A New Version of Windows is Coming

Get a Mac. Fuck WinDoze.

Didja use the MS suggested method for installing Windows 11 on a PC that had non-standard hardware? They'd like to have a word with you.

Windows 11 Slapping a Watermark on 'Unsupported' PCs

Microsoft is Slowly Rolling Out Ads in the Windows 11 Start Menu

Oh, and pour one out for your homies in IT departments. It seems MS has made some changes to sysadmin tools to improve security. Pretty cool, right? Well, not exactly. You see, the previous version of those changes was optional. Handy, if it's something that's going to take you a while to deploy on all your machines (because you have to make some manual changes to the machine once the tools had been installed). The new version of the tools isn't optional, and if you haven't made the manual changes to the machine, it basically bricks it. You have to edit the registry file, I guess, to correct the issue.

I guess they figure they have their captive audience. As awesome as Linux is, not many people who have used Windows for most of their lives are going to want to switch now and have to re-learn things, even if there are distros (Linux Mint) that are very friendly to them. That they're playing with the corporate/Enterprise side of their software, though, that's the real story.

Microsoft Isn’t Done Shoving Ads Into Windows 11

I'm sorry for all of my Windows using friends. I know many of you have to use it for work, and it's easier for gaming, and such. Microsoft needs a genuine competitor, but it may be too late since so much software has turned subscription based. The only real alternative is Apple, a niche company that deals more in hardware and luxury brands than it does operating systems, and Linux, a wonderful, community based OS that is a bit too fragmented (lots of distributions that can be confusing for new users) and has a strong learning curve for most new users (even the distros I recommend to newbies still takes a little adjustment).

There need to be better options. Microsoft has secured its monopoly and is just dragging people along. We all deserve better than to be fed ads in our own operating systems. Especially for people who have paid for Windows.

Users Claim the Latest Windows 10 Update Breaks Some Printers

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft will start enforcing approved printers in the name of "security."

https://twitter.com/thurrott/status/1651736606271762432?s=46&t=iYW3foyqIA6Tn8VWwn3nwQ

Microsoft Broke a Chrome Feature to Promote Its Edge Browser

Boy, I sure do like my new Mac Mini!

Microsoft Tests Sticking Ads in Windows 11 Settings Menu

Microsoft is really pulling a Musk and destroying its brand.

Bill Gates must be spinning in his grave.

More ads in Windows:
https://twitter.com/thurrott/status/1664619720052547585

And I've realized, that MS will never offer an ad-free version of Windows alongside of a version with ads. Why? Because if they offer an ad-free version alongside a version with ads, people will figure out what the difference in the code between the two and use it to block ads in the ad-supported versions. They can't have that, so that means everybody is getting ads. The leopard might have changed its spots, but it's still a leopard.

Well, this is kinda like catturd telling Musk he's a dick. Paul Thurrott, who has been nothing but an unabashed whore for MS for decades now, spends, I don't know, about the first hour or so of this, tearing into all the fucking dumb shit that MS is doing to Win 11. Apparently, the version of File Manager that now comes with Win 11 is absolute garbage. There are freeware programs out there that do a better job.

He does, also, however, give you tips on how to reduce the amount of ads MS stuffs into Win 11 (at least until someone from MS watches the episode and immediately borks it). It also requires you to nuke your system and do a fresh install of Win 11, and you'll have to do some tweaking to get your system back to the way you want it, but you'll see far fewer ads and have less crapware on your machine. (You download a Win 11 ISO from MS do not use whatever's on your system. During the setup process, when it asks for "Language," instead of selecting "US - English," you select "World - English," and that's it.)

This is what happens with a monopoly. I'm sure Enterprise level administrators can buy licenses that come with fewer ads, or no ads at all, while the hoi polloi get stuck with the shitbox ads they can't do anything about except cannibalize their system to keep functional.

I recommend people switch to Mac OS or Linux for their home desktops and servers, if they can. It's the only way you can reliably preserve your workflow, or be free from the choking glut of spyware and adware.

I have my issues with Mac OS, lots of issues, but it's still better than Windows. I'd rather people move to Linux, though.

In a computer support FB group I'm in, someone just recounted a new horror that Win11 has inflicted upon them: When they went to log in, they had a splash screen take over their PC telling them that they needed to subscribe to various MS products like One Drive, etc. Their only options were to agree to purchase the stuff or be reminded again in three days, and until they selected one of those choices, they couldn't even get to their login screen. Folks in the group suggested ways to turn this off but nobody's really certain if it'll work or not.

Paul Thurrott has been complaining that the default setting on PCs running Win11 is for files to be saved to your One Drive account, and you have to manually change this for each folder. It gets better, when you change the default MS asks you to fill out a survey on why you don't want to use One Drive. But wait, there's more! Every time MS pushes out an update, you have to go through the same thing all over again. Personally, I've never used the default "My Documents" folder for anything on Windows for the simple fact that I can wind up needing to have multiple subfolders to keep various projects organized, and it didn't make any sense to me to have to have to jump through another one. Then, when MS pushed out an update umpteen years ago that nuked the contents of lots of people's "My Documents" folders, I resolved to never use the default save folder for any program if I could prevent it.

The monetization will continue until morale improves.

It's almost like Microsoft wants to drop the desktop and are finding ways to really inconvenience desktop users.

Microsoft Will Eventually Start Charging You for Windows 10 Security Updates

Charge this.

What's sad is people will pay it, and I understand why. Windows 10 was the last somewhat decent OS Microsoft produced, massive data leeching aside. Windows 11 is every awful pay to win mobile game posing as an OS.

So it sounds like a good thing that I didn't listen to the Windows automatic update when it recommended I free up some space so it could download Windows 11.

Just gonna keep edging my storage space along.

Yes. Try to stay on Windows 10 as long as you can. It gets support until 2025.

https://x.com/thurrott/status/1758125368181965264?s=46&t=iYW3foyqIA6Tn8VWwn3nwQ




https://x.com/stevesi/status/1757841356469543314?s=46&t=iYW3foyqIA6Tn8VWwn3nwQ

I'll be honest, the Apple Pro looks cool as hell, but $3500?! You can get a Meta Quest 3 for $500 and it will do almost everything the Apple Pro will do.

Hell, my Meta Quest 2 was half the price of the Meta Quest 3 and I love it to death (that was my compromise because I use Linux and chose a mobile VR headset). The only thing it lacks compared to the Apple Pro, in terms of discernible quality, is higher resolution cameras where you can use passthrough for Augmented Reality.

So my work just upgraded my laptop and now I have Windows 11.

Meh.

Microsoft seems to drop the ball every few releases. Windows 95 was fine. Every other OS they released sucked until Windows 7. Then Windows 8 blew chunks until Windows 10 came along.

Windows 11 is definitely a miss, IMO.

And each new OS seems to come with more and more bloat.

I think that tracks, but
95 yes
98 meh
98 SE yes
ME teh shit
2000 teh goat
Vista ugh, but it grew on me
XP yes, but was meh for me
7
8
10 yes
11 hasn't impressed me

Yes, this tracks.

Has this been posted in this thread yet?