Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 11th Nov 2012 15:49 UTC
"Yesterday my desktop died, and so I went ahead and got a brand new Windows 8 laptop. It's always been my feeling that as years go on, user experience has been going down for people who use a computer and the Internet, because of decisions all companies make that are clearly anti-user, either because they think they know best, or in many cases, for financial gains. But from spending all night reinstalling everything and customizing the laptop, I realized just how bad it has become." Probably the biggest reason to go Mac or Linux. Such a shame Microsoft found it more important to pressure OEMs into silly Secure Boot nonsense instead of doing something about the anti-user crapware disaster. Goes to show who Microsoft cares about. Hint: it ain't you.
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RE: Just how bad it has become? What?
by fadingdust on Sun 11th Nov 2012 16:52
in reply to "Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2009-11-05
RE: Just how bad it has become? What?
by Yehppael on Sun 11th Nov 2012 19:01
in reply to "Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2012-08-01
None of the things the author here is complaining about are any new, the pre-installed crap and all have been there already since Windows '95 - days. It isn't something has just happened recently, yet the author acts like he's totally surprised.
Actually, there are a few slight differences, which I think is why so many people are raising a fuss.
First of all, the ads coming with those bundles were usually for products of the same firm, or associates.
Second, they were localized incidents, if you don't like some bundle, you can just uninstall it and forget about it, now, it's a whole system integrated in the OS.
It's not going away, and everyone who ever watched TV or listened radio in their lives, know this is just the beginning.
For me, the computer and software are just tools, I need them to work, work right and with no headaches. This ... is like having a hammer that sings "buy head'n'shoulders" (or viagra depending on your searches
) everytime you hit a nail, irritating as hell, but functional. People who tend to anthropomorphize their computer will feel betrayed hahaha
Edited 2012-11-11 19:02 UTC
RE[2]: Just how bad it has become? What?
by modmans2ndcoming on Sun 11th Nov 2012 19:28
in reply to "RE: Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2005-11-09
RE: Just how bad it has become? What?
by fran on Sun 11th Nov 2012 19:57
in reply to "Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2010-08-06
RE[2]: Just how bad it has become? What?
by kaiwai on Mon 12th Nov 2012 01:46
in reply to "RE: Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2005-07-06
+1
Why this blog post made it here dunno.
Why this blog post made it here dunno.
The reason why such blog pots are linked here is simple - because it is to re-enforce Thom's own bias. Don't get me wrong, we all have bias but it would be nice for said individual to evenly link to different articles rather than the same "Windows bad, Mac good unless it is iOS which makes Apple evil".
Before someone says, "well, what have you done to improve the situation" - I wrote a two part review of moving from my iMac/MacBook Pro to ThinkPad/ThinkCentre with Windows 8 Pro 64bit - the link was submitted to Thom via the 'Submit News' almost 2 days ago and still no show. I guess one can only conclude that stirring up shit is a lot more interesting than linking to articles that contain more content than the afore mentioned article as noted in the link Thom provided.
Edited 2012-11-12 01:51 UTC
RE: Just how bad it has become? What?
by hoak on Mon 12th Nov 2012 02:57
in reply to "Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2007-12-17
Nita nails it again...and I'm no apologist for Microsoft, its products or the kinds of 'relationships' its cultured with its partners and OEMs.
But this happens to the best of Writers; their tired, something annoys them, there's a ridiculous 'personal enrichment experience' in getting from A to B and it ends up being a story.
This story however as the WereCatf points out not only isn't new it's business as usual... More then anything I'm surprise that Thom seems surprised.
RE[2]: Just how bad it has become? What?
by WereCatf on Mon 12th Nov 2012 04:06
in reply to "RE: Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2006-02-15
This story however as the WereCatf points out not only isn't new it's business as usual... More then anything I'm surprise that Thom seems surprised.
Well, to be precise, the blog post wasn't written by Thom Holwerda. Thom only latched onto it to get a few cheap shots at Microsoft specifically, whereas the blog post itself is talking about a much broader thing.
RE[2]: Just how bad it has become? What?
by Thom_Holwerda on Mon 12th Nov 2012 08:58
in reply to "RE: Just how bad it has become? What?"
Member since:2005-06-29
This story however as the WereCatf points out not only isn't new it's business as usual... More then anything I'm surprise that Thom seems surprised.
Right. Because if something stupid goes on long enough, we should just bend over, smile, and ask for more once it's done.
Edited 2012-11-12 08:58 UTC
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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Member since:
2006-02-15
None of the things the author here is complaining about are any new, the pre-installed crap and all have been there already since Windows '95 - days. It isn't something has just happened recently, yet the author acts like he's totally surprised. Secondly, complaining about the Smartscreen filter is, well, somewhat short-sighted: it doesn't exist to protect experienced users from themselves, it exists to protect the exact opposite kind of users. Experienced users are expected to take the few extra steps needed to disable it. Personally I find the current approach better than not having such, even if it might annoy us geeks.
And well, if he insists on installing Adobe Reader or QuickTime then it's all his own fault; there's plenty of good, free alternatives to both. These things have been pushing for such crap for YEARS now, so there's no good reason to act surprised all of a sudden.
Now, that said I agree in general: there are lots of software packages that try to bundle this or that with them, with some packages even going so far as to installing spying background tasks without ever mentioning it to the user at all. IMHO there should be some sort of a law against such, the applications should offer the chance for user to install such bundles, but that would need to be a conscious decision on the user's part instead of the default action in the installer.
Similarly, one thing I already proposed years ago is that PC-manufacturers should stop pre-installing all that stuff and instead on the first boot show the user a list of various current deals -- this would allow the manufacturer to keep their deals up-to-date at all times, and it would allow the users to easily skip all of them or only install the interesting ones. In general it would be a win-win.
EDIT:
Thom, you know that's a silly, ignorant tangent. Microsoft is actually pushing for OEMs to NOT pre-install all this stuff. Blaming Microsoft for all this crap is disingenious and shows a clear, negative bias.
Edited 2012-11-11 16:37 UTC