How much does Microsoft make from being able to tie logged-in user behavior to a particular email address? It seems the answer is "a lot," from the ever-increasing hostility to offline/local only accounts.
Every time I have to touch Windows, it seems there's some new, shiny, irritating thing I have to dismiss. I want my operating systems to run things I tell them to, not try to drag me into their clicktrap ecosystem, or randomly reinstall "free to play" games, etc.
I'm aware I can disable this stuff, but I shouldn't have to. And it's annoyed me enough over the years that I no longer run Windows on the iron on anything - even games are "decent enough" under Linux now.
The joke’s on them because I have relegated my windows box to gaming only. When another OS meets my gaming needs, microsoft’s os will be finally gone from my network.
* Some of your preferences will be reset with the next update
* Some of your preferences will be reset at random
* Some new stuff will be introduced and you will need to disable it individually
* As for some stuff, you will never know unless someone smart figures out something grey is going on under the hood, publishes their research, this research reaches you, and you decide to act on it
Same thing with Windows Mail. I just got a message telling me, "We've decided to move you to Outlook (which I don't want) instead of the Windows Mail client that you're happily using." Now I've got to go searching for the magical wizard spell I need to cast in order to stop it from doing this.
I really wish a Windows Product Manager could comment here and explain why the hell they keep doing this shit despite the user not wanting any of it. I know they won't. They're ashamed of what they are doing, and/or hide behind some "do not post online" corporate policy.
Why can't operating systems just stay out of the user's way? Go schedule the CPU, manage the filesystem and network peripherals, and stop with the user behavior modification experiments.
It's mostly about lock-in I imagine. Default save to OneDrive in Office apps goes right along. In the future, Windows itself will be running in the cloud, further locking you into their ecosystem and subscriptions.
"Thanks to the GDPR, users in Europe
who download the Outlook for Windows app, will be greeted with a modal pop-up dialog that
displays a user agreement and requires its users to consent. The breathtaking aspect of this is
that the dialog starts right out stating: “We and 772 third parties process data to: store and/or
access information on your device, develop and improve products, personalize ads and content,
measure ads and content, derive audience insights, obtain precise geolocation data, and identify
users through device scanning.”
I was a huge Linux nerd in the early 2000s and tried my best to use it as a daily driver. But gaming forced me to keep a windows box around and eventually I got tired of the inconvenience of dual booting and Windows became primary for awhile.
More recently, I decided to try moving back to Linux as a primary desktop environment after getting frustrated and annoyed by the various dark patterns in Windows, and I was shocked to find how much better the gaming landscape looks now thanks to Steam and Proton. I’ve successfully gone all in on Linux again and hope to never use windows outside of an occasional virtual machine when I have no other choice.
Depending on your reasons for keeping windows around, it’s worth taking a look at the Linux desktop again. It’s exciting and gratifying to find it so extremely functional after many years of frustration and living on the bleeding edge of something that wasn’t ready for the mainstream at the time.
One of the reasons for me to use Windows (still) is Photoshop.
Besides actually playing the games, I use Photoshop to make skins for my cars when simracing.
There are several options online now, that implement almost all the features from Photoshop that I use.
I have used Photopea, and while it runs slower than native Photoshop, I am genuinely surprised about how good it is, and how feature complete it is. I recommend Photopea over Gimp ten times out of ten.
There are others like Pixlr I have yet to test, but now I am convinced graphic edition can be done without Photoshop.
How is hardware acceleration and Widevine support right now? I use Windows 10 (IOT fwiw) largely because I use MS Office and want smooth videos on the browser.
I really really want to get off of Windows because of the dark patterns. I'm even satisfied with the state of gaming on Linux based on my SteamDeck. So I've been test driving my SteamDeck as a portable PC when I travel. There are still a few things that give me pause when I think about eventually switching my primary PC to Linux:
1. Two apps: I use OneNote daily for work and personal notetaking, use the OneNote app on my iPhone, and have shared notebooks with several (non-technically minded) family members. There is no other free (or even paid) comparable software that does all of this. Sadly, the best you can do on Linux is use it through the clumsy web interface. And then, Autodesk Fusion360 for my dabbling in 3d printing, also without native Linux support.
