Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge • Hacker News Board

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#211

Post by tryauuum » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:53 AM UTC

jiggawatts wrote: post #136

CommanderData wrote: post #41

Windows Update uses all disk space on space limited VMs hosting various services, disabling it has become more difficult (Disabling the service doesn't work anymore, recently a helper service to restart it was released) Which has led to something a bit drastic but I haven't looked back - blocking all Windows IP's on router level for the VM address space. I still run updates every few months. Edit: If anyone want's a…

Oh, that's nothing . Windows Update can forcefully power-on a sleeping laptop, and then do 100% CPU load for a decent chunk of an hour whether you like it or not... ... while your laptop is in your laptop bag. This destroyed one laptop for me already. It very nearly caught fire on a crowded train with no way to even throw it off for safety. I keep saying: Microsoft will keep ramming this crap down people's throats un…

40000 windows VMs is already painful, even without windows update experience

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#212

Post by grujicd » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:55 AM UTC

About dealing with Microsoft crap. You customize Windows to your liking and move on. It's certainly not "on a daily basis" as suggested by OP. You don't have to keep anything as suggested by Microsoft. Oh, and you don't upgrade to newer Windows on existing PC until extended support runs out :)

If you don't like start menu changes, you install something like Classic Shell (I don't know whether it runs on Win 11 though).

If you don't like Explorer, you use something like TotalCommander. I've been using this fantastic software since mid 90-ties, crazy!

Btw. I'm tied to .Net and Visual Studio and can't change platforms. But even if I had a choice I probably wouldn't switch. I used Mac and Linux a bit and still prefer Windows. Probably old dog/new tricks kind of situation. Yes, Windows throws curve balls here and there, but you can usually work around them.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#213

Post by kaladin-jasnah » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:55 AM UTC

sharikous wrote: post #145

kelnos wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to run Linux on a computer, you do your research and build/buy one where the hardware support is there. Most people don't need "latest" hardware; hardware from 2-3 years ago is fine, and, honestly, most latest hardware works fine too -- again, if you do your research. Grabbing a random machine and expecting it to work fine (especially if it's a laptop) will often fail, and that's why people spend hours on…

> where all these critical Windows-only applications are The vast majority of users would suffer if forced to use only Linux apps. Think Office Vs LibreOffice or Photoshop Vs GIMP. A lot wouldn't be able to work at all, like the folks who use Solidworks. Let's not pretend that browser/terminal/IDE is the most common usage of PCs.

I would suffer if I had to use Windows applications. Because having to pay (or even pirate) quality paid software that I have to sit and learn is less convenient than downloading pretty good free (as in beer) software that I've used for the past 5 years and I'm very comfortable with. GNOME applications are surprisingly polished and good, and I'm not getting that on Windows.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#214

Post by gambiting » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:56 AM UTC

donatzsky wrote: post #198

gambiting wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Exactly, why would anyone prefer Chrome to Edge? Is this....a real question? I'll bite - because Chrome signs into my google account and it seemlessly remembers everything I do between my PC, my laptop and my phone. I literally couldn't care any less what core it uses, the usability aspect is just better than in Edge.

Firefox can do that as well. And the Android version is arguably better than Chrome, since it has extensions (even if limited at the moment).

Sure but the question was "why would anyone prefer chrome over Edge" not why would you use Chrome over Firefox.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#215

Post by matheusmoreira » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:56 AM UTC

SantiagoElf wrote: post #6

pizza234 wrote: post #4

> How do you deal with Microsoft's crap on a daily basis? I don't; I develop on Linux. Ignoring this, within my very limited usage of Windows, it seems to me that MS has become increasingly more hostile over the last few years or so. To answer with something actionable: I discourage people from upgrading to Windows 11.

Windows is pretty much alive and kicking. The best it has been since Windows XP. WSL2, running Linux on Windows, VS Code, VS 2022, it's all good. Windows 11 is VERY solid and you can play lots of games on it too :) I am dead serious. I have been using Windows since 3, using betas of Microsoft products since Longhorn - right now, Windows is reaching it's PEAK in terms of performance, ecosystem. Sure, they will need 2-…

This user hostile mess is peak Windows? At least back then Microsoft had backwards compatibility as a core value.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#216

Post by pfundstein » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:57 AM UTC

SantiagoElf wrote: post #24

rbanffy wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> WSL2, running Linux on Windows, VS Code, VS 2022, it's all good. As someone who also has a Linux desktop and laptops in addition to the Windows machine, WSL is terrible next to the real thing. Unless you need software that only runs on Windows, I advise against using it as a reason to stay on Windows.

