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My Windows Computer Just Doesn't Feel Like Mine Anymore

• smitty1e 2y ago
  About the first time there was some hidden Registry value jacking up my life, Windows made me feel like the product, instead of Microsoft's OS or application. Open Source isn't challenge-free, but it's much closer to the chess experience that I seek than the poker experience of proprietary alternatives.
  • trealira 2y ago
    I don't understand the chess/poker metaphor; could you elaborate on that, please?
    • smitty1e 2y ago
      I want the details that matter to be in view, as on a chess board. Not stashed away in some obscure, poker-style location.
    • Tao3300 2y ago
      Just guessing: in chess you have all the information, whereas in poker you don't.
• zeppelin101 2y ago
  It's pretty sad, but with each iteration of Windows, it feels more and more impersonal and intrusive. There could be a mass migration to MacOS and Linux for many of us.
  • MBCook 2y ago
    MacOS is going through the same thing. It’s not nearly as bad, but Apple keeps pushing their services and being more in your face about it. I don’t mind them trying. But don’t keep asking, or ask again on every update, or badge settings because I haven’t my added to my wallet, or keep telling me how much better a family plan is when I’m single. It’s not better, it’s a waste of money. I can’t imagine switching off macOS/iOS. I don’t want Linux or Windows. But I’m getting less happy every year.
    • zer0zzz 2y ago
      Seriously. macOS is getting this same sort of thing, but it’s being slow walked.
    • zeppelin101 2y ago
      MacOS is getting worse, for sure, but compared to Windows, it's way "behind" in all the bad ways. As a life-long Windows user, who is also comfortable with Linux, MacOS seems to have the best of all worlds, currently.
      • MBCook 2y ago
        I bought my first Windows computer in about 20 years a few months ago. It’s got 11 on it. It's an insanely tiny very low power thing that was almost as cheap as I could get. I just needed a Windows PC around and it fit my needs. Totally fine for basic stuff. But wow. I’ve seen articles about how it was getting worse, new things MS has done, pulled back on, and put in later. I was used to all the stupid advertisement stickers that have been there forever. Bing desktop images I’ve seen before and is a nice default IMO. But the big ads in the start menu? And the thing of the day on the search bar? Candy Crush and other crap? CONSTANT OneDrive and Office 365 nagging? Are you sure you didn’t mean Edge this time? Really? I’d heard of it all but it’s so comically over the top in person. And takes a while to find out how to disable. My last personal PC was XP Pro in the early 2000s. I’ve used a number of work PCs with newer versions but they were all locked down with group policy so none of that appeared. Windows is a self parody at this point. I know it’s a very good OS technically. But wow they found out how to ruin it.
        • zeppelin101 2y ago
          Thank you for sharing your story. I'd like to add that it's very much possible to disable many of these annoying things. But doing so: 1) requires some research 2) can cause your system to become unstable (e.g. if you run a script that tweaks many settings in the registry) 3) those settings may get reset with a major Windows update 4) you hardly need to do this on MacOS. Myself, I have my ways of dealing with all of these things. But it feels like an uphill battle.
  • stateofinquiry 2y ago
    There is no perfect choice here. I left the MS Windows ecosystem in around 2001, did not really use XP or 7. I was on various linux distros until 2015- and for my needs at the time they were great! I used mostly desktops (power management/sleep not a big issue) and did not have to interop with "regular" users using MS Office, etc. I did some development, and in this area Linux excelled. I also had time to tweak and twiddle until things worked well. 2015 - 2021 I was on Mac OS. It was an improvement over Linux in several ways- mobile HW was great, sleep no problem, and I could interoperate. MacOS is great in so many ways (and as mentioned Apple HW is generally top-notch), but not perfect. For example, they don't really want you running "unapproved" (unsigned) software, and I understand network is needed to check if the software is approved: https://appleinsider.com/inside/macos/tips/how-to-launch-any-macos-app-even-those-not-notarized-by-apple https://appleinsider.com/inside/macos/tips/how-to-launch-any... . Together with the fact that I had very little HW control (can't upgrade or replace parts myself on Macbooks especially) and that Apple make their stuff software pretty "sticky" (hard to get your data out) I ended my run using MacOS as my primary computer. So now I am on MS Windows again, like the old days. It has the issues indicated in the article for sure- but I do feel a little more control than MacOS, strangely. Its easy, it mostly works and gets out of the way, and I can still upgrade RAM etc (for now, anyway- ARM PCs might be more like current MacBooks and could change this). Dev is better than in the past, and interop is no problem. The main reason I am on Windows is backward comparability. As I have aged, I value being able to use old things- and on this MS Windows is unmatched in my experience. I will see how long I last before the next leap ;-)
    • zeppelin101 2y ago
      I agree with all the points you made. Windows is very open in many ways - at least relative to MacOS. In my main laptop, I have 2 SSD slots and the memory is also swappable. Not to mention what's possible with something like the Framework laptops. Meanwhile, Linux may be far more open, but a lot of hardware might not work at 100% feature parity (e.g. various peripherals, especially anything bluetooth). It's also true that the interop situation has gotten far better on Windows. WSL works very well. But I'd also say that all 3 main OSs have much better interop than in the past. For example, gaming on Linux is more than viable, thanks to Valve. Finally, The Browser has become an OS of its own. And Electron-based apps like VSCode, Discord, and many others, are multiplatform. Personally, I find all the 3 of the main OSs to be very compelling and impressive. They each have their own set of pros and cons. For someone who just wants things to work, MacOS is a great choice - but one that feels quite limiting (but some people feel a sense of freedom in that, actually). Windows also works very well in that regard. It's just that for many, it feels like Microsoft is treating us Windows-folk as dumb cattle and that they are taking our loyalty for granted. Meanwhile, Linux.. is hard to define. It's a lot of things and it's a constantly moving target. For me, I have found Linux on the desktop to have the most pain points. Not ones that I cannot manage or work around, but ones I'd rather not have to deal with.
  • hot_gril 2y ago
    ChromeOS could step up as the Linux destination. One way or another, I'd like to see Windows get what it deserves for treating its users this way.
• hammyhavoc 2y ago
  Felt similarly. Embraced NixOS. Not looked back.
  • ews 2y ago
    NixOS and Guix are in some areas about a decade ahead of Mac and Windows. It's incredible what you can do with those (I can't work on new projects without guix shell anymore). It almost has the same feeling that in the 90s, when distros had package managers and proprietary OSes did not.
    • _yb2s 2y ago
      I’m not familiar, what do you like about them?
      • ews 2y ago
        I am going to try to ELI5, but the concepts run very deep. Both nixOS and Guix are different to 'regular' distros in the way that they are declarative: there is a file that describes the full OS: every user, every package, every system service, where the bootloader goes and so on. The main idea is that you can take that file, nuke your hard disk, reuse it and you'll have the same OS byte by byte. This concept of reproducibility is not only very comfortable, but has profound ramifications in security (you know no compiler or library has been tampered with malware) or science. But it goes deeper: Since the OS is described by a single file you can roll back to a previous version if your file is hosted on git (both OS manage this transparently without the need of a VCS). Users can have their own 'local copy' of that file with their own programs, including their own libraries with different versions. You can have different files as 'profiles' (one for work, one for personal projects, one for gaming) you can activate at any time when you want to switch tasks, or you can try your friend configuration on a chroot or isolated environment on top of your own system. The main difference between nixOS and Guix is that guix uses guile scheme as configuration language for that particular file. I have plenty of '(packages (if is-laptop acpi)...)' entry on my own files. guix shell is just a way to create a temporary environment to try something quick without polluting my OS. For instance, if I want to do some hacking on python2 I would do 'guix shell python2' and it will open a shell for me with python2 without changing my python3 binary and python3 libraries on my main system. BTW you don't even have to change your whole system, both nix and guix can be installed on top of 'regular' distros (google 'guix foreign distro', which is the way I manage my rasperry pis). There is way more than all that, I definitely encourage everyone to give it a try, it's a mind bending new way to use a OS.
• UberFly 2y ago
  I don't see myself moving away from Windows due to the software ecosystem that has been built upon it for decades, but if I was forced to use the "Home" version I would be long gone. That being said, when I can, I use Linux on various PCs and it's a refreshing experience.
  • airstrike 2y ago
    What software specifically is preventing you from moving, if you don't mind me asking?