2. Very basic things like mouse scroll wheel and mouse pointer acceleration are at best somewhat "off" or at worst impossible to tweak, depending on which which display protocol / linux flavor you're using. Every time I rathole on it, I end up at the same place: some spat between libinput and Wayland. I don't care about who does it, I just want it to work.
I could probably get by with a windows VM or other alternatives for the unsupported applications. So then it's a wash between Windows enshittification and Linux rough edges. I suppose within a few years as the enshittification continues worsening while the rough edges get fixed, it becomes an easier decision.
I have moved to Arch Linux 100% for work and personal use. I too have a Windows 10 machine for gaming -- but it runs LTSC, which is _much_ more super user friendly, less user hostile.
Only reason to remain on Windows these days is certain video games that have a Windows-specific kernel-level anti-cheat. The gaming situation on Linux has come so far these days (thank you Valve, Proton, and WINE team) that this gap is getting tighter and tighter. A lot of games run even better on Linux!
I am quite surprised at how easy it is to run modern titles like Helldivers on Linux. Hate to sound like a cliche but I think the era of desktop Linux is truly here. If you are a Windows user, the shift to KDE is a very small pill to swallow.
worst mistake of my windows days: accepted a MS account, was then blocked forever from transferring a windows pro account from one pc to another. both the one that had home and the one that had pro are happily running linux, can't wait for MS to stop being an OS company
Using my MS account is actually how I transferred my Windows Pro license. I unlicensed my old PC and then logged in on the new PC and licensed it there.
(It was also originally a Windows 7 Pro license that I've moved through 4 different versions of Windows)
The only thing that keeps me on Windows is the extensive hardware support. I know I can buy almost anything and there will be Windows drivers. I don't like the Apple GUI, nor their ecosystem, and while I like Linux it's still too much like driving shift stick. But man, Microsoft does go out of their way of making it harder and harder to stay on their plaform with every single release they make by forcing ever more unwanted bile down your throat.
Kinda funny, just yesterday, my kid found a solution for the issues he
was having with fallout 4, and it was switching to use a local account
fallout 4 , was opening in window mode only, and no matter what we did
it refused to read the setting to open full screen, also the game was
not saving anything
he kept searching online, until he found someone suggesting to use a
local account, and bingo, it fixed everything
i am not sure exactly why , but it seem it has to do with your home directory
going through onedrive if you use an ms account , and this messed up the game
ability to read settings and save progress
Other two cents; when installing Windows, to skip Microsoft account creation / setting up ann internet connection, use shift-f10 to open a terminal and in the command window use the command oobe\BypassNRO.
I really want to switch to Linux full time. I’ve done it in the past for years at a time, but nowadays I stay on Windows because of a specific game I play with some friends that requires a kernel anti-cheat…
For anyone looking to switch to Linux (especially people who play games or make video content), Nobara[1] is the best desktop distro I’ve used by far — it’s the one I used most recently and it’s the only one I actually wanted to stick with. I’ve tried a bunch of different distros but this is the only one where I truly felt like “it’s the year of the Linux desktop”. I didn’t need to use the terminal at all, or manually set up drivers, or custom kernels, or edit config files, or anything. It just works out of the box and I install stuff with the built in app store. The only things that didn’t work were all caused by some company being stubborn (games not enabling the Linux support that comes with their anticheat, Nvidia not adding some features to their driver related to screen capture)
When I read this kind of stuff I think i should form some kind of party with the goal of reaching some position of power in the EU structure in order to prosecute microsoft and friends as much as possible.
I don't care which party, i don't care which power position.
I just want to prosecute and harm Microsoft and other companies adopting this kind of predatory and abusive behaviors.
My main issue isn't with the Microsoft account itself, but with how it truncates usernames in the file system to just five characters. For instance, my preferred username 'unsignedint' is shortened to 'unsig.' It's perplexing why there's an assumption that all names should be five characters or fewer.
Luckily I can make my username a nice 5 letter word (Nekko), the terrible part: They for some reason decided to the email name as what should be truncated, which isn't related to my username.
