Windows 10 has alerts to encourage Firefox users to use IE
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Telemetry reactivates itself every time Windows updates. Also Edge forgets your ignore preference, and repins itself to the taskbar.
Ads can appear on the start menu, and lock screen.
Office asks to be activated every time you open it if you don't link an email. (Though it is activated).
You no longer have search without Cortana.
These are not small annoyances that happen sometimes. They happen frequently. Microsoft is dictating how you must use a computer.
It results in a lot of calls from less tech savvy friends wanting me to 'fix' their computers.
This seems to me, to be an unsustainable bad business practice. It could work if there was no competition in the market, but Apple certainly competes, and for many, Android is also an option.
That's ignoring the crapshow that tried to force everyone to adopt W10.
There might be ways around it but I would not bet my life one it.
Windows 10 has also quite a few other advantages like native nvme support, multipath smb and many other neat features.
I would also not hold my breath for Vulkan adoption Xbox and PS4 aren't going to support it which means that still most games would use DX on windows.
That is very much Apple's ballgame.
If you don't want an opinionated OS you are going to end up using Linux. Yet commenters will still jump down my throat b/c a single distro does something they dislike.
However, OSX:
* Accepts I don't want Safari as my default browser
* Will let me disable Siri without breaking core functionality
* Doesn't inject adverts into my GUI
* Will let me turn off telemetry
At least with Wndows I can turn all of the crap off (and I have). I have zero problems with Windows because I configured it the way that I want. Isn't that the same thing you do with any OS? If I don't like something I turn it off or replace it with a third-party tool. Big deal. Do you know how much time I have spent on my Mac and Linux boxes to configure them the way that I want? Way, way more time than I ever spent on Windows.
Because many people can't fix it when that happens.
So they'll either infect their PC looking for a solution, or be told what they need, and how to do it.
By the way, updates are also linked to the Windows Store.
Telemetry? You can set it to basic unless you are on Windows Enterprise. If you are trying to do anything else you are doing it wrong.
Off != Supported.
If you're doing unsupported things and then complaining about how it's not working out for you, then you're doing it wrong.
Also, Basic gives Microsoft slightly more information than your browser leaks to every website you visit. Big fucking deal.
Furthermore, if you're going to do something that is unsupported, do it the right way and get a tool that is dedicated to the task which is run by a team that constantly keeps it up to date - https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/ - at the very least, if you don't trust Spybot, figure out what that tool is doing and do it yourself. If you install Anti-Beacon, you'll see that there is an option to "Refresh immunization" for the changes it applies after each reboot.
>You no longer have search without Cortana.
Could you elaborate? search for what?
>These are not small annoyances that happen sometimes. They happen frequently. Microsoft is dictating how you must use a computer.
Good, otherwise we'd end up with bazillion window managers that get you 80% of "stuff" in bazillion different ways, but none do the other 20%.
If you disable Cortana, a feat in itself, the file system search functions die.
Your last point is not really upheld. Greater flexibility existed in previous versions of Windows. Though different solutions to the inbuilts existed, they weren't popular. However, dictating which browser, through inconvenience, is harmful to the web. IE6 stands to that memory.
Forcing telemetry down users throats, so you can better predict them, is spying. It won't result in products for user needs, it'll result in making users think they need less.
Understandable, as Windows is not *nix, you should just RTFM.
You do have search without Cortana. You are incorrect. I use it every day. Stop spreading false information.
Honestly, I would hate my Mac and Linux boxes too if I had no clue how to configure them the way that I want. Perhaps you should learn how to configure things properly. Then you can stop complaining.
How would you feel if every security update wiped your crontab?
To revert to legacy search functionality, you need to disable search indexing as well as Cortana's services and regkeys. So, possible, if difficult. Sorry I got it wrong.
Neither OSX nor any Linux distro I've used intentially bypasses my config by reactivating disabled services, or modifying my rc files any time I update.
Maybe you should just learn how to do it properly.
