4 ms·

All of the (mild) interest I had in that new Windows laptop evaporated when I saw that's what came loaded on it by default. Sure, it's just a $50 upgrade on top

All of the (mild) interest I had in that new Windows laptop evaporated when I saw that's what came loaded on it by default. Sure, it's just a $50 upgrade on top a $1000+ machine to get a legitimate copy of Windows.. but something just irks the hell out of me that they think that this is a cool thing to do. Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't

Arizhel 9y ago
>Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't They've been acting evil like this for 40 years now; what makes you think they're ever going to change?
- erikpukinskis 9y ago
  I remember the old times, and am quick to remind of what they did to Netscape, Samba, et al. But to answer your question... New blood, and fear. Gates is gone, and Ballmer was humiliated by the iPhone. Management now has to be in constant fear of ceding more ground in the consumer space. And they know that as consumer goes, so goes business... 20 years later. Many of Microsoft's recent moves are heartening. Supporting Mono officially. Implementing web standards quickly. Backing off this signed app stuff in Win10. MS has never had as much commercial pressure as they have now. They can't afford to alienate their niche supporters they way they could when they were the de facto everything. That gave me hope. Of course old habits die hard, but I don't think it's impossible for a company to evolve. IBM did. Apple did.
  - vezycash 9y ago
    You're right about fear. People who don't admit their fear, do something to mask the fear. MS is masking their fear of being ridiculed for ugliness by focusing unduly on design. The result has been "form over function." And now, MS pays lip service to productivity. They also focus intently on security to avoid being ridiculed for unsecure software (viruses, bugs, crashes compared to Mac and linux). The result? Closed Windows Phone and Windows Apps which unfortunately doomed both; and forced updates with intrusive data collection. Last but most important, MS's is as fast as a tortoise compared to Google, Apple, Amazon... They can't seem to make up their minds on features, app and OS design - hence the multiple reboots of Music turned Groove; Universal apps/Metro apps/UWP; Wp7,8,8.1,10->?, skype/message app, Metro skype and now UWP skype. For a company which built itself on compatibility, the constant change in direction is death by a thousand cuts.
JayHost 9y ago
"Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't" Stockholm Syndrome. "...something just irks the hell out of me that they think that this is a cool thing to do." Yeah, restricted freedom and anti-democratic business practices irks a whole lot of us. :)
- shrimp_emoji 9y ago
  But, when Apple does it, people like it, don't they? Microsoft's just been trying to be Apple ever since the Zune.
  - brianwawok 9y ago
    I just dumped my last Windows pc. All ubuntu. There are finally some good ubuntu laptops. Put your money where your values are.
    - ximeng 9y ago
      I have one Ubuntu one Windows at home, Windows made me update again today (last time a week or two ago) - took forty minutes. Next PC will have Ubuntu on it too.
      - vezycash 9y ago
        Turn off the update service. And there's three settings to make sure it doesn't reactivate itself. I held of updates for two years. Long story short: you can still decide when you want to update Windows - 10 steps instead of one.
        walterbell 9y ago
        Does that work on all versions of Windows 10?
        vezycash 9y ago

Arizhel 9y ago

>Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't They've been acting evil like this for 40 years now; what makes you think they're ever going to change?

erikpukinskis 9y ago
I remember the old times, and am quick to remind of what they did to Netscape, Samba, et al. But to answer your question... New blood, and fear. Gates is gone, and Ballmer was humiliated by the iPhone. Management now has to be in constant fear of ceding more ground in the consumer space. And they know that as consumer goes, so goes business... 20 years later. Many of Microsoft's recent moves are heartening. Supporting Mono officially. Implementing web standards quickly. Backing off this signed app stuff in Win10. MS has never had as much commercial pressure as they have now. They can't afford to alienate their niche supporters they way they could when they were the de facto everything. That gave me hope. Of course old habits die hard, but I don't think it's impossible for a company to evolve. IBM did. Apple did.
- vezycash 9y ago
  You're right about fear. People who don't admit their fear, do something to mask the fear. MS is masking their fear of being ridiculed for ugliness by focusing unduly on design. The result has been "form over function." And now, MS pays lip service to productivity. They also focus intently on security to avoid being ridiculed for unsecure software (viruses, bugs, crashes compared to Mac and linux). The result? Closed Windows Phone and Windows Apps which unfortunately doomed both; and forced updates with intrusive data collection. Last but most important, MS's is as fast as a tortoise compared to Google, Apple, Amazon... They can't seem to make up their minds on features, app and OS design - hence the multiple reboots of Music turned Groove; Universal apps/Metro apps/UWP; Wp7,8,8.1,10->?, skype/message app, Metro skype and now UWP skype. For a company which built itself on compatibility, the constant change in direction is death by a thousand cuts.

JayHost 9y ago

"Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't" Stockholm Syndrome. "...something just irks the hell out of me that they think that this is a cool thing to do." Yeah, restricted freedom and anti-democratic business practices irks a whole lot of us. :)

shrimp_emoji 9y ago
But, when Apple does it, people like it, don't they? Microsoft's just been trying to be Apple ever since the Zune.
- brianwawok 9y ago
  I just dumped my last Windows pc. All ubuntu. There are finally some good ubuntu laptops. Put your money where your values are.
  - ximeng 9y ago
    I have one Ubuntu one Windows at home, Windows made me update again today (last time a week or two ago) - took forty minutes. Next PC will have Ubuntu on it too.
    - vezycash 9y ago
      Turn off the update service. And there's three settings to make sure it doesn't reactivate itself. I held of updates for two years. Long story short: you can still decide when you want to update Windows - 10 steps instead of one.
      - walterbell 9y ago
        Does that work on all versions of Windows 10?
        vezycash 9y ago