HN user
Here is more proof that I'm not promoting for MS https://www.google.com/search?q=niveageforge+pen+issue+site:...
I'm the most vocal about this pen issue, that could potentially cost MS billions of dollars if they need to recall those devices. I once posted a pen issue thread that got banned from /r/Microsoft once. https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoft/comments/82ilso/the_worka...
Also, double standards, since plenty of people post only about Linux, Android, ChromeOS, OSX or iOS and they never get flagged. And yes, genuine non-paid Windows enthusiasts like me do exist, and I shouldn't feel ashamed of it.
There is a perpetual hostility towards Windows users on this site, maybe you should address that first.
This is a serious false accusation. Am I not allowed to prefer Windows? All I did was correct the rampant misinformation and bias against Windows that rarely gets challenged.
And do you really think someone working for Microsoft would post something like this? https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/7of68m/surface_pro...
You don't need the MS Store for 3rd party repositories.
Do you rather trust arbitrary 3rd party Win32 apps, that have free reign to crawl your whole user profile and mess with the integrity of your system?
If you're already on Windows 10, at the very least embrace UWP to get some control over your privacy.
Giving the party running the store 30% of all revenue is a hard sale to start with.
Very soon it won't be 30% anymore.
https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2018/05/07/a-new-micr...
Linux package management works like an app store with an official source and the ability to add whichever sources you choose. A search of available packages shows results giving sources the priority set by the user. Updating the system updates packages from 3rd party sources same as others.
There exist 3rd party package repositories on Windows too.
On windows nothing much is on the store mostly because people don't want to give Microsoft 30%
There is plenty of stuff in the MS Store. https://youtu.be/GCVhmKVRkk0
All my software, except for some dev tools and some games are from the MS Store.
on Linux charging 30% is downright impossible because people would trivially publish an alternative source instead.
Steam is on Linux and charges 30%.
Basically your cure is worse than the disease and since Microsoft wont fix the situation in a reasonable fashion so the only solution is to move off their platform.
Microsoft already provided a fix, called UWP.
Very soon it won't be 30% anymore.
https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2018/05/07/a-new-micr...
Its truly amazing to me that installing windows software is still like this
It doesn't have to be that way, since there is a Windows/Microsoft Store since plenty of years now.
But then you have gamers and game devs spreading FUD about UWP and the the MS Store, while they praise 3rd party platforms like Steam and GoG that actively refuse UWP apps in their store, while allowing Spyware like this.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/8pud8b/psa_red_shell...
Yet, nobody dares to hold those platforms responsible.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/8sg294/16_studios_re...
The long term solution is to get off the platform.
No, the long term solution is to embrace the MS Store, or at the very least modern platforms like WinRT/UWP that would prevent most types of malware attacks.
Why do we still accept the violation of the principle of least privilege in this day and age?
I regularly have 30+ tabs open without issues.
There is no need for MS to abandon Edge, especially when OS integration is going to be more important in the near future. Chrome and Firefox are also not as resource efficient on Windows, which his especially important on battery powered Windows devices. Same as on Mac OS, where you use Safari, if you value your battery life.
Also there will be new mobile Windows devices very soon. https://www.windowscentral.com/upcoming-microsoft-hardware-w...
A lot of FUD in that article.
Ok, to clear a little bit of this so it’s not a complete freak out. This WiFi Sense has been known about for a while now and has been in various tech preview builds. Plus Windows Phone. Second thing is that WiFi networks are not shared by default. I just checked this on my Surface Pro 3. The WiFi Sense service is indeed enabled by default, but you must specifically pick which of your saved networks get shared. Non of your saved WiFi networks are shared automatically without your knowledge. When you connect to a new network, there will be a check box you can select to share the network after connecting. It is not checked by default. The Outlook, Skype, and Facebook friends are checked by default, but that only means that they are enabled for sharing. You still have to pick which networks are shared first. Also WiFi Sense needs you to grant it permission your Facebook first before any sharing takes place. I hope this clears some of this up a bit. The article made it seem like this is a huge deal to freak out about when it’s really not.
I also have a slow 8 year old laptop, and Edge is also the most resource efficient there.
That said, Firefox still has the best performance with hundreds of tabs open.
* https://www.windowscentral.com/how-view-and-manage-diagnosti...
* https://pixelprivacy.com/resources/windows-privacy-settings/
And even more controls have been added with the recent Spring Update.
The most famous example of digital bait and switch was Microsoft’s misguided approach to getting people to upgrade their computers to Windows 10."
They got a major upgrade for free with major improvements accross the board, they should be happy.
And according to the link you provided, "Although you can't completely prevent Microsoft from collecting diagnostic data, ...". Thanks, microsoft! but no thanks, even if you let me view what you are sending 3 years after you started snooping on me.
The basic telemetry is just harmless diagnostic data that's on every modern mainstream OS. MS isn't snooping on you.
How exactly does the OS support "privacy controls" against 3rd party apps?
https://pixelprivacy.com/resources/windows-privacy-settings/
And even more controls have been added with the recent Spring Update.
