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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

#321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't normally click on timestamps to add to a deep thread, but if you like good storytelling, check out Pillars of Eternity. If you're a pen-and-paper nerd, then it might be right up your alley and the storytelling is really well done.

I was on the kickstarter (same for II) and finished it a while ago, thank you :)

In that case, thank you for backing! I am currently replaying 1 on POTD, and enjoying every minute (I discovered it too late for the second Kickstarter, unfortunately).

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

#322
post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To protect from ransomware you need to at least prevent modification of existing files.

Which he did not argue against. He said that creating new files should still be possible.

Well he only mentions delete. Do the Windows permissions actually make a meaningful distinction between create and modify? I think that might have been difficult to do without completely rewriting a lot of stuff.

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

#323

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.

Many computers these days have an SSD and an HDD. Is it trivial to dual boot in that case? Do you partition both? One? Which one? After partitioning, which partition do you install your OS on?

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

#324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

A super-simple alternative is WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), which let's you run Ubuntu in Windows 10 - I'm sure it won't work for some use cases (e.g running the docker daemon), but it's really rather good! Bash is so much more powerful than the Windows shell, and try as I might I just don't like Powershell, so WSL gives me a great shell while running in Windows - no need for rebooting or VMs!

The point was about not being spied on, so not using Windows in the first place. They think dual boot could be used to minimize Windows usage, when absolutely required.

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

#325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Many computers these days have an SSD and an HDD. Is it trivial to dual boot in that case? Do you partition both? One? Which one? After partitioning, which partition do you install your OS on?

Yes, it's pretty trivial. Ubuntu handles everything with the installation, then GRUB provides a boot menu that lets you choose which OS to use. More granular control is available to those who care, but it's still easy for those who don't care.

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

#326
post #228

Hey Microsoft, also stop rebooting without asking. In fact, just stop automatically doing anything and let me choose to do it myself. Be more like Linux.

This doesn't work for a majority of Windows users, because when given the choice, they will never reboot.

So what? It's not Microsoft's job to maintain the OS, it's the user's job.

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

#327
post #228

Hey Microsoft, also stop rebooting without asking. In fact, just stop automatically doing anything and let me choose to do it myself. Be more like Linux.

This doesn't work for a majority of Windows users, because when given the choice, they will never reboot.

Which is how it should be.

Microsoft should design their OS to not require reboots for updates. The only time I ever have to reboot my Linux box is for a kernel update — that’s it.

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

#328
post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sadly iOS suffers a similar fate with Bluetooth. What are you talking about?

Updates re-enable Bluetooth regardless of the user's preference [0]. (Or did until newer versions, I haven't updated one in a while.) [0] http://finance.yahoo.com/news/this-is-why-apple-enables-blue...

Enabling a a core wireless radio feature != installing unwanted software.

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

#329
post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish it was true but come on, Linux may be good for many uses but simple things like decent font rendering still aren't up to par with Windows or Mac so forget desktop Linux for the masses.

How long ago did you check? The font rendering on my Ubuntu installation is way better than "decent" and I prefer it to Windows' fonts.

With standard user interfaces like the shell and file browser Ubuntu font rendering is fine. The trouble with Linux, however, is that apps tend to do their own thing and with font-rendering they tend to do it badly. LibreOffice is a good example. Last time I looked at it I just gave up on Linux ever competing for mainstream desktop adoption.

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

#330

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.

Disagree. YMMV, but the last time I tried to install both I had a nightmarish time. Fedora worked, but both Ubuntu and Mint gave me massive headaches.

Even when I got one installed I had problems with getting flat mouse speeds, not being able to adjust mouse scroll wheel speeds, even the frickin clock was even messed up. ( had to dig around for the issue then figure out the two OSes where saving the time in different ways every time each shut down)

I've got pages of notes for fixes to various issues I encountered trying to get dual booting working smoothly.

There's no way I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a computer that actually works without a hassle.

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