Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround • Hacker News Board

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#421

Post by duskwuff » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:27 AM UTC

contravariant wrote: post #406

keithnz wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the grandma case is just made up. I've seen older people use win11 just fine, they aren't so incompetent that they can't click a button on their task bar. If they are having trouble with that, then even if they could get to the windows button easily in the corner, they'd have a tricky job clicking any of the things that come up in the windows menu which are all the same size, and now, not even aligned to the…

This isn't about being competent this is about stuff in corners of the screen being easier to hit.

Right. Specifically, a target in the corner of the screen has effectively infinite size with regards to Fitts's law:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law#Implications_for...

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#422

Post by pojzon » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:30 AM UTC

cronix wrote: post #22

So far in the last year or so, I've heard 0 reasons why I'd even need, want or benefit from Win11 over Win10. Tons of reasons in the negative column though. There isn't even anything to salivate over that might make you think it might be worth it to deal with the other tradeoffs. Hard pass.

We said the same about Win7 and Win10, yet here we are!

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#423

Post by soco » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:31 AM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #378

soco wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "a setting" but an obscure registry entry. And have you actually tried it? I did and it's a joke - you get the taskbar there but no icons on it lol. And how about drag and drop? Or grouping?

For me, it's a setting, and yes, I tried it and it works: https://imgur.com/a/QSxE92W I didn't mention the other two things because they aren't available settings. I mentioned the one that is, because I thought it might be helpful. Aside: Why do people jump to snark so fast?

I can't comment about other people but to me the reply felt like denying my personal experience of those three frustrations (because yes I am frustrated with W11) of which two seemed ignored and one presented with a solution which I already tried to no avail. If you had acknowledged the other two in the initial answer (like in a "at least for position..."), I'm very sure I wouldn't have reacted. Small things can make or break...

Now the aside being put aside, I have no idea why you have a setting and I don't, as I'm on the latest updates. Could be that Microsoft is doing some A/B testing? And is the left positioned taskbar working fine for you? I still won't switch until at least drag&drop comes back but it would be a glimmer of hope.

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#424

Post by shukantpal » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:32 AM UTC

tentacleuno wrote: post #190

pferde wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet most people keep trusting them with their code on Github. If people were smart, there would be Freenode-level mass migration away from GH the day the Microsoft purchase was confirmed. But no, everybody will only scream once Microsoft does something shady, as they inevitably will.

> And yet most people keep trusting them with their code on Github. Honestly, from what I've seen many people don't see the issue with this. "The code is public anyway, so what difference does it make?" I'm starting to see the downsides of that viewpoint now, though[0]. If GitHub, and by extension Microsoft, technically 'own' the code (licensing, etc.) then they have free reign over it, leading to things like Copilot…

If the code was public on another site, I don't think that would've made a difference in accessibility to the AI

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#425

Post by forgotmyoldname » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:32 AM UTC

pojzon wrote: post #422

cronix wrote: post #22

So far in the last year or so, I've heard 0 reasons why I'd even need, want or benefit from Win11 over Win10. Tons of reasons in the negative column though. There isn't even anything to salivate over that might make you think it might be worth it to deal with the other tradeoffs. Hard pass.

We said the same about Win7 and Win10, yet here we are!

I think many people would upgrade from Windows 10 to 7 if they had the choice.

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#426

Post by userbinator » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:33 AM UTC

josephcsible wrote: post #23

cronix wrote: post #22

So far in the last year or so, I've heard 0 reasons why I'd even need, want or benefit from Win11 over Win10. Tons of reasons in the negative column though. There isn't even anything to salivate over that might make you think it might be worth it to deal with the other tradeoffs. Hard pass.

Unfortunately, there's one very big reason you'll need Windows 11: that Windows 10 won't get security updates forever. After October 14th, 2025, you'll need to "upgrade" to it to stay secure.

Don't let the "security" FUD scare you. I bet 99% of malware infections are from people running stuff they should know better than to. Turn off all listening services, use a firewall, and keep JS off by default. I can't wait to see how many new exploits are introduced by all the new features of Win11 which are in a seemingly half-done state... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28404332

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#427

Post by MrStonedOne » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:34 AM UTC

pojzon wrote: post #422

cronix wrote: post #22

So far in the last year or so, I've heard 0 reasons why I'd even need, want or benefit from Win11 over Win10. Tons of reasons in the negative column though. There isn't even anything to salivate over that might make you think it might be worth it to deal with the other tradeoffs. Hard pass.

We said the same about Win7 and Win10, yet here we are!

I'm still on 7 and never gonna upgrade.

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#428

Post by smhenderson » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:35 AM UTC

bendhoefs wrote: post #390

gunapologist99 wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uninstalling software isn't the same as installing new, different software that didn't even come in your distribution's repositories. And, besides, a lot of people don't run Ubuntu, perhaps to get away from snap, perhaps to get away from systemd, or perhaps just because they can..

Do people still want to "get away from systemd". I thought most people had realized that systemd was a good thing by now :p. There's not a single popular Linux distro these days that isn't systemd by default. Even """hardcore""" distros.

There's still Slackware and I consider it pretty hardcore.

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#429

Post by mdoms » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:36 AM UTC

nabakin wrote: post #419

paxys wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a very different world today than when Microsoft went through antitrust proceedings for IE6. Regulatory authorities worldwide are getting more toothless by the day. Heck Apple doesn’t even let you use alternate browsers or install your own apps and they are celebrated for it. On what basis would there be action against Microsoft now?

> Apple doesn’t even let you use alternate browsers Are you sure that's true? When I was using my MacBook a year ago, I used Chrome with no problems. Set as default and never had to look at Safari again. One of the points I've made against Microsoft doing this is not even control freak Apple goes this far.

You can't install different browsers in iOS.

Re: Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox’s Default Browser Workaround

#430

Post by MrStonedOne » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 1:39 AM UTC

josephcsible wrote: post #23

cronix wrote: post #22

So far in the last year or so, I've heard 0 reasons why I'd even need, want or benefit from Win11 over Win10. Tons of reasons in the negative column though. There isn't even anything to salivate over that might make you think it might be worth it to deal with the other tradeoffs. Hard pass.

Unfortunately, there's one very big reason you'll need Windows 11: that Windows 10 won't get security updates forever. After October 14th, 2025, you'll need to "upgrade" to it to stay secure.

People will choose to be insecure then inconvenienced.