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Microsoft really seems out of control. Yesterday I noticed that OneDrive was turned on automatically (I've always been very clear about not turning it on). Whic

Microsoft really seems out of control. Yesterday I noticed that OneDrive was turned on automatically (I've always been very clear about not turning it on). Which was incredibly shocking to me, that they'd just turn on uploading my data to the cloud on the sly. And of course, it's nearly impossible to turn off Edge loading things. I'm really on the verge of switching to Linux, it's getting too awful

throitallaway 1y ago
I absolutely hate how Windows now basically forces you to sign in with a Microsoft ID in order to facilitate this kind of stuff. I just want a local system; I don't need all this online crap built into my desktop OS. For the last two decades or so I've been running Linux for everything (personal and work) except for gaming. I'm to the point of being sufficiently annoyed with Windows that I'm going to set up a Linux disk for gaming to see how that goes. I've used Wine etc. for gaming sporadically throughout the years. Recently that landscape has improved quite a bit thanks to Valve.
- firen777 1y ago
  While it's been improved a whole lot, it's not all sunshine and rainbow as some game companies decided to drop support after they decided kernel anti-cheat is the way (notably GTA onlin & Apex legend). That being said, I personally use proton compatibility to gauge whether a game is worth my time so I'm not too bothered by this. And I'm constantly surprised by how much the Venn diagram of games that don't run on Linux and games that have off-putting bullshit unrelated to Linux looks like a single overlapping circle.
  - cdr 1y ago
    All major online game companies are moving towards kernel-level anticheat, as it's almost pointless to attempt anticheat otherwise.
    - polski-g 1y ago
      Microsoft should block kernel mods and offer their own anti cheat hooks.
      - Henchman21 1y ago
        Seems like Linux can do the same? Or is it aleady done? If not, this would be a pretty great thing for Valve to contribute.
        shakna 1y ago
        VAC already runs on Linux. So Valve have their "solution". Unfortunately, VAC is... Terrible. For both gamers and publishers.
        flxy 1y ago
        While VAC is indeed far from competent at detecting all but the most rudimentary cheats, it is so by design. When the first third party CSGO matchmaking/league services decided to use kernel level AC, Valve publically said they would personally not do such a thing. I can't remember if any exact reasons were named at the time, but I do think it's a fair take on their end. It's not like they're locking developers into using VAC anyway. Furthermore, more recently they have debuted VACNet, which uses machine learning, most likely to recognize certain patterns and behaviors associated with cheating. Probably still avoidable if one were to use subtle settings and knows how to act properly. But it shows they haven't given up and are trying to explore alternative methods at least. I'm admittedly not familiar with how successful it has been as I have not been playing or even following the game for a long time.
        shakna 1y ago
        VACNet banned high-DPI mouse users. So its going "great".
        chii 1y ago
        > VAC is... Terrible. For both gamers and publishers. as a non-online gamer, what's so terrible about VAC? I had heard it worked pretty well (at least for counterstrike).
- sierra1011 1y ago
  I recommend Bazzite, a Fedora SilverBlue image customised for gaming on Linux. I've been gaming on it exclusively for over a year and between it, Steam, and Proton, I'm yet to encounter a game in my steam library that doesn't run. https://bazzite.gg/ https://bazzite.gg/
coldpie 1y ago
Just do it, man. There will be some pains in the first year or two, but it's so, so much better on the other side.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
ajsnigrutin 1y ago
Chrome on linux does the same sadly... prompts to be the default browser, never remembers the "no" option, and if you misclick the small 'x', it sets itself as the default again. People have actually written apparmour configs to prevent that: https://sergei.nz/stop-google-chrome-from-hijacking-mimes/ https://sergei.nz/stop-google-chrome-from-hijacking-mimes/
- fireflash38 1y ago
  Android will also use chrome over the default Firefox on a lot of random apps.
  - Groxx 1y ago
    Frequently this is due to those apps launching Chrome instead of "something to handle this URL". But yes, it's pervasive, and I would love a way to intercept it. I don't care what they want, it's my phone.
    - 71bw 1y ago
      >But yes, it's pervasive, and I would love a way to intercept it. I don't care what they want, it's my phone. pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.chrome
sedatk 1y ago
I thought OneDrive asked for your credentials separately. Did you previously sign in to it, but remove it from startup?
- kevingadd 1y ago
  If you ever sign into a Microsoft account - i.e. when setting up your PC since it's nearly mandatory - Windows turns on OneDrive automatically even if you explicitly opt out of it during the setup wizard because apparently user consent doesn't mean anything. Happened to me a couple times.
  - magicalhippo 1y ago
    I've never had it hijack the desktop/documents/pictures folder when I've explicitly disabled it, so perhaps that's a viable workaround. Ie enable OneDrive, but have it use it's own separate folders and just ignore those. That said, really dark pattern to enable stuff users have explicitly said no to. Microsoft really is a two-headed monster these days. Parts of Windows is really good, but then there's shit like this that just ruins it.
