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Useless Windows 10 Features

howtogeek.com

21–30 of 437 posts

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#21
The dumbest windows feature? When you accidentally touch the top of a window to top of screen, it maximizes. On Mac it's sort of the opposite: you can't relocate a window to another screen if it's maximizes. It "helps" you by force partitioning the screen.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#22

In other news, I still cannot disable Windows update on the home edition. I've spent hours and hours and virtually every solution I can find other than giving MS more money to upgrade. Updates keep failing on my machine, which means it just tried again the next day and forces a restart, closing everything I have. Fails day after day after day. I'm not sure why, I frankly don't care. Just ridiculous how impossible it…

Do a search for "reset windows update".

There are a few scripts around which will clear all the cache files and allow you to attempt the update from scratch.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#23
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then pirate it. What do you care? This is like pirating a show they refuse to put on Netflix. They don't give you the option to conveniently buy what you want, so pirate it. Instructions on how to activate your installation of LTSC here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19420337

Pirate KMS servers will go offline eventually right? Even if the legality isn’t a concern, the reliability and maintenance overhead is a problem. There are trust/malware concerns with client-side cracks as well.

That one hasn't gone offline in years, so I've never thought of this. Perhaps you are right, but I assume that it should be easy enough to find new ones if you need them. I wouldn't consider this approach to be "high maintenance".

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire consumer oriented line of Windows 10 feels like a bad trip to a US strip mall. It's preinstalled with loads of junk you can't remove easily. For a while I spent some time putting together a small workflow to clean up Windows 10 builds for a project I was working on. If your hand is forced and you need a minimum amount of tools to get rid of as much bloat and telemetry there are two tools you need: 1) Geek…

Great post. I don't use windows but my girl does. Her compi (Win 10, SSD, 8 GB Ram, i7) has become unusable slow. She does not much besides watching Movies, surfing and using Word. I installed a free reliable antivirus (Avira) when she got it. I will have to look into this problem soon. Any further suggestion? I will definitely try your recommended programs.

I say this in all seriousness, Linux is probably a better experience if that's all she does. Give something like Ubuntu or elementary os test run with a live version and see if she's missing anything you'll either find out she needs Office specifically or it will probably work for her. Linux right now is in a great spot for people who need little customization and people who really love to tinker. If you're in the middle of that group is where friction lives. If linux won't work for you then the suggestions above are great.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#26

In other news, I still cannot disable Windows update on the home edition. I've spent hours and hours and virtually every solution I can find other than giving MS more money to upgrade. Updates keep failing on my machine, which means it just tried again the next day and forces a restart, closing everything I have. Fails day after day after day. I'm not sure why, I frankly don't care. Just ridiculous how impossible it…

> Updates keep failing on my machine

By any chance did you run some script or random "de-bloat" tool someone linked? Half of those break Windows Update and cause it to keep failing (either via setting permissions, host file changes, or registry alterations).

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#27

How about all the ways windows goes out of its way to hide the home folder, and then is now generating multiple places it calls “Documents”, “Pictures”, etc so you’re never really sure where anything is?

Imagine what it's like to write user manuals and other documentation for products that have to run on this shitshow. Welcome to my life...

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#28
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great post. I don't use windows but my girl does. Her compi (Win 10, SSD, 8 GB Ram, i7) has become unusable slow. She does not much besides watching Movies, surfing and using Word. I installed a free reliable antivirus (Avira) when she got it. I will have to look into this problem soon. Any further suggestion? I will definitely try your recommended programs.

In many cases you can get by with the built-in Windows Defender. I’m not sure I trust the free AV vendors, seeing as everyone is jumping on the data-hoovering bandwagon.

Windows defender goes from consistently being one of the best options to no good and then back to one of the best regularly. Generally browsing Gavin are the thing that saves you not than antivirus these days.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#29
post #4

It’s hard to believe how despite all the telemetry, Microsoft still manages to be so out of touch with their users’ actual needs. It’s almost like there’s a hidden agenda somewhere.

I’ve wondered the same thing. Everyone told them not to remove the Start button. They did anyway, and Surprise! everyone hated it.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#30

Most of these are similar manifestations of the same root evil (not specific to Microsoft): Users don’t want Feature X but Company wants users to want Feature X. They release Feature X to the world. It’s a failure—nobody uses it. The PM or developers who invested in that feature need to justify the investment. So they make Feature X enabled by default. Users disable it. So they remove the disable option. Users ignore…

My company makes no software people don't want. I'm actually sort of surprised because my company is exactly the type of company that one would expect to do such a thing. I suspect it's more likely that we're not mature enough yet to have someone justify stupid options rather than benevolence.
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