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Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps On My PC Without Asking (howtogeek.com)
Chris Hoffman, writing for How To Geek: I'm getting sick of Windows 10's auto-installing apps. Apps like Facebook are now showing up out of nowhere, and even displaying notifications begging for me to use them. I didn't install the Facebook app, I didn't give it permission to show notifications, and I've never even used it. So why is it bugging me? Windows 10 has always been a little annoying about these apps, but it wasn't always this bad. Microsoft went from "we pinned a few tiles, but the apps aren't installed until you click them" to "the apps are now automatically installed on your PC" to "the automatically installed apps are now sending you notifications." It's ridiculous.
I'm sure its there, in the EULA we don't read.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
It UNINSTALLS programs without asking. About 3 months ago an update rolled out that Win10 said Quickbooks "Conflicted" with. So, without user interaction or ANY way short of pulling the plug to stop it, it Uninstalled Quickbooks from the users PC. Then did it to 3 more... Win10 Between the Spying "Metrics" it collects, and the Forced Auto-installs, and now it appears forced Installs, is by far the most "In your way" OS that Microsoft has ever produced. A STARK contrast to Even the Annoyances of Win7 and Win8.1.
Stop installing Facebook on my phone without me agreeing with that.
But you know what? You can uninstall Facebook app from Windows. Hell, you can uninstall Windows altogether from your PC and still have a usable PC. But I can't uninstall Facebook from my Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) and I sure as hell can't uninstall Android from it.
So who's the greater evil?
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
I haven't noticed this behavior yet and don't use any apps on my new machine. (Since it's new, it comes with Win 10. Of course, I'm using Linux for work.)
Do the apps run in the background if I never open them and use Classic menu? Do they show notifications if I turn notifications off?
When you install Windows on a computer, it becomes a Microsoft managed computer.
You simply pay for the bandwidth, pay for the hardware, pay for the software, and Microsoft controls 100% of their computer that you simply lease, and use whatever Microsoft gives you permissions to use.
There is a reason Microsoft went from "My Computer" to "Computer", and it wasn't about people getting confused.
Thats why "your" files are in the Microsoft owned cloud, on a Microsoft owned hardware. You are just using a dumb terminal, and granted permission by Microsoft to use it.
How do you mean? "Your Computer"?!? You misunderstand, if you run Windows 10 it isn't your computer. It's a machine you may be allowed to use, perhaps, and only the way Microsoft likes it.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
A lot of people aren't paying for it. Loads of gamer types who build their own PC are using unactivated Windows 10, something they would have had to use hacks to be able to do with XP.
So MS have loosened up the rules on paying for the OS but at the same time monetized app auto installs. Consider. If you buy a PC it comes with a load of crapware preinstalled - Norton Internet Security, Anti virus and so on. Most of those are trials - after a month or so they prompt you for a credit card to get a subscription. Now some percentage of PC users will dumbly hand over their credit card, and some percentage will work out they can uninstall it and use Windows Defender instead.
So each machine with trial software on it will generate a certain amount of revenue for the software vendor. Which means the software vendor can pay PC vendors to install trial software.
People have argued that the price of the trial ware knocked off a significant percentage of the cost of a Windows licence in volume. The problem from MS's perspective is that all the cash went to the vendor and WIndows got poor reputation for performance because things like Norton Internet Security absolutely killed performance.
Now with WIndows 10 and push installs MS have a chance to get in on the act. Some software vendor can do a deal where they pay MS to push install their software.
PC vendors probably won't get to install Windows for free though - there's no reason for MS to allow that and it would kill their revenue. However people building their own machines will probably get to use unactivated windows for free. Possibly MS will segregate things so that unactivated windows will get software pushed while corporate machines where the company pays a per seat license will not. I.e. 'free' windows can be monetized in a way that doesn't require the users pay a fee.
Or maybe they'll sell Microsoft Insecticide
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
If you are referring to Windows I'll just point out that Windows NT is the newest among common consumer operating systems.
Mac OS - evolved from Nextstep - 1988 release.
Linux - 1991 release.
Windows NT - 1993 release.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent]
"DisableWindowsConsumerFeatures"=dword:00000001
I set a PC up for someone at work a week or two ago, the next day it put an update on and reset the entire Start menu tile configuration I'd spent about 15 minutes sorting out, so I had to set it all up again.