    • mcbuilder 2y ago
      I run exclusively Linux, don't even really feel the need to keep a dual boot partition around, and have probably installed Arch Linux over 50 times, but I do understand that there are many a plethora of different Windows software ecosystems that aren't duplicated in Linux. I'm a firm believer in if there is a will there is way, but sometimes I've had to walk away and either say F this or break out the Window's partition. Luckily I don't "need" Adobe products, or perfect support for some of my hardware devices, or the exact right libraries for that kinda obscure game, or 99 other things. Linux is probably good for a vast majority of us though.
    • gjsman-1000 2y ago
      I am chained to Windows (not the OP) all over the place. CAD programs, e.g. SolidWorks, Alibre, SketchUp, eDrawings, Fusion 360? Windows. CAM programs, e.g. BobCAM, MeshCAM, MasterCAM? Windows. Office? Windows (LibreOffice is not a functional replacement - you can’t risk having documents being sent to clients looking bad). FileMaker, Act! Pro, other desktop databases? Windows. Router control software, e.g. Mach3, Mach4, UCCNC? Windows. Adobe anything (GIMP is worse than a joke)? Or, if you don’t like Adobe, Affinity? Windows. No shortage of Windows and Mac only programs in a business. Other than MasterCAM, my family uses or has used every piece of software I just listed in our small business. Linux is not an option; only for home hobbyist use, maybe. If you could get by with a Chromebook, Linux will work for you, otherwise it probably won’t. (This might sound like a slam, but remember Steam also runs on Chromebooks now.)
• skywhopper 2y ago
  Windows is just plain humiliating and embarrassing to use at this point. MacOS is starting to creep that way with lots of pushing for signing up for additional services, as well. It’s a real shame, but it’s no wonder no one wants to deal with a PC anymore outside of the office where most of the trash is turned off by corporate IT.
  • sorry_outta_gas 2y ago
    [dead]
  • segfaltnh 2y ago
    I don't think that's the right causal direction. People aren't using home PCs anymore because they use their phones, or their work laptop. At least that's my take. Part of me wonders if all this advertisement and service hawking is related to a fear of massive market size reduction, overall.
• Tempest1981 2y ago
  My friend recently got a new Windows PC. Out of the box, it spent maybe 15-20 minutes updating itself. "We're getting things ready", reboot, create a Microsoft account, 10 data sharing settings to turn off, "almost ready..." Iirc, a MacBook is ready to use without any updates.
  • MBCook 2y ago
    I think it will ask, but it’s optional. You can do it later if you’d prefer. The only time it’s mandatory is if you are restoring from a back up or transferring from another computer with a newer operating system. So if your old machine was on 10.20.1 but your new machine is 10.19.4 because that was the newest when it was put in box then you’ll have to update it first.
  • lostlogin 2y ago
    > a MacBook is ready to use without any updates. Do you want to give this app access to downloads? To desktop? To microphone? What about this app? Sign in to iCloud. Sign in again. Maybe this time? Nope, sign in to iCloud. I’ve picked my poison, and it’s Apple, but it’s far from perfect.
    • MBCook 2y ago
      Those aren’t updates. They’re obnoxious. I’m getting more annoyed with MacOS too for that and other reasons mostly around services. But you can start using it without OS updates.
      • wvenable 2y ago
        I'm not sure why you'd want to start using an OS without running the latest revision.
        • more_corn 2y ago
          You can choose to run updates if you want. Choice bing the operative word.
• silverquiet 2y ago
  About a year ago I dumped Windows from my personal PC for good. I ran a Linux desktop at work for a decade, but my Steam collection get me with at least a bit of a tether to Microsoft. But Valve finally made Linux gaming a reality. I hope more people can make the switch someday because I'm quite happy with the system (Pop!_OS is my distro of choice these days).
  • segfaltnh 2y ago
    I did this about three months ago in response to Windows insisting again that I must link my desktop user with my Live account. I'm blown away by how viable Linux gaming is now, entirely because of money dumped in by Valve. It's only looking better, too, the deck means people are motivated to at least make sure it boots in Wine, and if they support Vulkan the perf will likely work out well.
    • monero-xmr 2y ago
      I installed Windows for a media PC for the first time in many years, and holy shit it’s insane. The dark patterns. The nags. It’s a given they are somehow tracking everything I do and selling all of my files. They are milking boomers who will never switch from Windows as a cash cow, longterm they know Windows is dead as a personal desktop. Their revenue is no longer dependent on Windows PC so it’s an end game scenario.
  • yoshamano 2y ago
    That's what finally gave me the confidence to switch to Linux a year ago. I'm running Manjaro on my main system and Valve's efforts in improving WINE/creating Proton have been fantastic. The amount of games that "just work" has been nothing short of amazing.
  • Thegn 2y ago
    I also moved over to PopOS over a year ago and have been quite happy with the end result. Between Steam and Lutris I’ve been able to run everything I want to, and I don’t have to play whack-a-mole with Microsoft’s “features” that I’m not interested in. Bonus points: I’m having fun with my computer again!
• yoshamano 2y ago
  For the past few years I've had this thought in the back of my head . If I use a Samba server as a domain controller, how much cruft and hostility can I shave off a standard Windows 11 Pro installation with GPOs. I keep kicking around the idea of trying to do it as an exercise in absurdity.
  • Uvix 2y ago
    If you have Pro, you don't even need the Samba server, you can just edit group policy locally.
    • yoshamano 2y ago
      True, but I want to be able to join a computer to my domain and everything gets applied automatically. The absurdity being the creation of an enterprise environment to use enterprise tools to shape a personal computer into something that closely resembles an experience you used to get out of the box 15 years ago. To build a castle so as not to be treated like livestock.
• OptionOfT 2y ago
  I can't even remove 'Recommended' from the start menu, not even on a Pro for Workstations. Every time I search on the start menu there is a web search, impossible to turn off. How is that acceptable? I install Edge Beta to test something, and the I uninstall it. All of the sudden my search provider in my normal Edge is reset. And the nagging everywhere. No I don't want 'back-up' my files (OneDrive is not backup, it's sync). And I don't want to be reminded later. I don't want to be reminded ever. All this fuzzy language makes me feel like I'm dealing with a kindergarden teacher addressing his/her pupils. It's not my computer any more. Oh, I update a driver. And 2 days later Windows installs an older version. Since when is 6.6.1.40 better than 6.6.1.72? Why would you do that?
  • lozenge 2y ago
    You can use Windows Firewall to block outbound connections from the Start bar. It would be nice if some basic features like calculator would still work, but no luck.
    • jtriangle 2y ago
      If you have a w7 install the calc exe still works on 10/11
      • yonatan8070 2y ago
        I think they mean calculation from the start menu search (on a default installation, it will Bing the calculation and show the search result, which I find absurd since it requires an internet connection to solve x+y). The calculator program still works fine offline, but is often overkill when you just want to quickly solve something I'll note that Microsoft's PowerToys run solves this properly, just like MacOS's Spotlight and the built in search on most Linux desktops
        • ed_elliott_asc 2y ago
          But spotlight replaces alt+space so you can’t minimise or move a window from the command line :(
• superkuh 2y ago
  It's sad to see Windows fall so far from the Win2k days but this trajectory has been obvious since Windows XP. Fortunately or unfortunately, for most people for most things, the host OS hardly matters anymore. The operating system is now the browser. And this "doesn't feel like mine anymore" is 100x worse there because corporations have fogotten that they're voluntarily presenting data upon the request of an external client and what said client does with the data is none of their business. It's as if visiting a website and downloading the publicly available contents is a nation setting up an embassy of "foreign soil" on your hardware. Editing CSS (or whatever) is equivalent to vandalizing a physical storefront because the pixels on your monitor are theirs not yours despite it being your hardware. Even the very protocol of hypertext transport (HTTP/3) is now designed around being encryption verified JS application delivery for corporate person use cases with no allowances for HTML hypertext transport for human person use cases. So not even linux/mac/bsd/etc is free from the trend.
• replwoacause 2y ago
  I will never own or use another Windows PC again. Full stop.
• zer0zzz 2y ago
  People need to get over the in OS ads. They’re easily removable honestly. Personally I’ve never seen windows look this good in years. The whole system shell looks really good and well designed these days. On top of that the included features like wsl2 and hyperv are great.
