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Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

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Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#311

Post by amq »

kozukumi wrote: post #289

Ever since switching to Windows 10 I have found myself using Ubuntu more and more. To the point where I mostly boot Windows 10 once a week just to keep it and some software up to date. I like some things about Windows 10, for example the new snap features for programs is nice, overall the system looks quite nice as well. Their virtual desktop implementation is kind of lacking but at least it is there. Explorer is act…

There are Universal apps which I actually like: Mail, Calendar, Weather, Edge, OneNote, Groove. I feel like your comment is over-exaggerated.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#312

Post by NamTaf »

0x0 wrote: post #63
RealCasually wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the harm done? Of course you don't "own" your operating system. You also paid nothing for it. I also struggle to grasp the double standard of why Google, Facebook, et al are able to endlessly track and personalize ads, but when Microsoft follows a similar model, there is outrage.

Just paid $119 here for a windows 10 license. Do you know of a better deal - for hardware that never shipped with a (subsidized) windows license? http://www.microsoftstore.com/store?Action=DisplayPage&Local...

Reddit has a pretty robust sale of windows licenses for $15-25 and then you can upgrade them from 7 to 10 if you want to go cheaper.

edit: I don't necessarily know about their legitimacy, and I've never used them myself.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#313

Post by shahidhussain »

dethos wrote: post #83

This is the price for the "free" upgrade to windows 10. I really don't like this trend of turning your personal computer into a thin client, where its properties can be manipulated remotely by the vendor like if it was a web app. This is why I stayed away of products like Windows 10 and ChromeOS.

Why Chrome OS?

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#314

Post by opnitro »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #255
gargravarr wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The argument that Win10 is free won't hold for much longer, it's only 'free' if you upgrade from Win7 or 8. It's already being sold retail in stores for a similar price to the old versions. And from later this year, people will have to pay for upgrades too. On the flipside, you don't "own" your software anyway, you own a license to use it (EULA). The double-standard probably has something to do with the ability to bl…

While I agree with the difference, it should still be possible to block these types of ads with some kind of firewall. Unless the OS is blocking the blocking at a lower level (which I'd be VERY surprised by), something like Privoxy and using that as the system proxy for http[s] should be able to knock these out if they're loaded dynamically. I haven't tested this, so it would require some inspection and network monit…

I think that's different because you are subverted the OS's attempts to advertise to you. Most people are not willing to go to this level. Changing search engines is not subverting Google, it's just not using their product.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#315

Post by CamperBob2 »

exodust wrote: post #138
s_kilk wrote: post #12

Not surprised. Some of us have been predicting this for years, but we tended to get shouted down for committing the Slippery Slope fallacy.

Predicting what exactly? 1. New spotlight feature = on; 2. Toggle "fun facts and more" = on; You know that images will stream in from the internet along with "fun facts and more" whatever that is. And when a Tomb Raider image appears, you're suddenly in Orwellian future shock mode? The day MS takes away the toggle so you can't switch ads off, is the day to be outraged. Not before.

The day MS takes away the toggle so you can't switch ads off, is the day to be outraged. Not before.

GWX certainly qualifies as an "ad." Just curious, where is the "toggle switch" in the "settings" that I can turn "off" to disable GWX?

Oh, there isn't one?

I thought so.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#316

Post by zanny »

fpgaminer wrote: post #99

With Windows 10 doing things like this, and Windows 7 being aggressively deprecated, I decided I finally wanted to ditch Windows as my daily driver. It was good timing, then, that I watched the "7 Gamers 1 CPU" video from LinuxTechTips, which showed me how to do it without sacrificing gaming. Most everything I use runs in Linux, and for the few things that don't I can spin up a VM. But there's the caveat that is as o…