Do you remember that its default setup was sharing your WiFi passwords with all of your facebook acquaintances?
Nonsense, this wasn't the default.
Which are the same as the defaults of the host OS. So there is nothing to make a fuss about.
Cool. Firefox already does, and I can also use it on Linux and Mac.
But Chrome doesn't and I don't use Linux or Mac, but if I were primarily using a Mac, I would be using Safari. And If I were primarily using ChromeOS, I would be using Chrome.
I have no way to verify exactly what Microsoft sends to their servers (and their description is incomplete and out of date, if you care to trust it).
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-view-and-manage-diagnosti...
The upgrade-to-windows-10 dark patterns are what you should consider when you think "windows control & privacy".
How is this a dark pattern? Windows 7 and 8 also have telemetry, but they don't let you view it as conveniently as in Windows 10. Also the OS itself supports more privacy control against 3rd party apps, which should be the biggest concern.
Not in my experience of Edge vs Firefox, unless things have changed very dramatically in the last few months.
Firefox is among the most resource heavy, on both Windows and Mac OS.
In my biased sample of the world, PCs have gone back to being work devices, and everything else is being done on the phone, with cloud sync bridging the gaps. I know a few people who bought a 2-in-1 but no one uses them except as a laptop except on very very rare occasions.
I do all my work on a Surface Pro 2-in-1, more than 50% of the time in tablet mode. I also keep a close eye on ChromeOS and iPads, but unless they support most of my software and use-cases, I see no reason to switch from Windows anytime soon.
The only thing that matters is that it integrates well and is efficient on the host OS, and that it can sync settings, bookmarks, reading list and stuff between your devices.
Edge on iOS and Android will have a built-in adblocker soon.
Something called Edge from Microsoft is available for iOS (where it is a rebranded WebKit) and on Android (where it is a rebranded Blink, IIRC).
Why is it a problem that it uses webkit on iOS and Android? Why reinvent the wheel, when those rendering engines are already optimized for those platforms? The thing I care about is that it supports syncing of settings.
If you primarily work with Windows 10, Edge makes some sense, otherwise it makes no sense.
If you primarily work with Mac OS, Safari makes some sense, otherwise it makes no sense. Why do I never hear that complaint?
Also, Edge on iOS and Android will soon have a built-in adblocker.
The only downside to it I see is that you are using Windows 10... I value privacy and control of my devices a little more than 10% of battery efficiency.
Have you ever looked at the privacy controls of Windows? Also the battery efficiency is significantly more than 10%, and try find me an as versatile and user friendly alternative OS for pen capable 2-in-1s, that has better privacy controls.
And?
Edge is the most resource efficient and respects modern Windows conventions, therefore it has the best, pen, touchscreen, tablet (including share button and stuff) and precision trackpad support. And since it's WinRT/UWP, it can suspends its tab processes, and also itself when minimized or automatically during tablet mode in the background, and during fullscreen it also automatically unhides the taskbar when you hover over it, for better multi-tasking.
It also has nice features such as the set tabs aside session manager that even retains history and session cookies, and it a nice PDF and ePub reader with support for notes and highlighting with the pen, and Cortana integration. Before Edge, I primarily used Firefox and dabbled with Chrome and Vivaldi.
Edge is on both iOS and Android, and no I don't work for MS, I just value proper modern OS integration and battery efficiency, so that I can use my device as intended.
See here for a continuously updated list of many more games that still bundle this Red Shell Spyware.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/8pud8b/psa_red_shell...
Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's nonsense.
In PowerShell you pass structured data around instead of globs of text, which is much more maintainable. Using Bash on Windows is like going backwards, and it's sad that most developers don't even realize it.
Historically, PowerShell was supposed to be a replacement for cmd.exe and roughly equivalent to bash, yet suitable for the Windows environment. They tried early on to port some of the UNIX & Linux tools to Windows and it didn't fly, so this is what we're left with.
Nonsense, Powershell is a fundamental improvement. It's not a "this is what's we're left with" situation.
Although parts of Powershell are open source now, I suspect the mere existence of WSL means that Microsoft understands it has more to gain from compatibility with the rest of the world (Bash is nigh-everywhere) than imposing their particular philosophy on people.
Yeah, let's just drag everything down to the lowest common denominator.
(See also, Apple's decision to adopt UNIX underpinnings)
Which is sad, since it could have been so much more. The Unix way of doing things, isn't the be all and all.
Indeed.
And on Windows there is something better than Bash, called PowerShell.
ChromeOS is actually well designed and secure, has pen & touch support for 2-in-1s, and is going in the right direction. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16813796
There was no crapware on my Surface Pro (mostly MS Store apps), and I also experienced issues, like this.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8g73kb/is_it_how...
I still have the following issue, even though I never installed an insider build on this machine.
If you select disable or disable its permissions in settings, it's disabled.
The fact that there is a Search UI on your taskbar (which you can remove with right click), doesn't imply that Cortana's data collection is enabled.
That would be a downgrade.
It's not.