  • Dalewyn 2y ago
    I disagree that we should just "get over" ads, I fucking paid cold hard cash for a Windows license after all. It's either ads with a free license, or no ads with a license bought and paid for. No fucking double dipping. That said, most if not all the nonsense can easily be disabled or removed so I agree with your overall position.
    • 2Gkashmiri 2y ago
      But Microsoft is subsidising cost of the immense infra and development cost by showing you ads in excahnge for a cheaper license.
      • jijji 2y ago
        I hope that was sarcasm
        • 2Gkashmiri 2y ago
          I don't know for Microsoft but xiaomi has been saying this https://www.androidauthority.com/xiaomi-ads-business-966584/ https://www.androidauthority.com/xiaomi-ads-business-966584/ >This advertisement business is what allows Xiaomi to subsidize and offset the cost of the hardware and reach those astonishingly low price points. So it wont be surprising if Microsoft says the same
          • ric2b 2y ago
            Microsoft doesn't have astronomically low price points.
• fattah25 2y ago
  Really i Don't like windows but the text editor or the official tools like powerpoint, mas word, Excel more good than LibreOffice. I use it for my paper because my collage.
  • lokar 2y ago
    For casual use Google is fine, otherwise use LaTeX
    • bowsamic 2y ago
      There are many, many academic journals that require Microsoft word and won’t accept LaTeX
    • Zambyte 2y ago
      For professional use, Office is also fine (there is a web version)
  • Aachen 2y ago
    Did you mean colleague or college? In the latter case, some (most?) countries require the use of open software and standards in government and various regulated environments unless there's a specific and documented reason why that's practically impossible. You may be able to tell your college they need to support open software rather than requiring everyone to buy proprietary licenses and get familiar with those specific products (A bit off-topic, but I can recommend using a translator to turn what you've written in English back into a language you're familiar with, to check that it says what your intended. That way, you practice writing and can check the result for good communication also. I've been doing this for German and this is helping me practice in situations where I otherwise would use a translator from my languages into German because the translation's correctness matters.)
• throwaway4736 2y ago
  Enshittification.
• talentedcoin 2y ago
  Windows is the only reasonable option for someone who wants a modern desktop but doesn’t want a Mac. Apple has been integrating ID into their systems for years and nobody bats an eye. Do you want a computer that “feels like” something or do you want to get work done?
  • acidburnNSA 2y ago
    I sure manage to get a lot of modern work done on my Linux desktop.
    • talentedcoin 2y ago
      Here’s a representative example of what I mean, an issue from one “modern” Linux desktop: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/3787 https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/3787 At least with Windows you don’t have to gaslight yourself into thinking that blurry fonts are better. If you have a setup with multiple high-res monitors (or, God forbid, have to mess with scaling), it takes a lot of work to be happy with the looks and feel of a Linux desktop compared to what you get out of the box with Windows or a Mac.
      • tavavex 2y ago
        This is the quintessential Linux issue. The whole system works, but there's always some minor hitch that makes the experience less seamless than the "corporate" counterparts. Oh, there's lag when you scroll, or the scroll behaves erratically in general? That's actually been an issue for 10+ years, get used to it. Screen tearing? Well, here's the solution, but it has drawbacks and breaks something else somewhere else. System nukes itself after an update? You're on your own now. In terms of modifiability and openness, open source anything is far superior to anything else - which is valuable for a community like this. But there's still plenty to do in terms of providing as seamless of an experience to some average Joe as what macOS/Windows does.
  • russelg 2y ago
    And yet you still don't need to sign in with an Apple ID unless you want to. Microsoft makes it annoyingly hard to set up your computer with a local-only account.
• __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
  I sort of figured that anyone capable of leaving that abusive relationship would've done so long ago, but apparently Microsoft Windows still has something to lose.
• ChrisArchitect 2y ago
  There's no substance to any of these gripes. What advertising? The section hardly describes where/what that is. Sure there's Microsoft Store/app related things (if you use them) but other than that, isn't most of it third-party/manufacturer-included bloat and ads? I don't see any ads on my Win 11 install anywhere. I never use the Start menu except for my already pinned/frequently used apps. Most of my apps are no MS-related.... VS Code and OS stuff excepted. No ads there. Not using Edge browser so that eliminates any of that MS/Bing/whatever related ads. The file explorer mostly works. Problems with updates come and go, but are minor/years apart. There's no particular lock-in at the level of Mac OS, and I can manage my device/files/plug'n'play mostly without any restrictions. It still feels like my machine in ways that Macs never do.
  • jijji 2y ago
    If you're not a paid shill then you sure do a good job of it
    • swader999 2y ago
      There's only a couple of positive windows posts. Even their astro turf division is sucking rocks these days.
• clircle 2y ago
  Install LTSC
  • opan 2y ago
    https://windowsreport.com/windows-recall-spotted-ltsc-server-editions/ https://windowsreport.com/windows-recall-spotted-ltsc-server...
• kibwen 2y ago
  2024 won't be the year of the Linux desktop, but it will be the year of the Linux desktop for everyone who gives a damn about having control over their digital life. PopOS is lovely so far, I cringe every time I have to interface with Windows 11 for my job.
  • clayhacks 2y ago
    I don’t think Linux needs to win in one big swoop year. I can see it slowly eating away at windows until it’s as big as MacOS or bigger. I think there could be a tipping point when certain Linux distros are just better for almost everything and windows looks silly in comparison.
• more_corn 2y ago
  Because it’s not. Switch to Linux.
• guru4consulting 2y ago
  can someone suggest tips to remove all the bloatware from HP/Dell/etc and reinstall a cleaner minimalistic windows in a laptop? How do I know all the compatible drivers that exactly map to my specific laptop? The vendor websites are sometimes ambiguous and I don't get the confidence that right drivers would be installed. If reinstallation is too much of a hassle, is there at least some kind of script that can remove all the non-essential bloatware and make windows lean?
  • k8sToGo 2y ago
    If you want to make it easy, then the best way to go is to download Windows ISO from Microsoft. Then install Wifi driver if it is not working out of the box. Then install something like Dell Command Update to install the rest of the drivers.
• Joel_Mckay 2y ago
  The only reason I still dual boot win11 is for 3 programs that require windows only drivers. I purchased that laptop specifically because it supported dual ssd. Win11 offline install and de-dork instructions is a must: https://github.com/StellarSand/privacy-settings/blob/main/Privacy%20Settings/Windows-11.md https://github.com/StellarSand/privacy-settings/blob/main/Pr... Even then, one must assume win11 comes with a telemetry payload every second update. Linux has its own share of issues, but is far easier to develop on (if you check the hardware support before purchase). The only parts of win11 that are any good was the FOSS they packaged in. Strange times for sure, MS still chasing a set-top box market 30 years after it flopped =)
• foobarbecue 2y ago
  I love the irony of how this article is plastered in so many awful video ads that is almost unreadable.
  • grishka 2y ago
    Huh? There are ads on that site? I guess it's on you that you're browsing the web without an adblocker.
• sheepscreek 2y ago
  Update: This Debloating tool seems promising: https://github.com/LeDragoX/Win-Debloat-Tools https://github.com/LeDragoX/Win-Debloat-Tools It’s one of many I was able to find! My favourite version of windows was Windows 2000. It was a true get shit done and stay out of the way experience. I believe the enterprise server versions retained some of that appeal (might still).
• karaterobot 2y ago
  People don't switch operating systems at the drop of a hat. There's got to be a pretty good reason for it. All the people switching away from Windows, those are probably users that are lost to Microsoft forever. I get that their money comes from other places, but I bet there's a second-order effect of people who don't use Windows—maybe even people who now hate Windows—not having any desire stick with their other products or services either. It's weird that they don't seem to care about this slow diminution of their brand.
  • listenallyall 2y ago
    - stock is at all-time high - "all the people" is probably actually well under 1% of users - successfully switched all corporate accounts from single-purchase w/ occasional renewal to ongoing monthly subscription - also a lot of of consumer subscriptions - Azure - Github - LinkedIn - OpenAI investment I actually agree with you that the Windows experience is getting worse, quickly. But on balance, seems more is going right than going wrong.
    • flakiness 2y ago
      And I think that's why Windows gets worse. They just don't care anymore. I have wanted to like Windows and hoped Microsoft to get serious against these consumer-centric companies like Apple and Google, to use their cloud revenue to pump Windows up. That hasn't happened.
