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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

#251

Post by 4cao »

> How do you deal with Microsoft's crap on a daily basis?

I don't use Windows 11. On Windows 10, I modify the installation image with DISM, removing as much of the unnecessary and user-hostile stuff as possible. (Some of these packages are hidden but can be un-hidden and then uninstalled anyway. Edge can also be completely removed at this stage.)

I make extensive changes to the registry that disable all the unwanted stuff. Some of these settings are not documented, and even the documented ones are likely to change without notice or become re-enabled by default in subsequent builds. For this reason, to avoid such unpleasant surprises, I prevent any automatic updates.

All of these changes happen before Windows is even installed, and for what's not covered by them, I have a collection of setup scripts that disable what can only be disabled post-installation, and also apply my preferred settings.

In the end, I get a system that does only what I want it to do, and nothing else, although to make this possible one has to go through extensive hurdles.

For the record, I'm not saying things should be like that of course. On the contrary, I realize the situation we're in is ridiculous and some improvement is long overdue. But in the meantime, this is how I've been able to solve the immediate problem for myself.

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

#252

Post by aliswe »

grujicd wrote: post #212

About dealing with Microsoft crap. You customize Windows to your liking and move on. It's certainly not "on a daily basis" as suggested by OP. You don't have to keep anything as suggested by Microsoft. Oh, and you don't upgrade to newer Windows on existing PC until extended support runs out :) If you don't like start menu changes, you install something like Classic Shell (I don't know whether it runs on Win 11 though…

Not making any judgement on this reply, I just like to note that this is a very common reply to Linux criticism as well.

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

#253

Post by executesorder66 »

SquareWheel wrote: post #188
executesorder66 wrote: post #150

There never was a "new microsoft". They are still the same shady business that they have always been.

Companies are often made up of teams with differing goals and ambitions. The folks working on WSL, VS Code, Github and other popular projects are quite different than those making predatory decisions like these. They very well may <3 Linux and believe in open-source.

Sure, every microsoft employee didn't unanimously agree with the decision to change the default browser settings (and any other example that might come to mind).

But it's obvious that the decision makers at microsoft are unethical and have been so since the beginning.

The employees who work on cool stuff that's useful to others could have done so anywhere, yet they _chose_ to do so at microsoft knowing that the higher-ups are consistently unethical.

That makes me question their ethics as well.

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

#254

Post by eptcyka »

kelnos wrote: post #79
Ygg2 wrote: 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…

When x570 was just released, I bought all the newest stuff from AMD, and everything just worked, if you were on a recent kernel. Similarly, when I got a Thinkpad, I just bought it and everything worked. Not saying that this is a representative sample, but I've been successfully skipping the part where I spend months researching if the hardware I buy will work.

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

#255

Post by rekoil »

rightbyte wrote: post #140
gambiting wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Exactly, why would anyone prefer Chrome to Edge? Is this....a real question? I'll bite - because Chrome signs into my google account and it seemlessly remembers everything I do between my PC, my laptop and my phone. I literally couldn't care any less what core it uses, the usability aspect is just better than in Edge.

> it seemlessly remembers everything I do between my PC, my laptop and my phone That is not a feature, unless you are OK with Google spying on you.

You can encrypt the synced data. Through it's probably only possible because Google doesn't need to snoop on the synced data when their browser is pinging everything you do back to them anyway through various Chrome telemetry features.

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

#256

Post by rbanffy »

cesarb wrote: post #236
rbanffy wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But as someone who needs software that runs on Windows It boils down to which OS you want to be the "second-class citizen" on your machine. With Wine, it's Windows. With WSL, it's Linux.

> It boils down to which OS you want to be the "second-class citizen" on your machine. With Wine, it's Windows. With WSL, it's Linux. That equivalence is only valid for WSL1. Since WSL2 runs the real Linux kernel on a VM, the equivalent for it on Linux would be running Windows on a VM.

> the equivalent for it on Linux would be running Windows on a VM.

Not quite. When Windows is on a VM, you mostly run only Windows-specific software on it. Within the VM, everything works mostly flawlessly. Most platform-neutral software will be running on the Linux side, which makes accessing data from the Linux environment a non-issue.

And don't even get me started on Windows-1252 and CRLF line endings.

WSL2 still has some issues with VPN software and my company doesn't support it on my corporate Windows laptop.

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

#257

Post by nmstoker »

joana035 wrote: post #227
ivanmontillam wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody forces anyone to install an OS, but he probably meant that he was pressured into, not by someone but by the very conditions of software. My example: I had to return to Windows a while back because I rely heavily on Zoom Meetings, and Zoom in Linux is just near unusable.

Zoom works okay in Linux via web browser. EDIT: I use Firefox.

Works in Arch fine whenever I've needed it (admittedly not used regularly but it never failed/became unstable)

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

#258

Post by eptcyka »

sharikous wrote: post #145
kelnos wrote: 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…

> 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.

Krita and Blender are pretty sweet though. And you can use some versions of Photoshop via Wine perfectly fine. The same goes for Office.

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

#260

Post by mijoharas »

capableweb wrote: post #210
prohobo wrote: 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.

> I can only see there being an advantage for some game developers to be using it these days Maybe for developers writing games in C++ or their own engines (or small time engines), but for many, how is it better? As far as I know, out of the most popular engines, only Godot actually offers out-of-the-box Linux support. Unreal, Unity, CryEngine and the others don't offer Linux support for their editors, although some…

while this data is 5 years out of date (and I was writing C++), the sdk and toolchain for PS3 and PS4 was only installable via windows (even though they're BSD platforms, go figure).

The same was true for wii/wiiU (linux under the hood) if I recall correctly. I'd be shocked if that weren't also the case for xbox* though I don't remember that specifically.

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