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Windows needs a change in priorities

den.dev

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Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#81

Post by hackerfromthefu »

Pasorrijer wrote: post #50
lucasyvas wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not wrong, but office users should be locked to a browser in 2022 anyway. What do they need Windows for? They can all use a web browser. Microsoft has done an amazing job convincing the office world they need Windows, when they don't need a single feature that it provides in 99% of cases.

As an officer worker, there are many many things I do that cannot be done in a web browser. File comparison tools, macros and complex excel queries, hard applications for both new and legacy critical programs... Can this be done on Linux? Frequently. Can it be done in a web browser? Rarely effectively and often not at all.

I'd have to say that, today, all of those can be done in the browser except Excel.

File comparison, hard applications, legacy code, can be compiled to WASM and run quite well in the browser. The pieces are in place to do it, they just need polishing and tuning to make it ubiquitous. Even Excel could be compiled like this but again MS wants to own you and pin you over a barrel while extracting everything they can from you, so Excel won't be available. But many/most Spreadsheets can be done in Libreoffice, or code or no/low code alternatives.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#82

Post by wenmoon »

windows is great (/s) for having multiple areas with the same settings like regular "Control Panel Mouse" and "Mouse and Keyboard" and "Gaming"

as a user it makes getting help when something is not working (which is often) very difficult and borderline impossible

not to mention completely infuriating

if i could boot directly into a launcher for my games i would do it in a heartbeat. get the OS out of my way please

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#83

Post by Silhouette »

rbut wrote: post #56

Talking about dark patterns, here are a couple I've noticed. In Windows, I'm very careful about NOT signing in to anything Microsoft, unless I have to. I make sure I use a local administrator account instead of a Microsoft account. Yesterday I had to open Microsoft Edge for something that would only work in Edge, and lo-and-behold, Microsoft had taken my Xbox Game Pass sign-in and applied to Edge, then informed me th…

Yesterday I had to open Microsoft Edge for something that would only work in Edge, and lo-and-behold, Microsoft had taken my Xbox Game Pass sign-in and applied to Edge, then informed me they are syncing all my browser history to their servers for my benefit..

I'm not sure how that sort of behaviour isn't a clear violation of all kinds of privacy laws in 2022.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#84

Post by eyelidlessness »

I’m not a Windows user and I know this is not a popular opinion, but… I really wish Windows 8 had been better received. Sure it was a huge break from Win<8. But it was a bold, thoughtful and thorough one, with a lot of potential. Refining Metro but ultimately sticking to its core ideas would almost certainly have produced a better Windows experience overall than the basically incoherent changes which followed.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#85

Post by after_care »

isanengineer wrote: post #51

Does anyone have any insight into how much benefit MSFT actually gets from these decisions? I understand that the intent is to 'make line go up', but as a simpler user I can't really imagine how telemetry and shilling OneDrive actually leads to meaningful revenue growth. On the other hand, people have been loudly complaining about this since the Windows 7 days, and I imagine that there must be some reason they're dou…

> I can't really imagine how telemetry and shilling OneDrive actually leads to meaningful revenue growth.

Microsoft’s ad revenue is $10B (1). Allowing advertisers to send ads based on user profiles is a major feature of digital advertising. Collecting telemetry data improves the user profiling.

These types of changes have a direct positive impact on one of Microsoft’s fastest growing revenue stream. This will lead to meaningful revenue growth.

(1) https://digiday.com/media/microsofts-ad-revenue-hit-10b-and-...

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#86

Post by McAtNite »

_Algernon_ wrote: post #66
rbut wrote: post #56

Talking about dark patterns, here are a couple I've noticed. In Windows, I'm very careful about NOT signing in to anything Microsoft, unless I have to. I make sure I use a local administrator account instead of a Microsoft account. Yesterday I had to open Microsoft Edge for something that would only work in Edge, and lo-and-behold, Microsoft had taken my Xbox Game Pass sign-in and applied to Edge, then informed me th…

Looks like switching to linux when win 7 support ended was the right move. All my games may randomly freeze for no discernible reason, but at least I don't have to deal with that BS.

I’m desperately wishing for Valve to have success with the Deck so that Linux gets better attention from game devs. The last Windows machine in my environment is exclusively for PC games, and I honestly can’t wait to install Linux over it.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#87

Post by 8note »

userbinator wrote: post #60

This menu is familiar to me because that’s what the Windows API allows you to create (as long as you are not creating it through Windows Forms.) There is no dark theme for this, but at least there are rounded corners. That is just a huge WTF. Since the very earliest versions of Windows there has always been the option of a dark (or white, or rainbow, or ...) theme, where you could adjust the colours and sizes and fon…

Mind you, at the same time, there's fewer and fewer users for those old features, so why should they be priority vs the people who are just starting to pick up a computer?

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#88

Post by foerbert »

_Algernon_ wrote: post #66
rbut wrote: post #56

Talking about dark patterns, here are a couple I've noticed. In Windows, I'm very careful about NOT signing in to anything Microsoft, unless I have to. I make sure I use a local administrator account instead of a Microsoft account. Yesterday I had to open Microsoft Edge for something that would only work in Edge, and lo-and-behold, Microsoft had taken my Xbox Game Pass sign-in and applied to Edge, then informed me th…

Looks like switching to linux when win 7 support ended was the right move. All my games may randomly freeze for no discernible reason, but at least I don't have to deal with that BS.

Really? I made the same move (or at least finished it 100%) at the same time, and that's not a problem I've ever seen.

Some (surprisingly few, actually) don't perform well under Wine/Proton, or at all, but random freezing I've never seen. And certainly not all of my games.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#90

Post by creakingstairs »

_Algernon_ wrote: post #66
rbut wrote: post #56

Talking about dark patterns, here are a couple I've noticed. In Windows, I'm very careful about NOT signing in to anything Microsoft, unless I have to. I make sure I use a local administrator account instead of a Microsoft account. Yesterday I had to open Microsoft Edge for something that would only work in Edge, and lo-and-behold, Microsoft had taken my Xbox Game Pass sign-in and applied to Edge, then informed me th…

Looks like switching to linux when win 7 support ended was the right move. All my games may randomly freeze for no discernible reason, but at least I don't have to deal with that BS.

I can’t wait for Proton to get better so I can ditch Windows for good. I know it’s already really good and it will run for most of the game I play, but I do like to dabble in competitive online or AAA once in a while :(
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