Are there (non-malware) tools that help clean up this madness?
Rm -rf /
The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
51–60 of 75 posts
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#52There is some deep cognitive dissonance going on with windows users in the last 5 years especially I've noticed. Nearly every new thing that happens has the people I know who are on it complaining loudly, desperately trying to hold on to old versions, creating all sorts of workarounds to fight against the operating system
But the same people will still take every opportunity to make the same tired jokes about how I must need to jump through so many hoops to just go about my day on a linux system (for example, opening a terminal to update one package, which I just find more convenient than graphical package manager frontends)
It's a fascinating dynamic. Seemingly the more their trust is betrayed by Microsoft, the more they feel the need to parrot this anti-marketing, as if driven by a need to justify their dedication
I used to play right back into this tribalism, rib them about their "corporate overlords in their infinite wisdom" but the situation keeps getting worse and I have gotten older and I no longer even feel vindicated as this platform decay progresses, just sad for my friends, who won't even consider extricating themselves from this abusive dynamic
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#53My Windows PC is only for gaming. That said, I found a simple way to avoid the worst of the Windows update problems: Always stay at least one major version behind.
That means lagging on Windows 7 or 8 when 10 was current, and lagging on Windows 10 until Windows 12 comes out. Microsoft puts most of their offensive junk on the latest Windows, but still back-ports useful features to Windows 10, like WSLg.
It's not a perfect system, and I may get malware someday from missing security updates if Windows 10 goes EoL before Windows 12 comes out, but having the occasional ransomware hit a gaming PC seems almost less annoying than the current nasty Windows updates. I wish I were joking. I have enough stress in my life where I don't want to fight with my OS as well.
I run linux/NixOS on all my important machines, including work.
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#54There are only two things I can completely rely upon with Microsoft:
1) Amazing Windows backwards compatibility. I can still run executables compiled back in 2000 on the most modern versions.
2) To screw over everybody they do business with and their users, if it will make them a bit more money.
I am a great fan of (1), but (2) is the reason I have as little to do with them as I can.
That's it!
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I understand your point of view, I think you are over-simplifying. I use Linux, macos, and Windows. I have specific reasons for using each for a specific use case. I use Linux for work because I appreciate the ability to customize my interface exactly how I need it. But it's also a lot of work to get many different programs configured and working together. I use macOS for iOS development and for my personal lap…
> I have no desire to pigeonhole myself into one system for purely ideological reasons. I consider myself pragmatic. "Purely ideological reasons" aren't the only reasons to avoid MS. I could talk for hours about pragmatic reasons for avoiding them, and have. The Web has copious information about reasons to avoid them, for decades. Given this, still dismissing it as "purely ideological reasons", and suggesting how MS…
As Zizek would say, you have to be most wary when the ideological subjects start saying they are acting without ideology.
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#56There are only two things I can completely rely upon with Microsoft: 1) Amazing Windows backwards compatibility. I can still run executables compiled back in 2000 on the most modern versions. 2) To screw over everybody they do business with and their users, if it will make them a bit more money. I am a great fan of (1), but (2) is the reason I have as little to do with them as I can. That's it!
1. Couldn't even get to try TES III Morrowind working properly on Win10, worked flawlessly on Linux + Proton.
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#57Recently installed windows 11 on a new pc, after many years of linux and mac. Question after question asking for consent to tracking and personalized ads. Why are personalized ads an install step of an operating system? And am I sure I don't want to buy an Office 365 and OneDrive subscription? Yes, yes, definitely yes, can I please use my computer now? Sure, I'll sign up for a Microsoft account (why?) but please let…
> LinkedIn Press Shift + Ctrl + Win + Alt + L for a surprise
I was actually extra annoyed with that Linkedin icon in that it reappeared after my first uninstall, and only permanently disappeared after a second uninstall. I was half joking that I would return the PC if it appears a third time. Guess the joke's on me...
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#58I wish Microsoft (and others) would understand that "no" means "no", not "keep assaulting me with the same question later under different pretexts".
You have a choice, and that choice is to simply stop using Windows. I made this choice around 6 months ago because of these shenanigans. My production machine now runs Linux, and I'm more productive now when I was with Windows, but I also keep a remote Windows virtual machine running for those times that I still need to interface with this annoying legacy operating system.
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#59There are only two things I can completely rely upon with Microsoft: 1) Amazing Windows backwards compatibility. I can still run executables compiled back in 2000 on the most modern versions. 2) To screw over everybody they do business with and their users, if it will make them a bit more money. I am a great fan of (1), but (2) is the reason I have as little to do with them as I can. That's it!
1. Couldn't even get to try TES III Morrowind working properly on Win10, worked flawlessly on Linux + Proton.
Not perfect sure, but I don't think any other modern system exists that can still run most executables compiled for it nearly a quarter of a century ago?
Still not enough to make me want to use it, but I am genuinely impressed by that.
Re: The new Windows update made me think I'd installed malware
#60How is this not literally the same kind of monopolistic behavior (abusing dominance in one platform to gain an advantage in another) that Microsoft has gotten in trouble over in the past? Between injecting "hey edge is a perfectly good browser" when trying to download Chrome [0, 1], repeatedly clobbering default browser settings across OS updates [2], ignoring the default browser settings [3], and now injecting promp…
This is worse, much worse. In the past they got in trouble over simply including IE with the OS, where it was just present, and they were not even pestering you to use it.
Now the FTC is completely incompetent and can't control itself from bringing overbroad cases that are mostly heavy breathing with too little legal standing. These anti-trust suits keep getting tossed. Lina Khan lost against Amazon, lost against Microsoft, lost against Google, and now they're going after Apple for the App Store instead of Microsoft for this.