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People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

windowscentral.com

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Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#261

Post by ahartmetz »

bombcar wrote: post #66
longislandguido wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Neo costs $200 more than a comparable Windows laptop, but with half the RAM and storage as said comparable Windows laptop. They're fighting to seize the very specific market segment of "I don't like Windows and don't want to use Linux or a Chromebook, and I'm also poor, but still want to pay a premium price for an underpowered tablet with keyboard glued to it."

Can you recommend a Windows laptop in the $400 range? I'm interested in a craptop for various Windows things that still pop up from time to time.

Used T model Thinkpad probably? That's the least original advice you're going to get if you ask a bunch of nerds, and these guys know their computers ;)

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#262

Post by ryandrake »

chocochunks wrote: post #156
kotaKat wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hypervisor.framework on the Mac, personally.

With half the RAM?

A vanishingly small number of end users (both PC and Mac) care about how much RAM they have. I'd be willing to bet that at least 75% of PC and Mac laptop owners couldn't even tell you how much RAM they have, or they mistake hard disk storage for RAM or vice versa.

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#263

Post by TheDong »

zadikian wrote: post #228
TheDong wrote: post #171

Are people inside apple fighting to drop the mandatory apple account for iOS and various core apple features? I can buy a thinkpad and install linux on it without once creating a microsoft account. I can buy an android phone supported by GrapheneOS, and use it as a perfectly fine phone without ever creating a google account. I cannot buy an iPhone without creating an apple account, without getting ads shoved in my fa…

Does iOS truly require it? I thought that was only if you wanted to use the store.

Being unable to install an alternate app store or sideload my own apps means I need an apple ID to use the computer I purchased.

Again, android phones with GrapheneOS or windows machines with linux let me use my hardware fully without creating any advertising-ridden-evil-corporate-company's account, including building and running my own apps.

I can't even build my own code for iOS, let alone run it, without an apple account (and paying apple money).

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#264

Post by sylens »

Miraste wrote: post #148
Rapzid wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with a sizeable background in Linux system engineering.. I prefer Windows to MacOS. It's IMHO a better desktop now with the edge snap tile layout and etc. Excellent device compatibility. And I get my linux environment needs satisfied via WSL2 these days. But damn if they don't get in their own way. I have my own Pro licenses, and even with Pro turning off ads and features is text book whack-a-mole: * Frequ…

I also think Windows' native window tiling is one of its best features, but there's a fantastic program called Swish that implements tiling for MacOS in a very native-feeling way. It supports keyboard shortcuts, but it's built around really elegant touchpad gestures. Highly recommend if that's all that's keeping you on Windows. The other native Windows feature I really like is the clipboard manager, and I don't have…

Apple did introduce one this past fall as part of Spotlight

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#265

Post by drillsteps5 »

They might drop it for end consumers but I doubt it.

It's such a small niche right now they do not even care if they're in their cloud. Enterprise users are the absolute majority of their user base revenue-wise.

However dropping the requirement might force them to change some things. Like in Azure-related stuff such as OneDrive where you have to design/build/test it behave differently if the user is not constantly logged into the Azure account. This means that they might decide to continue to force the Azure account and if they lose more of the end consumers so be it.

Unless they decide to separate Home and higher versions of Windows even more and drop the requirement for the home version users. But it might be more trouble than it's worth.

Enterprise is where the money is.

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#266

Post by aurareturn »

lukeschlather wrote: post #235
aurareturn wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It actually is magic Mac memory. No joke. 8GB on macOS is good enough for 80% of people.

Do browsers and Electron apps magically take up less memory on Macs? What is "good enough?" I never notice problems on my 16GB Windows laptop, so just for fun I closed all of my 6 always-on Electron-type apps, all of the 10 browser windows I had open, a couple other ever-present apps, and it looks like without anything else Windows 10 takes about 4GB, which I think is in the same ballpark as OS X. And I probably have…

Swap on macOS is incredibly good. Not sure how Apple does it. Maybe hardware compression?

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#267

Post by john_strinlai »

jon-wood wrote: post #216
john_strinlai wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

most people are not willing to learn an entire new operating system for no reason, though. this might happen in tech-based companies, sure, but banks? accounting firms? ive never seen them offer macbooks. this is also ignoring all of the critical software that is windows-only (e.g. quickbooks, solidworks, bespoke programs in banks and government). point is: microsoft is not in "significant danger" today.

An increasing number of people are coming into the workplace never having used a Windows machine, or only occasionally having done so when it was absolutely necessary.

>An increasing number of people are coming into the workplace never having used a Windows machine

i would love to see your numbers for this. what does "increasing percentage" mean? 1% -> 2%? 10% -> 20%?

i teach at a college level, in tech, and would estimate ~5% of incoming students have any experience with something other than windows on a pc, at best. outside of tech, i would estimate ~2%.

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#268

Post by skipants »

exographicskip wrote: post #239
ooterness wrote: post #3

Too little, too late. I switched to Linux and I'm never looking back. Good riddance, Microsoft.

The only two moats MS has for desktop OS usage are: 1) Kernel-level DRM for multiplayer games (looking at you, Marathon) 2) Intentionally nerfed MSO 365 apps on web and macOS You could make a strong case that MDM (which InTune uses as well) negates the AD + GPO advantages of the past 20+ years in enterprise.

> 1) Kernel-level DRM for multiplayer games (looking at you, Marathon)

This finally forced me to quit League of Legends (this is a buff)

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#269

Post by hexage1814 »

Totally random observation, but this site, Windows Central (I think it belongs to a company named Future PLC), is bloated as hell. So it was somewhat ironic seeing them publishing about how Microsoft should make Windows less shitty for its users

Re: People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account

#270

Post by gopher_space »

chocochunks wrote: post #114
philistine wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're proving the point. The computer you found wins on the specs page for sure. But the proof is in the pudding; Apple makes money hand over fist because they focus on reasonable specs, and quality. The thing that kills a modern laptop is not a slow CPU or RAM on the chip; it's a cheap chassis that breaks. That's what makes people change their computer.

Apple wins on the perception of being a luxury brand. That's it.

I have thirty years worth of old laptops in a closet. The macs all have hinges that still work.

It’s nice to own things designed to not fall apart after a few years.

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