      • WWLink 2y ago
        > Microsoft to get serious against these consumer-centric companies like Apple and Google Microsoft can't do that. It's not in their DNA. Every time Microsoft has tried to make something consumer-centric it ended up flopping eventually. Sometimes things lasted a surprisingly long time! But their consumer-focused stuff like Zune, Xbox, even their keyboards & mice, eventually all kinda lost focus. Windows mobile was a weird one because they tried to use the same formula they always use - a corporate OS that had all sorts of knobs and buttons for SysAdmins to manage corporate phones. You could join a Windows phone to a domain and manage it. Xbox was pretty successful for a while because MS just has so much clout with game developers. Zune flopped HARD. I think the Surface product line has been kinda here and there - a total failure for consumers but some businesses like it... but not many, because most businesses have a relationship with Dell.
• jmward01 2y ago
  Windows is the SF of operating systems. I first moved to SF because I wanted to be there, not because it had a job for me. It was amazing. Regular people lived there and did interesting things and raised the next generation. You could enjoy the city because it was a city built for people and that was amazing. Then tech completely took over. I noticed my friends that had kids move first. They were the canaries in the coal mine. The city stooped being a place that made people want to put roots down, they were just there because of the job, so people have stopped moving there and started moving away. When you can work from anywhere why work in a place you don't want to be? I became one of the people that left and I don't regret it, unfortunately. Microsoft and their operating systems are exactly the same. I started using MS operating systems with DOS 2.0. I was hooked. Every new version really was an upgrade. I couldn't wait for each new release because they were all amazing and truly 'upgrades'. I used their stuff because it was good, not because I had to. Slowly however things started to change. Each new 'upgrade' came with things that didn't help and didn't improve. One day I realized they were upgrades, just not upgrades targeted at me. My machine slowly but surely became less and less mine. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and jumped on the Linux bandwagon. The last two machines I have purchased haven't even made it to the windows startup screen before I wiped them and, just like SF, you would have to pay me a lot of money to move back. I hope SF and Microsoft learn a lesson from this: If you aren't raising the next generation because they love your product then you are creating a group of people that will leave as soon as they get the chance.
  • sillysaurusx 2y ago
    Remember windows 7? Holy moly it was so good. It was like Jesus came down and designed an operating system. Been on macOS for nearly a decade now. Ironically it still has some things that are objectively worse. Looking at you, lack of alt tabbing.
    • zeppelin101 2y ago
      This app has solved alt-tabbing for me: https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/.
• theandrewbailey 2y ago
  I'll probably be building a new desktop in the next year or two, and I'll try running Debian on it first. (Or maybe a SteamOS fork.) I don't want to run Windows 11 on anything, and Windows 10 doesn't fully support new CPUs anymore, and official support for everything stops October 2025. Forcing ads into something is a sure fire way to get me to stop using a product.
• deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
• bachmeier 2y ago
  > Linux Respects Its Users Maybe I'm just ranting, but Ubuntu seems to be by far the most common distro for Windows users, and they're definitely not perfect in this respect. I've been running Linux as my main OS for about 20 years and I can't rid myself of snaps. Synaptic will show that the package provided by Mozilla is the latest version and the snap is the installed version. If I reinstall, it goes back to the Mozilla package, only to mysteriously show the snap is the installed version within a few days. I don't want to bring up the discussion of the Snap Store again, but this experience is pretty much what you get with Windows, just on a much smaller scale. I'd strongly encourage Windows users to install Mint or some other friendly alternative rather than going with the standard recommendation.
  • tcmart14 2y ago
    Ubuntu lost me over a decade ago or about a decade ago when I did an install and saw Amazon ads in the DE. The good news is, as you highlight, today there are quiet a few good distros, some that are not that much more of a hassle then Ubuntu for people to get up and going.
    • newzisforsukas 2y ago
      https://askubuntu.com/a/1309580 https://askubuntu.com/a/1309580
  • newzisforsukas 2y ago
    https://www.kubuntuforums.net/forum/general/documentation/how-to-s/662503-how-to-set-priority-for-a-ppa-i-e-using-firefox-without-snapd https://www.kubuntuforums.net/forum/general/documentation/ho...
  • directevolve 2y ago
    I switched to Ubuntu from Windows gradually over the last two years and have now dropped Windows entirely. I agree, Ubuntu isn't perfect, but I was a Windows user for about 25 years and the difference in terms of control is night and day. By the end, it was like Windows was shoving me into things like OneDrive that I hadn't (at least deliberately) installed, didn't want to use, and didn't understand. This set me up for a risk of breaking things when I'd treat it like the regular Windows filesystem, and eventually I did break Windows and had to reinstall. I've had none of these problems with Ubuntu. I wouldn't be surprised if alternative Linuxes are even better, but I'm satisfied enough with Ubuntu that trying alternatives isn't a priority.
• FredPret 2y ago
  - no more solitaire - cortana - ads… ADS… in the OS - forced updates - windows live accounts (or is it microsoft.com? wait, no, I think it’s office.com?) - two system settings screens - major new versions after “last version of Windows ever: 10”
  • hypeatei 2y ago
    Oh man, the absolute clusterfuck of settings screens is irritating. OS settings interface isn't a fucking micro service project; it's like technically, yes, they're updating the same things underneath but I don't want to spend mental energy thinking about the best way to update network settings in <current year>
    • et1337 2y ago
      To be fair, I still have no idea how to set the DNS server on an Ubuntu server in a way that won’t get wiped out on reboot. Is it resolv.conf? Nope, that’s generated by another tool. systemd-resolve? I think that’s getting closer… network manager? By the time I figure it out they’ll add another one to the pile.
      • yobert 2y ago
        The ecosystem has settled on NetworkManager for desktops/laptops. The systemd ones are great for servers or VMs.
      • Caligatio 2y ago
        The network config for out-of-the-box Ubuntu server has been stable for 6 years. You need to modify netplan's config: /etc/netplan/*.yaml (default is 00-installer-config.yaml). This renders volatile systemd-networkd configs in /run/systemd/network which, in turn, will configure systemd-resolved appropriately. If you've opted out of netplan, then you need to configure one of systemd-networkd or NetworkManager manually (on server, NetworkManager is only present if you've installed it). I personally used to be opposed to netplan but I had to do some very esoteric network configuration which was super easy with netplan.
• dr_ 2y ago
  Although not non existent, I’ve found this to be less of an issue with the Surface laptops and look forward to trying the Surface CoPilot PCs. Have never had that much of an issue with Windows 11. I think Recall could be a useful feature once implemented. On non surface laptops, I still don’t understand why PC manufacturers are so beholden to McAfee?
  • arwineap 2y ago
    McAfee pays the bridge trolls :)
• jijji 2y ago
  I prefer Linux (Ubuntu, Alpine, etc) over MacOS X because it can be locked down a lot easier and you have a lot more control over actually what's going on behind the scenes. not to mention all the software is free.
• donatj 2y ago
  I used Windows from about 1993 to 2006. In 2006 I was given a Mac Mini as a thank you for completing an unpaid internship. I fell in love with macOS and have basically been a macOS user since. At the start of the pandemic I bought a PC to game on. 16-core Ryzen, 64 gigabytes of ram. I'd been kind of pleasantly surprised with WSL and just general improvements in cohesiveness. It's still got that Windows jank under the hood though. But then... It won't f**ing run Windows 11 because it doesn't have a TPM. And they pester me about buying a new computer. You have to be kidding me. It's just absolutely incredible Microsoft decided to declare very powerful machines only a few years old essentially eWaste. I'm probably going to give Desktop Linux another go, at least for a bit. I have no idea what distro though. I ran Ubuntu on some of my older machines for a number of years. I actually loved Unity, I still think it was the best Linux desktop and I'm bummed they basically killed it. I tried Pop_OS! a couple years ago on a MacBook Pro but it just up and imploded on me after a couple days Windows ME style. I've got Elementary OS on an old MacBook and I've had a decent time with it. The apps not made specifically for it though. Felt real out of place.
  • nine_k 2y ago
    The best gaming machine indeed runs Linux, and is called Steam Deck. I don't like macOS, but I'd take it over Windows without much hesitation. MacOS is like an authoritarian but tidy country. Windows is more and more like a corrupt third-world country :(
    • eitally 2y ago
      I would compare them, perhaps at my own risk, thusly: MacOS:Windows::Singapore:Brazil* (*The US is probably a better comparison, in all honesty.)
