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Useless Windows 10 Features

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Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#341
post #110
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.

Or, maybe they aren't. Maybe their telemetry keeps them in touch with all their users, while the rest of us see only own own little echo chambers.

As time goes on I feel more and more like this is the case. Not just in Windows, but in any application, power users are a minority.

There's also the issue with power users generally turning off as much telemetry as possible. To Microsoft we're much less visible than the average person who leaves everything on the default setting.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#342
post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are the largest company by Market Cap. They're hardly out of touch with their users' needs. I use Windows 10 as my primary development system and it works great. Maybe you're out of touch?

Market cap has nothing to do with a company being in or out of touch with their users.

I think its a valid assumption that a company which is out of touch from their users will lose market cap soon enough

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#343

I've installed Win10 on dozens of machines and I've never seen ads on the lock screen, in the taskbar, and in notifications like the article talks about. Maybe because I always say "no" to all those creepy tracking/advertising ID type options on the initial config screen and I always say no to Cortana at the same time. What I heard (and it seems reasonable) is that MS included games like Solitaire and Minesweeper in…

The article mentions this, but ads on the lock screen are tied to enabling the auto-changing lock screen image.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#344
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sane defaults is what makes the difference.

Firefox also has a huge pile of spam on the new tab page by default. I wish they would just kill it already...

The Firefox page doesn’t cause the browser to freeze up for 30 seconds while it loads all the crap. That’s my point with IE/Edge, not that the page exists to begin with.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 mi…

Manjaro comes OOTB with MS Office 365, and it's super easy to install, easier than Ubuntu if you're doing Nvidia drivers. I personally can't comment on how well their Office works as I avoid anything Microsoft makes, but it's an option.

The nVidia Optimus drivers are still unusable on Linux. This makes the nVidia card in the laptop a dead weight.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#347
post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this - my windows seem to maximize just fine

It's a fairly new thing. https://www.addictivetips.com/mac-os/how-to-maximize-a-windo... ("fairly new" in this case meaning over five years but still)

It doesn’t work in every app. It doesn’t even work in a lot of apples own apps... you hold shift and click in 1 app, it works, try it in another app and it only resize vertically and not horizontally.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#348
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure it does: wine. Whether or not it works (and works performantly enough) for what any given person needs it for is another matter, of course.

Honestly I think it's sad how much the community still underestimates gaming. I tried using wine or even using Steam directly on Linux, but playing any game with 30-40% less performance is ridiculous. If you really like games, Linux is unusable for anything big. I've had to dual boot Windows for the last 10 years just to play a game without stuttering, lag, huge FPS drops, etc. Nothing would make me happier than bein…

what setup do you have ? Because I play on Linux and I don't appreciate any performance drop. For example, Stellaris and Doom fly's on my machine.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#349
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…

Hah, I totally agree. Every time I see it, I think "what the hell were they thinking?!", or "does anyone actually want to read this drivel?!".

It's certainly not exactly a "premium" look.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And is that desirable? Why do we want users to know less about how their computer works? Is it really a problem to know that you have a user directory with a bunch of other directories inside that hold certain classes of information by default? When I open a command prompt (yes, I'm not the average user), I'm in my home directory, and if I create any files or folders, they'll be there by default. To access those file…

The modern developer mindset is that users are cattle. Explore pretty much anywhere developers hang out and ask them why things are the way they are and they'll tell you it's because users are morons. Developers used to want to actually help users make better use of their tools. Hell, computers used to boot into BASIC. Now developers just want to force carefully crafted single-purpose appliances on people so they hav…

They really are forced to do this. That's how Eternal September works.
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