this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2024
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My experience with microsoft's ads for linux. (protosparky.uk)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/linux@lemmy.ml
103 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hey y'all, today I experienced another push for Linux from our friend Microsoft. 5 minutes ago, I wanted to use the timer app on Windows, so I could manage my work/break schedule, and this fucker showed up. Yes, that's a prompt to sign in with a Microsoft account to use the clock. If you close it, it pops up 30s later. Clicking “Don't sign in” or closing the process responsible for displaying it is useless, and guess what… IT PAUSES THE TIMER WHEN IT SHOWS UP.

I guess this is another thing added to the super long list of things which will eventually make me switch my main workstation to Linux once win10 is discontinued.

/endrant

Hope y'all are having a great day :3

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[–] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 160 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Why wait. Start switching now.

[–] Sentau@discuss.tchncs.de 68 points 2 months ago

This. Be proactive. Don't wait for microsoft

[–] Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone 36 points 2 months ago (6 children)

I have moved my laptop over to kubuntu for a while now, but I have too many workflows that rely on windows ) :

[–] variants@possumpat.io 46 points 2 months ago

Better start soon then to get those workflows going quicker

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 months ago

better to start figuring out your workflow on linux now than waiting for shit to hit the fan and do it in a hurry.

[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 10 points 2 months ago

Best to wait until the last second and switch cold turkey. What could possibly go wrong?

[–] gerdesj@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What are they?

I ditched Windows roughly 15 years ago and I run a MS Silver partner shop.

I daily drive Kubuntu (was Arch but I need to tick boxes). I used to teach DTP, WP, spreadsheets etc and Libre Office is fine as a replacement for MSO. Email - Exchange and Evolution EWS. I create the most complicated docs in my firm and MSO works with them OK.

I 3D print stuff and use LibreCAD and OpenSCAD. All good. Also note that there are lots of other CAD apps on Linux for free/libre and of course we have

As far as I am aware, games is the only area that Linux might fail and that issue is shrinking rapidly.

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[–] bruhsoulz@lemmy.ml 84 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is actually surreal ☠️

[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 34 points 2 months ago (1 children)

the clock app has a built in spotify integration and player.
the calculator sends diagnostic data.

[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The diagnostic app does absolutely nothing.

[–] laurelraven@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 months ago

That's not true, the placebo effect is very real

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[–] TheDarkQuark@lemmy.world 63 points 2 months ago

I'm glad that you want to switch to Linux, but I think there'd be open source solutions for Windows too. I daily drive Linux, and I would begin with looking for open source timers if I ever need timers. Why not do the same in Windows too?

Here are a few: https://alternativeto.net/software/free-countdown-timer/?platform=windows&license=opensource

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 61 points 2 months ago (4 children)

If you close it, it pops up 30s later.

This is by far the most annoying development in software and website design to ever occur. You can’t say no to stuff anymore. If you say no, they nag you again very very soon, and they will continue nagging you until you accidentally click yes. After you’ve clicked yes, they make it damned near impossible to change that selection. Dark patterns were outlawed years ago, yet somehow nagware is legal? Fuck the person who thought this up with a spiked baseball bat.

[–] zod000@lemmy.ml 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Minor correction: You can't say no because they intentionally almost never give you "no" as an option. It generally is "Ask again later" instead, when you clearly never want them to ask again, just like you didn't want to be asked the first time.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Yes, that’s what I’m talking about.

[–] danielquinn@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Oh boy are you going to love-to-hate this then. It's best viewed on a proper computer, but you'll get the gist on mobile too.

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[–] kureta@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 months ago (9 children)

There is a carrier app on my phone that cannot be uninstalled without root. I guess all phones have that, even if you don't have a contract, which I don't. I disabled roaming, went to another country, and it started to randomly show pop-ups asking me to turn on roaming and activate the international plan. There is an ok and cancel button, and it can pop up right under my fingers while I am typing something. That is pure evil.

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[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 45 points 2 months ago (2 children)

lol, that's so stupid. why does it pause the timer? did they do that intentionally?

[–] Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'd imagine it's to force me to sign in to use the timer. Shittify the version that can't track as much, and force the users to use it logged in

[–] loutr@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Does the timer "jump" to the correct time after you dismiss the window ? It's also possible that they didn't bother testing the app when logged out, and that the popup blocks the UI thread while it's displayed. In short it could be bad coding and QA instead of intentional enshittification.

[–] Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No it pauses the timer. Once I dismiss the popup I can see that the pause button icon has been replaced with the continue/play icon. Clicking it unpauses the timer until the popup pops up again.

[–] loutr@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 months ago (2 children)

OK so this is most likely by design, impressive.

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[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Of course they did. They’re going to make it as intrusive and annoying as possible so that people give up and sign in.

