4 ms·

Microsoft seriously don’t want to keep their users anymore

jzb 3y ago
How many people are actually going to switch, though? I’ve primarily used Linux for 25 years. Used to try to get people to switch. Microsoft would do something user hostile and people would complain, and then just go back to using Windows. A percentage switched to Apple, but they’re just bad in different ways. (Google, too, if you’re thinking about Chromebooks.) I’d love to believe “surely this” will be the thing, but I’m not optimistic. (Would love to be proven wrong!!)
- TheCapeGreek 3y ago
  I've seen this sort of consumer inertia with lots of things. People just generally don't care about the topics as deeply as you or I. My personal bugbear here is Pokemon, for example. I've got acquaintances that outright say "I'll buy the next game no matter what" when each generation has a myriad of issues and lazy development. My recommendation? Be polite, but firmly call them out. "You complain, but you'll never do anything about it.". Don't ask them to switch, just point out that they won't. The point of it is to get them to self-reflect on that assertion, and maybe from that point they might do something about it. Just being offered a solution won't do anything (see user elsewhere in this post who says they unfortunately have to use Windows for gaming but refuse to use Proton)
  - tentacleuno 3y ago
    > see user elsewhere in this post who says they unfortunately have to use Windows for gaming but refuse to use Proton) To be fair, as good as Proton is, the API isn't fully compatible with Windows' (yet!) -- I can fully understand why someone would want to avoid the hassles of dealing with this.
jeppester 3y ago
It doesn't matter as long as you can hardly get a PC without Windows. It is a text book example of a monopoly which no longer has to care for its users.
mrweasel 3y ago
I really don't understand Microsoft. They work on VScode, Visual Studio, WSL and other product for developers and then they try as hard as they can to push them of the Windows platform with Candy Crush, spyware and a browser nobody asked for. Microsoft wanting their own browser is understandable, but why not just make a good and secure browser? Same with Windows, why not provide a secure and private platform that people would actually want to use? Presumably they don't care, they also have enough money, so I guess they don't really have to.
- soundnote 3y ago
  Microsoft has a growing ads business, and it's the ads division in charge of Windows and Edge nowadays, as far as I understand. The dev tools are for internal use and B2B, so the motivation is different.
- Drakim 3y ago
  Microsoft is a big company with a lot of different groups of developers, I bet a lot of them think this stuff is really dumb.
- throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
  No company can survive bad management. One shitty exec that says to do X. Everyone has to follow and the results speak for themselves. I wonder though, for public companies, do employees not have the obligation to refuse certain demands in order to protect the shareholders?
  - mrweasel 3y ago
    > do employees not have the obligation to refuse certain demands in order to protect the shareholders? That might actually be the problem. Public companies may have an obligation to protect shareholder investment/returns, forcing a focus on near future profit. So you stuff in ads and tracking, because that will yield a "positive" result with the next quarter or two.

jzb 3y ago

How many people are actually going to switch, though? I’ve primarily used Linux for 25 years. Used to try to get people to switch. Microsoft would do something user hostile and people would complain, and then just go back to using Windows. A percentage switched to Apple, but they’re just bad in different ways. (Google, too, if you’re thinking about Chromebooks.) I’d love to believe “surely this” will be the thing, but I’m not optimistic. (Would love to be proven wrong!!)

TheCapeGreek 3y ago
I've seen this sort of consumer inertia with lots of things. People just generally don't care about the topics as deeply as you or I. My personal bugbear here is Pokemon, for example. I've got acquaintances that outright say "I'll buy the next game no matter what" when each generation has a myriad of issues and lazy development. My recommendation? Be polite, but firmly call them out. "You complain, but you'll never do anything about it.". Don't ask them to switch, just point out that they won't. The point of it is to get them to self-reflect on that assertion, and maybe from that point they might do something about it. Just being offered a solution won't do anything (see user elsewhere in this post who says they unfortunately have to use Windows for gaming but refuse to use Proton)
- tentacleuno 3y ago
  > see user elsewhere in this post who says they unfortunately have to use Windows for gaming but refuse to use Proton) To be fair, as good as Proton is, the API isn't fully compatible with Windows' (yet!) -- I can fully understand why someone would want to avoid the hassles of dealing with this.

jeppester 3y ago

It doesn't matter as long as you can hardly get a PC without Windows. It is a text book example of a monopoly which no longer has to care for its users.

mrweasel 3y ago

I really don't understand Microsoft. They work on VScode, Visual Studio, WSL and other product for developers and then they try as hard as they can to push them of the Windows platform with Candy Crush, spyware and a browser nobody asked for. Microsoft wanting their own browser is understandable, but why not just make a good and secure browser? Same with Windows, why not provide a secure and private platform that people would actually want to use? Presumably they don't care, they also have enough money, so I guess they don't really have to.

soundnote 3y ago
Microsoft has a growing ads business, and it's the ads division in charge of Windows and Edge nowadays, as far as I understand. The dev tools are for internal use and B2B, so the motivation is different.
Drakim 3y ago
Microsoft is a big company with a lot of different groups of developers, I bet a lot of them think this stuff is really dumb.
throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
No company can survive bad management. One shitty exec that says to do X. Everyone has to follow and the results speak for themselves. I wonder though, for public companies, do employees not have the obligation to refuse certain demands in order to protect the shareholders?
- mrweasel 3y ago
  > do employees not have the obligation to refuse certain demands in order to protect the shareholders? That might actually be the problem. Public companies may have an obligation to protect shareholder investment/returns, forcing a focus on near future profit. So you stuff in ads and tracking, because that will yield a "positive" result with the next quarter or two.