I have been using Linux since Redhat 6.2 back in 1998. I have had my share of xconfig edits, bash scripts, etc explorations. I am now reaching 36, I just like 'things that work' - like Windows. Windows works with all my hardware, with all my 7 laptops, with all my 2 towers, I can install Visual Studio 2022 on it, I can install Ubuntu in WSL2 and I can play Dota2/Civ/Baldur's Gate/Warhammer 40k Insquisitor Martyr/list…

You clearly need to be introduced to Apple's ecosystem :)

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#217

Post by feupan » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:57 AM UTC

jiggawatts wrote: post #136

CommanderData wrote: post #41

Windows Update uses all disk space on space limited VMs hosting various services, disabling it has become more difficult (Disabling the service doesn't work anymore, recently a helper service to restart it was released) Which has led to something a bit drastic but I haven't looked back - blocking all Windows IP's on router level for the VM address space. I still run updates every few months. Edit: If anyone want's a…

Oh, that's nothing . Windows Update can forcefully power-on a sleeping laptop, and then do 100% CPU load for a decent chunk of an hour whether you like it or not... ... while your laptop is in your laptop bag. This destroyed one laptop for me already. It very nearly caught fire on a crowded train with no way to even throw it off for safety. I keep saying: Microsoft will keep ramming this crap down people's throats un…

To be fair it also happens on my MacBook. I charged my computer and placed it on my bag, asleep and unplugged, before a trip. I was not pleased to find it hot in the morning and at 60% battery.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#218

Post by ivanmontillam » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:58 AM UTC

ur-whale wrote: post #187

gvExwLi6sU wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had to install Windows 11 yesterday and the fresh install had Facebook, TikTok, Xing, Spotify and more on the start menu as shortcuts. No clue, if they are actually fully installed but I was able deinstall and remove them through the context menu. May vary for other contries as Xing is very specific and only relevant for German speaking countries.

Quoted post unavailable.

Nobody forces anyone to install an OS, but he probably meant that he was pressured into, not by someone but by the very conditions of software.

My example: I had to return to Windows a while back because I rely heavily on Zoom Meetings, and Zoom in Linux is just near unusable.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#219

Post by prawn » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:58 AM UTC

qbasic_forever wrote: post #105

pizza234 wrote: post #4

> How do you deal with Microsoft's crap on a daily basis? I don't; I develop on Linux. Ignoring this, within my very limited usage of Windows, it seems to me that MS has become increasingly more hostile over the last few years or so. To answer with something actionable: I discourage people from upgrading to Windows 11.

Advertisements in the start menu around Windows 8 was my tipping point. It's just a trashy thing to see candy crush and other crap in there that I never asked for, never could remove, etc. I went to Ubuntu and now PopOS and haven't looked back in almost 10 years. Maybe they've cleaned things up and removed the crap in later Windows but the damage is done and I'm never going back.

Frustrating thing is it's hard to escape. It's petty, but one of the most infuriating episodes of my life was Apple forcing that U2 album into everyone iOS owner's existence and making it difficult (impossible at the time?) to delete. I'd forgotten all about it until, a couple of phones later, it reappeared as the first song played every time I connected my phone to the car. Petty, like I said, but enraging. Having some basic control over an environment you've paid for should be a given.

Re: Last Windows 11 update changed all default browser settings to Edge

#220

Post by wccrawford » Mon, Jan 24, 2022, 11:58 AM UTC

Octabrain wrote: post #99

rbanffy wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> WSL2, running Linux on Windows, VS Code, VS 2022, it's all good. As someone who also has a Linux desktop and laptops in addition to the Windows machine, WSL is terrible next to the real thing. Unless you need software that only runs on Windows, I advise against using it as a reason to stay on Windows.

> ...WSL is terrible next to the real thing... I am genuinely interested on knowing your reasons for saying WSL is terrible. Just for clarification, I'm a Linux/MacOS user but the times I've had to use WSL in the past whether experimenting at home or in some companies where I was force to use Windows, I though it is actually one of the most decent things Microsoft has created on its entire existence. It is easy to en…

I recently tried to use WSL2 for work on my Windows machine, and I had no end of issues getting things to work on it that I know work on both OSX and Linux because we usually use those 2.

I finally gave up on it and went back to using my underpowered OSX machine instead of continuing to try to get WSL2 to do the job.

Was it possible? Probably. But I'm not going to spend the time to figure it out. There's probably a correct way to install everything we needed, but I didn't find it, and I found numerous wrong ways.