A couple of days later my Dad said "I don't know what happened to this laptop. All my programs have gone and I have to manually search for everything now." Yes, it had deleted all his Start menu, too. What a total F#'#'*&$£ pile of $#!t3. This should be illegal. If I went into someone's house and re-arranged their rooms without asking I'd expect the police to be knocking on my door.
I only moved to Win 7 because of the end of life with XP, but I can't see me moving off Win 7, ever.
It does seem incongruous that MS has tried everything possible to get people to move from Windows 7 down to Windows 10, but then they do things like this which degrade the customer experience.
To everyone calling bullshit:
This really happens, but it is assumed that Microsoft is doing some kind of A/B testing, similar to when they roll out updates:
I've never seen it happen on my PC (besides Candy Crush, which I could easily delete), but on two completely fresh / no MS Account Windows 10 Installs at my in-laws. The following games kept getting downloaded and reinstalled. It was really without user intervention on a completely fresh machine.
https://i.redd.it/5uvjgiyc7l50...
It amounted to roughly 1,2GB traffic on a 4mbit connection. Only disabling cloud content via registry allowed this to stop. Uninstall led to reinstall.
So far, I can still get computers that will run Windows 7. Thanks to GPU improvements, and Intel being a bit weak in the upgrades department these days, even a seven year old computer (that isn't from Apple) is still relevant! I just got an Optiplex 790 i5 for $25 (with 12GB of RAM in it too, couldn't refuse that), and put a $110 graphics card into it. Runs OEM Windows 7 x64 Pro with no trouble, and that's what's on the license sticker.
I'm still not sure what OS I'll be playing games on in a few years, but at least the one main game I play has a Linux version because it uses Unity.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
Primarily? No. But I enjoy gaming. And my privacy. What now?
Your privacy? That was pretty much gone loooong ago. Now they've come to take away ANY control you may have left over your computing experience, so they can subject you to constant propaganda-laced exhortations to conform, to consume, to rent-to-not-own, and to trust your entire to the Cloud and the corporations. In general, they're doing everything possible to get you to give up your autonomy and your ability to think critically. They haven't achieved that goal yet, but they are getting ever closer, and the writing's on the wall. But go on ahead and enjoy those games! Or, alternatively, you might consider that having to use Windows makes those games cost WAY more than the sticker price. Like, maybe, your soul ...
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
Indeed. When the observable behaviour of your legitimate software is becoming indistinguishable from the observable behaviour of malware, at some point you have to look in the mirror and say maybe you're the problem.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
This type of thing is exactly why Microsoft did everything possible to get people to move to Win10. They intended to monetize it in other ways that would give them a steadier/larger stream of income going forward.
As operating systems get more stable there are fewer reasons for the consumer to upgrade while Microsoft still has the task of keeping up security updates, etc. Eventually this would lead to declining revenues and the inability to support future development, not to mention allow Linux to make inroads. By restructuring to a walled garden where they're in control of your system they can monetize the hell out of you, EULA away your privacy rights, and be laughing well into the future.
If Linux development can ever get it's head out of it's ass and focus on how to make it easier for users to recover from problems without resetting everything they'd probably have a shot at taking away a big chunk of users who don't want to deal with MS' new direction.
Most all those users have all been taken away already, by Apple.
Sure, theirs is also a walled garden, but at least the experience is user-friendly and not user-hostile.
This has been known since ~2016:
https://winaero.com/blog/fix-w...
TL;DR:
If a vendor wants to promote an app, then they pay Microsoft to push it to all Windows PCs.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Yes. Not only is the behavior of Microsoftware just as unacceptable as the more typical malware, but it also teaches ordinary users to just click through and accept malware because it acts just like Microsoftware does. Microsoft is training users that malware behavior is normal.
Apple's products are pricey, but in many cases no pricier than equivalent alternatives. Just because a Lexus RC-F is expensive doesn't mean it's priced at a premium compared to a Honda. If all you're looking to do is fulfill a set of requirements met by the Honda, then the Lexus isn't targeted at you and would seem to be priced at a premium.
Except it's actually a Honda with a Lexus logo on it. The gas and brake pedals and other controls have been swapped. The built-in stereo only plays music you subscribe to from the manufacturer. The industry standard butt interface (seat) has been courageously removed. You can buy an adapter or a wireless seat that doesn't attach. Each model year is a little bit thinner, so it's hard to get into it, and the gas tank gets smaller, so it can't go very far.
So move to another OS like Mac, Linux, etc.?
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).