EU companies issue formal complaint against Microsoft OneDrive integration

https://www.zdnet.com/article/eu-companies-sue-microsoft-onedrive-windows-integration/

by 1cvmask • 5 years ago

48 32 5 years ago

nodamage8• 5 years ago

This is getting ridiculous. Just because OneDrive is pre-installed does not mean you are forced to use it or are blocked from using an alternative service.

What's next, calculator apps lobbying for Microsoft to be banned from shipping a calculator with Windows? Drawing apps lobbying for Paint to be banned? Windows shouldn't be allowed to ship with decompression support so WinZip can compete?

Can we not recognize there are legitimate reasons to bundle helpful utilities with an operating system and that banning OS manufacturers from including them might actually lead to a worse experience for most users?

hulitu• 5 years ago

I presume you have limited experience with windows 10. Windows 10 almost forces you to save on one drive. One drive is the default. To save on local disk you have to select local computer, then your drive. (3 clicks away).

nodamage8• 5 years ago

I use Windows 10 all the time. OneDrive is installed but I am not logged into it because I don't use it.

My Windows save file dialog defaults to the Downloads folder. OneDrive is listed as an option (along with Dropbox which I do use) but I basically never notice it so I am not entirely sure what you are referring to.

bjustin• 5 years ago

I saw this for the first time on my parents’ Mac computers, where Microsoft Word’s weird save dialog shows OneDrive first and has a button for choosing a location on the local file system.

Meanwhile my Windows desktop does not have behavior like this in the apps I use, mostly web browsers and Discord. I don’t believe I installed or uninstalled onedrive. Maybe I disabled some easy to find settings in Windows for the very annoying bits.

adriancr2• 5 years ago

Replace onedrive with internet explorer and see how microsoft was wrong there in the past, got fined and had to provide a version without it.

nodamage8• 5 years ago

Of course I am familiar with Microsoft's history with IE and perhaps this will be a bit controversial but I believe the EU got this one partially wrong. They could have simply forced Microsoft to allow IE to be uninstalled without also forcing them to ship a version of Windows without a browser altogether.

After all, if you're okay with banning IE and OneDrive from being pre-installed where does the slippery slope end? What stops the exact same argument from being applied to every single other application that ships with an operating system? Now you've banned solitaire, paint, file explorer, media player, photo viewer, pdf viewer, disk defragger, etc. etc. and created a crippled operating system that forces the user to hunt down and install all these third-party applications to get functionality that should have been included in the first place.

Is the end user really better off under such a scenario? Not in my opinion.

DaiPlusPlus3• 5 years ago

Just because OneDrive is pre-installed

OneDrive isn't just pre-installed, it's somewhat (aggressively, even?) marketed from within Windows. For example, even if you aren't using OneDrive you cannot remove or hide the OneDrive icons in the Explorer folder tree (not without registry tweaks).

nodamage8• 5 years ago

I just attempted to verify your claim but instead found that I could easily uninstall OneDrive from Windows Settings -> Apps. Now it is completely gone and does not show up in Explorer at all.

rstat12• 5 years ago

I just opened a folder window on my Win10 PC...no OneDrive icons in sight.

paulryanrogers3• 5 years ago

It's also not an open standard. And one cannot just swap it out for another provider.

Which would be a nice uncontroversial feature: "choose your default sync service"

stubish• 5 years ago

Not using OneDrive is flagged as a security warning in Windows Security. There are no alternative options for Ransomware data recovery.

garbagecoder• 5 years ago

I’d like to be able to go straight to my file picker in word. Is that asking too much?

jmcnulty• 5 years ago

They have a point. We used to use Hipchat until Atlassian retired it. We took a good look at Slack, negotiating over the price. In the end the decision was made to use Teams as we were already paying for Office, so effectively it was free. It's very difficult to argue against a value proposition like that.

EU companies issue formal complaint against Microsoft OneDrive integration

Related Stories