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A counter example by Ed Zitron, buying a popular cheap laptop off of amazon running windows ( https://www.wheresyoured.at/never-forgive-them/ https://www.wheres

A counter example by Ed Zitron, buying a popular cheap laptop off of amazon running windows ( https://www.wheresyoured.at/never-forgive-them/ https://www.wheresyoured.at/never-forgive-them/ Dec. 2024 - scroll down): > "When I opened the start bar — ostensibly a place where you have apps you’d use — I saw some things that felt familiar, like Outlook, an email client that is not actually installed and requires you to download it, and an option for travel website Booking.com, along with a link to LinkedIn. One app, ClipChamp, was installed but immediately needed to be updated, which did not work when I hit “update,” forcing me to go to find the updates page, which showed me at least 40 different apps called things like “SweetLabs Inc.” I have no idea what any of this stuff is. I type “sweetlabs” into the search bar, and it jankily interrupts into a menu that takes up a third of the screen, with half of that dedicated to “Mark Twain’s birthday,” two Mark Twain-related links, a “quiz of the day,” and four different games available for download. The computer pauses slightly every time I type a letter. Every animation shudders. Even moving windows around feels painful. It is clunky, slow, it feels cheap, and the operating system — previously something I’d considered to be “the thing that operates the computer system” — is actively rotten, strewn with ads, sponsored content, suggested apps, and intrusive design choices that make the system slower and actively upset the user. [...] The reason I’m explaining this in such agonizing detail is that this experience is more indicative of the average person’s experience using a computer than anybody realizes. Though it’s tough to gauge how many of these things sold to make it a bestseller on Amazon, laptops in this pricepoint, with this specific version of Windows (Windows 11 Home in “S Mode” as discussed above), happen to dominate Amazon’s bestsellers along with Apple’s significantly-more-expensive MacBook Air and Pro series. It is reasonable to believe that a large amount of the laptops sold in America match this price point and spec"

don-code 2y ago
It's telling that - as the family IT person who buys the computers - any time I buy someone a new computer, I need to spend _at least_ a few hours hammering out the rough edges. There's software that needs to be installed, software that needs to be _uninstalled_, drivers that need to be updated (I once bought a laptop that was shipped with a non-working mic; driver update available), software that needs to be bought ("what do you mean Office isn't included?!"), and so on. Most users aren't able to navigate that themselves. Moving someone across ecosystems isn't always possible, either. While I've made some Linux migrations, and might consider Mac in some others, there are use cases where Windows is a must. Of the Windows installs I'm theoretically in charge of, there's Windows printing to a 20-year-old ribbon printer, Windows "because I need, specifically, QuickBooks Pro 2016", Windows on a cash register (!) that the vendor no longer supports, Windows for an autistic girl who I wouldn't ask to adapt, and so forth.
- xerox13ster 2y ago
  >Windows for an autistic girl who I wouldn't ask to adapt, and so forth. Yeah don't worry about her, she'll adapt to Linux on her own eventually. /j

don-code 2y ago

It's telling that - as the family IT person who buys the computers - any time I buy someone a new computer, I need to spend _at least_ a few hours hammering out the rough edges. There's software that needs to be installed, software that needs to be _uninstalled_, drivers that need to be updated (I once bought a laptop that was shipped with a non-working mic; driver update available), software that needs to be bought ("what do you mean Office isn't included?!"), and so on. Most users aren't able to navigate that themselves. Moving someone across ecosystems isn't always possible, either. While I've made some Linux migrations, and might consider Mac in some others, there are use cases where Windows is a must. Of the Windows installs I'm theoretically in charge of, there's Windows printing to a 20-year-old ribbon printer, Windows "because I need, specifically, QuickBooks Pro 2016", Windows on a cash register (!) that the vendor no longer supports, Windows for an autistic girl who I wouldn't ask to adapt, and so forth.

xerox13ster 2y ago
>Windows for an autistic girl who I wouldn't ask to adapt, and so forth. Yeah don't worry about her, she'll adapt to Linux on her own eventually. /j