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Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

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Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#251

Post by SomeUserName432 »

cm2187 wrote: post #119

I enjoy windows 10 hugely now that it is out of support. It became way better when microsoft started tormenting the users of win11 instead of win10, and now that windows update doesn't bring new catastrophes and unexpected reboot, the OS is finally not interfering with usage anymore.

> It became way better when microsoft started tormenting the users of win11 instead of win10, and now that windows update doesn't bring new catastrophes and unexpected reboot, the OS is finally not interfering with usage anymore.

Yesterday when I booted my windows 10 desktop PC I got a bunch of popups (Win32 MessageBox) about errors in some O365 AI dll files.

Turns out some MS AI software was silently installed on my PC in late may.

I do not have MS Office or anything that should require any AI software.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#252

Post by TonyStr »

freediddy wrote: post #88

I was forced to switch to Windows 11 despite promising myself that I would never do this. WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I INCREASE THE WIDTH OF THE TASKBAR? I have a 30" monitor, I can afford to have 3 or 4 rows of windows in my task bar. But I can't, not because it's technically feasible but because a human at Microsoft that believes they are more important than their customers made a decision to remove that option because the…

Interesting, this was definitely possible in windows 10. I do remember upgrading form 10 -> 11 and not being able to use a vertical task bar anymore, but that appears to be getting patched now with the next release.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#253

Post by robtherobber »

bad_username wrote: post #148
tommica wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not worried about 0-days and other malware?

I use Windows 10 with a relatively obscure firewall software with a per-process/per-service whitelist, and try to not be stupid on the Internet. I also do regular backups. This should cover most of the risk model applicable to me. Has worked so far.

I don't suppose that you can share the setup with us? What firewall, how are the backups performed, how regular etc.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#254

Post by jdiff »

cm2187 wrote: post #172
tommica wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not worried about 0-days and other malware?

The computer is not exposed to the WAN (behind a firewall), the main way it could get infected is via a vulnerability in a browser, but these do get updated. And OS updates don't really protect you from malware in executables you install anyway.

There's always the next great kernel level font or scrollbar exploit.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#255

Post by flaunf221 »

krige wrote: post #201
madduci wrote: post #86

Windows has reached the point where it deserves only to run in a virtual machine for some needs. Otherwise leave it behind and move on to Linux, BSD or whatever doesn't require a cloud account to work

Linux hasn't reached the point where it can be the main driver, not for my usecases. Everything works until very suddenly it doesn't and there's no budging.

Same. With every enshittification step Microsoft takes I want to switch, but alternatives are still worse.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#256

Post by VTimofeenko »

keyringlight wrote: post #248
VTimofeenko wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moving 15 years back puts you into glory Win7 days. IIRC, the spam started with win8 which was released ~13 years ago and was very mild at first

That's an interesting dividing line, and I think also needs to be compared against big companies setting opt-in/out defaults or the "Yes/Maybe later" patterns. What I find curious is that there's been the opportunity for spam for a lot longer, in a way the Win8 live tiles were an evolution of the widgets that first appeared in Vista, and they introduced active wallpaper along with IE4 (or was it Win98?) although that…

I can totally see Internet availabilit correlating with the rise of unwanted stuff in the install. Believe it started with 3rd party games being part of the OS at first. I don't recall the yes/maybe later dialog "options" in win8 though, at least not in the beginning.

I actually really liked the win8 start menu change and the live tiles, even wrote some tiny homegrown apps with them. My logic was always "if I am opening the start menu, I will want to interact with that menu and only it until it's closed", so having it fullscreen made sense.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#257

Post by hilariously »

SomeUserName432 wrote: post #251
cm2187 wrote: post #119

I enjoy windows 10 hugely now that it is out of support. It became way better when microsoft started tormenting the users of win11 instead of win10, and now that windows update doesn't bring new catastrophes and unexpected reboot, the OS is finally not interfering with usage anymore.

> It became way better when microsoft started tormenting the users of win11 instead of win10, and now that windows update doesn't bring new catastrophes and unexpected reboot, the OS is finally not interfering with usage anymore. Yesterday when I booted my windows 10 desktop PC I got a bunch of popups (Win32 MessageBox) about errors in some O365 AI dll files. Turns out some MS AI software was silently installed on my…

What you probably have is a component of O365 as an updater installed - check your programs and features because msft bundled this awhile back and once its removed it will stop the update treadmill.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#258

Post by CM30 »

johnea wrote: post #4

It does make me wonder why people keep running this OS...

Games and niche software for the most part.

Yeah, compatibility on Linux is better now, especially with Valve implementing Proton so games would run on the Steam Deck.

But there are still incompatible games, and non-Windows operating systems are generally not a priority for many game developers. So, you have to hope that either Valve or the community have found a way to make them run on other systems.

And then there's the aforementioned niche stuff. Yes, your games may be compatible with Linux, but what about the tools needed to mod them? Plenty of modding and ROM hacking communities only develop for Windows, so anyone looking to get involved in those scenes has no real choice other than to use Windows. Wouldn't be surprised if plenty of non-gaming communities made heavy use of tools from the days of Windows 95 or MS DOS too, whose creators haven't bothered to update them in years or who have no interest in porting them to Linux in general. Bonus points if the tool is closed source freeware from some site that looks like it was made in 1995.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#259

Post by globular-toast »

VTimofeenko wrote: post #212
globular-toast wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I installed it on a VM the other day, and trust me it was only because my job, which pays me, required it. I couldn't believe it was trying to get me to sign in to a Microsoft account to finish installation. I had to look up some arcane way to skip it. The article I read listed other methods, many of which no longer work so it seems they really want you to log in. Then it was showing me shit like the FTSE 100 price r…

Moving 15 years back puts you into glory Win7 days. IIRC, the spam started with win8 which was released ~13 years ago and was very mild at first

Actually it was Vista that made me quit for good, so I might be out of date with my "15 years" claim.

It's amazing how things can seem great when looking back at them. I remember when Bush was President of the US and we made fun of him for being "stupid". Now looking back he seemed like a great chap. The good old days...

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#260

Post by tyfon »

tommica wrote: post #136
cm2187 wrote: post #119

I enjoy windows 10 hugely now that it is out of support. It became way better when microsoft started tormenting the users of win11 instead of win10, and now that windows update doesn't bring new catastrophes and unexpected reboot, the OS is finally not interfering with usage anymore.

You are not worried about 0-days and other malware?

Just use mass grave scripts[1] and enable 5 years of security updates.

[1] https://massgrave.dev/

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