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Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

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Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#161

Post by t_mahmood »

doubled112 wrote: post #66
kn100 wrote: post #20

I got caught out by exactly this, and I'm not exactly tech illiterate. what made it even more annoying is by the time I'd realised what had happened, it was practically impossible to get the files back out of OneDrive (since I decided that this was enough Windows for me, and went back to Linux), since the webui does NOT handle downloading lots of small files well, and you just end up getting a partially complete zip…

I wonder if rclone would have behaved any better than the web UI.

Sorry if I'm reiterating known point, when the storage is full, API will stop working, so you won't be able to download files at all.

So you are completely stuck if you have too many files. Like I had. I used to keep pictures on onedrive, and used 6 user license. When the license expired, they locked me out completely. I couldn't download my own files! And the web UI is a crap.

So had to pay again for a year, this time I backed up all files locally.

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#162

Post by vaughands »

I see a lot of hate for Google in this thread but at least one thing they do well: it's really easy to fix. Takeout actually works. You can just download your photos and leave. As the top post identified here, Microsoft makes this a REAL pain to leave after they snared you.

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#163

Post by throwaway173738 »

qwerpy wrote: post #121
geophile wrote: post #33

From perusing reddit, I see some Windows users tempted to consider Linux, often because of Windows 11. But then, many of them won't move because: it doesn't work just like Windows; there is some Windows application they must have, or maybe they just don't want to learn the alternatives. Or they use word/excel/powerpoint and have to interact with others who do also. The brainwashing, high tolerance for pain and misery…

For me the apps that don’t exist on Linux are Fusion360 (3d printing modeling) and OneNote (shared notebook with my non-technical wife that syncs to mobile). I also have zero tolerance for needing to tweak settings to make a game work on Linux. So I’m stuck on windows for now. Every month I have to spend an hour fighting some new asshole behavior concocted up by some ambitious Microsoft product manager. The latest on…

Is it really that much easier to fight Microsoft? Say what you will about tweaking settings in Linux but it lets you do just about whatever you want. And the settings changes are at least understood and documented. I’d hate to use an OS that you repeatedly have to fight with over its user hostile changes. Every time I boot Windows in a VM I’m reminded of how much harder Windows users have it because they can’t just do whatever they want with the computer, it has to be done with Microsoft’s blessing.

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#164

Post by mikelitoris »

cromka wrote: post #62
kn100 wrote: post #20

I got caught out by exactly this, and I'm not exactly tech illiterate. what made it even more annoying is by the time I'd realised what had happened, it was practically impossible to get the files back out of OneDrive (since I decided that this was enough Windows for me, and went back to Linux), since the webui does NOT handle downloading lots of small files well, and you just end up getting a partially complete zip…

I had same exact experience with macOS and iCloud. macOS by default enables offloading Documents to cloud, transparently. Problem is if you try to get those files back to store them offline, it gets very tricky very quickly with ambiguous verbiage and lengthy process that you never actually know status of. I ended up losing some files as a result, which came as a total shock to me. I was already in the process of mov…

The vagueness is by design, it’s another dark pattern. “Delete all photos from icloud? [are we gonna delete the ones that we only keep compressed versions on your phone? Iono ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, you wanna find out? Yea, didn’t think so...]”

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#165

Post by throwaway173738 »

fg137 wrote: post #102
jmcphers wrote: post #24

Google is no better. My family mostly uses iPhones, and on a big extended family vacation, I suggested we use Google Photos to create a shared album to document the trip. Everyone installed the Google Photos app on their iPhone so they could contribute... which resulted in all of them having their email accounts disabled . What happened? Google Photos on the iPhone backs up all your photos by default, and, like Micro…

To be fair, Google sends out multiple emails notifying that you won't receive new emails unless you upgrade or clear things out. If they read their emails even somewhat regularly -- which I acknowledge isn't a given for many people -- they'd know what's coming.

That isn’t the problem. The problem is Google photos pushes you to back up your tens of gigabytes of photos to your free Gmail account repeatedly until you say yes just once. At that point it fills up your email account with your photos and then disables your email until you pay them. Making statements about how often they warn you this is happening isn’t very helpful. No normal person would think of that as a consequence of using Google photos.

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#166

Post by qwerpy »

throwaway173738 wrote: post #163
qwerpy wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me the apps that don’t exist on Linux are Fusion360 (3d printing modeling) and OneNote (shared notebook with my non-technical wife that syncs to mobile). I also have zero tolerance for needing to tweak settings to make a game work on Linux. So I’m stuck on windows for now. Every month I have to spend an hour fighting some new asshole behavior concocted up by some ambitious Microsoft product manager. The latest on…

Is it really that much easier to fight Microsoft? Say what you will about tweaking settings in Linux but it lets you do just about whatever you want. And the settings changes are at least understood and documented. I’d hate to use an OS that you repeatedly have to fight with over its user hostile changes. Every time I boot Windows in a VM I’m reminded of how much harder Windows users have it because they can’t just d…

It's probably my last Windows. It's getting harder to undo the shenanigans each time they push out another update. The moment I can't undo it, I'll move to Linux. I'll learn FreeCad and use Onenote in a browser.

I have a long backlog of games that I finally have time to play, and for now they all just work on Windows. They probably 95% just work on Linux too, but it's that 5% that gives me pause.

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#168

Post by rk06 »

0x_rs wrote: post #103

Google Photos does the same thing, aggressively prompting the user endlessly until they give in. A solution to that is disabling the malicious application and installing Google's Gallery app instead, that possesses no ransomware capability from what I've last heard of it. Make no mistake: Google and Microsoft know very well this behaviour will lead to people subscribing to services they have, for the most part, no us…

my wife had here google account storage full because photos does auto backup and even after i deleted the photos from google photos. Auto backup kicked in and re-added them.

Also, there is no good way to download all photos and videos for backup. they have to be manually selected. the ui is super frustating. and since the storage is shared with email, emails are blocked due to this

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#169

Post by tonyedgecombe »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #146

Are the number of computers running Windows rising or falling? (Most curious for the U.S. and Europe.)

Windows share of the desktop market has been falling for a long time.

https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide...

Re: Microsoft is employing dark patterns to goad users into paying for storage?

#170

Post by bloomingeek »

ddtaylor wrote: post #152

Microsoft has been disrespecting their user base for a very long time now. This is not news. Stop giving them your money.

I like/love your statement. The problem is, to their detriment, most users don't have the chops to switch to Linux/Apple.(Or the patience.)

Since I couldn't afford Apple at the time, I jumped into Red Hat years age. What a nightmare! But I didn't give up because it was kind of fun. A lot of folks didn't think so. Linux and Apple have made tremendous strides, of course, but if tech stuff is not your thing, you keep financing MS.

On this great site, there's a lot of complicated things discussed, some of which I admit I don't grasp. Many outside this sphere are mostly lost on any tech that is slightly complex, sometimes even if they are helped. One could argue, correctly, that they learn their smartphones and smart TVs just fine. These devises are computer like, but still not a computer. Changing people's minds on operating systems is as hard as politics and religion I've found.

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