A New Version of Windows is Coming

Okay, so from about the 4-minute mark to about the 45-minute mark, Paul Thurrott talks about all the MS software he's abandoned because it's turned into shite under Windows 11.



This is akin to the biggest Apple fan you can think of, throwing every one of their Apple devices into a shredder.

The enshittification of Windows continues. I am honestly glad I switched to Linux years ago, though I understand why people don't out of a sense of sticking with what is familiar, or what their job requires. People should be able to use their computer without the operating system actively interfering in an attempt to extract more out of them. That is direct hostility against the user.

We've had the new Windows inflicted on us at work and it doesn't even come with a calculator program? You're expected to make a fancy math panel thing recognize your handwriting?

I remember when Windows ME was the joke version of Windows.
Then it was Windows Vista (which ended up being not so bad).
Now it's Windows 11. I've talked to so many users who are trying to regress back to Windows 10, but Microsoft won't let them.

People deserve better than Microsoft. I mean, I love Linux and use it exclusively, but I wouldn't push it on people because while there are distributions that are very easy and enjoyable, fully featured (Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Zorin OS, Elementary OS), they do take a little time to learn. Most people just want to use what they're used to, but Microsoft doesn't really give a shit about Windows anymore, their money lies elsewhere. Hell, even Apple finally put a little more effort into Mac OS after letting it languish for a while. I figure M$ will likely do the same, so it may be a bumpy ride for a while, folks.

I just popped in here out of curiosity.

Where is this ad shit for windows 11? There is a few annoyances like their normal moving things to new places just to seem new. This is the pro-version and not the home version because I would never install the home user version. Why is @NAHTMMM saying there is no calculator? Maybe your job did not instal;l it with the image? The file browser is a bit different but not that bad.

What exactly am I missing here? About the only thing I will say is I actually built this machine and do not have one that was purchased through a store or brand. Has MS licensed brands to start putting ads on home PCs or something?

Just so I know in the future not to ever buy through a retail outlet a branded PC ever again if that is the problem.

I am actually curious as to what the major complaints are with 11 because someone seems to be fucking your PCs and I am sure MS has allowed them to, but I am not sure it is MS.

We are talking about win 11 on a PC or laptop and not a pad or PAD os version, right?

I could understand if you are having trouble with ads under the pad version, and that is not limited to windows. I am not sure how it happens but I have seen android, windows, and ios systems where somehow ads seem to be running via the OS and not because an app is running.

win 11 for the actual PC and not some cheap ass pad conversion to a laptop runs fine and does not have ads unless you have used Edge on some site and downloaded a virus.

mobile devices are nice, but every fucking OS sucks for them because they all run shit in the background for app tracking you and your device usage. It is not that actual computer's don't, but the processes are not as streamlined into the OS as it is with touch screen devices.

Oh, it's Microsoft: https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-experiments-with-ads-in-the-windows-11-start-menu

That was from 2022, and it's getting worse. You have to pay extra just to not have those ads, as if MS isn't making a metric fuck ton of money off of harvesting your data, now they want to show you ads in your own start menu. I hate it so much.

I would brick my machine trying to circumvent that.

Thank God I’m all Apple at home, other than the one WinDoze box I use for MechWarrior Online.

OK, just so I am on the same page. We are talking about the pinned apps I see when I push on the new start menu? I guess I am not seeing the general problem here as when you have installed windows on any PC since win 3.1 you got a few programs in the start menu that installed with windows. Now there are a few apps like instagram and tik tok in there too.

Similar shit happens with android phones. I have never installed the google or verizon suite of programs into my android, but I get about 15 programs from them installed aurtomagically. That is not to mention that god awful abomination of a web browser called chrome. Chrome is like what edge would be if it were copied by a shitty company. But I need an original web browser so I can download the one I want. That even goes for edge. I need the functionality of an OS resident browser when I do a fresh windows install so I can do the first thing and download a real browser. Then I remove edge from the taskbar and never ever use it again.

Come on, these are suggestions, and some people need them because they do not know what is out there. They do not pop up unwanted when you use a program, and if you really hate them you can click on them and uninstall or remove them from your sight forever. I have not used mac in a long time, but they have safari, which is a shitty web browser that stole my fucking internet nickname a long time ago because Steve Jobs is a terrible man. Anm OS needs a web browser native to it in a world where your computer is mainly used to access the internet. You need that program to start downloading internet apps and programs. Now we have things like the google store, MS store, and itunes which can also be used, but you need a client program to start downloading other programs.

Am I the only one here when the native network download program was FTP and telnet? Way back when there was no internet explorer to worry about coming with windows? Yeah, do a new windows install and then try to get the internet working without using edge. Unless you already have access to a network drive or the physical media you are not getting there because there is no internet client software installed. I do not like using edge, but it saves a whole lot of time and effort when it is there the moment you start up and need to get some better programs.

