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Useless Windows 10 Features

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Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#421

Post by gambiting »

lostgame wrote: post #420
gambiting wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Can I ask why anyone is paying for this pile of crap? Because for certain areas of programming, Visual Studio is still king and if you want to develop for Playstation/Xbox then Windows is the only choice. And of course playing video games in general requires Windows - it's less true than it was few years ago, but there's still plenty of games which give you very poor experience on anything but Windows.

You've contradicted yourself by displaying a pleasant alternative to Windows gaming - consoles. Even as a game developer, for home brew like the Sega Saturn, as well as various Unity projects, I use a Windows XP VM maybe once a month for some obscure utility. I never play games on PC's. I buy a console, it's good for ten or more years. I still play my Saturn and Dreamcast, whose emulation leaves much still to be desi…

>>You've contradicted yourself by displaying a pleasant alternative to Windows gaming - consoles.

But games aren't interchangable like some other media is. If a game that I want to play is only available on Windows, then I will put up with whatever bullshit Microsoft throws at me to play that game, I won't go "oh well, I'll just play something else on the PS4 instead".

And yes, Win10 is a disaster - but you can't use certain things like the latest GamePass subscription without it, or adjust your settings for the Xbox Elite controller without Windows 10.....sticking with Windows 7 forever is not the solution(as much as I would like it to be).

I'm both a consumer and a developer, and use windows for both - it's just the right choice for what I need at the moment. If those needs change then the operating system will change as well.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#422

Post by lostgame »

gambiting wrote: post #421
lostgame wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've contradicted yourself by displaying a pleasant alternative to Windows gaming - consoles. Even as a game developer, for home brew like the Sega Saturn, as well as various Unity projects, I use a Windows XP VM maybe once a month for some obscure utility. I never play games on PC's. I buy a console, it's good for ten or more years. I still play my Saturn and Dreamcast, whose emulation leaves much still to be desi…

>>You've contradicted yourself by displaying a pleasant alternative to Windows gaming - consoles. But games aren't interchangable like some other media is. If a game that I want to play is only available on Windows, then I will put up with whatever bullshit Microsoft throws at me to play that game, I won't go "oh well, I'll just play something else on the PS4 instead". And yes, Win10 is a disaster - but you can't use…

Exclusivity for games has always been the case, except for those who choose multiple platforms. When I was a kid, you had a Sega or a Nintendo, and so you had Mario, or Sonic.

IMHO the selection of games for consoles is much broader, and, overall, seem to generally have less initial issues. Furthermore, we don't get the awful DRM that causes us to go find a crack on launch day anyway, just because of the annoyance.

Microsoft's attempt to lock me into an OS I would never allow within ten feet of any of my computers, or any developer's, just means I won't use their software. No game title is worth having an awful experience with the rest of my OS, that's what dual booting is for.

Furthermore, Microsoft even offers its own console! If I want to use GamePass or an xBox controller, why am I not just using an xBox One (Pro?) - the lifespan of consoles and the length of time games will still work and be released for them, is far greater than the upgrade paths I had to suffer through with my PC growing up.

Microsoft is removing its own reason to use Windows as a gaming platform. I'd happily buy an xBox, but if I can't play a title on Windows 7, I'm just not going to purchase it.

If the developer doesn't care, and isn't willing to support it, sucks for them.

With tools like Unity and Unreal Engine, we have very, very little reason for anything but the biggest AAA games, which require seriously custom engines, which will have console versions anyway - to be Windows-exclusive.

Could you, off the top of your head, name five, significant PC-exclusive titles from the past five years that did not have a console equivalent? Not a rhetorical question, just genuinely curious. I've not heard of a single, standout Windows-exclusive title on any of the tech or gaming blogs I obsessively follow.

In fact, I've seen Microsoft make it even easier to directly port your games to xBox.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#423

Post by olyjohn »

naikrovek wrote: post #415
bigbaguette wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That, and the in-app "make Chrome/FF the default browser" popup redirecting to a Windows settings page where when you choose anything else than Edge, you get yet another popup asking you to confirm that you really don't want to use the awesome browser that Edge is.

If you've used Edge for more than a few minutes, it won't prompt you to "try Edge" or whatever it says. They changed how default programs are set in Windows 10 so that malware can't change default file associations by itself anymore. That required moving away from using the Win32 API for that, and that is kind of the whole purpose of UWP-style apps and The New Settings pages within Windows 10. MOST of Windows 10 has…

You're goddamn right it's well thought out. But it's not thought out in the user's favor at all.

Because how many fucking times is it going to ask me "ARE YOU SURE YOU DONT WANT TO TRY EDGE?" "EDGE IS SAFEST" "EDGE IS MADE FOR WINDOWS 10, ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SWITCH?" You literally have to click no 3 times just to get your default to something else.

