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Windows needs a change in priorities

den.dev

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Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#471

Post by apatheticonion »

Kinda at a loss for OS/DE at the moment.

Lived on Windows for over 2 decades (completed work via a Linux VM). Windows 8 was horrid and Windows 10/11 is hostile towards user experience (etc, etc privacy, but mostly user experience).

Used MacOS for half a decade after that and loved the Unix terminal and tight desktop experience but underpowered and overpriced hardware had me running a hackintosh for over half of that time. The move to M1 (and general difficulty maintaining a Hackintosh) means that MacOS is off the table for me.

I am currently daily driving Gnome 4 on Fedora and loving it. It has some user application UX issues (like Google Chrome mouse scrolls slowly) and some questionable desktop environment design decisions - but overall a nice place to land.

Not quite as nice as MacOS but it gets the job done.

It's sad that after 30 years on computers, my user experience has gotten worse - Gnome 4 came along at the perfect time to catch a bunch of MacOS and Windows refugees and I pray the developers push it in a direction where it becomes the most ergonomic desktop environment available on the Desktop - at least for engineers.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#472

Post by Neil44 »

segphault wrote: post #22

Like every Windows user, I have had a lot of frustrating experiences with the abusive behavior and dark patterns that have taken over the platform. Like when they started having Skype silently run in the background logged in with the user's Microsoft account without any notice or human intervention, and removed the setting to disable it from launching at startup so that it couldn't be prevented. I had to completely u…

They are doing this with Teams and it gets better, it’s a different Teams than normal that looks the same but only accepts personal MS accounts not business / 365 ones. WTF?

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#473

Post by ihateolives »

tssva wrote: post #343
rthomas6 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is wrong with Linux nowadays? I've used it as my main driver for long enough that I can't see the big problems that are preventing everyone from switching. Like, it seems easier than even WSL to me. Beginner friendly distos seem to have solved the package management problem, and there are adequate desktop environments, office suites, browsers, gaming, and everything else. If a person has good hardware compatibil…

With Linux while sitting idle my laptop burns battery about twice as fast as it does on Windows while I go about my normal workflow. This is a laptop which is certified for both Fedora and Ubuntu.

I've been wondering about that as well, never found a comprehensive answer to why is the difference so stark. I'd be willing to use Linux on my laptop when the difference would be 10-12%, but as of now I just can't. I have laptop because I need to use it on the go and linux makes it harder for me.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#475

Post by kwhitefoot »

spc476 wrote: post #468
segphault wrote: post #22

Like every Windows user, I have had a lot of frustrating experiences with the abusive behavior and dark patterns that have taken over the platform. Like when they started having Skype silently run in the background logged in with the user's Microsoft account without any notice or human intervention, and removed the setting to disable it from launching at startup so that it couldn't be prevented. I had to completely u…

You are not the target audience for Microsoft, the corporation is. Who uses a home computer anymore? (it's all smart phones now) You start work, you get a pre-installed Windows laptop to use by the corporate IT department, configured to be used as they see fit. You no longer own a computer. Nobody is expected to, these days.

> Who uses a home computer anymore?

Me (but not Windows), my three grown children, my sister, at least one brother in law. At least half of the people I know personally. Half of them using laptops, the rest desktop machines. All of them have smartphones, and sometimes tablets, as well.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#476

Post by nikodunk »

apatheticonion wrote: post #471

Kinda at a loss for OS/DE at the moment. Lived on Windows for over 2 decades (completed work via a Linux VM). Windows 8 was horrid and Windows 10/11 is hostile towards user experience (etc, etc privacy, but mostly user experience). Used MacOS for half a decade after that and loved the Unix terminal and tight desktop experience but underpowered and overpriced hardware had me running a hackintosh for over half of that…

Same story for me. Landed on Gnome 4x series Fedora after ditching macOS for engineering after a decade. iCloud, iMessage, appleTV etc etc hooks just got too intrusive and made things too unresponsive in my case.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#477

Post by mulmen »

apatheticonion wrote: post #471

Kinda at a loss for OS/DE at the moment. Lived on Windows for over 2 decades (completed work via a Linux VM). Windows 8 was horrid and Windows 10/11 is hostile towards user experience (etc, etc privacy, but mostly user experience). Used MacOS for half a decade after that and loved the Unix terminal and tight desktop experience but underpowered and overpriced hardware had me running a hackintosh for over half of that…

The current MacOS desktop environment is, generously, a dumpster fire. But it’s also miles ahead of anything else on the market.

The last decade of desktop environments feels like a march backwards, or perhaps even vertical, into some kind of alternate reality where the UI is designed to get in the way instead of enable.

Modern desktop environments are a painful death by a thousand cuts.

This is a rant but a desktop environment is my hammer. It is the tool I use more than anything else. The experience is sacred. And yet it is defiled annually.

I never feel more helpless than the first moments after a MacOS upgrade. Like all my power has been stripped. It hurts.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#478

Post by darkwater »

ziml77 wrote: post #169
skoskie wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it’s linux, so one obscure setting in a config file or slightly different hardware can make all the difference. I say this as a linux user since WinXP. The whole OS market is pretty rough right now.

> The whole OS market is pretty rough right now. This is my feeling over the past few years. No OS is in a great spot. But I have hopes for Linux being better supported with Valve using it on the Steam Deck. (Not the highest hopes, but more hope than I used to have)

I don't play videogames and I'm perfectly fine with my Ubuntu install, it does everything I need it to do. Only gamers put videogaming as a must for an operating system.

Re: Windows needs a change in priorities

#479

Post by lpcvoid »

ripley12 wrote: post #222
mwcampbell wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, that legacy control panel doesn't list any apps that use the AppX/MSIX packaging model introduced with Windows 8. I'm still not on Windows 11, so I don't know if Teams is listed in the newer list of apps available in modern Settings, but it's worth looking there.

"Microsoft Teams" is present for in Settings -> Apps -> Apps & Features on Win11 for me. But given how they're integrating Teams into the OS, I wouldn't be surprised if I lose the ability to uninstall it soon.

The fact that they are making that huge hunk of trash a core part of Windows tells me everything I need to know about the direction they are headed into. How does anybody put up with Windows in 2022?
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