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Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

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Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#341

Post by ankurdhama »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #161

When I was in 8th grade, one of my teachers was out sick, and the principal took over the class for the day. He talked about frames of reference. To illustrate the point, he asked if we had seen the movie, E.T. Of course, we all had. It was the Star Wars-level blockbuster of the summer of 1982. He asked if we remembered the bus scene. None of us could. "You know, 'Uranus?'" Oh, right. Yes, we all remembered that line…

We know that the non-tech people do check with their tech friend or family member for recommendations. What we all can do is recommend our friends/family member about such thing and move them away from such platforms.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#342

Post by orlean_ »

kasdi wrote: post #324

More: - Excel on iOS won’t let you open files without signing in. Then it loses the session and you have to sign in again. - Microsoft AutoUpdate on macOS jumps in your face every day multiple times. No way to uninstall it. At this point, I treat Microsoft as cancer. Avoid touching anything from them at all cost.

You can uninstall Microsoft AutoUpdate, just remove it from Library/LaunchAgents or Library/LaunchDaemons and delete everything associated with it. All of the MS Office apps still start fine without it.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#343

Post by coffeeling »

codalan wrote: post #289
crop_rotation wrote: post #204

People comparing this to Google are missing the point. Google doesn't put popup on Microsoft websites in Chrome to switch to Google equivalent, not even on Office online or other places where Microsoft may be dominant. Chrome acts as a platform and doesn't add shady stuff or popups to any websites you view, which is what is expected of a platform. Microsoft also put things into MSOffice which work better on Windows (…

Google and Apple do things similar on their devices. I get nagged to backup my Android phone. It's a thinly-veiled upsell to their Google Drive product. There is no way to tell it to STOP ASKING ME. I have an alternative backup system that I use. I will never pay for Google Drive. The same is true for the iPhone. If you forget to turn off the Apple iCloud stuff on your phone, you'll hit the free limit at some point,…

Yup. Connect new wireless earbuds? wOuLd yOu lIkE tO eNaBlE gOoGlE vOiCe aSsiStAnT? No, Google, I wouldn't, please stop asking every time.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#344

Post by coffeeling »

dawnerd wrote: post #133

Microsoft confuses me. They’ve been building up all this goodwill with frankly outstanding software and services. Then… they go and ruin it all with windows. What the heck is going on over there? Whoever leads that division probably needs to be replaced. I’ve heard installing windows with language set to English Europe or world makes the experience a lot better. Is that true?

Different divisions make money differently. Office and OneDrive people get money from providing things worth paying for, Edge and Bing teams from advertising.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#345

Post by coffeeling »

askonomm wrote: post #145
Dennip wrote: post #89

Running Windows 11 now, and for the first time ever I'm seriously considering running some flavour of Linux with a separate windows partition for games. The amount of crap they are constantly shovelling down your throat is jaw-dropping. Add in the growing UI inconsistencies, options I turn off re-appearing after every 'feature update' and its just not worth it. Also, not sure if I'm running on the beta channel right…

Yeah, totally agree - but I've tried a ton of different distros, and the UI inconsistencies are there as well, the fractional scaling support (or lack thereof) is much worse than on Windows, Gnome feels like it's made with CSS and JavaScript or something, and doesn't feel very "fluent" whereas KDE is clearly not touched by any professional designers. Then the apps look absolutely horrid (e.g Electron apps in Gnome),…

GNOME is made with JavaScript. Not the app windows, but GNOME Shell is mostly JS.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#346

Post by Aerbil313 »

ryandrake wrote: post #290
marcodiego wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's already been proven several times over that we cannot influence this situation. I have a few points against this. First is that it is not that important if we can revert M$ (yes, sorry, I'll refer to them this way for this comment) behavior, the most important is that we should have alternatives . For that we must push hardware and software vendors to support other OS's, specially Linux. Second is that, by mak…

Very true. Go shadow a "normal" user of a web browser without adblocking, and you'll see they spend so much time dismissing popup after popup after popup. It's totally normal to them and doesn't even irritate them. The act of finding and tapping the tiny "X" is practically automatic and second nature. Same for people who don't curate their phone notifications. I was standing in line at a fast food restaurant and had…

Indeed. Just look around to 'normal' people.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#347

Post by coffeeling »

codalan wrote: post #298
brap wrote: post #83

I was so pissed off when I installed a fresh copy of Windows 11 on my parents' new computer. Just more and more BS thrown in your face and it never ends. It made the computer they bought almost unusable for them. I had to spend a good chunk of time trying to debloat it, but my parents still complain about the occasional popup that confuse them.

I couldn't finish the W11 Home Edition installation on my parent's computer without having them create an account, so I just installed Xubuntu on it instead, and probably avoided a lot of headaches. I'll probably revisit that computer and install Linux Mint with KDE Plasma, and do the same on their W10 machine. If push comes to shove and they need some Linux incompatible app that I can't get to work with Wine, I'll j…

You can just give them some nonsense like user: test and password:test and they'll go groan, ok, you don't have an MSA, let's set up a local account...

Still user hostile nonsense, but can be worked around. I think a part of the reason they're pushing it is that it makes a lot of the OS able to work in pretty slick ways - you can just get your files syncing right away, your tasks and notes apps are logged in instantly. Browser, same thing, bam all bookmarks etc. are there, Mail and Calendar automatically get your stuff. It's that Apple style smoothness that people go gaga over.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#348

Post by coffeeling »

otterpro wrote: post #147

Purpose of OS is to allow users to run software on it. However, Win 11 truly became "adware". When I got that "prize giveaway" notification too, I was surprised and disgusted that I'm being served ads from a software that I paid for. If this is the future, then I think they should have 2 versions. Free version with ads and paid version without any ads (with full control) or nagging (like asking user to switch to Edge…

Sadly, software companies are increasingly asking themselves: Por que no los dos? Why not have you pay AND be the product for advertisers at the same time?

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#349

Post by thfuran »

macintux wrote: post #253
thfuran wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a business cannot exist without polluting the commons, should it really exist?

A customer base doesn’t spring from the aether.

So what? Society should be structured for the benefit of the people rather than corporations, which are only useful to the extent that they benefit people. We don't need or want all possible businesses, just the ones that are sufficiently useful without being too harmful.

Re: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Win11 to get people to ditch Chrome

#350

Post by NiloCK »

tivert wrote: post #191
theamk wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The easiest way is to stop using Windows. Either Microsoft sees decrease in users and rolls back ads; or its keeps pushing on and makes things even worse. Either way, you no longer see the ads.

> The easiest way is to stop using Windows. Either Microsoft sees decrease in users and rolls back ads; or its keeps pushing on and makes things even worse. Either way, you no longer see the ads. That's only easy if I have infinite time to take up a big personal IT migration project, which I don't. I've got other stuff that's much more important. So does everyone else. Which is why market solutions to stuff like this…

(modulo assumptions based on your being a reader of this site) - installing a dual boot linux on your existing Windows machine will take you a couple of hours.

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