turtletontine 1y ago
I’ve been running Linux distros on my primary machines for over a decade now, and there’s no way I’m going back. Even a few years ago I figured “when I finish grad school, I’ll probably get a Mac just for a smoother experience working with colleagues.” But even in the past few years the volume of complaints I hear from friends and colleagues seems to have skyrocketed - updates randomly breaking their environments, new annoying barriers to installing real software, pestering notifications that you can’t seem to turn off. Meanwhile, my Linux experience only seems to improve! And I hate Windows with a burning passion - just no way I’m using it on my personal machines.
- encom 1y ago
  Been using Linux for ages, but only for a few years on my home desktop, because Steam is now that good, and gaming is a major part of that computers duties. HOWEVER - I've yet to find a good email client. Kmail is good, but uses Akonadi with is a disaster, and literally doesn't work. I have to restart it multiple times a day, because it silently stops working. I have found bug reports about this issue going back years which are either ignored or marked fixed, which it clearly isn't. Don't say Thunderbird.
  - felbane 1y ago
    mutt is all I'll ever need...
  - zahlman 1y ago
    What actually do people expect from an email client that they don't get from a web-based one?
    - kaikai 1y ago
      I used thunderbird when I had multiple email inboxes I needed to monitor. They were all visible in the same interface, with one master password.
    - al_borland 1y ago
      Personally, I like local apps rather than everything being a browser tab.
duxup 1y ago
Everything about Microsoft these days feels like they're working to point their software AT me ... not help me in any way, or even think of the end user at all.
- monksy 1y ago
  I feel like that's the entire tech and b2c space lately. It's a restriction of options and forced compliance into things that take away value and give the company money.
- sexy_seedbox 1y ago
  Are you living and breathing Copilot yet?
WuxiFingerHold 1y ago
I'm using Linux (Ubuntu LTS is a no brainer) on my desktop for years. It enables me to just do the things I want or need to do with my computer. Windows is much more in our way than it's helping us just using our devices.
Groxx 1y ago
Yep. 11 was my breaking point. I don't really care how easy or difficult Linux is, I'm done with Windows. (On the upside: holy cow some computers work way better with Linux. A crappy $100 Chromebook I had lying around gets over 30 hours of battery life with my normal use now, it's insane. It has become my go-to "just chuck it in a bag for whatever" machine because I can forget to charge it for weeks and it's fine)
- -__---____-ZXyw 1y ago
  What model chromebook, and what distro do you run on it? Sounds lovely!
  - Groxx 1y ago
    An "IdeaPad 3 CB 11IGLO5" apparently, likely from mid 2020. And it's just vanilla Mint + XFCE, I haven't done anything to optimize it. It ain't fast, but it is definitely fast enough for normal web / writing / etc, and 4GB of ram goes a lot further than I expected (with Firefox and a few dozen tabs, I'm at around 2GB used, and I almost never touch even 3GB). My only real complaint is the pretty crappy screen, it's one of those cheap LCDs that drastically changes color/contrast/etc as you move away from the tiny perfect viewing angle... but that screen is probably a moderate amount of the reason why the battery lasts so long. When fully charged and on low brightness, Mint claims I have ~77h of battery life. It's definitely over-estimating, but 30 is totally reachable while I'm doing my normal stuff (likely not on high brightness tho). And when closed I lose like 2%/week, noticeably better than any other laptop I've ever had.
brian-armstrong 1y ago
It's really easy to just try different distros and desktop environments out. For me, KDE Plasma has been an excellent vaguely Windows shaped Windows replacement. With MacOS dropping subpixel support for text and with the cleartype patents expiring, Linux font rendering just keeps getting better while the others stay the same or get worse. I can't really conceive any reason to stay on Windows now unless you're a hardcore gamer.
- 71bw 1y ago
  ...or use industry-specific software like AutoCAD for example...
  - brian-armstrong 1y ago
    Sure, though that list of Windows-exclusive software keeps getting shorter. You have my condolences though.
Yeul 1y ago
OneDrive is pure evil. They force it on now and dupe their unwitting users into paying hundreds of eurodollars for cloud storage.
cobbaut 1y ago
Linux works. At home I made the switch in 2003, after a couple of years triple booting Win98, OS/2 and Linux. I feel lucky to have never used XP/Vista/7/8/10/11.
datatrashfire 1y ago
Fedora desktop is actually a really nice experience in 2025. I switched in maybe 2022, after getting annoyed by the surge in nagging. The last time I tried desktop Linux was maybe 2008. Things have come quite a long way since then.
- subliminalpanda 1y ago
  Recently rebuilt my PC and installed Fedora 42 KDE, it's been great so far, except that I've been running into a reboot/shutdown bug that freezes the system.
- wezdog1 1y ago
  Ive been distro hopping and landedon Fedora KDE plasma edition. It is amazing, so much configurability yet its super slick and clean. It is a real joy to use. Kudos to the dev community.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

