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> Why did Microsoft remove so much functionality for an OS designed for work? Because it's not designed for work, it's a launcher for video games.

by leppr 5y ago

execat 5y ago
> launcher for video games Probably not, otherwise there would be a lot more panic regarding SteamDeck, SteamOS, and Proton within Microsoft.
jiggawatts 5y ago
LoL wut? Microsoft has completely ignored the Window PC gaming market recently and is focusing 99% of their efforts on Xbox. They occasionally back-port things from Xbox to Windows... and then neglect to document the backported APIs or give anyone access at all. For example, the killer new feature of Xbox Series X is "DirectStorage", whereby the GPU can access NVMe devices directly for incredible IOPS and throughput. They "added" this to windows: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/system/overviews/directstorage/directstorage-white-paper https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/syst... To quote: "Access to this topic requires membership in an NDA developer program. Contact your publisher or your Xbox program representative if you need direct access. Not in the program? Read about joining the ID@Xbox program to gain access today!" Translation: "This is not for you PC-only game developer, only Xbox matters, ask permission from the Xbox team and assure them you won't take market share away from them." That's just the tip of the iceberg. A Windows 10 update a few years ago broke HDR gaming for a huge range of PCs out there, and it has been broken even worse in Windows 11. Just some of the madness that affects me even on a brand-new, high-end gaming laptop with Windows 11: - If you have a discrete NVIDIA GPU with a recent laptop that has a HDR screen, all DirectX applications & games using the NVIDIA card will report HDR support as "N/A" for the primary screen. There is no workaround. - In Windows 11 RTM, monitor gamuts (and all applications) are forced to sRGB and SDR even on a wide-gamut OLED screen with 100% AdobeRGB coverage and full HDR support. External HDMI-connected televisions (like with Xbox!) work as expected, but that's the writing on the wall: Microsoft tests HDR onlybwith Xbox, not with Windows. - If you accidentally leave HDR enabled and your laptop goes to sleep, the primary display won't turn on at all when you resume from sleep and you have to power-cycle your computer. Obviously HDR "support" was only tested in the context of external TVs just like with Xbox, and was probably done only by the Xbox team. The Windows team literally does not test this scenario or apply bugfixes despite thousands of Feedback Hub comments. - If you change your monitor "brightness" slider, the reported MaxFALL in HDR mode will change, which makes no sense because it's the physical monitor hasn't magically gained new abilities. Worse, it's backwards: At max brightness SDR apps run with an eye-searing 450 nits, but HDR apps and games will think the maximum display output is just 113 nits and will look completely distorted and washed out (darker than SDR!). Conversely, reducing the brightness will lie to HDR games and report ludicrous maximum brightness levels like 48,000 nits which will clip everything to maximum white, even shadows. - I'm probably missing a few...
esalman 5y ago
Very subjective opinion. I found MacOS most disruptive to work. Things take ages to fix on Linux desktop. On the contrary Windows seems to me the most flexible OS of the lot precisely because it lets me run almost any video game. I also have a dirt cheap Chromebook which is more productive than either Linux or Mac.
- emkoemko 5y ago
  "I also have a dirt cheap Chromebook which is more productive than either Linux or Mac." umm.... Chromebook is Linux....
  - Snetry 5y ago
    Its like calling Android Linux. Yes Technically true, and you can use it like it in a few places but they are far from the same.
    - emkoemko 5y ago
      no very wrong.... you can even install your own deb packages on it, what makes it not Linux? its running a Linux kernel ain't it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_OS Chrome OS is built on top of the Linux kernel. Originally based on Ubuntu, its base was changed to Gentoo Linux in February 2010.
    - emkoemko 5y ago
      " Its like calling Android Linux." is it using a Linux kernel? if yes then Android is also Linux... are saying GNOME or KDE are not Linux ? even though they use a Linux Kernel. Yea Android does not contain GNU tools and libraries but it still is Linux.
      - dpark 5y ago
        When someone refers to “Linux”, they are generally referring to the notion of a distro and not The Linux Kernel. People who willfully muddy those notions pedantically are exactly as annoying as people who say stuff like “Oh, you’re from America? So like, Canada? Because that’s part of America, right?” I’m pretty sure you understand the difference between a Linux distro and the Linux kernel so why are you pretending like you don’t understand what Snetry means? Android and Chromebook both use the Linux kernel but neither of them are anything like a typical distro from the user perspective. Honestly, it’s also borderline nonsense to say “Android is Linux”. It’s the sort of pedantry that’s annoying because it’s unnecessary but also because it’s really not correct. Android “is Linux” in the same way that Europe “is France”. A part and the whole are not the same.

