Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

theverge.com

201–210 of 277 posts

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#201

Times like this I am happy I am mostly Windows free with my work as a Linux kernel developer. Still need Windows for a few things. Like playing my GOG.com games. No, Heroic or Lutris do not work well. With the exception of playing the rebuilds of Diablo I. My next gaming machine will likely be Linux only if I ever get myself to finish the OG Baldur's Gate I and II. You can buy the Enhanced Edition on GOG and put in a…

Proton works well and you can add non steam games to steam

To clarify: I want to be able use GOG Galaxy for game syncing and convenience. That does not work well in my experience with Proton.

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't work at Microsoft (anymore) and never worked on this project, but I can pretty confidently say it went like this... Some exec: "Why are people quitting OneDrive?" Some PM: "I don't know." Some exec: "We should do an exit poll." ...time passes Some exec: "Why are people quittin OneDrive?" Some PM: "Those that answer say ____, but a lot of people don't answer the exit poll." Some exec: "We should force them to…

Any time I am forced to reply to one of these, it is never pleasantly worded.

Every time I have to do a new Windows install, where they now force you into entering a Microsoft account, they get a new account added to their database that is some variation of [InsertSwearHere]@[MoreSwears].com so I can finish the install, create a local account, and delete the forced account from the machine.

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#203

Times like this I am happy I am mostly Windows free with my work as a Linux kernel developer. Still need Windows for a few things. Like playing my GOG.com games. No, Heroic or Lutris do not work well. With the exception of playing the rebuilds of Diablo I. My next gaming machine will likely be Linux only if I ever get myself to finish the OG Baldur's Gate I and II. You can buy the Enhanced Edition on GOG and put in a…

I'm earnestly surprised that the compatibility efforts GOG has went through on so many titles hasn't made playing most, if not all, of those old titles playable through WINE. So many of the old DirectDraw / legacy DirectX games have been made capable to play by translating to DirectX 9 that I would imagine WINE would work swimmingly in those cases. I imagine though that you've put in the legwork to try and get those…

For older games it is a mixed bag. Outpost 2 is still mostly broken on Proton last I tried (it was also broken for a while on Windows 10 till GOG patched it up).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIdyqchnPuQ

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#204
post #185

Anyone here work at Microsoft that can explain how anyone at the company thought this was a good idea? Seriously. I'm genuinely confused. MS never had the best UI (hello MS Word toolbars) but those happened over time through attrition and added features. This is one of many intentional user-hostile experiences.

I used to work at Microsoft, so I can field this one: The answer is that they want to gather data about how to improve OneDrive so people continue to use it. The PM who owns OneDrive adoption probably has to talk to a slide in a regular status meeting, and someone up the chain keeps asking pointed questions about why the curve is less than exponential. The fact that they disabled the button until you pick an answer i…

But Microsoft makes hundreds of billions of dollars a year, surely they can afford an experienced PM, or some sort of mentorship program.

I mean this one instance of dumb UI clearly isn’t the end of the world. But every stupid little UI quirk like this reinforces the overall sloppy feeling of the OS.

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#205

The article notes the items in the dropdown: Here are the options the app lets you pick: I do not want OneDrive running all the time I do not know what OneDrive is I do not use OneDrive I am trying to fix a problem with OneDrive I am trying to speed up my computer I get too many notifications Other Sadly, there is no "none of your business, let me quit" option. Actually, the "Other" option encompasses "none of your b…

The self awareness behind "I get too many notifications" is titillating.

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't work at Microsoft (anymore) and never worked on this project, but I can pretty confidently say it went like this... Some exec: "Why are people quitting OneDrive?" Some PM: "I don't know." Some exec: "We should do an exit poll." ...time passes Some exec: "Why are people quittin OneDrive?" Some PM: "Those that answer say ____, but a lot of people don't answer the exit poll." Some exec: "We should force them to…

Any time I am forced to reply to one of these, it is never pleasantly worded.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't work at Microsoft (anymore) and never worked on this project, but I can pretty confidently say it went like this... Some exec: "Why are people quitting OneDrive?" Some PM: "I don't know." Some exec: "We should do an exit poll." ...time passes Some exec: "Why are people quittin OneDrive?" Some PM: "Those that answer say ____, but a lot of people don't answer the exit poll." Some exec: "We should force them to…

Any time I am forced to reply to one of these, it is never pleasantly worded.

“My personal opinion is a premium feature please deliver cash in an envelope”

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#208
OneDrive will randomly hijack your Desktop, Downloads, Documents folders etc shortly after installing Windows. It's a pain to undo it. Errors, forced logins, lots of internet searches to find workarounds etc. One of the most annoying things about Windows RN.

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't work at Microsoft (anymore) and never worked on this project, but I can pretty confidently say it went like this... Some exec: "Why are people quitting OneDrive?" Some PM: "I don't know." Some exec: "We should do an exit poll." ...time passes Some exec: "Why are people quittin OneDrive?" Some PM: "Those that answer say ____, but a lot of people don't answer the exit poll." Some exec: "We should force them to…

Any time I am forced to reply to one of these, it is never pleasantly worded.

Yeah, I always feel like I’m being gaslit by the options. They are always missing an option for what I actually think: “Every moment I think about onedrive is a moment I could have spent with my children. A moment I will never get back. I may never admit it in polite company, but I quietly anticipate a day when you and your software are exorcised from this earth. Indeed, the only emotion I associate with your product is a quiet rage that never quite goes away.”

Mailchimp is probably the only company that does a good job of this in their unsubscribe page. “You are unsubscribed. If you want, tell us why you unsubscribed. 1. Was the mailing list spam? 2. I don’t recall ever signing up to this …”. (At least I think it’s mailchimp.)

Re: Microsoft won't let you close OneDrive on Windows until you explain yourself

#210

Anyone here work at Microsoft that can explain how anyone at the company thought this was a good idea? Seriously. I'm genuinely confused. MS never had the best UI (hello MS Word toolbars) but those happened over time through attrition and added features. This is one of many intentional user-hostile experiences.

I used to work at a company whose recent TOS changes infuriated their own comunity, and while I was there we received lots of insults thru the crash reporter. I'm sure the people who devise those polls and feedback don't care at all, and these are there just for statistics, in the best case a sort of passive alarm that there is a fire somewhere. What they care about is that feature will be noticed internally and that they get pulled up in the company hierarchy.
Post reply on HN