Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

theverge.com

11–20 of 373 posts

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#11

"You might argue that this is Microsoft’s operating system, or that when using Microsoft’s browser and search engine it’s well within its rights to try and sway people away from Chrome." "Microsoft’s behaviors here are totally beyond a simple webpage prompt. I shouldn’t have to be dismissing pop-ups that appear on top of my apps and games, or ones that magically appear after I update my copy of Windows." Windows 11 i…

The only thing that a user can do is switch OS. Microsfts goal is to extract as much profit as possible. The main factors that oppose enshitification are users leaving (revenue is lost) or regulation (increases costs).

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#12

"You might argue that this is Microsoft’s operating system, or that when using Microsoft’s browser and search engine it’s well within its rights to try and sway people away from Chrome." "Microsoft’s behaviors here are totally beyond a simple webpage prompt. I shouldn’t have to be dismissing pop-ups that appear on top of my apps and games, or ones that magically appear after I update my copy of Windows." Windows 11 i…

Not use Windows?

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#13
Somewhere in the last decade, Microsoft realized that it would be better for them to give away free upgrades to Windows for existing licensed customers so that they would have an larger pool of users that they could upsell services to and target with ads.

At this point, I'd like to return to the days of paying $129 for a Windows upgrade if it meant ripping all this junk out of my OS. Windows 11 feels pretty snappy to me, there's lots of stuff I like in it - but every week, every day brings a further encroachment into my user experience with this nonsense. Edge has already completed its character arc from upstart browser to beloved alernative and to bloated annoyance.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#15
> Microsoft has even forced people into Edge after a Windows Update

Doing on-site work, I will sometimes process a queued Windows update on several machines. I don't always see these "Hey Baby..." efforts universally. They'll appear on some systems but not others.

Uneven deployment would be a good method to hamper crowdsourced detection. And it would invite to that-forum-guy to gaslight someone who reports it in a thread.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#16
post #6

"You might argue that this is Microsoft’s operating system, or that when using Microsoft’s browser and search engine it’s well within its rights to try and sway people away from Chrome." "Microsoft’s behaviors here are totally beyond a simple webpage prompt. I shouldn’t have to be dismissing pop-ups that appear on top of my apps and games, or ones that magically appear after I update my copy of Windows." Windows 11 i…

> What should Windows 11 users do to let Microsoft know that such behaviors are intrusive and offensive? They'll tell you to use the Feedback Hub, but all of that feedback promptly gets discarded or drowned out in the SNR of overzealous "insiders" acting as free QA for Microsoft praising every horrible decision they make.

Feedback Hub is a black hole: everything that goes in never sees the light again and has no purpose other than training machine learning models (a form of textual Hawking radiation?).

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#17
We are halfway down the slippery slope on this stuff. Ads are starting to pop up inside the apps we already pay for, operating systems, and even in, say, point-of-sale devices begging for tips.

It's not about ads being 'the only source of revenue for our business' anymore, it's about "product managers" being able to dominate the UX and development conversations by convincing organizations like MSFT that they can contribute additional value/revenue by using preexisting customers as expansion opportunities.

If you are a UX designer especially, fight back – otherwise this downward pressure to squeeze water out of a rock will simply end with users jumping ship. I'm already transitioning to Jitsi because Zoom pulled this shit.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#19
post #10

Windows 7 really was the last good Windows release. After that we got the hideous Metro redesign, then all the telemetry and shoving of Edge etc. down our throats.

Remember when you got really excited for new Windows releases? Remember when Windows asked politely to activate automatic updates and assured you "No information is collected that can be used to identify you or contact you"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YbYdfaD0oA

Post reply on HN