4 ms·

I'm a macos / linux user who bought a second-hand windows PC last year for CAD and games. Windows 11 is worse than you think it is. It's worse than the data ha

by areoform 10mo ago

I'm a macos / linux user who bought a second-hand windows PC last year for CAD and games. Windows 11 is worse than you think it is. It's worse than the data harvesting (which required two hours to turn off), irritating ads (for an OS you pay for) and generally schizophrenic UX (don't get me started on the Start menu). The Windows team has gone far beyond typical bugs. They're introducing new classes of bugs; one day your computer's working fine and the next, your GPU's 3D performance (somehow) drops by a half — you know, the thing I bought the computer for? — https://www.guru3d.com/story/windows-11-kb5066835-update-triggers-major-gaming-performance-regression/ https://www.guru3d.com/story/windows-11-kb5066835-update-tri... The bug impacted CAD too, AFAICT btw, though I couldn't find a publication that tested this update on solidworks / shapr 3D etc. They shipped a patch that started bricking SSDs, https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/latest-windows-11-security-patch-might-be-breaking-ssds-under-heavy-workloads-users-report-disappearing-drives-following-file-transfers-including-some-that-cannot-be-recovered-after-a-reboot https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/latest-windo... / https://www.pcmag.com/news/pc-building-group-figures-out-why-windows-11-update-is-bricking-ssds https://www.pcmag.com/news/pc-building-group-figures-out-why... / https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/reports-say-windows-11-update-is-bricking-drives-is-yours-on-the-list https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/reports-... Another that kept crashing on certain motherboards and processors with integrated graphics, https://windowsforum.com/threads/windows-11-24h2-intel-z890-motherboard-instability-issues-and-fixes.344424/ https://windowsforum.com/threads/windows-11-24h2-intel-z890-... If I didn't have a Solidworks license and Solidworks wasn't Windows only, I'd have switched to Steam OS or another linux distro a long time ago. I'm currently being held hostage by Dassault (and – to a lesser degree — the Windows-Gaming Industrial Complex). Forget Apple Maps bad, this is Windows 11 bad.

SunshineTheCat 10mo ago
As someone who has been primarily Mac for most of my life, I started using a Windows machine fairly recently for work. I'm tied down to the Windows eco-system (Teams, Outlook, etc). I still haven't gotten use to the idea of every link in Microsoft apps opening in Edge regardless of your settings. This might seem like a small thing, but the entire UX seems to be designed around benefiting Microsoft, not the user.
- areoform 10mo ago
  It is incredibly user hostile. And it's not even free. This is an ecosystem you pay for. They're treating folks shelling out $200 for an OS as if they were cattle on the adtech train.
  - bigyabai 10mo ago
    Here's hoping that Apple can correct-course from this path. Last time I daily-drove macOS (Sequoia) it was pushing adverts in my face with every native app I launched.
    - areoform 10mo ago
      I spend 8 hours a day on Sequoia and I haven't seen any adverts in any native app?
      - bigyabai 10mo ago
        https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251488227 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251488227 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250786208 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250786208 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254431520 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254431520 Having talked to Apple Support, there is no way to disable the pop-up permanently due to Apple's Promotional Policy.
      - threetonesun 10mo ago
        There are certainly ads for Apple services if you don't already use them (or in the case of Apple Music, sometimes even if you do use it because the app is pretty bad), and there are sponsored ads in the App Store now. I wouldn't say it's in any way equivalent to Windows 11, but it does feel like Apple is following a similar path as Microsoft, just with a little more Apple design on top.
    - fooster 10mo ago
      Huh? I use macOS all day every day and I’ve never seen an ad.
throwway120385 10mo ago
I think if Dassault et. al. released a version of their software for Linux or Mac OS then the only excuse I have left to boot Windows would be gone completely. Hell even if it worked somewhat reliably as a viewer on Valve's Proton I'd be happy.
- areoform 10mo ago
  How did you get used to Solidworks, btw? Any advice? It's an awful experience.
my_username_is_ 10mo ago
Have you tried using OnShape? One of the reasons that I switched to OnShape recently is that I can run it on my MacBook. This makes switching between my mechanical design & app development workflows seamless. There are some things to get used to with the transition to a cloud system, but knowing what I know now I would make the same decision again. At this point I'm using Windows almost exclusively for gaming (and it sounds like non Windows options have been getting better recently, so I may be able to step away from the Windows ecosystem entirely when that machine eventually dies).

SunshineTheCat 10mo ago

As someone who has been primarily Mac for most of my life, I started using a Windows machine fairly recently for work. I'm tied down to the Windows eco-system (Teams, Outlook, etc). I still haven't gotten use to the idea of every link in Microsoft apps opening in Edge regardless of your settings. This might seem like a small thing, but the entire UX seems to be designed around benefiting Microsoft, not the user.

areoform 10mo ago
It is incredibly user hostile. And it's not even free. This is an ecosystem you pay for. They're treating folks shelling out $200 for an OS as if they were cattle on the adtech train.
- bigyabai 10mo ago
  Here's hoping that Apple can correct-course from this path. Last time I daily-drove macOS (Sequoia) it was pushing adverts in my face with every native app I launched.
  - areoform 10mo ago
    I spend 8 hours a day on Sequoia and I haven't seen any adverts in any native app?
    - bigyabai 10mo ago
      https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251488227 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251488227 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250786208 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250786208 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254431520 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254431520 Having talked to Apple Support, there is no way to disable the pop-up permanently due to Apple's Promotional Policy.
    - threetonesun 10mo ago
      There are certainly ads for Apple services if you don't already use them (or in the case of Apple Music, sometimes even if you do use it because the app is pretty bad), and there are sponsored ads in the App Store now. I wouldn't say it's in any way equivalent to Windows 11, but it does feel like Apple is following a similar path as Microsoft, just with a little more Apple design on top.
  - fooster 10mo ago
    Huh? I use macOS all day every day and I’ve never seen an ad.

throwway120385 10mo ago

I think if Dassault et. al. released a version of their software for Linux or Mac OS then the only excuse I have left to boot Windows would be gone completely. Hell even if it worked somewhat reliably as a viewer on Valve's Proton I'd be happy.

areoform 10mo ago
How did you get used to Solidworks, btw? Any advice? It's an awful experience.

my_username_is_ 10mo ago

Have you tried using OnShape? One of the reasons that I switched to OnShape recently is that I can run it on my MacBook. This makes switching between my mechanical design & app development workflows seamless. There are some things to get used to with the transition to a cloud system, but knowing what I know now I would make the same decision again. At this point I'm using Windows almost exclusively for gaming (and it sounds like non Windows options have been getting better recently, so I may be able to step away from the Windows ecosystem entirely when that machine eventually dies).