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Microsoft is driving users away

christitus.com

261–270 of 422 posts

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> CONSTANTLY resetting my user preferences every update (like shoving new buttons [see: ads] onto my taskbar) ultimately lead me to buying the first m1 mbp as my new personal machine. Boy are you going to be disappointed when you discover that settings reset quite aggressively, especially in cases where Apple really thinks it knows better. Want to keep bluetooth off? Both iPhone and macs will not abide. Want to keep…

Let's keep this factual. > Want to keep bluetooth off? Both iPhone and macs will not abide. To turn off Bluetooth, go to settings, select Bluetooth, and turn the toggle off. It will abide. > Nah, they will be automatically migrated to cloud keychain on next upgrade. I never even heard of this happening despite having used Macs for over a decade.

> To turn off Bluetooth, go to settings, select Bluetooth, and turn the toggle off. It will abide.

It will abide for a while, but the next software update will turn it back on. This happens every single update.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#262
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me, recently removed a folder and explorer showed it still being there and you could click on it and see the files. I'm suspicious that they're trying to move to 'one drive' for the whole file system and so need to cache everything for reasons. Performance and also the files on your drive might actually be only in the cloud. IE your hard drive is for local caching not for storing data long term. Means perhaps…

I installed Windows 11 three days ago because I need to make Windows builds for software, this was my first serious attempt at using Windows since 2017. I thought I unchecked everything I possibly could regarding telemetry / cloud services, but I either missed something or they, without permission, uploaded all data in my users folder to their server. It was at almost 2 gigabytes of stuff on their cloud before I real…

Imagine when your HD is just local cache for their cloud services. Oh yes you have a terabyte drive but you can't actually use more than 50 GB of it for storage without paying them.

You know this is what they are up to.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#263

What’s happening in somewhat poorer (BRICS, say) countries? Surely they’d be price sensitive enough not to pay for a Windows license if suddenly it has a (widespread) reputation for being less user friendly than Linux? (And this cohort would eventually become the majority of computer users over time… where would that leave Microsoft?)

It's such a "first world question" haha. Sorry, not trying to insult or criticize you, but this is genuinely a question only people in developed countries would ask. People in poorer countries use pirated software. No, the don't need to be tech-savvy enough to know torrents to use pirated Windows. They don't need to know how to install an OS themselves. 20 years ago when I got my first PC, pirated windows was the nor…

Thanks.

So the windows activation thing is simply disabled at the computer store or something? Security updates still function alright despite this?

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#264
post #133

Install Windows 10 LTSC - keeps you sane for a few more years. By then the newer Windows should hopefully be better.

unless of course you need: * Intel Arc drivers * eGPU drivers * Razer Blade 18 drivers * native ssh * windows containers * WSL (and likely many more that i haven’t found yet)

Windows 11 LTSC comes out this year which will hopefully address your points.

But agree it’s not ideal.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#265

For full Disclosure, I once upon was a software engineer at Microsoft. I witnessed first hand the evil decisions around Windows. I left Microsoft in 2006 but I am still part of the Alumni Network. IMO Microsoft can gain users back by: * Not requiring a Microsoft Account * Ending all data/telemetry collection * Not forcing Edge on its users * Stop releasing improved UI updates every week * Make bash, zsh, ... native f…

Most of the Linux ecosystem is not really interested in selling Linux, they are interested in solving their problems using Linux and then sharing. This leaves space open for groups like Valve or Google to create a nice UI on top of Linux and sell that. How can they compete with free? It turns out free is not actually interested in competing with them… I still give it, like, less than 50% chance of occurring, but it w…

I don’t think MS is interested in sharing back its improvements, like a directx integration layer it would have to build.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Make bash, zsh, ... native for Windows Why? There is PowerShell, able to run on Linux and MacOS. And compared to Bash it is actually readable language.

IMO PowerShell is horrible. It is it an object, or not an object. You don't know, unless you know. How about operators? They make ZERO sense (-eq). They went supreme extreme on namespaces. I could write a paper on how bad PowerShell is. You can keep it. I'll stick with zsh or bash.

> It is it an object, or not an object.

It is always an object. Strings, arrays, paths, the registry—everything can be manipulated as an object.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#267

For full Disclosure, I once upon was a software engineer at Microsoft. I witnessed first hand the evil decisions around Windows. I left Microsoft in 2006 but I am still part of the Alumni Network. IMO Microsoft can gain users back by: * Not requiring a Microsoft Account * Ending all data/telemetry collection * Not forcing Edge on its users * Stop releasing improved UI updates every week * Make bash, zsh, ... native f…

Take the "You need to activate windows" watermark off my screen.

I paid damnit, I'm not paying twice.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#268
post #109

Install Windows 10 LTSC - keeps you sane for a few more years. By then the newer Windows should hopefully be better.

The last Windows 10 LTSC version (22H2) only has support until 2027, only two years longer than regular Windows 10.

Windows 10 LTSC IoT (same thing, really) is supported until 2032.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they are still light years away from providing a good user experience I really don’t get this. All modern desktop environment (OSX, Windows, KDE, Gnome) looks like very similar in terms of user experience quality to me. All are different, true, which is why I can understand will exists. But I will very hard pressed to justify "actually, x is better than y" (yet alone "light years away"), for any pair (x, y). Can yo…

Well, as you say, desktop environments look the same. But they don't feel the same. When we talk about UI/UX we talk about look and feel . I've installed Ubuntu & MX Linux to reply to your question, here are random issues I get with the default setup: why do I get no sound when I play a youtube video (it works on one distro, broken on the other one) ? why do I have no option to change the refresh rate of my monitor t…

I’m sure this is great feedback for the community, thanks for taking the time to test and write it up.

Re: Microsoft is driving users away

#270
post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a difference between: 1. Updates have been applied (in the middle of your crucial thing). Reboot in 60 seconds. Fuck you if you think you can cancel haha. 2. Updates for the following packages are available. Apply: Now or later. Windows is #1. Linux is #2. Linux does it right. Sometimes, you're in the middle of something, and delaying makes sense. But shutting down on a 3d print job, or in the middle of a ga…

The only thing is that most users don't know at all, or don't care. If the system doesn't eventually force them to update, they just won't. That's alright in the first order if you just don't care that they will get hacked, but we know what happened in the XP times - the machines join a botnet and attack everyone else. If you're work PC forces you to reboot "right now", that's a corporate policy or some shitty "endpo…

> The only thing is that most users don't know at all, or don't care.

They will learn when they have been hacked often enough. We should stop treating everyone as children. Oh no, children are now treated like adults.

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