I remember it taking me forever to figure out the exact incantation of clicking tiny text and unplugging network cables at the right time in order to do what should be the most basic setup tasks in an OS: Setting up an account. I'm so tired of companies begging/forcing me to do things on my computer that I as the user don't want to do. The user is supposed to be in charge, not the computer or the manufacturer.
It's gotten to the point where I am afraid to type in my actual Microsoft account anywhere near my Windows PC, lest it decides to spring the trap and say "AHA GOT IT! Now you're logging in with your Microsoft account now and forever! Muahahahahahah!" I won't even speak it aloud, in case Windows has the microphone on listening for it. I'm only half joking.
I just started to distro-hop again to find the flavor of Linux I like. My current plan is to use a lightweight but slick distro for day-to-day stuff, to maximize battery life, plus GPU pass-through to a VM for gaming. If I don’t get that to work, I’ll just dual boot.
Any distro recommendations for a good small-footprint distro? So far Void, Sparky and Manjaro have caught my eye. If I decided to commit to gaming in Linux, I’d choose Pop!_OS though, just for the great nVidia driver support.
If you really want to minimize the footprint, Alpine Linux is amazing. Be forewarned that it has some sharp edges by virtue of being very different from most distros (musl, busybox, openrc). But like, I run it on my desktop and it's perfectly fine. Even runs the Steam flatpak with only minor effort; that was my main gaming rig for a good long while.
I migrated to Linux due to the recurring nagging coming from Windows 11; looks like Windows 10 users will start to have a compelling reason to migrate as well.
Honestly, if you're not playing video games or require Windows for certain apps and if you're a little tech savvy, why are you still using Windows?
It's not a rhetorical question, it's a real one. I'm really interested in what's keeping people on Windows nowadays, considering all the spying, nagging and overall hostile attitude Microsoft has against its users.
I'm a linux developer and I run Windows 11 Pro on my devices ( a mini PC desktop & a laptop).
My development is done with VS Code + Windows terminal into WSL2, linux VMs and remote instances.
I use Windows for the great hardware support : power management, printers, scanners, webcams, usb microphone, usb wifi adapters, yubikeys. HyperV is great for VM management. MS Edge has great performance and cross-device sync. One-Drive has excellent OCR & search indexing. I use it to search & manage legal documents for various partnerships. MS Co-pilot is excellent for engineering & legal research. MS Designer (image gen) has been great for generating logos & designs. I've learned more about Powershell https://github.com/tonymet/powershell-scripts
I've spent time to remove all of the recommendations, news, online content, ads and bloatware features from Windows 11. I turn on "max performance" and everything is very snappy.
It's been the best OS experience I've had since Windows 2k.
Every tool requires time investment. I also don't like Windows 11's online /entertainment content. Many industries are going in that direction e.g. automotive.
Having things "just work" can be really appealing. I once had an issue where my Linux distro of choice was having a tough time with my monitor orientation. I got quite a few linux gurus involved and none could figure it out. I'm sure it eventually would have worked, but that's not an experience I'm particularly fond of.
And then software that does exist will often have bugs for Linux that are overlooked due to how small the market is.
Inertia. I don't have a lot of mental energy to think about operating systems. Which distribution should I use? Will my hardware be supported? I ponder these things for 2 or 3 minutes. Then I defer the question for another year.
What will happen is that they’ll loose lifetime Windows users like me! I was using Windows both at home and professionally but had enough and bought a used MacBook Pro M2 and I could not be happier! If I really need to use Windows software I can use Parallels/CrossOver/UTM or remote into a VM. Far superior experience
[+] [-] Syonyk|1 year ago|reply
Every time I have to touch Windows, it seems there's some new, shiny, irritating thing I have to dismiss. I want my operating systems to run things I tell them to, not try to drag me into their clicktrap ecosystem, or randomly reinstall "free to play" games, etc.
I'm aware I can disable this stuff, but I shouldn't have to. And it's annoyed me enough over the years that I no longer run Windows on the iron on anything - even games are "decent enough" under Linux now.
[+] [-] wintermutestwin|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] dvfjsdhgfv|1 year ago|reply
It's not that simple.
