7 ms·

I truly think these things are overblown. This article references "sync" providers, but having sync disabled I've never seen the ads they show. I also disabled

by nerdy 10y ago

I truly think these things are overblown. This article references "sync" providers, but having sync disabled I've never seen the ads they show. I also disabled Cortana and most of the new W10 stuff but never looked back after switching. Edit: I do have Windows 10 Pro, which other users mention does not show ads. W10 has multi-desktop support, which is great when you're doing distinctly different things with an overwhelming number of programs open. It also has better use of windowing if you use those features (snap works by quadrant, etc). So by pressing Win+Ctrl+D it creates a whole new desktop (empty taskbar), and you can switch between them with Win+Tab. I don't use this often but it was amazing the few times I reached for it. Another small thing which bothered me but I've learned to rely on in W10 is if you have two monitors and are moving your cursor from the left monitor onto the right monitor near the top of the screen, it will be "blocked" at the rightmost edge of the left monitor, preventing your cursor from changing from the left monitor to the right monitor. This is useful for quickly minimizing or closing applications on the left monitor without mistakenly moving the cursor onto the right monitor. I have not yet found anything which I've "lost control" over except item-level customization of the left-hand side of the start menu, which is where pinned programs would sometimes end up. Having the entire right-hand side of the start menu plus the task bar is really sufficient though so this isn't a big deal. There are some other welcome improvements like the process list and/or performance monitor are improved, I can't remember specifically what wasn't available before though.

wtallis 10y ago
Of the three things you can find to praise Windows 10 for, two are power user features that Microsoft has long provided through power toys and sysinternals utilities. The last one sounds like Microsoft rediscovered Fitt's Law. I'm not prepared to give them any kudos for fixing such a glaringly obvious and simple flaw. But on the other hand, the list of things that a typical power user or privacy-conscious user needs to tweak continues to grow, and some of them can only be disabled on editions that aren't available to consumers.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  There is only one switch on a win10 machine that needs tweeking by the privacy-conscious user. If you really care about privacy you really need a non-proprietary OS.
  - wtallis 10y ago
    The Windows 10 Settings app has a Privacy section. On its General tab, there are 6 options. There are also 15 more pages of options for different categories. Where's the one big switch you claim covers everything of potential concern?
    - Nomentatus 10y ago
      The switch to Linux, I presume...
    - sandworm101 10y ago
      The off switch.
    - cm2187 10y ago
      And the problem is not just to cover everything (I set up a script for that). But also to actively maintain the list for all the new intrusions on every "security" update. This is an absolute waste of my time by Microsoft.
  - Beltiras 10y ago
    I'm planning a hardware upgrade for my home PC. Making a beast of a machine. Intending to have Host OS Ubuntu ang guest Win10 with passthrough for the M2 drive and GFX. Games with near-native performance and privacy on the host platform. Best of both worlds.
    - sudhirj 10y ago
      How do you achieve GFX and m2 passthrough on Ubuntu? VirtualBox?
cm2187 10y ago
> I do have Windows 10 Pro, which other users mention does not show ads. Pro does show adds (like app suggestions in the start menu or add on the lock screen). Enterprise is the one that doesn't (if you configure it properly).
- obsurveyor 10y ago
  You can turn app suggestions and ads on the lock screen off in Pro.
- cobalt 10y ago
  (It's worth noting that you can configure pro in the same way. There's a gpedit property) and a regedit property in home to achieve the same thing
Girlang 10y ago
I have a paid-for, properly licensed Windows 10 Pro --and I pay for OneDrive--and I saw the ad today!
Already__Taken 10y ago
>two monitors and are moving your cursor from the left monitor onto the right monitor near the top of the screen, it will be "blocked" at the rightmost edge You have windows 8 to thank for that, they figure this out designing their "hot corners" feature. There's a 5px angle at each corner to catch the mouse. This idea is users learn to hit the top and slide across to get the corner, rather than try to nail the corner perfectly all the time. near the bottom: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/b8/2012/05/21/enhancing-windows-8-for-multiple-monitors/ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/b8/2012/05/21/enhancing-win...
cobalt 10y ago
You can go into settings>system>display to configure the alignment of the two desktops. It looks like they might both share the bottom edge rather than the top edge

by nerdy 10y ago

wtallis 10y ago

Of the three things you can find to praise Windows 10 for, two are power user features that Microsoft has long provided through power toys and sysinternals utilities. The last one sounds like Microsoft rediscovered Fitt's Law. I'm not prepared to give them any kudos for fixing such a glaringly obvious and simple flaw. But on the other hand, the list of things that a typical power user or privacy-conscious user needs to tweak continues to grow, and some of them can only be disabled on editions that aren't available to consumers.

sandworm101 10y ago
There is only one switch on a win10 machine that needs tweeking by the privacy-conscious user. If you really care about privacy you really need a non-proprietary OS.
- wtallis 10y ago
  The Windows 10 Settings app has a Privacy section. On its General tab, there are 6 options. There are also 15 more pages of options for different categories. Where's the one big switch you claim covers everything of potential concern?
  - Nomentatus 10y ago
    The switch to Linux, I presume...
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    The off switch.
  - cm2187 10y ago
    And the problem is not just to cover everything (I set up a script for that). But also to actively maintain the list for all the new intrusions on every "security" update. This is an absolute waste of my time by Microsoft.
- Beltiras 10y ago
  I'm planning a hardware upgrade for my home PC. Making a beast of a machine. Intending to have Host OS Ubuntu ang guest Win10 with passthrough for the M2 drive and GFX. Games with near-native performance and privacy on the host platform. Best of both worlds.
  - sudhirj 10y ago
    How do you achieve GFX and m2 passthrough on Ubuntu? VirtualBox?

cm2187 10y ago

> I do have Windows 10 Pro, which other users mention does not show ads. Pro does show adds (like app suggestions in the start menu or add on the lock screen). Enterprise is the one that doesn't (if you configure it properly).

obsurveyor 10y ago
You can turn app suggestions and ads on the lock screen off in Pro.
cobalt 10y ago
(It's worth noting that you can configure pro in the same way. There's a gpedit property) and a regedit property in home to achieve the same thing

Girlang 10y ago

I have a paid-for, properly licensed Windows 10 Pro --and I pay for OneDrive--and I saw the ad today!

Already__Taken 10y ago

>two monitors and are moving your cursor from the left monitor onto the right monitor near the top of the screen, it will be "blocked" at the rightmost edge You have windows 8 to thank for that, they figure this out designing their "hot corners" feature. There's a 5px angle at each corner to catch the mouse. This idea is users learn to hit the top and slide across to get the corner, rather than try to nail the corner perfectly all the time. near the bottom: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/b8/2012/05/21/enhancing-windows-8-for-multiple-monitors/ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/b8/2012/05/21/enhancing-win...

cobalt 10y ago

You can go into settings>system>display to configure the alignment of the two desktops. It looks like they might both share the bottom edge rather than the top edge