They have a pretty good browser again, and this looks more like a play to get more bing search in front of more people. They make a lot of money with everly little % increases in add display.
I am not sure I feel this is different then Google trying to get you to browser switch when visiting their search site in Firefox or Edge.
Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
241–250 of 578 posts
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#242Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ah, I'm in a similar-ish boat, I use WindowMaker :). This isolates me from most, but definitely not all dubious changes. I've been down the tiling WM rabbit hole a while ago but it's just not for me, I like the mouse, I like icons... It's a little unsettling that there are two ways to get a stable experience: using window manager from 1998 (OK, ok, WindowMaker is still maintained-ish, in fact a very tiny portion of t…
> (...) getting used to a workflow akin to that of Windows 1.01 (i.e. a tiling WM) Not really, unless it's a tong-in-cheek remark. Tiling window managers use virtual desktops and programmable positioning of windows to produce a predictable layout. Windows 1.01 had neither of those. Add muscle memory to it and, if you can endure the learning/customization curve, you get a very efficient window manager. Whenever I'm al…
It's tongue-in-cheek of course :). That being said, I did find tiling WMs to be very unwieldy on most screens. When I first went down the tiling WM rabbit hole, I was using a laptop with a 15" screen, and that was great. After a while I got a 27" monitor, though, and tiling became extremely annoying -- every window is now either too wide to be read comfortably and I end up padding the screen with useless xterms, or too small for contents to fit in any reasonable way.
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#243This, and every other screw-up in the same vein, is why those of us old enough to remember the Halloween documents don't buy the whole "new Microsoft" thing. Want to get me to try Edge? Great -- instead of a passive-aggressive ad, try telling me how it's better than Firefox and why I'd like to use it instead. What will it get me? Better privacy? Better performance? Better development tools? Cynically, it's amazing th…
> Want to get me to try Edge? Great -- instead of a passive-aggressive ad, try telling me how it's better than Firefox and why I'd like to use it instead. What will it get me? Better privacy? Better performance? Better development tools?
Isn't this exactly what Microsoft is doing? Clicking on the ad leads to the product download page which also describes the features.
In most cases, average users like to try software by feel, not by looking at a technical spec sheet.
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel largely the same... they build some really cool things, and developer division, the azure guys and .net core guys I've talked to are all great... why are they so heavy handed on the windows side of things, I don't get. Just auto-update edge and put it in a pinned taskbar position with a new icon and a notification bubble... no need to disparage anything, it'd be more assertive and less annoying at the same tim…
> put it in a pinned taskbar position with a new icon and a notification bubble [...] less annoying I have to disagree here. Messing with people's pinned taskbar icons is much more intrusive than a suggestion (which anyone sane has already disabled) > why are they so heavy handed on the windows side of things I'm sorry but that's pretty funny right before suggesting to literally change users settings without their co…
That would be true if the ad/"suggestion" was just positively touting Edge without negatively mentioning Firefox. Is it even legal to use a competitor's trademark like that?
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#245My god if apple did something like this people would burn cities down. Why do people still trust Microsoft when their OS is literally a native advertising and tracking tool now
Apple is way worse than this, they don't even allow other browsers to exist as anything but shells of theirs!
Firefox does run just fine on OSX.
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree that it's completely different situations. I have not seen anywhere in the legal structure that allows such moves if advertisements are enabled. It is still a company abusing their monopoly situation to influence another market. In fact Google did it worse by blocking browsers purely by user-agent to key google services like maps to block the entry or Fire devices or windows phone devices. Both cases aren'…
It is not, because they are not a monopoly.
Google Search is more of a monopoly than Microsoft Windows is last I checked.
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is this different than getting an ad for Chrome when you go to google.com?
Because we paid money for this OS license, and we didn't go to Microsoft.com
Should Hulu's business model be illegal? Paid+ads is a valid product strategy and Win10 consumer editions follow this strategy.
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never had google ads randomly pop up on my desktop environment. When that starts happening, maybe you have a point.
I live in a browser half the time; the browser IS the desktop environment. Conversely, I don't use the start menu. At best I hit start and type the application I use. But on my Windows machine I mostly live inside my browser and Steam / game libraries, which are pinned to my start bar.
Does Chrome show ads by itself?
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
AI is a good thing if it takes all jobs. The bad thing is the non-stop messing with standards and EEE. Because it makes existing jobs unbearable.
This thinking needs to stop. Seriously, just stop saying things like this. It's a rose-colored tech-bubble view of the world. Even if the "automation utopia" theories are correct the thinking that "man being free to pursue their passions" will increase happiness is a pipe dream at best, a complete lack of understanding of human psychology at worse. We are human: hedonic adaptation was one of our mechanisms for surviv…
How can you assert with such confidence that the elimination of mundane jobs would obviously be a negative force in the world?
In fact, plenty of humans do stop working by choice; we call this "retirement". It tends to be a highlight of life as long as a retiree can maintain their health. Yes, it is a challenge to find purpose outside of work for some, but many people rise to that challenge: many retirees pursue hobbies, arts, athletics, and social functions with at least the same vigor that they once applied to work. Other people work their whole lives at unfulfilling jobs due to real or imagined pressures around making money, despite other interests which they would prefer to pursue.
Your second paragraph is correct. In the short-term, technological elimination of jobs will cause great disruption and misfortune to certain workers (and we should implement policies that assuage the damage). We may have to adopt dramatically more progressive government services. The social vacuum once filled by professional relationships will need to be filled by new, different social institutions. But that's the nature of creative destruction; sometimes getting to a better global state causes local pain.
Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never had google ads randomly pop up on my desktop environment. When that starts happening, maybe you have a point.
You should use Chrome and ChromeOS more. It's already happening.
Which ads do Chrome/ChromeOS show, outside of those shown to everyone using other OS/Browser to access the same sites?