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Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

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Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#221

Post by iamtedd »

edg5000 wrote: post #173
kjellsbells wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly in small business Microsoft have a lock because no SMB wants to be the awkward outlier whose IT makes them hard to do business with. For example, to be that supplier that whose documents never quite look quite right or who always struggles with the docusign /PDF /email /spreadsheet /whatever whatever. For an SMB, fitting in with the de facto IT herd that is represented by your customers and partners is essentia…

Generally nobody should exchange Office docs anyway, I find it much more professional to exchange PDFs. I use MS arial so my PDFs made with LibreOffice look immaculate on any device. I think people are really shit for being so attached to their stupid office. I could not sell my dad on LibreOffice though. He'd rather pay 100 EUR/yr than learn to use new software.

*immaculate on any device that has Arial, unless your PDF conforms to PDF/A.

Linux machines don't normally include Arial due to the license, and only PDF/A includes the fonts used in the document.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#222

Post by squigz »

foxandmouse wrote: post #81
Aurornis wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Make sure libreoffice is included Probably an unpopular thing to say here, but in my experience pushing non-tech people to use libreoffice as part of a Linux transition is a fast track to getting them to hate Linux. Using Google Docs has been much more welcoming in my experience. Something about libreoffice doesn’t resonate with a lot of non-tech people.

Couldn’t agree more, if you’re pitching Linux to a non-technical user, you need a gentler off-ramp, not a cliff dive. LibreOffice is a UI time capsule..more archaeology than productivity. Most millennials would think they’d accidentally opened a flight simulator.

I was confused about this because last time I used LibreOffice it wasn't that bad. Turns out, it's really just a normal UI? I guess the biggest difference is it doesn't conform to Microsoft's design but to call it a time capsule is a bit dramatic.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#223

Post by thepill »

3eb7988a1663 wrote: post #149
koyote wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some things that any semi-power user will notice and get angry at: * Needing internet and a microsoft account to install the OS * Start menu now requiring two clicks to get to programs list * Right-click requiring two clicks to get to the options you most likely want to use (e.g. 7z unzip or opening in a specific program) * Task manager being slow and laggy * Random ads asking you to install a game pop up in the noti…

Right-click requiring two clicks to get to the options you most likely want to use (e.g. 7z unzip or opening in a specific program) This one you can still change. It is some hidden registry tweak, but there is the capacity to always "show more options".

Or hold [Shift] while right clicking

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#224

Post by chupasaurus »

aitchnyu wrote: post #174
neilv wrote: post #25

In addition to the good distro options mentioned, there's also Debian Stable: https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/d... There are several options for desktop environment, and you can select which ones to install when you boot that installer image (and also add/subtract more later, and change your preference at login time). One of the nicest-looking ones that should be self-explanatory to use (fo…

With my last PC, I was looking at Freedesktop issues and waiting for cutting edge software for a year to get complete support for my hardware. Hence Ubuntu and Fedora.

Ubuntu is as good as Debian Sid for cutting edge (not really), PPAs work in both.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#225

Post by realusername »

bob1029 wrote: post #217
repiret wrote: post #41

I agree with all of the articles points except for the first one: TPM and Secure Boot do not reduce user choice or promote state or corporate surveillance. If you want to be able to prevent root kits you need secure boot, and if you want to store secrets that don't need a user password to unlock and can't be stolen by taking apart the computer, you need a TPM; or you need substantially similar alternatives. I would s…

I am starting to see the benefits to secure boot and TPM from a gaming perspective. I realize this can still be tampered with but it eliminates so many casual cheaters that the edge case is practically irrelevant. I don't see how my TPM module will prevent me from using the machine the way I want. The offer of a cryptographic assurance to a 3rd party is something I happily provide in order to gain access to a competi…

I don't think it helps for cheaters, you have cheaters on console and it's even more locked down than that.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#226

Post by amlib »

sciencejerk wrote: post #165
ants_everywhere wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use Windows and actually find it kind of insane when I use someone else's computer to see what Windows is like... But it's kind of MSFT's choice whether TPM and secure boot are requirements for their software. If their software makes security assumptions that the OS has access to trusted hardware then it's a requirement. One could argue that they should create secure and less secure versions of Windows, but I…

I'm no MS fanboy, but don't you think Content Platforms like Netflix or Steam might be applying DRM pressure to Microsoft? And perhaps IP owners also apply pressure to the Content Providers to lock down their platforms, which may include hardware that has access to protected IP

Valve/Steam is definitely not applying any pressure, they've always been against strong DRM. Even the steam deck lacks any hardware locks or fancy DRM.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#227

Post by weightedreply »

repiret wrote: post #41

I agree with all of the articles points except for the first one: TPM and Secure Boot do not reduce user choice or promote state or corporate surveillance. If you want to be able to prevent root kits you need secure boot, and if you want to store secrets that don't need a user password to unlock and can't be stolen by taking apart the computer, you need a TPM; or you need substantially similar alternatives. I would s…

Many OEM's don't allow changing keys and Microsoft doesn't even enforce their own certification requirements. See:

https://linustechtips.com/topic/1610033-hp-charges-for-warra...

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#228

Post by fujigawa »

heavyset_go wrote: post #72
repiret wrote: post #41

I agree with all of the articles points except for the first one: TPM and Secure Boot do not reduce user choice or promote state or corporate surveillance. If you want to be able to prevent root kits you need secure boot, and if you want to store secrets that don't need a user password to unlock and can't be stolen by taking apart the computer, you need a TPM; or you need substantially similar alternatives. I would s…

> I would say that specifically with Secure Boot, Microsoft actually promoted user choice: A Windows Logo compliant PC needs to have Microsoft's root of trust installed by default. Microsoft could have stopped there, but they didn't. This was not the case with the initial rollout of Secure Boot, it was combined with locked BIOS to lock PCs so that they could only boot Windows 8 on some devices. This was the case on W…

> This was not the case with the initial rollout of Secure Boot, it was combined with locked BIOS to lock PCs so that they could only boot Windows 8 on some devices. This was the case on Windows RT ARM machines from that era.

Okay, but, that was like 15 years ago, on some shitty first-run computers that no one bought. A failed first attempt. I've never met a single person that owned, or has ever used, a Windows RT device.

The world has moved on. But oddly continues to buy bootloader-locked iPhones and Androids by the bucketful.

Dwelling on the past isn't going to move us forward. Anyone pushing the "Secure Boot and TPM are evil" trope in 2025 is objectively a fool and should be ignored. Most don't even realize what a TPM does, they think it's some secret chip inserted by glowies into their computers to prevent them from running free software. No.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#229

Post by dahrkael »

gruez wrote: post #79
scheeseman486 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the face of it they're just security features, and I don't deny they are, but the industry as a whole are using those features to implement device verification systems that are being used to lock down their platforms and centralize control over their software ecosystems. Being able to install another OS isn't much good if critical applications and websites refuse to run on it.

>Being able to install another OS isn't much good if critical applications and websites refuse to run on it. The battle has already been lost on this. Just look at all the companies that are app-only and don't offer a web version.

its even worse when you discover the app itself is just a webview

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#230

Post by AdeptusAquinas »

I've been using Windows 11 since it came out. Seems fine, no real difference over 10. Maybe a little bit faster.

Some of the more annoying stuff like ads in the start menu and the like only really affect americans, as far as I know. I've never seen it. Had a brief battle turning copilot off everywhere when that became a thing - including in notepad! - but thats hardly just a microsoft thing.

Don't really understand all this drama over the TPM chip, especially since you can bypass that requirement with a little effort if you can't upgrade your hardware.

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