Well, the ads are going to be forced, that's the thing, and they're going to be whatever Microsoft thinks you should have. It is also going to be more difficult to switch away from Microsoft Edge, and Edge is going to be constantly pushed on you. There are registry modifications you can make to diminish the issue, but if you're having to make registry modifications to keep ads and forced programs from being shoved in your face, that's direct user hostility. No one should have to deal with that.

If you know how windows worked with exploiter and Edge you know even a new browser seems to work using some functionality of that client because it was directly integrated into the OS operation back in the day. It was why windows could not remove it without crashing the OS. I do not think it was ever fully changed, and I believe SCOTUS said they will allow it way back around Me or 98. Yes, you could never remove the integrated web browser, and other web browsers use it's systems including firefox. The things that firefox did do was keep IE and Edge from actually running the code on sites that seeks to add programs to your system automagically. IE and Edfge pollute the system with what the websites want to run rather than restricting them.

What I see from your articles is not terrible. Yes, win 11 and win 10 push the MS suite of programs. They do constantly try to push you to use MS products by defaulting to office products. The office products are pretty standard workplace products now, and Onedrive does seem to ad some shared cloud space for non-enterprise workers. It also does make switching PCs through an upgrade really easy but prevents a change in platform. It does make a change over to crapple a bit harder than buying a new windows PC and also tries to give you a reason for a windows mobile device over android or ios.

I will agree the MS suite has become a bit too reliant on it if you want to use something else, but I do not pay for the MS suite nor run it so if there are ads there I am not seeing them. If you pay for the MS suite and do not use their built in cloud software (which is what one drive is) you are really making things much harder on yourself. It is pretty fucking easy to get it to work even if you are a computer dummy. My mother got it to work on her own.

Edge is integrated into the OS, but once you let firefox do their thing they pretty much hijack as much of the security and close the holes edge tries to give everyone. I am pretty sure whatever the MS people do to try and stop firefox and other browsers will be undone fast.

Really, if it does end up installing a line of text or even an ad bar at the top of windows file explorer I am not caring much unless it actually makes me watch an ad to get in the program. As long as it just pops the windows up and puts the ad there my mind already has come to ignore most of that crap in browsers anyway. I do not have the crapple mind, nor the interest to do that much work getting my PC to emulate windows for the reasons I use my computer to begin with.

If they force edge on me I might go elsewhere, but I am pretty sure that will take about a day for the workaround to pop up.

Eh, I just hate that Microsoft has turned the entire OS into a data collection system. It hoovers up all of your data, serves you ads in your own menus, and has more back doors than a speakeasy in a dry county.

That, sir, is an excellent idea that every Apple user should seriously consider.

My work laptop was upgraded to Windows 11 but I don't seem to have any of the issues that are talked about in this thread. No ads; no issues using Chrome instead of Edge. I also have a calculator so not sure what release @NAHTMMM is using.

Still, I don't like Windows 11 anywhere near as much as Windows 10.

Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu

Let me tell you all of the wonderful world of Linux.
Or, if you don't want to deal with Linux, Macs can be a solid choice.

I have checked at work and fortunately (for small values of the term) we're still on a later version of Win10. And technically it has Calc.exe floating around the file system. But it wants me to go on the "app store" or whatever to find a program to open Calc.exe with. As if I'm going to have permissions to do that even if it made sense.

When I first started using Windows back in the early 1990s, it was a serious OS made to get things done. Now Windows is just a content delivery system for Microsoft, like the McDonalds app. It doesn't matter how inconvenient it is, how frustrating, as long as it gets people to interact with it and make use of its services that lead to a profit for Microsoft.

If you want to put in some work, this tells you how to ensure that the worst of MackrelSlurp's crap is stripped out of your Win 11 install.

When Paul Thurrott is calling modern Windows shitty, you know it's bad.

I finally did find a frustrating thing with win 11. It has fucked up things for those of us who do not want ultra tiny bullshit.

My eyesight is going so I have been fooling around with sizing things. Win 11 has taken away the ability to resize the taskbar on the bottom. The only way to make it bigger is to use magnification. Magnification causes certain older games to not properly display. It does not seem to effect as many newer games, but I do have some old games I like to play.

I got most of the stuff on screen at a proper level for my eyes, but the taskbar is a tiny little sliver on the bottom, and the icons and date time stuff does not resize like everything else can. I have looked up multiple things, and even resorted to reg changes which were supposed to do it.

I am not one of those people who want tiny little details on my screen. I do not feel the need to make things as small as possible so I think my screen is huge. Why would you take away the option to resize the taskbar content and leave onlyu magnifying the screen as an option while you can adjust text and icon sizes everywhere else.

Here is a problem that is actually happening where even MS admits it is a problem and is not bothering to do anything about it.