      • tim333 2y ago
        I was thinking as a Mac user who quite likes Mac and also quite likes Singapore that that's quite an apt analogy. I gave up on Windows a while back. I guess Linux would be like the metaverse where you can be/do anything but not many people go there.
• ffhhj 2y ago
  Fortunately O&O ShutUp10++ exists.
• accrual 2y ago
  > At this point, I have lost count of the number of times that I've left my perfectly working Windows computer at the end of my work day, only to return to a completely broken computer that won't boot the next morning. Has this happened to anyone else? I've never experienced an official Windows update rendering a system unbootable. I've certainly broken Windows before, especially when messing with the MBR, dual booting, changing system files for customization etc., but never with a random Tuesday patch.
  • Saris 2y ago
    Never, between my windows PCs, family ones, and ones I manage at work I've never had one randomly not boot other than hardware failures. They're all basically maintenance free, nothing really breaks and they just chug along.
• windows2020 2y ago
  We're basically at Vista again, but in a different dimension. This time instead of performance, it's invasiveness, and erosion of both discoverability and general cohesiveness. Windows 11 installs all sorts of stupid stuff and turns it on. I feel like I only know how to use Windows 10 and 11 because I know about all the old dialogs from old versions. I struggled today on a Windows 10 computer with Wi-Fi and ethernet to turn on/off Wi-Fi due to mixed meaning of tile highlight state. Maybe it's just me. And when Windows 11 installs updates and says "You're almost there" I say, "no, you're almost there and why are you doing this now." I'm optimistic that eventually leadership will change and this will be corrected. Edit: or somehow a new OS will be developed that's backwards compatible with Windows.
• kvark 2y ago
  Oh don’t tell me MacOS treats me as the true owner. Would you want to switch to Safari as the default browser?. Would you enable iCloud sync, your disk is low. Would you update tonight or tomorrow? Can be annoying just as Windows.
  • lokar 2y ago
    I don’t understand the complaints about the software updates (IME they are all letting me know it will happen tonight unless I stop it). I asked me one time about safari. Over the life of each computer.
    • AlotOfReading 2y ago
      Macbooks won't apply updates unless you leave them plugged in overnight. If you do the totally normal thing of not charging a full battery, you get to enjoy the riveting experience of watching a slow update screen 30 minutes after you next use it.
      • lokar 2y ago
        I always leave mine plugged in (and connected to a monitor, etc)
        • AlotOfReading 2y ago
          It's okay if our usage is different. I like keeping mine in a bag when it's not needed. That shouldn't be an unreasonable place to keep a laptop.
      • Toutouxc 2y ago
        But you don’t have to, macOS, AFAIK, will always ask you before it reboots into the logo-and-progress-bar update screen. Even if you manually launch the update, after it finishes the Preparing stage, it will again warn you that the machine is about to reboot, and gives you the option to cancel that. I’m genuinely curious about the sequence that leads to macOS forcing an update on you, I’ve never had that happen in my 10 years on a Mac.
• grogenaut 2y ago
  There's basically 2 reasons I haven't been able to switch to linux: 1) Fusion 360 - Just can't get it working under linux well enough. 2) Monitors - Always issues mixing highdpi and low dpi monitors in linux, my main is a 4k 144hz 43", the sides and tops are all 2560x1440 27s. Oh and there's my Ceiling 4k projector which I turn on to watch movies or baseball when I lean back and think. Which leads to the other issue, Nvidia seems to greatly limit the number of outputs you can have under linux compared to windows. With 6 monitors, I've never gotten it to work even with 6 of the same monitor, let alone my messed up setup. Yes yes, woa was me. I've had linux as a daily driver for at least 10 years of my main computer use since 1998. I do really prefer it but so far just making the tradeoff. Also I tend to play games that have anti-cheat like CoD / PubG, etc which further locks things out. I do like the direction things are going
  • ant6n 2y ago
    There’s basically 1 reason I haven’t switched back to Mac: I want a non reflective screen - I don’t want to look at an outline of myself when working, and I want a laptop I can work with in any position, not just where light sources and reflections behind me are carefully removed.
    • SkyMarshal 2y ago
      Just put an anti-glare screen on it. Tons of Mac users feel the same way and do this (myself among them). And fwiw, you can make a glossy screen into a matte one with a cover, but you can't make a matte screen into a glossy one the same way. Which may be why Apple makes all their screens glossy.
      • ant6n 2y ago
        Apple doesn’t offer such thing. And their laptops are too thin, you’re supposed to take them off before closing.
        • SkyMarshal 2y ago
          Apple doesn't but tons of third parties do. And I leave mine on my MBP M2 permanently fwiw. There are ones that don't prevent sleep on lid close.
• nbzso 2y ago
  My prediction for power users: Linux distros away from Ubuntu. MacOS will be AI crap-ware in no time. People love this bullshit. As usual. Windows Adware AI crap-ware will stay for gamers and specific apps. And please, use simplewall. It's a free app which solves a lot of problems, as Little Snitch on macOS.
• newzisforsukas 2y ago
  The experience of using Windows is so much better these days, IMO. I too started on Windows 3.1. > At this point, I have lost count of the number of times that I've left my perfectly working Windows computer at the end of my work day, only to return to a completely broken computer that won't boot the next morning. What? I have had this happen maybe three times in my 30 years of using Windows products (from automatic updates). Do people really forget what a pain it was to patch things from scratch in 98, Win2k, or Windows ME? (Probably before then as well, but I didn't have the Internet). I remember using CDs for service packs, specialized software to download updates that MS didn't serve anymore, so many things. When that process failed, it was a all night event for one system. I do remember rampant malware on Windows (unless you kind of knew what you were doing) until about 2007 when windows defender actually started helping and you didn't need to nuke your computer with Malware Bytes or something every time you used a web browser. This belly aching and nostalgia is everywhere on the web, and I really think there is a trend toward selecting only the good memories. We get old. It gets harder to deal with change. IMO, drop the ego, and say what you really mean. However, I agree with the privacy and advertising gripes.
  • deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
• haolez 2y ago
  Almost nobody cares about privacy or control. I wonder if there is a market there. Maybe you can make people perceive privacy as something valuable and capitalize on that and on Windows. But people mostly don't care and will put up with anything.
• kagevf 2y ago
  I’ve been really liking emacs across the 3 major OSs - pretty much works the same everywhere. The joke is that emacs itself is an OS, but it makes a decent shell. Setting save-desktop to 1 and it survives Windows reboots. Change some keybindings, get meta and control in the same location even when using MacOS.
• nailer 2y ago
  I wish I could just pay and have an actual Pro version of Windows without ads, and also that Surface devices came with that version by default.
• userbinator 2y ago
  I really hope there will be some way in the future to get a version of Windows (that's not for enterprise users) which gives you the choice to have Microsoft butt out of the daily running, appearance, and settings of your computer. I have not looked much at the OS-modding scene recently, but there used to be huge communities around deep customisation, and they produced "distros" of Windows with very different defaults and much of the annoyances removed, and popular useful thirdparty software installed. It's not 100% legal of course, and that "choice to have Microsoft butt out" is usually an absolute --- no updates at all except ones you manually install, some things might not work (possibly a feature for some), and you are truly on your own (with the community) with those mods.
  • jpierce_coder 2y ago
    I'm using Ameliorated Windows (https://ameliorated.io/ https://ameliorated.io/) for the Windows that I have (just keeping it on there for if I sell the laptop), but I use Garuda Linux KDE 99% of the time. It's gotten quite good. The AME version of Windows just runs a bunch of power shell scripts and guts Windows of all the bloat, similar to what Atlas OS does. Cool thing is they're open source too. Revi OS is another good one. Revi OS does less removal, AME is the middle ground, and Atlas OS removes the most. Have tried all three and the AME one works best for me. Haven't seen an ad in the OS since.