* You can disable some of that stuff, but not all
* Some of your preferences will be reset with the next update
* Some of your preferences will be reset at random
* Some new stuff will be introduced and you will need to disable it individually
* As for some stuff, you will never know unless someone smart figures out something grey is going on under the hood, publishes their research, this research reaches you, and you decide to act on it
[+] [-] ryandrake|1 year ago|reply
I really wish a Windows Product Manager could comment here and explain why the hell they keep doing this shit despite the user not wanting any of it. I know they won't. They're ashamed of what they are doing, and/or hide behind some "do not post online" corporate policy.
Why can't operating systems just stay out of the user's way? Go schedule the CPU, manage the filesystem and network peripherals, and stop with the user behavior modification experiments.
[+] [-] gigel82|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] downrightmike|1 year ago|reply
"Thanks to the GDPR, users in Europe who download the Outlook for Windows app, will be greeted with a modal pop-up dialog that displays a user agreement and requires its users to consent. The breathtaking aspect of this is that the dialog starts right out stating: “We and 772 third parties process data to: store and/or access information on your device, develop and improve products, personalize ads and content, measure ads and content, derive audience insights, obtain precise geolocation data, and identify users through device scanning.”
https://borncity.com/win/2024/01/18/new-outlook-app-monitori....
[+] [-] carlosjobim|1 year ago|reply
So until Apple lowers prices on their computers to compete with the cheapest (never), Microsoft can treat their customers however they please.
[+] [-] haswell|1 year ago|reply
More recently, I decided to try moving back to Linux as a primary desktop environment after getting frustrated and annoyed by the various dark patterns in Windows, and I was shocked to find how much better the gaming landscape looks now thanks to Steam and Proton. I’ve successfully gone all in on Linux again and hope to never use windows outside of an occasional virtual machine when I have no other choice.
Depending on your reasons for keeping windows around, it’s worth taking a look at the Linux desktop again. It’s exciting and gratifying to find it so extremely functional after many years of frustration and living on the bleeding edge of something that wasn’t ready for the mainstream at the time.
[+] [-] Shorel|1 year ago|reply
Besides actually playing the games, I use Photoshop to make skins for my cars when simracing.
There are several options online now, that implement almost all the features from Photoshop that I use.
I have used Photopea, and while it runs slower than native Photoshop, I am genuinely surprised about how good it is, and how feature complete it is. I recommend Photopea over Gimp ten times out of ten.
There are others like Pixlr I have yet to test, but now I am convinced graphic edition can be done without Photoshop.
[+] [-] user_7832|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] qwerpy|1 year ago|reply
1. Two apps: I use OneNote daily for work and personal notetaking, use the OneNote app on my iPhone, and have shared notebooks with several (non-technically minded) family members. There is no other free (or even paid) comparable software that does all of this. Sadly, the best you can do on Linux is use it through the clumsy web interface. And then, Autodesk Fusion360 for my dabbling in 3d printing, also without native Linux support.
2. Very basic things like mouse scroll wheel and mouse pointer acceleration are at best somewhat "off" or at worst impossible to tweak, depending on which which display protocol / linux flavor you're using. Every time I rathole on it, I end up at the same place: some spat between libinput and Wayland. I don't care about who does it, I just want it to work.
I could probably get by with a windows VM or other alternatives for the unsupported applications. So then it's a wash between Windows enshittification and Linux rough edges. I suppose within a few years as the enshittification continues worsening while the rough edges get fixed, it becomes an easier decision.
[+] [-] 0xfeba|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] whalesalad|1 year ago|reply
I am quite surprised at how easy it is to run modern titles like Helldivers on Linux. Hate to sound like a cliche but I think the era of desktop Linux is truly here. If you are a Windows user, the shift to KDE is a very small pill to swallow.
[+] [-] notatallshaw|1 year ago|reply
In the start menu it shows a yellow "!" over my profile icon and if I click that it informs me that I should sign into a Microsoft account.
I'm able to dismiss it, but then it reappears a couple of weeks later.
