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Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

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Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#341

Post by npteljes »

jeppester wrote: post #322

Windows won't get better as long as their consumer unfriendly behaviour has no effect on sales. The EU (or some other authority) should force Windows licenses to be a separate purchase. The machines could still come with Windows preloaded, but then require a license key to unlock. It would open the doors for competition and force MS to make Windows a compelling product that users would want to pay for.

> Windows won't get better as long as their consumer unfriendly behaviour has no effect on sales.

I agree. And MS agrees too - which is why they do the bundling thing with new computers, deals for schools, bribes for governments, and making their moat as wide as they can.

The EU already does a funny thing with the licenses too. They come with the computer yes, but they are not married like how they are in the US. They are legally required to be able to be separated after purchase. So, the second hand market is full of licenses like this - you can pick up a Win 10 for $7, Office 2019 for $11, and so on.

Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#342

Post by PicassoCTs »

JCWasmx86 wrote: post #68
JohnFen wrote: post #54

> As Microsoft puts it: “We are continuing the exploration of badging on the Start menu with several new treatments for users logging in with local user accounts to highlight the benefits of signing in with a Microsoft account (MSA).” What is Microsoft really thinking here? You have to go out of your way (and probably do a web search) in order to figure out how to install Win 11 without using a Microsoft Account. So…

Companies should really accept a "No" from their users. No I don't want to use a microsoft account just to use my computer. (Without jumping through hoops) Don't ask me again the moment I say "No". You can see the same with all those dialogs that only have "Yes, do $THING" and "Remind me later".

But they don't respect the consumer any more.

Your selections are never final. Your settings can always be reset on the next update. Your choices can be withered down, like a stone by water.

You are the least important part of these monopolies dukeing it out for the crown. You lost your ability to choose years ago.

What happens now, is just formalities and preparing future generations for the new normality.

The capitalism that worked for the common men, was dead the moment the wall dropped.

Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#343

Post by rewgs »

robocat wrote: post #206
zamalek wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developer mindshare. There are a huge amount of developers who want Windows (or really Visual Studio proper), and there is a meticulously tarred highway from Windows to Azure. The irony is that this bullshit will drive developers away, because they are some of the least likely to put up with it.

> There are a huge amount of developers who want Windows I watched rabid Windows fans that had been developing for many years slowly become disappointed apologists during the decade of 2010. They still use Windows and trust .NET and SQL Server, but they have had their joy slowly beaten out of them by Microsoft’s change of focus. Balmer yelling “Developers developers developers” on stage in 2000 was a sign of how impo…

I know this will never happen, but I wish that they would go even a step further than that:

I wish they would admit that, for better or worse, Linux is the desktop to corral around. A proprietary OS for BYO hardware is very simply a Bad Idea, both in terms of developers (because you're at the mercy of the OS developer's documentation only) and in terms of users (because software will always theoretically be more stable on an OS that a developer can crack open).

So, rather than creating a Windows Developer Edition and charging for it, I would love to see them sunset Windows into a legacy/Enterprise-only OS that they charge a hefty fee for. And then I'd love to see them build a Linux distro that deeply interops with their services (i.e. their real money-makers) that they release for free.

This new "Windows" would be the new OS that comes pre-installed on laptops by HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. It could look essentially the same -- perhaps their desktop environment could be called Glass (get it?) -- and it could still run win32 apps via Wine (which they would be a massive contributor to in this fantasy world of mine). A headless version could of course be available for servers running Azure. Etc etc etc.

They could charge for support (i.e. the FOSS playbook that's been pushed the 70s). They could of course continue to create proprietary apps and modules that they charge for, I don't care -- for example, a CoreAudio/CoreMIDI competitor that only audio professionals would really need. I'm not naive enough to think that proprietary/non-free software will ever go away, but the OS is simply not the place for that. Platforms of all kinds benefit from being FOSS.

I know that there's a great kernel down there, but Windows is just a mess. Just kill the damn thing. Let it die. I ran Windows 11 since it was released and recently switched back to 10 because 11 is just so unbearably bad, and I still only use Windows at all as little as possible, only when I have to for certain work.

None of this will ever happen of course, but a man can dream.

Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#345

Post by unstatusthequo »

dabluecaboose wrote: post #270
warkdarrior wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do all of those in Linux. For example, here's how to set the background to a solid color. Open a terminal and type the following four commands: gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-options 'none' gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#004000' gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background secondary-color '#306030' gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background color-shading-type 'ver…

Hilarious how the first Linux user's response to a Windows user's unease is immediately "open the terminal" As long as that's how it goes, it will never be the Year of the Linux Desktop.

Exactly. Where everything I need to do requires a cryptic command to pull off. What args do I need? Where? Oh shit a capital letter. Try again. I don't want to have to Google everything I need to do. Maybe voice enabled GPT-4 will help.

Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#346

Post by Lammy »

com2kid wrote: post #142
dotty- wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Apple recurringly hounds you to sign in when you hit "Do it later" though. I read "Do it later" here as a subtle reminder that "the option is not gone. You can do it later on your own in your system settings if you want", as opposed to "ok we'll ask you again later unprompted :)"

Everytime my BT headphones connect, Apple Music opens up. Own and iPhone and you are reminded quite often of the benefits of an iCloud subscription. Try setting up an iPhone w/o an apple account for that matter, or using an Android phone (that hasn't been de-googled) without a Google account. Not to mention, users expect their files to be with them everywhere. IMHO Microsoft should make OneDrive free with some obscen…

> Everytime my BT headphones connect, Apple Music opens up.

I had to use a jailbreak tweak to fix this: http://cydia.saurik.com/package/com.itortrix.stopplayin12/

Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#347

Post by toss1 »

JohnFen wrote: post #327
toss1 wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>That could mean scrapping the project because it's unpopular, but could also mean narrowing the focus to the smaller population that really does want what you're selling. ... or, keep improving the product to the point where most people actually find it useful, which is obviously an option for Microsoft, with cash reserves to fund centuries of development. Find out what the downsides are, and fix them, or offer act…

> or, keep improving the product to the point where most people actually find it useful Some product ideas can't be made desirable and useful no matter how much improvement they get.

True, but you start paying enough, and you'll get bigger and bigger populations who find it an acceptable bargain.

You'll also always have some who see through it.

Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#348

Post by Firmwarrior »

bastardoperator wrote: post #192

Plenty of us at MSFT won't even use a windows desktop because of decisions like this. I don't know who's in charge here, but way to go on killing the goodwill of everyone elses work with stupid features everyone actually hates.

I dunno what it's like nowadays, but when I was at MSFT during the win8/early win10 times, the internal mailing lists where 10x as angry and vicious as what you saw in public. Microsoft employees loved Windows and were fucking pissed that it was getting ruined.

I guess they've all been beaten into submission and/or managed out by now..

Re: Microsoft plugging more ads into Windows 11 Start Menu

#349

Post by Dah00n »

Rimintil wrote: post #325
bigger_inside wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never used linux. After a hundred frustrations with my new laptop that runs Win11, I'm now looking to install ubuntu. Windows pushed me there.

You'll be trading one set of known frustrations with another set of unknown frustrations. A few years ago, I ran Fedora w/ KDE Plasma. What _seemed_ to be random is the GTK fonts throughout the UI changed to a mono-spaced font regardless of what the control panel showed. It "resolved itself" within a few weeks. I don't know if it was an update that caused and subsequently resolved the issue, or something else I did.…

I'm not disagreeing with your point, but I don't think those frustrations are comparable with advertising in the Start menu and file browser. I also find it funny that you mention problems with fonts as this is an area where I believe both Linux and macOS are ahead of Windows.
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