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 35 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think Microsoft is way overconfident

[–] Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Microsoft had made a product that has for decades been used to run other people's software. They've unintentionally made windows a "monopoly" in the sense that no other os can run windows only software perfectly. Most consumers will probably think Linux " is just a terminal and too advanced", and the others who can install a distro might still be locked into using windows because not all software can run under wine.

So to you they might seem overconfident in that you can switch, but for some they're shit out of luck in the department of alternatives. Microsoft knows they can exploit their users, and they will do it

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago (4 children)

They've unintentionally made windows a "monopoly"

What? Becoming a monopoly is the most intentional thing they’ve ever done, and the only thing they’ve ever done well.

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Then explain Chrome OS. Seriously though a lot of software is web based these days. Windows is not special for most cases.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 22 points 2 months ago (1 children)

We are already on Linux man.

[–] fin@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago

ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵗᶦˡˡ ᵘˢᶦⁿᵍ ʷᶦⁿᵈᵒʷˢ ᶠᵒʳ ᵐʸ ˢᶜʰᵒᵒˡ

[–] Ozonowsky@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago

This is supposed to be the most used operating system, recommended for its ease of use. Meanwhile you have to sign in to use a clock app. Such a shame, especially because the focus timers are actually useful.

[–] didnt1able@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 months ago

Obligatory Windows is bloat.

[–] Cornflake_Dog@lemmy.wtf 19 points 2 months ago

That is disgusting. 'nuff said.

[–] EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

why wait the death of win10 when you can switch now, get that painful first days learning things out of the way now that you have a fallback if absolutely necessary

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 6 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I cannot speak for the OP but most of the pepper claiming they are waiting will not switch. They may use an illegally patched or trimmed version of Windows 11. Many won’t even do that.

The biggest risk for Microsoft is that everybody stays on Windows 10 without updates. Or that massive customers will force them to push back the “enterprise” date over and over. To encourage migration, expect Microsoft to make Windows 10 just as bad as 11 before support expires.

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[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Windows is a platform for Office. Linux is not a supported platform for Office. Most businesses will not migrate their desktops off Windows because they will not migrate their workforce off Office.

Beyond that, Windows is not as important to Microsoft as it used to be. The real money makers are Azure and Office. With Azure, they do not care if you run Linux. They even have their own distro ( Azure Linux — previously CBL Mariner ).

Azure is the future ( even for Office ).

Since Windows is less strategic, Microsoft is looking to milk it as a cash cow while they can. So, Product Management is tasked with finding new ways to monetize it. Data is worth a lot of money. The best way to farm data from users these days is to frame it as security ( or AI ).

Expect a lot more SIngle Sign On. Expect a lot more AI. Expect a lot more cloud integration. Expect all of these to focus on data harvesting.

A bit later, expect “services” for Linux that attempt the same. Like Google on Android. This is harder though as Windows does not have monopoly control over Linux as a platform. I am sure they are having many meetings about how to change that.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Most businesses will not migrate their desktops off Windows because they will not migrate their workforce off Office.

Which is so weird, because office is crapware. It’s terrible software. The only reason businesses use it is because other businesses use it. Nobody will switch, because everyone would have to switch. It’s a self-reinforcing tragedy.

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[–] _____@lemm.ee 11 points 2 months ago (4 children)

You cannot use anything without signing up. You can't use clip champ which should require 0 Internet connectivity.

They want to act as if linking your account is a prerequisite when it's neither required or helpful

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[–] beejjorgensen@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 2 months ago

My parents are in their 80s and this crap will push them to Linux.

[–] OADINC@feddit.nl 8 points 2 months ago

I hate this pop up, I had to re-signin every day into outlook with my private Microsoft email address. EVERYDAY, THEY ARE BOTH MICROSOFT PRODUCTS. HOW CAN YOU FUCK THIS UP SO BADDD?

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 7 points 2 months ago

I doubt that's deliberate (it's probably depending on some other task or shit that you don't even intend to use), but it's exactly the kind of bloat that turns people away from Windows.

Windows seems to work alright for my work pc, where I'm constantly logged into their cloud, newer switch users, logged in long enough daily to get all the updates and have IT to roll out stuff, so I hardly ever have issues there.

My personal computer is a different thing. I have several users, use it about once weekly, making it basically unbootable. As soon as I open the lid, Microsoft starts bugging me to do a shit load of things and download gigabytes of crap that Microsoft, and not I, needs me to do before I can even use it. More often than not I simply close the lid again.

It's not unusual to meet people who don't even have a pc these days. Most people can solve their daily stuff on any cell phone browser. I find it kinda amusing that Microsoft is pushing people that way.

[–] Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 5 points 2 months ago (6 children)

That's weird. I don't get the prompt at all, but I do have a button in the lower left corner that says "Sign In." Maybe it's because I'm on Windows 11?

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