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Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

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Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advertisements in the start menu around Windows 8 was my tipping point. It's just a trashy thing to see candy crush and other crap in there that I never asked for, never could remove, etc. I went to Ubuntu and now PopOS and haven't looked back in almost 10 years. Maybe they've cleaned things up and removed the crap in later Windows but the damage is done and I'm never going back.

I doubt it, given that Microsoft now actually owns the Candy Crush IP.

No, the only "actually" is that a deal was announced to buy the company that has that. The acquisition won't be finished for months if at all (government may block based on antitrust concerns)

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#142
post #83
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just went and resetted it back to Chrome. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

Exactly, why would anyone prefer Chrome to Edge? They both are built on the same Chromium core but Google adds a bunch tracking with merging your website logging together with your browser account.

They keep adding features to Edge that nobody has asked for. And they have rewritten parts of the UI, making them much slower.

On the other hand, once you disable the Google sign-in feature of Chrome and change the new tab to about:blank, it's the cleanest browser there is - much cleaner than Firefox, which is shovelware at this point, and adds new crap every new major version.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#143
post #96
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to run Linux on a computer, you do your research and build/buy one where the hardware support is there. Most people don't need "latest" hardware; hardware from 2-3 years ago is fine, and, honestly, most latest hardware works fine too -- again, if you do your research. Grabbing a random machine and expecting it to work fine (especially if it's a laptop) will often fail, and that's why people spend hours on…

> Grabbing a random machine and expecting it to work fine Not random, but my current machine. How else am I (or random person on the Internet) to migrate to Linux then? Create an entire new machine just for Linux? That is a pretty hefty price. E.g. You bought an expensive nVidia card. Yeah, throw it away. Get AMD. Want dual monitors. Throw one away... I honestly dread switching to Linux. > Certainly some people have…

> Create an entire new machine just for Linux? That is a pretty hefty price.

I understand what you are saying but it is not such a big deal in practice as it may seem. You migrate if your current machine supports linux (you have to do some research), OR you migrate the next time you switch machines.

Linux is my daily driver for 15+ years now and the hardware/drivers stuff doesn't bother me at all. I am currently using two xps laptops and one custom built desktop - everything worked out of the box. I had good experience with thinkpads in the past.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#144
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the answer is to simply not use Windows. I can only see there being an advantage for some game developers to be using it these days. Linux is actually a much better OS for techies: you can make it look nicer, have a better workflow, and you can really play games now that Steam Deck brought so much focus on Linux compatibility. Otherwise, Mac OS is doing just fine as well.

Unfortunately laptop driver support is often rough. I used an XPS 9343 (one marketed as supporting Ubuntu) but I faced issues with popping speaker sounds and mobile data tethering sucking GBs of data for some crazy reason.

For some reason I've never really had any issues with any of the many many laptops I've used over the years. Various HP laptops in the past, mostly, and DEC laptops back in the 20th century. Lately a private NEC laptop (all parts Intel, everything worked out of the box), and my work laptop is currently a Fujitsu Lifebook. No problems with anything. It Just Works.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#145
post #79
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah, the answer is to simply not use Windows. Yeah, no. You either switch to Mac and lose 99% of your applications and some of your hardware. Or you switch to Linux and lose 90% of your applications and latest hardware; And enjoy random problems and figuring out which of hundred answers online is right. Answer could be none, because for example Wayland support for multiple monitors sucks.

If you want to run Linux on a computer, you do your research and build/buy one where the hardware support is there. Most people don't need "latest" hardware; hardware from 2-3 years ago is fine, and, honestly, most latest hardware works fine too -- again, if you do your research. Grabbing a random machine and expecting it to work fine (especially if it's a laptop) will often fail, and that's why people spend hours on…

> where all these critical Windows-only applications are

The vast majority of users would suffer if forced to use only Linux apps. Think Office Vs LibreOffice or Photoshop Vs GIMP. A lot wouldn't be able to work at all, like the folks who use Solidworks.

Let's not pretend that browser/terminal/IDE is the most common usage of PCs.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#146
post #96
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to run Linux on a computer, you do your research and build/buy one where the hardware support is there. Most people don't need "latest" hardware; hardware from 2-3 years ago is fine, and, honestly, most latest hardware works fine too -- again, if you do your research. Grabbing a random machine and expecting it to work fine (especially if it's a laptop) will often fail, and that's why people spend hours on…

> Grabbing a random machine and expecting it to work fine Not random, but my current machine. How else am I (or random person on the Internet) to migrate to Linux then? Create an entire new machine just for Linux? That is a pretty hefty price. E.g. You bought an expensive nVidia card. Yeah, throw it away. Get AMD. Want dual monitors. Throw one away... I honestly dread switching to Linux. > Certainly some people have…

Worth noting a lot of people had to upgrade their computer for Win10 (2 of my relatives were told they had to buy new computers by Windows but I managed to upgrade them with out after lots of fiddling), a lot will have to upgrade for Win11 (to get TPM2 modules).

I think the answer to the last one is if you need Microsoft software then use it. Not much you can do if your chosen vendor doesn't support other OS (WINE, VMs, and such aside).

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#147
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> WSL2, running Linux on Windows, VS Code, VS 2022, it's all good. As someone who also has a Linux desktop and laptops in addition to the Windows machine, WSL is terrible next to the real thing. Unless you need software that only runs on Windows, I advise against using it as a reason to stay on Windows.

> ...WSL is terrible next to the real thing... I am genuinely interested on knowing your reasons for saying WSL is terrible. Just for clarification, I'm a Linux/MacOS user but the times I've had to use WSL in the past whether experimenting at home or in some companies where I was force to use Windows, I though it is actually one of the most decent things Microsoft has created on its entire existence. It is easy to en…

> I am genuinely interested on knowing your reasons for saying WSL is terrible.

It's just that it's poorly integrated with the host environment (because there is a host environment). On Linux and Macs, the Unix side is the machine itself. With WSL1, you have a Windows kernel pretending to be a Linux one (I kind of prefer this approach) but my home folder is not my Windows home folder, but terminal still opens the Windows home anyway. On WSL2 (which I can't use on my corporate laptop because the VPN software breaks something in DNS and networking I haven't had the time to debug) the Windows side needs a network share to get access to the WSL environment (which is not present until the environment starts - and there are other side effects whether WSL starts before the VPN or after).

A Linux box (or Mac) is a so much simpler (to understand what happens) Unix environment it's not even funny.

Having said that, when you overcome those impedance mismatches, it mostly works for the typical use cases. Like you mentioned, Docker works (I need to set a DOCKER_HOST variable to point to the Windows box). And Windows Terminal is excellent (double height and width chars are still missing, but they have overline support).

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#148
I've been using XFCE in my laptop for several years, because I don't have to wake up to some BS every now and then.

I do have Windows long term corporate whatever in my desktop, so to avoid most of the crap. I'm not very much a game, but I game from time to time. Didn't tested gaming in linux yet, but I'm not afraid.

I guess that if somewhere in the future Microsoft tries to make me swallow ther BS I'll just switch and be done with it. Ill suck it up with any difficulty and move on.

It's a pity because Windows is a good OS for most, but I can see in other people computers what they push for.

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