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Useless Windows 10 Features

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Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#361
post #183

Worst thing in Windows is still search, it doesnt work unless you type the exact letters in order.

I actually love Windows 10, but god, why is the Start menu search functionality is still so abysmally, terribly awful?!

It gets me every time I want to open the control panel or a setting page - it's just... awful!

And why does it still search the web when I've disabled Cortana?! If I want to search the web, I'll use a browser!

It really doesn't seem like it would be difficult to fix - I just can't understand how it's still so bad.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is godsend. Before they do this people litter their files all over the filesystem. These magic folders reside in a user's home folder by default anyway. Most Windows users don't really have much clue about the filesystem like everyone here does.

And is that desirable? Why do we want users to know less about how their computer works? Is it really a problem to know that you have a user directory with a bunch of other directories inside that hold certain classes of information by default? When I open a command prompt (yes, I'm not the average user), I'm in my home directory, and if I create any files or folders, they'll be there by default. To access those file…

> Why do we want users to know less about how their computer works?

It's not what we want, it's an appreciation for reality. You can want all kinds of things, like people to read documentation, not install malware toolbars, not click reply-all, not answer "I don't know" to product questions on Amazon, use their turn signals, I could go on for hours if not days.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#363
Haven't used Windows for over 10 years and I'm surprised to see how far it has fallen.

It's weird to me that the author thinks of these problems as mere annoyances. To me it's utterly ridiculous to have any of these features be part of an OS.

It's like I bought a big advertisement machine.

Tried it out recently and was greeted with the usual endless automatic updates and messing up my dual boot.

What's with the "people" tab? This is the kind of half-drunk idea I've come to expect from Microsoft. When I want to talk to people on Skype, I open Skype. It might be a nice abstraction at a very high level mentally (these are apps I use to talk to "people"), but it seems pointless to have this in software.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might think it's silly. Microsoft thinks it has massively cut down on malware installation. One of these is an aesthetic judgment. The other is a security judgment.

These judgements are orthogonal, one doesn't preclude the other.

That's very viewpoint-centric.

If your viewpoint is that of a power user who thinks everyone else should be one too, then it'd be fair to say they're orthogonal.

If your viewpoint is that of a product manager trying to give the most people the best experience you can, they're not orthogonal at all. You're trading a bit of scorn from a very small percentage of users for a larger number of very different users keeping their computers secure. Reducing the number of compromised windows installations is not silly at all.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently found out that people are selling legitimate keys on eBay for a few bucks: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=windows+10+ltsc According to people who have purchased from there, they're VL keys that can be used many times (e.g. 2500 times), so they just sell the same key over and over to multiple people: > ...sellers on eBay are probably people that work for companies that get GVLK and MAK Product Keys fr…

> According to people who have purchased from there, they're VL keys that can be used many times (e.g. 2500 times), so they just sell the same key over and over to multiple people Erm, no - that's not how Microsoft's volume licensing works. Volume keys are issued to enterprises that buy them, and only that organisation is licensed to use them. Unscrupulous employees have been known to sell the keys.

Did I say otherwise? That is exactly my point. The keys - bought by the enterprises - can be used many times, on their machines. However, people find those keys and sell them on eBay.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can turn it off.

The fact that it's defaulted to on and surprises users who don't even know about it is the problem. "Minimize all other windows except this one" is a function that is rarely used and definitely not something a small movement of the mouse should trigger.

It was a feature advertised in commercials. It wasn't meant to be surprising

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And is that desirable? Why do we want users to know less about how their computer works? Is it really a problem to know that you have a user directory with a bunch of other directories inside that hold certain classes of information by default? When I open a command prompt (yes, I'm not the average user), I'm in my home directory, and if I create any files or folders, they'll be there by default. To access those file…

Why does the user need to know about file systems and home directories and symbolic links if all they want is to save a file and then find it later? Do you feel the same about cars? Are we dumbing things too much down by making driving as simple as pressing a pedal and moving a steering wheel?

The "find it later" part is kind of important.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#368
I feel deeply sorry, for those poor consumers who are unaware of other OS's. It should be a duty if you're in tech, to advise your fellow holoi polloi about Ubuntu since it's the most consumer friendly distro. Everything now days is done in a browser so that shouldn't be a problem. & at those who work at capitalistic corporations push for electron apps or apps that can be easily bundled and installed e.g snap apps / flatpaks.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#369
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then pirate it. What do you care? This is like pirating a show they refuse to put on Netflix. They don't give you the option to conveniently buy what you want, so pirate it. Instructions on how to activate your installation of LTSC here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19420337

How would you feel if I gave detailed instructions on how to rob _you_?

If I refuse to sell you my handmade wallet, so you put up instructions on how to make an exact copy, that would be an equivalent action.

Nobody would call that theft.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I think it's sad how much the community still underestimates gaming. I tried using wine or even using Steam directly on Linux, but playing any game with 30-40% less performance is ridiculous. If you really like games, Linux is unusable for anything big. I've had to dual boot Windows for the last 10 years just to play a game without stuttering, lag, huge FPS drops, etc. Nothing would make me happier than bein…

Here is the 64 dollar question. What GPU driver?

I have an NVIDIA GTX960.

When playing CS:GO (a relatively old game) I have stuttering, drastic FPS drops and more :(

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