throitallaway 1y ago

I absolutely hate how Windows now basically forces you to sign in with a Microsoft ID in order to facilitate this kind of stuff. I just want a local system; I don't need all this online crap built into my desktop OS. For the last two decades or so I've been running Linux for everything (personal and work) except for gaming. I'm to the point of being sufficiently annoyed with Windows that I'm going to set up a Linux disk for gaming to see how that goes. I've used Wine etc. for gaming sporadically throughout the years. Recently that landscape has improved quite a bit thanks to Valve.

firen777 1y ago
While it's been improved a whole lot, it's not all sunshine and rainbow as some game companies decided to drop support after they decided kernel anti-cheat is the way (notably GTA onlin & Apex legend). That being said, I personally use proton compatibility to gauge whether a game is worth my time so I'm not too bothered by this. And I'm constantly surprised by how much the Venn diagram of games that don't run on Linux and games that have off-putting bullshit unrelated to Linux looks like a single overlapping circle.
- cdr 1y ago
  All major online game companies are moving towards kernel-level anticheat, as it's almost pointless to attempt anticheat otherwise.
  - polski-g 1y ago
    Microsoft should block kernel mods and offer their own anti cheat hooks.
    - Henchman21 1y ago
      Seems like Linux can do the same? Or is it aleady done? If not, this would be a pretty great thing for Valve to contribute.
      - shakna 1y ago
        VAC already runs on Linux. So Valve have their "solution". Unfortunately, VAC is... Terrible. For both gamers and publishers.
        flxy 1y ago
        While VAC is indeed far from competent at detecting all but the most rudimentary cheats, it is so by design. When the first third party CSGO matchmaking/league services decided to use kernel level AC, Valve publically said they would personally not do such a thing. I can't remember if any exact reasons were named at the time, but I do think it's a fair take on their end. It's not like they're locking developers into using VAC anyway. Furthermore, more recently they have debuted VACNet, which uses machine learning, most likely to recognize certain patterns and behaviors associated with cheating. Probably still avoidable if one were to use subtle settings and knows how to act properly. But it shows they haven't given up and are trying to explore alternative methods at least. I'm admittedly not familiar with how successful it has been as I have not been playing or even following the game for a long time.
        shakna 1y ago
        VACNet banned high-DPI mouse users. So its going "great".
        chii 1y ago
        > VAC is... Terrible. For both gamers and publishers. as a non-online gamer, what's so terrible about VAC? I had heard it worked pretty well (at least for counterstrike).
sierra1011 1y ago
I recommend Bazzite, a Fedora SilverBlue image customised for gaming on Linux. I've been gaming on it exclusively for over a year and between it, Steam, and Proton, I'm yet to encounter a game in my steam library that doesn't run. https://bazzite.gg/ https://bazzite.gg/

coldpie 1y ago

Just do it, man. There will be some pains in the first year or two, but it's so, so much better on the other side.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

ajsnigrutin 1y ago

Chrome on linux does the same sadly... prompts to be the default browser, never remembers the "no" option, and if you misclick the small 'x', it sets itself as the default again. People have actually written apparmour configs to prevent that: https://sergei.nz/stop-google-chrome-from-hijacking-mimes/ https://sergei.nz/stop-google-chrome-from-hijacking-mimes/

fireflash38 1y ago
Android will also use chrome over the default Firefox on a lot of random apps.
- Groxx 1y ago
  Frequently this is due to those apps launching Chrome instead of "something to handle this URL". But yes, it's pervasive, and I would love a way to intercept it. I don't care what they want, it's my phone.
  - 71bw 1y ago
    >But yes, it's pervasive, and I would love a way to intercept it. I don't care what they want, it's my phone. pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.chrome

sedatk 1y ago

I thought OneDrive asked for your credentials separately. Did you previously sign in to it, but remove it from startup?

kevingadd 1y ago
If you ever sign into a Microsoft account - i.e. when setting up your PC since it's nearly mandatory - Windows turns on OneDrive automatically even if you explicitly opt out of it during the setup wizard because apparently user consent doesn't mean anything. Happened to me a couple times.
- magicalhippo 1y ago
  I've never had it hijack the desktop/documents/pictures folder when I've explicitly disabled it, so perhaps that's a viable workaround. Ie enable OneDrive, but have it use it's own separate folders and just ignore those. That said, really dark pattern to enable stuff users have explicitly said no to. Microsoft really is a two-headed monster these days. Parts of Windows is really good, but then there's shit like this that just ruins it.