• sedatk 2y ago
  The first time I needed to install Linux on my computer was last week because Wireshark didn’t support 802.11 packet capture on Windows or WSL. So, I installed Ubuntu on my Surface Laptop 3, and my experience had been quite terrible. (Disclaimer: I’m a former Windows engineer, but I’ve also been using Linux since Slackware 3 occasionally) * Setup started in 100% HiDPI scaling, making everything impossible to read. Every time I ran setup, I had to set it to 200% using display settings before I do anything else. * Installation software crashed twice mid-installation. I was only able to complete installation on my third attempt. After the installation, I noticed that Ubuntu doesn’t have the features below out of the box: https://x.com/esesci/status/1803374884858347856?s=46 https://x.com/esesci/status/1803374884858347856?s=46 You either had to go through painful and complicated configuration steps, or install third-party software: * Hybrid sleep (is a must for laptops). * Face login. * Live full disk encryption on demand. I’m actually baffled by this as Bitlocker on Windows makes this trivial. I actually expected FDE to be enabled from the installation by default but I wasn’t even asked. * Fast fractional scaling on HiDPI displays. 200% is just too big and 100% is too small, and 150% hogs the CPU (or GPU?). As I understand, fast fractional scaling is impossible with Linux because fractional scaling is a bitmap operation while it’s just a rendering parameter on Windows. * No factory reset. If you ran a script that messed up your system, your only option is to reinstall the OS. The problem with that is, if you had to install it using a very slow USB stick in the first place, a reset operation also becomes a multi-hour operation while Windows could just use its local recovery image to reinstall itself in a much shorter time. All in all, Ubuntu felt like a huge step back from Windows. I haven’t tried other distros, but I don’t think the difference would be significant for the issues I mentioned. Yes, I also dislike the features in Windows that inconvenience people, but man, does Linux have a long way to go.
  • freeqaz 2y ago
    A lot of that is based on the hardware that you're using it on. If you want to run Linux and go out of your way to find the right hardware (like an Ubuntu certified model[0]) then your experience will be pretty darn close. Fingerprint login, graphics scaling, sleep, and everything works out of the box on the Thinkpad I bought for my non-technical GF to run Ubuntu on. (She installed it herself!) 0: https://ubuntu.com/certified/laptops https://ubuntu.com/certified/laptops
• 23B1 2y ago
  You MOST NOT GET in the way of me doing the thing I need to do on my computer. My computer is how I interface with the critical functions of my life; family, friends, income, entertainment. That is important time to me. If you put any friction in front of me accessing those things, you are getting the boot. Interruptive advertising? Popups and popovers? A forced login where none is necessary? Delete. I don't give a baker's fuck how valuable you think your service is, you get about 5-10 seconds of my time before you're wasting it. This is why people want book summaries and reviews, why they scan headlines, why they'll install ad blockers.
• 3pm 2y ago
  Using Windows Server as a personal OS can be an option: https://www.windowsworkstation.com/win2016-2019/ https://www.windowsworkstation.com/win2016-2019/
• tehbeard 2y ago
  In addition to all the privacy and "MS knows best" bullshit... None of the fucking app store icons work? Terminal, one of the better additions of 10, shows up in the start menu with the image preview app icon... I have tried all the stupid solutions around the icon cache to no avail.
• rockskon 2y ago
  O&O shutup does a good job of disabling most of the modern Windows garbage though you may need to occasionally re-run it as sometimes Windows update decides to re-enable some garbage marketing you'd previously disabled.
• nox101 2y ago
  Nothing electronic I own feels like mine anymore My Mac, iPhone, and Apple TV are owned by Apple. My Sony TV is owned by Sony and Google. My Windows PC is owned by Microsoft. My Quest 2 is owned by Meta. My Kindle is owned by Amazon. At best, the Mac and PC I could install Linux on to make them mine. The rest, not so much
  • hot_gril 2y ago
    I feel like I own my Mac because it doesn't bother me for anything and lets me do what I want. The iPhone, less so because it's secured against me in many ways.
    • ternaryoperator 2y ago
      My Mac is constantly bugging me to install OS updates. Same with my iPad and my iPhone. Apple gives you no option to skip the updates. The only way to avoid the constant carping is to allow Apple to do the update automatically, which is not by any means having control of your own devices.
      • johnklos 2y ago
        This is just simply untrue. Go to System Settings, General, Software Update, then click on the "i" next to Automatic. Turn off "Check for updates".
        • ternaryoperator 2y ago
          Your suggestion doesn't solve the problem. I want to know about updates without being forced to install them to avoid being badgered. AFAIK that's not possible.
          • hot_gril 2y ago
            Idk what you tried, but it's never bothered me. I went out of date without realizing.
• naizarak 2y ago
  Use LTSC, it's marketed for "enterprise" but it's functionally identical to the regular versions with the bonus of advanced configuration that lets you disable AV, forced updates, telemetry, ads, etc.
  • trynumber9 2y ago
    Where can I buy a license / key for LTSC? I looked on Microsoft's site but all it says is to contact their sales team. Did you have luck with that process? Usually when a company says 'contact sales' that means it is very expensive.
    • k8sToGo 2y ago
      It is also not meant for regular PCs, so you won't be able to get a license legally.
    • petepete 2y ago
      It seems like Microsoft are afraid to make it easily available because if word got out every enthusiast and power user would switch leaving them without the ongoing ad revenue.
      • ant6n 2y ago
        Much better business choice to have the enthusiasts move away from MS products forever.
    • tavavex 2y ago
      I'm pretty sure that individuals can't just buy any Enterprise edition, this one included. Everyone, or almost everyone who's running LTSC outside of enterprise settings is doing so through "other, mysterious ways" that I'm not sure I can mention on here. There may also be unrelated scripts that can strip a normal install of Win10 into something resembling LTSC, but I might be misremembering.
    • irusensei 2y ago
      Volume licensing only.
• croisillon 2y ago
  I agree with the sentiment but this particular website is so chokefull of ads, it’s hard to take the complaints seriously
  • squidbeak 2y ago
    I hate the term, but this is a crude instance of 'whataboutism'. You don't run your life through howtogeek.
• p1dda 2y ago
  Every problem has a top-level part and you only have to look at its main contributor: Bill Gates, to see where the problem comes from. Microsoft is based on cut-throat greed as its most fundamental principle. It overshadows everything else including all the friendly, intelligent and hard-working people that contributed to its products.
• jsemrau 2y ago
  I hate when it outlook it shows me email following a keyword in "relevant" order and not in "recent" order.
  • ant6n 2y ago
    It’s the dumbest, most complained about feature of the whole office suite - why would they enshittify search of emails? So bizarre.
• lofaszvanitt 2y ago
  This article is full of made up shit. Is this AI generated content?
• pompino 2y ago
  Just to put things in perspective - MacOS forces you to run on their update treadmill for the OS, and you can't even update your xcode dev environment if you refuse. Ditto with Linux, you can't refuse OS updates if you use a package manager because eventually you can't update anything without accepting all the dependencies. Windows for all its warts did do something well with binary compatibility. I am happy as a pig in poop with my work supplied LTSC install.
  • viraptor 2y ago
    Sorry, but the Linux part doesn't make sense. If you want to update system components from the system repository, it makes sense that the dependencies are rolled into it. But if you don't want to upgrade everything, you don't have to. Install a specific app version from flatpak, download binaries, or compile it yourself for your current system. You have so many ways to do this - same as you're doing on windows.
    • pompino 2y ago
      >Install a specific app version from flatpak, download binaries, or compile it yourself for your current system. Then you can't have those dependencies managed by a package manager, which means you'll constantly be compiling (and dealing with conflicts yourself). This is not a viable path forward as it seems to be presented here. >You have so many ways to do this - same as you're doing on windows. On Windows I copy a binary and run it w/o giving a crap about the OS updates. Vastly different workflows for it to be called "same".
      • viraptor 2y ago
        > On Windows I copy a binary and run it w/o giving a crap about the OS updates. You don't just copy the binary on windows. You copy the binary and its dependencies. Unless it's based on .Net-framework, then yeah, you still care about it being updated through windows. > Then you can't have those dependencies managed by a package manager, which means you'll constantly be compiling (and dealing with conflicts yourself). That's not right. You don't need to use dependencies from the system. If you're compiling yourself, you can either make them static, or use your custom location. In either case, there are no conflicts to deal with. If you're using whole app packages, then you don't care about system deps at all. Flatpak apps ship their whole environment. AppImage apps do too, just without full isolation. (https://appimage.github.io/apps/ https://appimage.github.io/apps/ entries are all "download-and-run")
• smetj 2y ago
  Windows, after 98SP2 and XP it just became absolutely untenable. (it started during XP already) Any pre-installed version was rife with junk one just wanted to get rid of. What still remains to this day, the inexplicable slowdown between a fresh install and a couple of months down the road, at boot time processes which keep writing to hd choking the os for tens of minutes, restore point hell, ... anti-virus which guaranteed ruins your OS ... software that somehow gets installed out of nowhere ... a printer completely impossible to install, then there's the 600mb HP printer software you need to install ... the endless dialog questions you are bombarded with at random times ... I think many people accept this as normal, part of how things are. I switched to Linux and it stays out of my way. I do recognize that some of its configs are difficult for the non-experienced user, however on the flip side you can actually do fixes yourself. Its comparable to someone who can work on his/her own car. YMMV.
