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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

#121

When you choose Windows, the computer uses you. When you choose Linux, you use the computer. Stop complaining and start switching. It should be apparent by now that Microsoft isn't going to stop their bad behavior.

The majority of people who could use Linux exclusively (only need a browser, don't need Office compatibility, nothing fancy) buy a "just works" Windows laptop or tablet and I bet 99% of them don't even know what Linux is. Even then you get some weird cases like banking software not working on Linux and they ask you to install Windows again. And kids wants to play what their friends are playing, it's hard to break the…

I'm getting sick of this dichotomy. It's trivial to install both. Keep windows 10 on a partition big enough for your games/Netflix/etc., and use Debian/Archlinux/NixOS/whatever for everything else.

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

#123
I have never used Windows 10 nor made significant use of any Windows version since Windows XP. Nonetheless my parents asked me to look at some issues they were having with their laptops. The trend of increasing clutter that has plagued Windows since XP seems to have accelerated. The user experience appears to have been designed by a hoarder. I spent a significant amount of time asking "Do you know what this is? Do you use it?" to be able to remove some of the many goo-gahs that had been helpfully installed by either Windows or one of their devices. It made me sad that my parents just accepted that this was how computers are because they were unaware that the crap-strewn-everywhere experience was a deliberate choice for the Windows ecosystem.

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

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Unfortunately) HP has been loading their machines with crapware for about a decade now. :(

Why is MS cramming down my throat some 3D Pain thing, Augmented Reality crap and other apps I don't care about? Edit: Oh and Camera app. On a desktop. Without even a webcam. What is the justification for that?

>some 3D Pain thing

Was that intentional? Made me laugh either way.

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

#125

When you choose Windows, the computer uses you. When you choose Linux, you use the computer. Stop complaining and start switching. It should be apparent by now that Microsoft isn't going to stop their bad behavior.

Thanks for the advice. I will just ask everyone who wrote the software I use to port it.

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

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The majority of people who could use Linux exclusively (only need a browser, don't need Office compatibility, nothing fancy) buy a "just works" Windows laptop or tablet and I bet 99% of them don't even know what Linux is. Even then you get some weird cases like banking software not working on Linux and they ask you to install Windows again. And kids wants to play what their friends are playing, it's hard to break the…

I'm getting sick of this dichotomy. It's trivial to install both. Keep windows 10 on a partition big enough for your games/Netflix/etc., and use Debian/Archlinux/NixOS/whatever for everything else.

Trivial to install both but a real hassle to actually use both.

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

#127
post #50

And that's why my one remaining Windows machine runs Windows 7.

Me too. I have a perfectly functional music studio computer that's dual-booting Win7 on both partitions - one for more general use and making YouTube videos, and the other for making music. I've had quite a few 'why aren't you running Win10' comments... I have nothing to gain and a lot to lose - time if nothing else. I hate the Win10 UI, bloatware and changing things without your consent, and Win7 works perfectly for me at the moment.

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

#128
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.

It's great that people are willing to do this but it seems like kind of an absurd bar to just doing general computing.

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

#129
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…

Software developers are probably one of the few professional groups with virtually no software that ties them explicitly to Windows or MacOS. Accountants, artists, video editors, modelers, engineers, car mechanics... so many others rely on software only available on Windows.

On the gaming note - I'm glad you enjoy the games available on Linux, and that you were OK giving up some games you enjoyed. Personally, I'm working my way through WoW, with some dabbling in Space Engineers and Subnautica. None of which are available on Linux, without diving into the world of Wine.

Could I give up Windows PC gaming entirely? Sure.Could I dive into the convoluted and not-always-reliable world of Wine? Sure. Could Bob Ross have given up oil painting for acrylics? Sure. But... it doesn't sound like much fun.

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

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not every user is capable of being a developer for every application they want to use.

Then donate however many thousands of dollars you were going to spend on Autodesk/etc licenses to Blender, Krita, Gimp, etc. Blender and Krita are competitive with their commercial counterparts and Gimp is getting there.

Note that the biggest issue with such programs isn't so much the features as the file formats these programs use that came to become de facto standards in their industries.

I was just yesterday talking with a friend of mine who worked in architecture visualization and told me that basically the main reason he cannot use blender, even though he'd really like to learn it (and it would save him money on licensing), and he uses 3ds max instead is that 3ds max can read (he didn't care about writing) all the file formats from more specialized software (not max files) that his clients send to him and that is basically the reason every firm that does the same thing cannot use blender.

When i suggested that maybe some of those firms could pay developers to implement and/or improve support for those formats, he said that none would do such a thing as the bigger firms who can pay developers do not really care and can afford to use 3ds max while those who would benefit more by switching to blender (smaller firms and freelancers) cannot pay the developers.

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