> Why did Microsoft remove so much functionality for an OS designed for work? Because it's not designed for work, it's a launcher for video games.

by leppr 5y ago

> Why did Microsoft remove so much functionality for an OS designed for work? Because it's not designed for work, it's a launcher for video games.

execat 5y ago

> launcher for video games Probably not, otherwise there would be a lot more panic regarding SteamDeck, SteamOS, and Proton within Microsoft.

jiggawatts 5y ago

LoL wut? Microsoft has completely ignored the Window PC gaming market recently and is focusing 99% of their efforts on Xbox. They occasionally back-port things from Xbox to Windows... and then neglect to document the backported APIs or give anyone access at all. For example, the killer new feature of Xbox Series X is "DirectStorage", whereby the GPU can access NVMe devices directly for incredible IOPS and throughput. They "added" this to windows: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/system/overviews/directstorage/directstorage-white-paper https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/syst... To quote: "Access to this topic requires membership in an NDA developer program. Contact your publisher or your Xbox program representative if you need direct access. Not in the program? Read about joining the ID@Xbox program to gain access today!" Translation: "This is not for you PC-only game developer, only Xbox matters, ask permission from the Xbox team and assure them you won't take market share away from them." That's just the tip of the iceberg. A Windows 10 update a few years ago broke HDR gaming for a huge range of PCs out there, and it has been broken even worse in Windows 11. Just some of the madness that affects me even on a brand-new, high-end gaming laptop with Windows 11: - If you have a discrete NVIDIA GPU with a recent laptop that has a HDR screen, all DirectX applications & games using the NVIDIA card will report HDR support as "N/A" for the primary screen. There is no workaround. - In Windows 11 RTM, monitor gamuts (and all applications) are forced to sRGB and SDR even on a wide-gamut OLED screen with 100% AdobeRGB coverage and full HDR support. External HDMI-connected televisions (like with Xbox!) work as expected, but that's the writing on the wall: Microsoft tests HDR onlybwith Xbox, not with Windows. - If you accidentally leave HDR enabled and your laptop goes to sleep, the primary display won't turn on at all when you resume from sleep and you have to power-cycle your computer. Obviously HDR "support" was only tested in the context of external TVs just like with Xbox, and was probably done only by the Xbox team. The Windows team literally does not test this scenario or apply bugfixes despite thousands of Feedback Hub comments. - If you change your monitor "brightness" slider, the reported MaxFALL in HDR mode will change, which makes no sense because it's the physical monitor hasn't magically gained new abilities. Worse, it's backwards: At max brightness SDR apps run with an eye-searing 450 nits, but HDR apps and games will think the maximum display output is just 113 nits and will look completely distorted and washed out (darker than SDR!). Conversely, reducing the brightness will lie to HDR games and report ludicrous maximum brightness levels like 48,000 nits which will clip everything to maximum white, even shadows. - I'm probably missing a few...

esalman 5y ago

Very subjective opinion. I found MacOS most disruptive to work. Things take ages to fix on Linux desktop. On the contrary Windows seems to me the most flexible OS of the lot precisely because it lets me run almost any video game. I also have a dirt cheap Chromebook which is more productive than either Linux or Mac.

emkoemko 5y ago
"I also have a dirt cheap Chromebook which is more productive than either Linux or Mac." umm.... Chromebook is Linux....
- Snetry 5y ago
  Its like calling Android Linux. Yes Technically true, and you can use it like it in a few places but they are far from the same.
  - emkoemko 5y ago
    no very wrong.... you can even install your own deb packages on it, what makes it not Linux? its running a Linux kernel ain't it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_OS Chrome OS is built on top of the Linux kernel. Originally based on Ubuntu, its base was changed to Gentoo Linux in February 2010.
  - emkoemko 5y ago
    " Its like calling Android Linux." is it using a Linux kernel? if yes then Android is also Linux... are saying GNOME or KDE are not Linux ? even though they use a Linux Kernel. Yea Android does not contain GNU tools and libraries but it still is Linux.
    - dpark 5y ago
      When someone refers to “Linux”, they are generally referring to the notion of a distro and not The Linux Kernel. People who willfully muddy those notions pedantically are exactly as annoying as people who say stuff like “Oh, you’re from America? So like, Canada? Because that’s part of America, right?” I’m pretty sure you understand the difference between a Linux distro and the Linux kernel so why are you pretending like you don’t understand what Snetry means? Android and Chromebook both use the Linux kernel but neither of them are anything like a typical distro from the user perspective. Honestly, it’s also borderline nonsense to say “Android is Linux”. It’s the sort of pedantry that’s annoying because it’s unnecessary but also because it’s really not correct. Android “is Linux” in the same way that Europe “is France”. A part and the whole are not the same.