Secondly, if there is such a great way of configuring things, where is it documented?
SysV, systemd, cron, and every other utility that arrives with a Linux distro has some decent documentation.
Apple hosts their own as well.
Where is Microsoft's guide to permanently disabling Cortana?
Oh give me a break. It does sound like you did something wrong. And that's exactly what I said: "Sounds like you did something wrong".
Stop taking offense at things that are not offensive.
I'd love to see users that can't figure out the control panel try to use Linux.
I'd also pay to see them try to do anything on their Mac that Apple didn't want to let them do.
Haha good one.
Turn it all off then. It took me about 20 minutes of configuring Windows to turn off every single thing you mentioned.
Lies.
> ...so I think Linux can be declared ready for the desktop.
The rest of the world disagrees with you.
Lies
The rest of the world disagrees with you.
--No Edge popups.
--File Indexing svc. is off.
--Cortana doesn't appear unsolicited in any way I have noticed; when I type w/ start menu open, I get launchable executables that match my search text, just like W7.
--I don't see any adds.
--UI Config hasn't noticeably change by itself.
It would be nice to know more about versions and patch states that are affected. Sounds like maybe some of this stuff is either testing, version dependent, or not fully rolled out?
Shame, such a shame. I've stopped believing in Nadella's aura of the saviour who reinvents the company when Windows 10 was released.
I've switched to Apple since and even with all of their mess-ups, it's a whole world of difference. I really hope that they're gonna turn it around soon, to.
Kind of a shame that Linux does not have the same application support macOS and Windows does, I'd switch to that, if it had.
I've heard that with Windows, Office, IE, and Sharepoint. I'd happily give up the esc key to avoid that hell.
You just have to click the link to see it encourages to use Edge, not IE.
Still something we might (should, really) frown upon, but there's no need to lie about it.
Nadella needs to be dragged over the coals for this. The OS has now become hostile. The number of steps to change your default browser is inexcusable and the constant whining to switch back should be actionable. Sadly, with a GOP administration at the helm, I think further anti-trust efforts on MS, or any big company, are probably not politically practical.
Nadella doesn't need to be "dragged over the coals". He should be given a huge bonus if this is increasing MS's profits. And MS should jack up their prices even more so they can give him even bigger bonuses. If society is stupid enough to enable this, then society deserves to pay the price.
Win10 was an opportunity to win back the OSX switchers and people who are happy with just Win7 and not looking to upgrade. If it wasn't free the marketshare for Win10 would be in the pits. MS is literally giving away its OS. Nadella doesn't know what he's doing.
>He should be given a huge bonus if this is increasing MS's profits.
In any sane company he would have been fired by now.
I don't have the actual numbers handy, so I can't say whether MS is actually more or less profitable than before, but I suspect it's more. The point is, what are their actual profits? If they're making more money, then this focus on marketshare is pointless. Money is money.
>MS is literally giving away its OS. Nadella doesn't know what he's doing.
Giving away Win10 is the correct choice IF it makes them more money (through advertising, selling collected data, etc.).
Furthermore, the competition is giving away their OSes. Perhaps MS sees that it can make more money by getting consumers to switch to Win10 with data collection and advertising than by trying to charge them for it and getting less uptake.
>In any sane company he would have been fired by now.
Why? Do you have any proof that his actions have actually decreased profits? If not, then your assertions are meaningless.
In hindsight my previous comment sounded a bit harsh, sorry about that!
Did I directly pay Google do use google.com? No. I never paid the full price for Windows either.
In the past when programs popped up suggesting another might be better, we referred to it as malware.
Go ahead try to never open the App Store on OS X. You can't do it because you need it for updates. When you open it you will see actual ads.
At least I can get rid of the tiny little "ad" on Windows. And I never use the Microsoft store. Ever. I have never been forced to use it and I've been using Windows 10 since release.
[0] http://gotofritz.net/blog/geekery/os-x-software-update-from-...