• JadeNB 2y ago
  I know iPads aren't macOS, but, despite the mention that "My Mac doesn't feel subsidized," one of the cheapest-feeling things to me about my iPad is that I've got an un-dismissible notification constantly asking me to upgrade my iCloud storage for $0.99/month. I don't mind being presented with such a reminder once, but it is literally permanent.
• latentcall 2y ago
  The software I miss the most from Windows is MusicBee. The best music player I’ve ever used. I’ve tried Strawberry on Linux and it is the closest but way far off. Swinsian on Mac OS is pretty good when im using a Mac.
• alexruf 2y ago
  I have to admit, I read the article and the comments and can't help but smile a little. Personally, I switched from Windows to macOS & iOS (Linux on my second computer) back in 2013. Even though I am still ridiculed by Windows users for my Apple ecosystem, I have never regretted this step myself. macOS has never felt like it was patronizing me or getting in my way - it just works. While all my colleagues who use Windows are still busy setting up their development environment for every single project, I've been able to work for a long time because I configured the whole thing once many years ago. In short, my tolerance threshold for poor user experience in software has simply dropped to 0. And I can only encourage everyone to make the switch if you're not happy - sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side.
  • helpfulContrib 2y ago
    MacOS is not without its issues - the delays in application launch while it checks Apples whitelist for apps you've installed on your own machine, yourself, are pretty obnoxious.
    • alexruf 2y ago
      What delay are you talking about? I never encountered such issues. Apps are launching extremely fast. With an ARM Mac almost instantly. But maybe it’s just an issue if you are using the App Store variants of those apps. I don’t have experience in that. I am using zero apps from the App Store.
      • helpfulContrib 2y ago
        [dead]
• justinclift 2y ago
  Been trying out AtlasOS recently (in a VM), which is one of those Open Source projects for debloating Windows: https://atlasos.net https://atlasos.net It's been pretty good so far, and makes Win 11 seem like a usable desktop rather than the piece of shit that MS wants to inflict on people. Linus Tech Tips reviewed it a while back, and gave it the thumbs up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc7CIkZcWYE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc7CIkZcWYE Bizarrely, the earliest versions of AtlasOS used to disable security updates. No idea what was going through their heads when they did that. Thankfully that stupidity has passed (after lots of people complained), so (security) updates work as expected these days.
• deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
• Log_out_ 2y ago
  If a hacker would attack the ms ecosystem, replace win with a similar looking lin, that just uses a vm to run win programs, goes back to win7 gui wise, what hat would that hacker wear?
• alliao 2y ago
  Stallman for all his faults at least got this fundamental message right.. these software ain't free. When I was logging into my work the other day, using MS Teams it suddenly dawned on me that my younger self is very disappointed. There I was in the process of logging into work VPN, the teams app is actually scanning my face couple of times... and god knows what else.
  • globular-toast 2y ago
    I don't know why people even need to write the disclaimer "for all his faults". Who doesn't have faults? At least his fault isn't being a greedy capitalist like most of our "thought leaders". Oddly nobody ever mentions those faults, though.
    • bravetraveler 2y ago
      You raise an interesting question, so I'm resisting the urge to lazily guess. Everyone could benefit from more grace. Him, myself, all of us. We do all have faults. They aren't all the same, though. Measured responses are important. I completely agree with RMS on a lot of things, how I interact with people (and his big area of contention) isn't one
• phkahler 2y ago
  The saddest thing I see about Windows is that most people (outside work) refuse to switch because they need Windows for gaming. Like really? With so many ways to play these days you let your video game addiction keep you on this invasive, user hostile piece of crap OS? Really?
• kkfx 2y ago
  It never was...n The EULA stating you have a limited use right and stop... As any commercial software and black boxes. It's not just ads and co, it's the concept behind it's development.
• globular-toast 2y ago
  Amazing to me that people are still only just realising this a full 15 years after I made the switch. And I was by no means some kind of pioneer. I honestly don't think I'd still be doing computers if free software wasn't a thing. Get the shackles off and dump Microsoft for good! It feels great. Give it time and before long you'll start doing things that Microsoft/Apple etc won't let you do. Compute freely, my friends.
  • squidbeak 2y ago
    Ditto this. I still have to use windows occasionally, but the extra friction over linux make me wince each time.
• MrBuddyCasino 2y ago
  I use windows to run obscure hardware vendor tools that flash chips. Can I expect those to keep working under Proton? Is the serial port / USB pass-through stable?
• euroderf 2y ago
  I have only used Windows under duress, i.e. at work. Windows 7 kept it down to an acceptable level of user-hostility.
• npteljes 2y ago
  I agree mostly, but not about updates. Updates are necessary for a system that it connected to the internet. And the more the publisher manages the system, the more likely it is that it's updated timely. If the user has a say, then the updates won't get applied, then the system might become compromised or deprecated, and in either case the user will blame the system, not themselves. So it ends up as a question of brand management. Otherwise, yeah, Windows nowadays, especially the Windows 11 feels like a cheap bazaar.
• mrjin 2y ago
  M$ is cutting the branch it sitting on. Have been using Windows for over two decades now. And I clean wiped one of my brand new Windows 11 machine for Linux just a couple of days ago. And I was surprised to see how good Linux had became. Put all that aside, satisfactory of Windows peeked at Windows 7. Never seriously used Windows 8. Windows 10 was trouble, but still much better than Windows 11. When Windows 10 started rolling out, I heard there was lots of issues, so I ignored the upgrade notice. Soon I noticed the fan on computer was running crazily in midnight, but when I checked in the day time, it looked alright. It went on for around half a year or so, I was woken up and was so annoyed decided to check what was happening. It was M$ trying to upgrade to Windows 10. Alright, let me upgrade then. The manual upgrade failed and the rollback also failed. Had to clean wipe and install Windows 10 to avoid such nonsense. Then I started to notice after almost every update, there would most likely something got fixed or broken randomly. Also the Active Hours setting just annoyed me, but still not quite enough to force me to go to Linux. Windows 11 is even worse. Got a Surface pro for the kid, took a couple of hours to get it working. Then an upgrade broke the display driver. Uninstall of the offending patch failed, could not rollback neither. So first clean wipe for Windows 10. On my gaming PC, all my settings to disable those defender etc would be lost after an update, the UI is sometimes very lagging, don't want to touch it yet as too much effort required. Then I got a new PC with Ryzen 7840u and 64G RAM, after booting up, the CPU would constantly be around 20% for no obvious reason. Since I didn't really have anything installed, so I directly wiped it and installed Linux. It was so good. Video/Audio drivers installed correctly automatically. CPU usage when idle now drops to ~2%. The only thing I miss about is Visual Studio, but that's about it.
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• nhkcode 2y ago
  There is a reason why it was renamed from "My Computer" to "This PC".
• tannhaeuser 2y ago
  I've been out of the Windows loop for roughly as many years as the "skip every other Windows release" is holding: Windows 98 good, Windows Me bad, Windows XP good, Windows Vista bad, Windows 7 good, Windows 8 bad, Windows 10 good, Windows 11 bad ... has this meta rule changed? There seems wisdom or even intent behind it in that MS keeps correcting their overreaching changes every other release. The one thing Windows gets right IMO is binary backward compatibilty, in particular with games, but also with older apps still from the pre-subscription era (3D modelling, Adobe sw, ...). Unfortunately, x86 seems kindof going under. Haven't tested extensively, but I wouldn't be surprised if a regular (non-pro) iPad can run old DOS games on RetroArch/dosbox longer on a charge than any outdated x86 hardware can. Right now, MS also again attempts to bring Windows onto ARM after their former attempt failed miserably with no exclusive software available that people actually wanted to use (cf Dells new ARM-based XPS and others). Is there instruction-level emulation with JIT on Windows ARM for x86/64 like Apple's Rosetta/Rosetta2?
