Nintendo Switch? Do you miss the exclusives on them? You'll survive without the handful of games you have to leave behind.

FWIW there are some games on those systems i'd love to play (Last of Us being an example), but at least i know that they'll eventually be emulated so even if it takes 10, 15 or whatever years i'll play them at some point. But the two major differences between what you are talking about and what others are talking about are that a) we have the hardware, it is totally a software issue and b) we are mainly talking for s…

>we are mainly talking for software we already have paid for, not software we may or may not buy in the future.

A solution for this is to set up dual boot or whatever and use it only for the Windows-only games, until you get bored of them. Then kill Windows and you're free.

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

#114
post #102

I've considered upgrading to Windows 10 from time to time but then I read something like this. Is there a way to completely/permanently neuter the Windows App store and functions like the one mentioned here?

I've seen an option to do just this in WPD. https://getwpd.com/

I don't know how effective it is, though.

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

#115
post #21

It’s hard to believe that the loss of goodwill is worth whatever revenue Microsoft’s gaining from this, so I have to assume this is them dipping their toe into a strategy that attempts to make them more relevant to users. Maybe a reaction to the Windows app store’s lack of success? Thoughts?

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. To me it's another nail in the coffin of general purpose computing. We've accepted that mobile devices/OSs are not for general purpose computing and expect that they come with a "lifestyle" to hawk, now o…

Is OS X any different? I feel like Microsoft's largely playing catch-up in that regard.

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

#116

Windows 10 is a cancer. M$ removed the control from the user, and placed it to their money-hungry baboons. It was clear since 8 and 8.1 that M$ will go for the "app model", where you are no longer the administrator on your own machine 'for your own protection'. I hope they come around, or they will just lose all their tech-savy customers. I guess it's their turn to rip off their customers private-date/lives, just as…

"M$" Instantly ignored.

I get your point, and I do get the OP's. But in all fairness, Google/FB/... are just lucky they don't have an 's' in their name because the '$' applies to all of them. Hmm, maybe the 'e' in Apple could be turned into the euro sign :]

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

#117
post #94
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

FWIW, the new Microsoft games are actively maintained with new content and features on a regular basis, whereas the classic Minesweeper/Solitaire EXEs (which you can easily copy onto a Windows 10 PC) weren't modified beyond bugfixes for somewhere around a decade and a half.

Microsoft Jigsaw is perhaps my grandma's favorite thing ever, and the $20 yearly cost for premium (ad-free) is well-worth it to her.

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

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if a game performs better on PC, whose to say it isn't optimized? Some of Vavle's own games have performed better via the Linux build compared to Windows or Mac. It's also super sketchy to not be able to see what's fully happening in one's system.

How do you feel about the closed BIOS and Management Engine that underlie everything?

[deleted]

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

#119

It’s hard to believe that the loss of goodwill is worth whatever revenue Microsoft’s gaining from this, so I have to assume this is them dipping their toe into a strategy that attempts to make them more relevant to users. Maybe a reaction to the Windows app store’s lack of success? Thoughts?

I agree. I don't think it's evident that this is a bad user experience. They identified that many people would appreciate having Facebook notifications on their desktop, so they preinstalled the app and sent a notification to make people aware of it.

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

#120
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it shows how little value Windows is to Microsoft anymore. Office 365 and Azure are where the money is at for the company now. I use Win 10 Enterprise at work so I don't have to worry about any of the Candy Crush or FB malware trash on my PC but no way would I buy a consumer Windows based laptop anymore.

I use Windows 10 Enterprise at work and our image team had to specifically remove Candy Crush. It’s actually more annoying than that, the semiannual OS updates cause Candy Crush to be reinstalled.

This is very unprofessional. Sadly iOS suffers a similar fate with Bluetooth.
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