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And to think an entire chain of individuals were involved in designing and approving those popups at Microsoft, and not once did anyone bother to ask: “Maybe we should fuck off?” If you happen to be responsible and reading this the answer is yes.
After every Windows update I tend to open Everything search, look for certain "msedge.exe", "bing", "teams", "onedrive", and "outlook" files that may have creeped into my computer. I've learned which to delete, and which files I should leave alone. I use "EMCO UnLock IT" to get rid of the locked files. Rarely I also hunt down garbage in the registry, and that also took experience to learn what to leave alone.
Stuck Linux mint on it and changed my mind.
Haven’t quite built the momentum for main desktop due to some windows stuff I need but that was certainly eye opening. (Thus far only had cli nix experience)
Recently 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…
Mac updates made me think I had malware too. It randomly pops up a box that says System Update needs your administrator password. Completely unprompted, zero context. Sketchy as hell looking. Happens every time MacOS downloads an automatic update.
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 prompts of "hey you should use our search engine", I'm surprised that the current administration isn't seeking any antitrust action against Microsoft. Maybe they have their hands full between suing Amazon, Facebook, and Google, but I would expect this to be an open-and-shut case (especially since Microsoft has a history of doing this).
[0] https://www.extremetech.com/internet/329450-microsoft-edge-g...
[1] https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-is-displaying-multiple-...
[2] https://www.computerworld.com/article/3032751/windows-10-for...
[3] https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/micr...
It only has a stranglehold on you, if you or your employer let it.
Personally, I did the hard switch from MS one day in grad school, in a lab where we had to meet with companies on an almost daily basis, but many students disliked how a particular software company behaved. (Besides company practices, the reps I saw in lab meetings and demos/posters did this weird interrogating ideas-stealing, unlike any other reps.) Knowing this, the PI told my research group that nobody had to meet with this particular company if they didn't want to, "...but don't you dare use their software."
Challenge accepted. I installed Linux, made a Web page for other people in my lab to do the same ("https://www.neilvandyke.org/lab-linux-1999/"), and was very quickly glad to be free of that company.
(I also volunteered to be the one to meet with the tobacco-involved conglomerate company, which was the other company that many students didn't like, since I wanted to still be seen as a team player, and it was the lesser of two evils, from my perspective thinking about the future of information/computation/communication.)
And to think an entire chain of individuals were involved in designing and approving those popups at Microsoft, and not once did anyone bother to ask: “Maybe we should fuck off?” If you happen to be responsible and reading this the answer is yes.