  • globular-toast 2y ago
    I mean, it's a classic tactic used by many companies like supermarkets to increase prices, for example. For supermarkets it goes like this: increase price (e.g. 1.75 to 2.00 per unit) and simultaneously put the product on offer (e.g. 3 for 5.00). Then remove offer, leaving the price increased to 2.00 per unit. It basically softens the blow by tricking the consumer into thinking every step is at worst neutral. It's the same tactics with Windows: introduce shockingly bad new version, but continue support of old version (seems neutral because "I'm never upgrading"). Force new users to new version. Release new "good" version with all the compromises of previous version (seems positive).
• scotty79 2y ago
  Yesterday on my laptop a survey popped up in tray. "Would you recommend this computer to other people?". What the hell do you mean? I wouldn't recommend it to other people. They can't have it. It's mine! It's especially bizzare that it's a 4 year old laptop with dying battery and Windows 10. Was it a Window thing or a hardware manufacturer thing? Either way it was very strange
  • HeckFeck 2y ago
    I hope you answered with a flat and aggressive 'No'!
• 9cb14c1ec0 2y ago
  On every new Windows device I set up, I disable everything via a powershell script. The fact that no one complains about things missing tells me that very few people even make use of the "features" Windows now has.
• thih9 2y ago
  A reminder that microsoft owns more products, in different lifetime stages. I thought of that recently, when I noticed that Github started displaying links promoting Copilot.
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• stebian_dable 2y ago
  Opening the web browser on fresh install was hilarious already 10 years ago with Msn front-page full of clickbait articles for the masses and some thumbnails even including women in binini.
• BiteCode_dev 2y ago
  I grew out of Richard Stallman, but it's starting to grow back on me.
• mherkender 2y ago
  I still use Windows for gaming, and it still shocks me every time how poor quality it is. Within minutes of turning it on I get broken features, disjointed UIs, poor performance, outdated software, and exploitative functionality. Not just from third parties, who are a big problem, but Microsoft itself! They've had decades to address these issues but instead just chase marketable ideas. If they course corrected even a little every year they'd have something viable but it doesn't seem like that's part of their corporate culture. But I guess I'm wrong because they're a multi-trillion dollar company and still dominate the PC market.
• politelemon 2y ago
  > Honestly, it might sound weird, but macOS feels like the offline Windows experience of old to me. In fact, the operating system tends to stay classy and out of my way as far as possible. It does sound weird to be hoenst, as this has not been my experience at all. My Macs have never felt like my own, and the obtrusiveness has been of a different form. But reading through, my experience with Win10/11 has been slightly different as well. I haven't come back the next morning to find it 'broken', so I do wonder if it's about use cases and regional settings too - after all, isn't there a reduced jank in the European zones?
  • franga2000 2y ago
    I occasionally use a mac at work and I do see what the author is describing, but this flips on its head the moment I go off the "happy path". For most of the usual things I do, I forget Apple the company exists and just use the computer as a neutral tool. Windows 10 and especially 11 on the other hand makes Microsoft's "presence" known at every turn, kind of like I'm working in a team composed of 70% Microsoft sales reps. But the moment I want to exercise control over a Mac, like install some software, I hit the Apple "bouncer", telling me that I need to identify myself and do everything through them.
• Bluestein 2y ago
  (The entire "pretense" [even that] of it ever having been your computer while running a Microsoft OS is just coming off. We have reached the point were it either does not pay or does not matter to keep the "pretense" on.- And this, in a "paid" OS. One, on top of everything, where - other than money - you are paying with compute and ever increasing disk space for "updates" to cover the vendor's incompetence incorporating bug fixes on the fly ... In no other area of human industry is this model tolerared: Would you buy a car only to gradually receive better (correct) tires aftermarket?)
  • franga2000 2y ago
    > Would you buy a car only to gradually receive better (correct) tires aftermarket? Isn't that what Tesla did with "Full Self-Driving"? And people are buying Teslas like crazy
    • Bluestein 2y ago
      Great point.- (Then again, Tesla's aim has been bringing the "software model" to manufacturing. Thinking like primarily a "technology" company ...)
• mentos 2y ago
  I love windows. I hate how they are degrading the experience too. Testing where the line in the sand is very short sighted.
• jasonvorhe 2y ago
  I only ran Windows (11) for gaming and today I tried to install Steam with Proton and... all games just work. Some (like Quake Champions) even work better without lags and better graphics. I think I might be able to completely get rid of Windows now.
• MacrohardDoors 2y ago
  I followed tutorials to remove the search using the internet. Three days later the computer rebooted and had undone all my fixes and now search was back to using the web! Definitely never felt like MY system. It feels like a creepy corporation changing my settings. Which is exactly what it does. Another three days later, Recall was announced. Three days later, I wiped Windows from all my computers. All going well for me, I love Pop!_OS
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• eska 2y ago
  Last weekend I finally removed windows from my private laptop, dual boot from my desktop and set up WSL on my work laptop at least. I thought that some things like games would stop working, but instead I had to install absolutely no drivers, fix nothing, video playback on my laptop has gotten better (before I often switched to 720p on YouTube) and even high performance requirement games on my desktop just work thanks to proton. It’s actually the year of the linux desktop for me now.
• replete 2y ago
  You could see where it was going when Candy Crush came installed with Windows 10 Enterprise. If you treat Apple hardware like a subscription model where you make sure not to hang on to anything for too long (these engineering problems that happen after a couple years seems awfully convenient) then you get the arguably better OS / general computing experience without the risk of expensive hardware going wrong over time. And it's an expensive subscription model today, the days of a top spec Apple laptop for £1500 are gone, so a decent general computing experience is now at a premium. Owning a MBP beyond a few years these days puts you in the ticking time bomb territory, at some point whether it's the soldered SSD endurance or an exploding SSD/T2 chip, it cannot be affordably repaired when it bricks. In the meantime, hackintoshes have a little bit of life left, and Linux looks to me finally like its only another 5-10 years before the year of the desktop is here, and I say that positively having used it on and off for 25 years
• janice1999 2y ago
  Reading Microsoft's post on the EU's DMA shows that the only way they will make user experiences better is when forced to do so by regulation. https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2024/03/07/microsoft-dma-compliance-windows-linkedin/ https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2024/03/07/microsoft-dm...
• pcdoodle 2y ago
  Every time this comes up I read most of the comments. The control we have lost is so important. I'm finally getting to the point where I almost don't care and move on from windows entirely.
• swayvil 2y ago
  I just got a new computer with windows 10 installed. First thing when it booted up, it asked me wher I live. Using that "fuzzy kindergarten teacher language". Ugh. Destroyed that abomination with a nice debian install.
• EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 2y ago
  I experience nothing of this. Just run w10privacy once, takes 10 min.
• TheBozzCL 2y ago
  I know the feeling. Recently I switched to Linux because of it. Now I’m running: Manjaro Cinnamon LTE: I know there’s some controversy with Manjaro, but it’s been working fine for me and it drastically increased my laptop’s battery life. AtlasOS, a trimmed down version of Windows 11 for gaming: I know it’s a bit controversial as well, but I’ll never install or store anything sensitive in it. Only games.
• ocodo 2y ago
  Try a Mac... you won't even have read-write access to parts of your own file system. Thankfully Linux Desktop is now a completely viable thing for many many professions.
• rldjbpin 2y ago
  m$ has successfully stretched the "you don't own the software, you lease it" model to its extremes. unpopular opinion - almost all annoyances are most affecting those who can then find a solution and apply it (provided they don't get a restricted account from work). on the other hand, have to agree that when even those publishing such circumventions had enough, m$ got to tread a bit lightly.
• siddheshgunjal 2y ago
  I switched to Linux when I got frustrated because of windows just updating and restarting itself over night when I left my unfinished project for the next day to continue. That was a trigger for me
• Friedduck 2y ago
  In addition to the obvious, Windows feels like a neglected ecosystem. They pile on new, half-baked features without fixing what’s already present and broken for years. Try searching for a file by name. Third-parties have had this figured out for years and yet Microsoft can’t deliver accurate or quick results. Two different interfaces for settings since the failed Metro experiment. The jarring introduction of old NT menus where they haven’t updated a setting to the new UI. I could go on, but the author has done a good job of cataloguing a broken product.