Just general disclosure that Steam on Linux does have 1600 games now, and at least a few dozen AAA titles. I have no problem gaming on Linux like any console owner would - if it releases for my platform, awesome, new games. If it does not, it might as well not exist to me. I have no shortage of games to play (I still have to beat Witcher 2 and I'm 20 hours in... 3 years later). And Blizzard stuff / anything older than 2010 runs perfectly in Wine nowadays, and with Gallium Nine I can play Skyrim on my 290 at its max DX9 settings at ~100 fps.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#317

Post by fpgaminer »

paler wrote: post #262
fpgaminer wrote: post #99

With Windows 10 doing things like this, and Windows 7 being aggressively deprecated, I decided I finally wanted to ditch Windows as my daily driver. It was good timing, then, that I watched the "7 Gamers 1 CPU" video from LinuxTechTips, which showed me how to do it without sacrificing gaming. Most everything I use runs in Linux, and for the few things that don't I can spin up a VM. But there's the caveat that is as o…

I'm happy to hear that gaming works well, and apparently my decidedly older CPU (AMD Phenom X4 965) supports the technology as well, which is interesting to learn. However, my main reason for needing Windows is for music recording and mixing via Cubase and other DAW software. This requires really low-latency access to my USB and PCI sound cards. Does anyone have experience with running applications like this in a VM?…

For lack of a response from someone who has actually tried getting ASIO working on such a setup, I suggest you just try it. Grab a Live CD and a spare external hard drive and just give it a whack. Passing through the sound cards should work. USB might be trickier if you're not just passing through a whole USB hub. But considering how new IOMMU is, I imagine the intersection between people who have tried it and people who use Cubase is incredibly tiny.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#318

Post by Silhouette »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #256
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No TV/cable, but on a trip recently I tried to watch syfy on the hotel TV -- and it was more ads than show. I can't believe anyone puts up with it; I swear it was five minutes of ads and five minutes of movie. No thanks; I'll just wait until things come to Prime or Netflix.

Yeah, if you stop watching TV for a few years, trying to watch again after is really jarring. The volume-boost of ads, while not as bad as it used to be, is still pretty obnoxious, and the sheer quantity of ads makes shows much less enjoyable. I really believe that our parents are the last generation to really put up with all the ads, and our generation will just torrent / wait for Netflix / Prime or something else w…

Unfortunately the industry's response to people avoiding explicit ads seems to be including ever more product placement. At least I can skip the ads with my PVR. Better that than having immersion in a show I enjoy totally broken by some blatant product logo or, worse, a really out-of-place line delivered dutifully but still awkwardly by an actor whose character would never say that.

Possibly the only more annoying thing in TV is when some totally out of place, usually bright and animated logo pops up a couple of minutes before the end of the show I'm actually watching, usually with a boxy ad for some other show on the same channel next to it. Way to completely ruin the ending of the current show.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#319

Post by Silhouette »

api wrote: post #51
gargravarr wrote: post #6

Seems like the only way people want to make money these days is through invasive advertising without the end-user's explicit consent. Granted the expectation of free software is driving most of this, but it starts a vicious cycle because those who get annoyed with them develop countermeasures, which the creator responds to with more aggressive ads, ad infinitum. It does start explaining some of the highly controversi…

People want free. Things aren't free. But people want free, so let's give them "free" and monetize them indirectly with surveillance, invasive advertising, etc. The entire Internet has gone down this road since it's very hard to compete with someone who is giving something away for "free" (note quotes). Free has given us George Orwell's bidirectional it-watches-you TV set.

Not quite the entire Internet has gone that way. However, it's frustrating seeing sites that offer original content with paid access being criticised all the time, as if they're somehow evil or trying to rip visitors off by honestly charging a reasonable price for their work instead of giving it away for free and making a deal with demons to fund it some other way. This is what we get for letting $0.99 ifart apps become the benchmark for a whole generation, I guess.

Re: Windows Now Showing Full-Screen Ads

#320

Post by bduerst »

gnud wrote: post #283
bduerst wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely. I was talking about their galaxy client.

Really? The best thing about GOG for me is that I don't have to install yet another crappy client.

I actually prefer the client, but gog works just as fine without it. To each their own.
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