Useless Windows 10 Features • Hacker News Board

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#251

Post by TeMPOraL » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:30 AM UTC

Nextgrid wrote: post #247

TeMPOraL wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it doesn't. The cancer of advertising didn't spread to Apple's OS yet. Doesn't mean it won't, though.

The ads in the iOS App Store search results are concerning. They may be the beginning of the end.

You can see further community norms in software breaking down. There are already semi-ads in Ubuntu's MOTD.

Few days ago I did `npm install` on a project and saw literal ads spamming my console, asking to maybe support some library's author on Patreon and notifying me (a dozen times) that said author "is looking for a good job".

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#252

Post by Nextgrid » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:31 AM UTC

NikkiA wrote: post #173

userbinator wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I had to check that it's already been "years" since Windows 10 was first released --- a little over 4, to be precise. No one I know actually likes it, the closest has been "tolerate". MS has done a great job of dragging its users through the mud and beating them into submission.

I love it, tried to go back to 7 and couldn't, it just feels so awkward and unrefined now.

Windows 7 is unrefined? I have the opposite experience. Windows 7 feels like a finished product, that in addition is designed to help me work. Windows 8+ feels more like a Linux distribution in comparison, with inconsistent features & UIs everywhere, as if they were just a mash-up of random packages made by random open-source developers with no leader nor common goal. Actually the only thing that can be compared to a goal is that all the features are in some way or another designed to get in my way, waste my time, compromise my privacy, and just in general prevent me from doing actual work.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#253

Post by cookie_monsta » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:31 AM UTC

Nextgrid wrote: post #237

cookie_monsta wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Charging for something like that is a good way to make unhappy customers. I don't mean to sound snobby but I have the feeling that people who are emotionally invested in playing solitaire on a PC are the ones who are least likely to uninstall windows on favour of Linux or equivalent

They may very well buy a Mac as their next computer.

Sorry - I should have been more general in my snobbery. I think that hardcore solitaire players are unlikely to want to learn an entirely new OS regardless of who made it

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#254

Post by kirb » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:33 AM UTC

barking wrote: post #203

kirb wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately Microsoft are the ones who decided to make Windows 10 a free upgrade for Windows 7/8 users, so we all bear the awfulness of them needing to sell sponsored spots in the OS to compensate for that loss of revenue. At least if the OS basically makes money on its own on an ongoing basis, we won’t need to ever pay for Windows updates again? Still, ugh. edit: I’m agreeing with you guys here. I’d spend more on…

For every previous version of windows you typically bought a new licence only when you purchased a new PC. The fact that MS allowed upgrades to Widows 10 on old machines should not have affected their revenue to any great extent, those machines were never going to have a paid upgrade anyway.

I may be completely off-base since Microsoft surely has some numbers we don’t that justify their choice of licensing model, but from my perspective, and from a few real experiences helping family and friends, people figure their PCs were at the end of their life and needed an entire replacement. Installing the free Windows 10 upgrade changes their mind - now they think their computer is perfectly up to date, at least for a few more years. These are machines with specs that look like Core 2 Duo or 1st gen Core i3, 250 GB spinning rust drive, 4 GB RAM. Those specs are especially prolific in decommissioned office PCs sent to recyclers who give them a fresh 7 or 10 license. They’re cheap, plentiful, and come with warranty, so plenty of people go for them.

Another thing to consider is volume licenses weren’t able to take up the offer - the company had to pay for their Windows 10 upgrade. Enterprise licensing is the Microsoft money maker.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#255

Post by david-s » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:34 AM UTC

bigbaguette wrote: post #36

orev wrote: post #18

I honestly think that the new tab/news/spam page in IE/Edge is (and has been, forever) the single biggest factor driving people to Chrome and Firefox. Every time you open it you’re greeted with all this complete junk, making the whole experience stuttering and slowing down your flow. I dread having to open IE on systems with no alternative just because it’s always so bad. Edge might actually be pretty good, but I wil…

That, and the in-app "make Chrome/FF the default browser" popup redirecting to a Windows settings page where when you choose anything else than Edge, you get yet another popup asking you to confirm that you really don't want to use the awesome browser that Edge is.

All this junk they've been doing to Windows lately is making me feel like a restricted guest in my own computer. I'll definitely be exploring alternatives next go around

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#256

Post by thecatspaw » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:35 AM UTC

xeeeeeeeeeeenu wrote: post #112

philliphaydon wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, how is that 'dumb'? Resize a window and drag it to the top will increase total height of screen. Drag a window to the top and it maximizes. Drag to left to dock to left side. (repeat for right side) Drag to top left to dock to top left corner. (repeat for all corners) Win+Arrow (Up) to full screen. Win+Arrow (Down) to un-full screen. Down again to minimum. Win+Shift+Arrow (left/right) to change screen. Win+Arrow…

>On a mac you cannot even maximum a window properly Indeed, to actually maximize a window on macOS, you have to purchase a third party app (BetterSnapTool). I think it's hilarious.

or press alt and click the + symbol.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#257

Post by harrygeez » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:35 AM UTC

projektfu wrote: post #19

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?

I think this is godsend. Before they do this people litter their files all over the filesystem. These magic folders reside in a user's home folder by default anyway.

Most Windows users don't really have much clue about the filesystem like everyone here does.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#258

Post by psv1 » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:36 AM UTC

Draiken wrote: post #244

psv1 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can make a profit and treat your customers well.

I'd argue that's only valid if you're a small company. Once you're a huge corporation with tons of stakeholders, it seems inevitable that you will compromise customers in favor of profits sooner or later.

I feel like this attitude lets big companies off the hook in a way. Yes, as the company grows it becomes more likely that they'll make these compromises, but that doesn't mean it's inevitable.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#259

Post by agumonkey » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:37 AM UTC

orev wrote: post #18

I honestly think that the new tab/news/spam page in IE/Edge is (and has been, forever) the single biggest factor driving people to Chrome and Firefox. Every time you open it you’re greeted with all this complete junk, making the whole experience stuttering and slowing down your flow. I dread having to open IE on systems with no alternative just because it’s always so bad. Edge might actually be pretty good, but I wil…

To you but I don't think that's true for the laymen. I've seen a few old neighbors that expects a news as homepage. Some people are extremely confused about internet, a webpage, a tab, a link .. a bookmark. A news page sounds logical and/or familiar enough it seems. If you remove it they may even despise you.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#260

Post by Const-me » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 10:38 AM UTC

jplayer01 wrote: post #194

Const-me wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once needed to test and debug my software on Win7. The app uses hardware video encoder, virtualization doesn't work, so I had to install Win7 on a hardware PC. The hardware drivers are there. It just takes some time to find them, and then some time to integrate into Win7 ISO so the installer doesn't fail. I liked Win7 very much for the first couple of days. However I've reverted to Win10. Too many things are broken…

I genuinely think Win10 has made huge leaps in many areas compared to Win7. It's just that they make so many bone-headed design decisions across the OS that detract from it. I wish I could recommend Windows 10 wholeheartedly, and generally I do recommend upgrading to it, it's just a ... problematic OS.

Could it be MS deliberately trying to train users to read and understand messages, especially long ones, before clicking "I agree"? I think you can opt out of many problematic features if you pay attention where you click during the OS setup. The licenses are checked online in Win10, so you can download an ISO from Microsoft.com, do clean install, and if you've installed same edition on the same PC it will be activated.