None of the other "default apps" do the same thing. And still nothing stopping the file extensions from getting remapped. So that's kinda not thought out.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#424

Post by IdontRememberIt »

beatgammit wrote: post #332
flukus wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The store couldn't have been great for enterprises too, replacing custom scripts, click once etc but it's gimped in a few critical ways, like cloud reliance and no way to push upgrades.

This is one of the reasons Linux is so popular for cloud clusters: it's really easy to completely control updates. Basically, host your own package repository, update on your schedule, then tell all your servers to update as well. Windows has similar tooling for the OS, but it doesn't have an answer for everything else other than a ton of hand-rolled scripts. If the store doesn't make that easier, the enterprise won'…

Totally agree. But also on workstations. It would simplify so many maintenance tasks (updates, new installation, synchronisation, reinstall, etc.). I cannot even grasp the potential.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#425

Post by michaelmrose »

IronWolve wrote: post #413
michaelmrose wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you pirating windows AND paying?

Linus Tech tips is where I saw the ad, I didnt say pirate, i clearly said buy.

You keep bringing up Linus.

With ad networks you cannot use the nature of the site to judge the respectability of the ad. Essentially individual sites rent a chunk of space out to the networks that auction that space to the highest bidder in real time. Even respected sites have from time to time even been used as vectors to infect visitors computers with malware. The only reason Linus Tech Tips isn't serving ads for the virtues of combining zoophilia and narcotics is there isn't much money in it.

The fact that you paid to pirate windows doesn't make your purchase any more legitimate because you paid someone who themselves never paid for it.There simply isn't a credible means for someone to have obtained the rights to sell such thousands of times over AND be able to sell it for a few bucks.

It's like when you see a crackhead selling valuables worth thousands of dollars for 50 bucks. The logical conclusion is that he broke into someone's house and stole it. Enjoy your Rolex for $50 but it's either fake or stolen.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#426

Post by dmix »

olyjohn wrote: post #423
naikrovek wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've used Edge for more than a few minutes, it won't prompt you to "try Edge" or whatever it says. They changed how default programs are set in Windows 10 so that malware can't change default file associations by itself anymore. That required moving away from using the Win32 API for that, and that is kind of the whole purpose of UWP-style apps and The New Settings pages within Windows 10. MOST of Windows 10 has…

You're goddamn right it's well thought out. But it's not thought out in the user's favor at all. Because how many fucking times is it going to ask me "ARE YOU SURE YOU DONT WANT TO TRY EDGE?" "EDGE IS SAFEST" "EDGE IS MADE FOR WINDOWS 10, ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SWITCH?" You literally have to click no 3 times just to get your default to something else. None of the other "default apps" do the same thing. And still no…

Nothing worse than being condescending to users.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#427

Post by dmix »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #251
Nextgrid wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ads in the iOS App Store search results are concerning. They may be the beginning of the end.

You can see further community norms in software breaking down. There are already semi-ads in Ubuntu's MOTD. Few days ago I did `npm install` on a project and saw literal ads spamming my console, asking to maybe support some library's author on Patreon and notifying me (a dozen times) that said author "is looking for a good job".

Which npm project was that if you dont mind me asking?

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#428

Post by locusm »

lordgrenville wrote: post #329
locusm wrote: post #183

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

There's an amazing OS program called Wox [0], which uses Everything [1] (an infinitely better search program) to produce an experience similar to Spotlight on Mac. Can't recommend it highly enough. (No affiliation, just a fan) [0] http://www.wox.one/ [1] https://www.voidtools.com/

Cheers, will check it out

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#429

Post by boring_twenties »

crooked-v wrote: post #387
kirb wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I may be completely off-base since Microsoft surely has some numbers we don’t that justify their choice of licensing model, but from my perspective, and from a few real experiences helping family and friends, people figure their PCs were at the end of their life and needed an entire replacement. Installing the free Windows 10 upgrade changes their mind - now they think their computer is perfectly up to date, at least…

That should be plenty for the basic 'grandpa wants the internet and Word' use cases, though. If it's not, I blame Microsoft.

Not using Windows, but I have some machines with similar specs and they are quite useful even for browsing many if not most websites. But, you must have NoScript and ad blocking.

So to be fair to Microsoft, at least some, if not all of the blame must go to web developers.

Re: Useless Windows 10 Features

#430

Post by boring_twenties »

criddell wrote: post #325
aphextim wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just take all the ones I want form this list and you can copy/past them in PowerShell and they execute one after the other. I would not do what he suggests as that will remove every app. To uninstall 3D Builder: get-appxpackage *3dbuilder* | remove-appxpackage To uninstall Alarms & Clock: get-appxpackage *alarms* | remove-appxpackage To uninstall App Connector: get-appxpackage *appconnector* | remove-appxpackage To…

Most of those you can right click on and select uninstall now. It takes longer, but it feels safer to me because I have to take a second for each to think if I want it or not.

I think being forced to think about ads for Spotify and Office is exactly what he's trying to avoid.
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