turtletontine 1y ago

I’ve been running Linux distros on my primary machines for over a decade now, and there’s no way I’m going back. Even a few years ago I figured “when I finish grad school, I’ll probably get a Mac just for a smoother experience working with colleagues.” But even in the past few years the volume of complaints I hear from friends and colleagues seems to have skyrocketed - updates randomly breaking their environments, new annoying barriers to installing real software, pestering notifications that you can’t seem to turn off. Meanwhile, my Linux experience only seems to improve! And I hate Windows with a burning passion - just no way I’m using it on my personal machines.

encom 1y ago
Been using Linux for ages, but only for a few years on my home desktop, because Steam is now that good, and gaming is a major part of that computers duties. HOWEVER - I've yet to find a good email client. Kmail is good, but uses Akonadi with is a disaster, and literally doesn't work. I have to restart it multiple times a day, because it silently stops working. I have found bug reports about this issue going back years which are either ignored or marked fixed, which it clearly isn't. Don't say Thunderbird.
- felbane 1y ago
  mutt is all I'll ever need...
- zahlman 1y ago
  What actually do people expect from an email client that they don't get from a web-based one?
  - kaikai 1y ago
    I used thunderbird when I had multiple email inboxes I needed to monitor. They were all visible in the same interface, with one master password.
  - al_borland 1y ago
    Personally, I like local apps rather than everything being a browser tab.

duxup 1y ago

Everything about Microsoft these days feels like they're working to point their software AT me ... not help me in any way, or even think of the end user at all.

monksy 1y ago
I feel like that's the entire tech and b2c space lately. It's a restriction of options and forced compliance into things that take away value and give the company money.
sexy_seedbox 1y ago
Are you living and breathing Copilot yet?

WuxiFingerHold 1y ago

I'm using Linux (Ubuntu LTS is a no brainer) on my desktop for years. It enables me to just do the things I want or need to do with my computer. Windows is much more in our way than it's helping us just using our devices.

Groxx 1y ago

Yep. 11 was my breaking point. I don't really care how easy or difficult Linux is, I'm done with Windows. (On the upside: holy cow some computers work way better with Linux. A crappy $100 Chromebook I had lying around gets over 30 hours of battery life with my normal use now, it's insane. It has become my go-to "just chuck it in a bag for whatever" machine because I can forget to charge it for weeks and it's fine)

-__---____-ZXyw 1y ago
What model chromebook, and what distro do you run on it? Sounds lovely!
- Groxx 1y ago
  An "IdeaPad 3 CB 11IGLO5" apparently, likely from mid 2020. And it's just vanilla Mint + XFCE, I haven't done anything to optimize it. It ain't fast, but it is definitely fast enough for normal web / writing / etc, and 4GB of ram goes a lot further than I expected (with Firefox and a few dozen tabs, I'm at around 2GB used, and I almost never touch even 3GB). My only real complaint is the pretty crappy screen, it's one of those cheap LCDs that drastically changes color/contrast/etc as you move away from the tiny perfect viewing angle... but that screen is probably a moderate amount of the reason why the battery lasts so long. When fully charged and on low brightness, Mint claims I have ~77h of battery life. It's definitely over-estimating, but 30 is totally reachable while I'm doing my normal stuff (likely not on high brightness tho). And when closed I lose like 2%/week, noticeably better than any other laptop I've ever had.

brian-armstrong 1y ago

It's really easy to just try different distros and desktop environments out. For me, KDE Plasma has been an excellent vaguely Windows shaped Windows replacement. With MacOS dropping subpixel support for text and with the cleartype patents expiring, Linux font rendering just keeps getting better while the others stay the same or get worse. I can't really conceive any reason to stay on Windows now unless you're a hardcore gamer.

71bw 1y ago
...or use industry-specific software like AutoCAD for example...
- brian-armstrong 1y ago
  Sure, though that list of Windows-exclusive software keeps getting shorter. You have my condolences though.

Yeul 1y ago

OneDrive is pure evil. They force it on now and dupe their unwitting users into paying hundreds of eurodollars for cloud storage.

cobbaut 1y ago

Linux works. At home I made the switch in 2003, after a couple of years triple booting Win98, OS/2 and Linux. I feel lucky to have never used XP/Vista/7/8/10/11.

datatrashfire 1y ago

Fedora desktop is actually a really nice experience in 2025. I switched in maybe 2022, after getting annoyed by the surge in nagging. The last time I tried desktop Linux was maybe 2008. Things have come quite a long way since then.

subliminalpanda 1y ago
Recently rebuilt my PC and installed Fedora 42 KDE, it's been great so far, except that I've been running into a reboot/shutdown bug that freezes the system.
wezdog1 1y ago
Ive been distro hopping and landedon Fedora KDE plasma edition. It is amazing, so much configurability yet its super slick and clean. It is a real joy to use. Kudos to the dev community.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]