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Despite Outrage From Users, Microsoft Continues To Install Bloatware Applications Onto Every Windows 10 PC (windowscentral.com)
Before Windows 10, a clean install of Windows only included the bare essentials a user would need to get started using their PC. With Windows 10, a clean install stays that way for about two minutes, because the second you hit the desktop, the Microsoft Store immediately starts trying to download third-party apps and games. Users have long complained about it, but it turns out Microsoft never put paid to it. Windows Central writes: And these apps keep trying to install themselves even after you cancel the downloads. There are six such apps, which is six too many. These apps are often random, but right now they include things like Candy Crush, Spotify, and Disney Magic Kingdoms. You should not see any of these apps on a fresh install of Windows 10, yet they are there every single time. There are policies you can set that disable these apps from automatically installing, but that's not the point. On a fresh, untouched, clean install of Windows 10, these apps will download themselves onto your PC. Even if you cancel the installation of these apps before they manage to complete the download, they will retry at a later date, without you even noticing. The only way I've found that gets rid of them permanently is to let them install initially, without canceling the download, and then uninstall the apps from the Start menu. If you cancel the initial download of the bloatware apps before they complete their first install, the Microsoft Store will just attempt to redownload them later and will keep doing so until that initial install is complete. This is not a good user experience, Microsoft.
I don't understand tech people that still uses crap like Windoze...
I don't understand humans that still use air from the atmosphere to breathe.
I don't understand rail commuters that still board trains.
I don't understand grass seed companies that still use fescue seeds.
Windows is the most common platform out there- of course a large number of tech workers are still going to be using it.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Microsoft doesn't care what users think. Anyone who is surprised at this is just being silly. Microsoft has shown no desire to actually cater to users. Edge is quite possibly the most horrible web browser ever produced and they force it upon users. Windows 8 interface was a total failure, yet they still crammed it into the Windows 10 menu. These are only some examples. Microsoft has no motivation to actually make positive changes for end users.
Sent from my TARDIS
Most are annoyed by Windows antics, not "outraged". Compatibility and familiarity trumps the alternatives so far.
Macs are more expensive and don't run a lot of software titles, Google also pulls marketing shenanigans, Linux is unfamiliar and is hard to get help for unless you want to put up with impatient volunteers lacking people skills (I'm just the messenger).
Until the alternatives improve, people will put up with a degree of MS spamware and forced upgrades. In the land of C-, you can stay D+ for a long time.
Table-ized A.I.
The even more ridiculous thing is that this happens even on the Pro version. The one that's supposed to be for doing work. And those "policies you can set that disable these apps from automatically installing"? Yeah, they don't work anymore. As a result every employee gets Candy Crush and the like installed on every machine. Absolutely insane.
Yes, put Win10 behind a firewall + proxy. Then only give the applications that need internet access the address/pw of the proxy and donot set the proxy of Windows itself. For Chrome you'll need FoxyProxy to set one without using the system settings.
You may also need software like Proxifier to have other application go through your proxy.
Net effect: Nothing has internet unless you allow it, resulting in a much more relaxing experience (apps donot download updates, and generally just donot do stuff behind your back without your knowledge). Windows cannot updates its tiles, nor download software, nor update itself. It's quite peaceful.