Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

news.softpedia.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

541–550 of 578 posts

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#541

Post by jjdredd »

Mirioron wrote: post #301
iso1631 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over the last couple of years I've been coming round to the fact that microsoft aren't necessarily a major problem now, compared to google and amazon at least. Doesn't take much to put the shields back upto full. I just don't understand why people run windows. Maybe I just use computers wrong, having been on linux for the last 20 years, but my family (who I refuse to help with IT needs) are all far happier on chromeb…

> I just don't understand why people run windows. For me the main reason is games. Dual booting is really annoying and jumping through the 15 hoops it takes to run games on Linux doesn't seem worth it considering how poorly games seem to run natively on Windows already. It's not a question of "there are no games for Linux" but rather "the game I want to play is not on Linux". This one point is basically the anchor th…

Same reason for me. If not for games, I would have switched a long time ago. My favourite game runs only on windows and requires an anti-cheat that runs only on windows. So I just dual-boot.

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#543

Post by jevgeni »

simion314 wrote: post #282
jevgeni wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not illegal in the U.S.

So in US on TV and radio do you have say Pepsi commercials that mention Coca Cola in a bad way? I seen this kind of commercials on YouTube but I was under the impression that those never were on TV but maybe I am wrong and those are only illegal in Europe and other countries.

I think it's called "comparative advertising". It is legal in the U.S. but definitely illegal in Germany and I bet in other European countries.

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#544

Post by thefunnyman »

a1369209993 wrote: post #496
neuronic wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the (now past) Amazon integration in Ubuntu?

> freedom-concerned software. Thank you for giving a example of why we can't use the term "free software" any more. Also fuck Ubuntu.

It seems a bit absurd that this is still a reason to say 'fuck ubuntu' when they listened to user feedback and reversed that feature. I can't think of any other similar missteps in recent years.

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#545

Post by thefunnyman »

commoner wrote: post #333
rafiki6 wrote: post #313

Has anyone here actually looked at the "anti-Firefox" ad in question? It's literally a tile that says "Still using Firefox? Edge is here!". I'm not really sure what we expected here. This is about the same as a browser asking you to make it default when you open it. All big companies do weird anti competitive things. This isn't one of those things. I know I'll likely get downvoted for this opinion, but to many commen…

Many people did not appreciate Microsoft's acquisition of GitHub, and Azure wouldn't be very successful if it didn't support Linux (the predominant server operating system). It is completely reasonable to be skeptical of Microsoft's actions here, as they have a history of anticompetitive behavior in the web browser market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor... . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki…

Most people, myself included, were skeptical when Microsoft bought GitHub and assumed it would change for the worse. In this case I'm happy to have been proven wrong and I've seen nothing but improvements to GitHub following it's acquisition. They pretty much immediately made private repos free if you have less than four contributors and have allowed GitHub to continue to deliver awesome features like GitHub actions for free to open source repos.

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#546

Post by _pmf_ »

anoncake wrote: post #171
_pmf_ wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft are somehow now expected to be the good guy, because everything else will harm your GitHub social credits that are required for hiring being hired in SV.

Please tell me you're being sarcastic because I'm only 90% sure you are.

I don't know anymore, really.

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#547

Post by Razengan »

inviromentalist wrote: post #389
codewithcheese wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your reasoning does not make it harmless, it makes Microsoft the same as Google and Apple.

People defend the walled garden of Apple. But I think it's just post purchase rationalization.

People enter the walled garden expecting a walled garden and desiring a walled garden.

Microsoft’s behavior is like taking a stroll in a forest or open field and suddenly having walls erected around you and cameras pointed at you.

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#549

Post by alxlaz »

jevgeni wrote: post #543
simion314 wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in US on TV and radio do you have say Pepsi commercials that mention Coca Cola in a bad way? I seen this kind of commercials on YouTube but I was under the impression that those never were on TV but maybe I am wrong and those are only illegal in Europe and other countries.

I think it's called "comparative advertising". It is legal in the U.S. but definitely illegal in Germany and I bet in other European countries.

Comparative advertising is legal in some (most?) European countries -- it's definitely legal where I'm from (and AFAIK it's also been legal in Germany for a while, although it has been banned for a long time). However, in most cases, if you want to do it, you have to do it based on clear metrics that your audience can verify.

So for example it's legal to show an ad saying that Edge is faster than its competitors, but you have to write a small note somewhere that says who measured that and how.

(Technically I think you can even call the competitors by name, but virtually no one does it because the public doesn't really appreciate that. Most companies will, at most, give a subtle hint).

It is, however, illegal to show an ad which simply says or implies that Firefox is somehow worse than Edge, or that no one uses it anymore, or that it's old, or whatever, without explaining how you got to that conclusion. It's fine to say that Edge is the most popular browser and link to a page about the study that showed it (or the study itself). But without the numbers, you're not allowed to do it. The studies in question are rarely truly objective, but they do offer useful data points.

That's intended to ensure that a company which is perceived as reliable or trustworthy cannot abuse that position and engage in false advertising.

This is a pretty good example -- among non-technical users, who make up the vast majority of computer users in the world, Microsoft is perceived as a solid and reliable company (and, the whole ads and data collection thing aside, it's perceived that way among technical users, too, yours truly included). Their word carries some weight, and non-technical users are likely to take their word at face value.

Re: Microsoft begins showing an anti-Firefox ad in the Windows 10 start menu

#550

Post by alxlaz »

michaelmrose wrote: post #494
alxlaz wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How are useless xterms different from uselessly used space for a simply centered window? You still have to open them and move them around, especially if you do change your layout eventually. I actually didn't have that problem when I was using ratpoison, but some applications (looking at you, Eclipse...) don't really work with it. (I know about stumpwm, and I do know Common Lisp, but alas, we just don't get along t…

Why didn't you use gaps instead of empty windows? Instead of hours writing scripts you could have spent 10 seconds adding a few lines of config.

This was before i3-gaps was a thing, if that's what you're referring to.
Post reply on HN