[+] [-] user_7832|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] polotics|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] wvenable|1 year ago|reply
(It was also originally a Windows 7 Pro license that I've moved through 4 different versions of Windows)
[+] [-] superb_dev|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] PeterStuer|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] systems|1 year ago|reply
fallout 4 , was opening in window mode only, and no matter what we did it refused to read the setting to open full screen, also the game was not saving anything
he kept searching online, until he found someone suggesting to use a local account, and bingo, it fixed everything
i am not sure exactly why , but it seem it has to do with your home directory going through onedrive if you use an ms account , and this messed up the game ability to read settings and save progress
[+] [-] user_7832|1 year ago|reply
(Yes, in the past I'd restart games to switch modes. No, I did not know better.)
[+] [-] kentrf|1 year ago|reply
Other two cents; when installing Windows, to skip Microsoft account creation / setting up ann internet connection, use shift-f10 to open a terminal and in the command window use the command oobe\BypassNRO.
[+] [-] aprilnya|1 year ago|reply
For anyone looking to switch to Linux (especially people who play games or make video content), Nobara[1] is the best desktop distro I’ve used by far — it’s the one I used most recently and it’s the only one I actually wanted to stick with. I’ve tried a bunch of different distros but this is the only one where I truly felt like “it’s the year of the Linux desktop”. I didn’t need to use the terminal at all, or manually set up drivers, or custom kernels, or edit config files, or anything. It just works out of the box and I install stuff with the built in app store. The only things that didn’t work were all caused by some company being stubborn (games not enabling the Linux support that comes with their anticheat, Nvidia not adding some features to their driver related to screen capture)
[1]: https://nobaraproject.org
[+] [-] znpy|1 year ago|reply
I don't care which party, i don't care which power position.
I just want to prosecute and harm Microsoft and other companies adopting this kind of predatory and abusive behaviors.
[+] [-] psunavy03|1 year ago|reply
I've got news for you, part of this is not the case . . .
[+] [-] unsignedint|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] NekkoDroid|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] bbkane|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] fdfdfdfdfdddf|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] ryandrake|1 year ago|reply
It's gotten to the point where I am afraid to type in my actual Microsoft account anywhere near my Windows PC, lest it decides to spring the trap and say "AHA GOT IT! Now you're logging in with your Microsoft account now and forever! Muahahahahahah!" I won't even speak it aloud, in case Windows has the microphone on listening for it. I'm only half joking.
[+] [-] nickt|1 year ago|reply
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/ltsc/ove...
[+] [-] plusfour|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] TheBozzCL|1 year ago|reply
Any distro recommendations for a good small-footprint distro? So far Void, Sparky and Manjaro have caught my eye. If I decided to commit to gaming in Linux, I’d choose Pop!_OS though, just for the great nVidia driver support.
[+] [-] yjftsjthsd-h|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] timbit42|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] binkHN|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] fffrantz|1 year ago|reply
It's not a rhetorical question, it's a real one. I'm really interested in what's keeping people on Windows nowadays, considering all the spying, nagging and overall hostile attitude Microsoft has against its users.
[+] [-] tonymet|1 year ago|reply
My development is done with VS Code + Windows terminal into WSL2, linux VMs and remote instances.
I use Windows for the great hardware support : power management, printers, scanners, webcams, usb microphone, usb wifi adapters, yubikeys. HyperV is great for VM management. MS Edge has great performance and cross-device sync. One-Drive has excellent OCR & search indexing. I use it to search & manage legal documents for various partnerships. MS Co-pilot is excellent for engineering & legal research. MS Designer (image gen) has been great for generating logos & designs. I've learned more about Powershell https://github.com/tonymet/powershell-scripts
I've spent time to remove all of the recommendations, news, online content, ads and bloatware features from Windows 11. I turn on "max performance" and everything is very snappy.
It's been the best OS experience I've had since Windows 2k.
Every tool requires time investment. I also don't like Windows 11's online /entertainment content. Many industries are going in that direction e.g. automotive.
Give it a try.
[+] [-] emnudge|1 year ago|reply
And then software that does exist will often have bugs for Linux that are overlooked due to how small the market is.
[+] [-] recursive|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] louthy|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] exsomet|1 year ago|reply
Why in the world would anyone want to turn this on?
[+] [-] aquir|1 year ago|reply