Windows popup to change competing browser search engine to Bing anticompetitive?
I had no browsers open. I was minding my own business. Windows 11 gave me an unsolicited toaster popup, with the default action being to change Chrome's default search engine to Bing.
This is an atrocious dark pattern and a huge overreach for an operating system, whose job it should be to stay out of my way and run what I tell it to.
But more than that, this strikes me as directly anti-competitive behavior. I would appreciate views on this by people having more educated opinions on this than myself.
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[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 103 ms ] threadhttps://youtu.be/Ag1AKIl_2GM?t=57
Sadly, this kind of user-hostile behavior is increasingly common and a form of enshitification (see https://doctorow.medium.com/tiktoks-enshittification-bb3f5df...) of the operating system.
In the US, you can file an antitrust complaint with the FTC here: https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/report-antitrust-violation
...and find your state regulator here: https://www.usa.gov/state-consumer
(no, it isn't a dark pattern if it isn't lying or tricking you into making a decision you would not make otherwise. this particular behavior isn't defensible behavior, and it isn't an example of a dark pattern, either.)
is this how languages evolve so fast? people using words and terms without understanding them in full view of people who don't know the term, who then learn the incorrect definition?
I'm cynical because I've been forced to be.
"copypasta" used to mean that a programs source code was copied from many places and hastily wired up so it all works without any cleanup or untangling of unnecessary bits of code, like casts from uint16 to uint32 so that one copied method could be used, then a cast back to uint16 so another copied method could be used, then a cast to uint32 again so that the ultimate result could be used.
could those types have been changed in the methods so that the casts weren't needed? you bet. but it is a hastily assembled Frankenstein's monster that lives and breathes but that gives you nightmares when you look at the source code again in 1 weeks time.
today, "copypasta" is often used to mean "I copied a single method from another project, used it, and now my program is legit copypasta, lol."
I'm just tired of people using words and technical terms without understanding them. I know that it's a reality of spoken languages, but I don't have to like it.
an easier to understand example, then: "literally" - "in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually: 'I literally died when she walked out on stage in that costume.'"
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/literally
"literally" now literally means "figuratively" because of the phenomenon I'm talking about.
Being old doesn't make you wise, or right.
It's nonsense to demand that meaning of words will never change, because change over time is just how language works.
That's how we got from Chaucer, to Shakespeare, to modern English. The changes do happen fast enough to be noticeable in a single lifetime.
As you grow older, it's important to track these changes. You don't have to agree with them or like them. But sometimes you might have to accept the new meanings anyway.
are you serious?
being old doesn't inherently make you know things, no, and that is absolutely not what I was saying.
I was around when the term was coined and I used it in conversation with others. After that the people who argue with me today tell me that my use of the term then was wrong were born.
Wikipedia is wrong about the origins of this term; I was using it in 1998 in the #slashdot IRC channel, and that's where I was introduced to the term.
why in the hell do you think I was saying that age alone grants knowledge? that is a leap greater than I've seen in a long time.
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/english-w...
No one forced you to be bitter about evolving language. We live in a hyperconnected era where language is evolving faster than ever, so you'll need to calibrate if you don't want to spend every minute seething.
It's desktop spam. Like receiving an email trying to get you to click a link and install malware.
dark patterns lie to you, attempt to deceive you. anti-patterns are just annoying without lying.
you guys want to attack Microsoft so bad you've forgotten what terms mean.
Both of these companies should be slapped hard for doing this.
Users are basically in the middle of a conflict between MS and Google, with no options to get out of it (except stop using their products).
Not doubting you, but as a W11 home user for a while- I haven't seen this myself.
> This is an atrocious dark pattern and a huge overreach for an operating system
It's not a dark pattern. It's definitely an annoying thing - how is this different from Apple reminding you to set-up Apple Pay?
Thats an absolute dark pattern too.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I think Apple for now, keep my usage of Apple services to a reasonable minimum, and keep an eye on what's going on in the Linux world.
Case in point: I just upgraded to the newish Xubuntu 23.04 the other day, and now my default sound output device changes (to the wrong one) every time I come out of sleep mode.
A small price to pay.
- I couldn't find a good enough e-mail client, so did what every Linux user I know do and used webmail. That means you lose speed and features.
- Dual screen support for different DPI is non-existent in most distros, and has to be hacked with xrandr scripts to work in other distros.
- Audio or Bluetooth not working
- Very messy to install software. The native "App Store" wouldn't work or connect, so had to resort to shell commands.
- Lack of suitable productivity software (which you mentioned).
As long as nobody wants to offer a complete Linux solution with hardware, operating system and productivity software, then it will continue to be like this. That's the problem with OSS, everybody wants to blame each other and nobody wants to take responsibility and deliver a complete experience to users.
Compare a thinkpad running windows to the same computer running linux. I have been getting an experience superior to windows on an old x220 for the better part of a decade now. Absolutely everything works perfectly out of the box.
Lack of proper ssh graphical support, wrong file path notation, constant inexcusable security fuck-ups, and a user-hostile philosophy makes windows unsuitable for serious work. It isn't capable of being left alone for more than a few days without restarting the computer it's on. What a bad joke in 2023. At my workplace people innevitably start using a vm or try to patch things over with putty, but eventually most excorcise microsoft from their work laptops and join the real world.
I am really annoyed that Ubuntu has become synonymous with Linux because it’s one of the worst distros to act as a desktop.
Also, curse NVIDIA for effectively keeping X alive.
For some of your points, multi DPI needs Wayland. Wayland isn’t everywhere because of NVIDIA.
Audio not working is a really odd one. Not sure what the cause of that is.
Flatpak works with the gnome software store. So that has reduced the entry barrier.
At this point I recommend EndeavourOS if you want a more traditional Linux experience and fedora silverblue if you want it to “just work, but that’s limited to Intel and AMD GPUs.
Thunderbird
What more do you need? Mutt is good for terminal usage too.
Or are you lamenting stuff like integrated calendar and what not?
>- Very messy to install software. The native "App Store" wouldn't work or connect, so had to resort to shell commands.
Software install is A) fundamentally messy if you refuse to read what is being installed, B) nothing to complain about given that the level of friction a developer has to go through for say, bloody Mac software releases is insane. For linux, a tarball download, path update, and linker path update is generally sufficient.
>-- Lack of suitable productivity software (which you mentioned).
I have immense difficulty taking this at face value.
>That's the problem with OSS, everybody wants to blame each other and nobody wants to take responsibility and deliver a complete experience to users.
Ya know what, maybe I've gone to the dark side in that the problem there is in the expectation of the user.
Most tools arise out of "it solves a problem for me" and we share. Maybe some distro builder has the passion to integrate things... Good on them.
You will never have a great experience using a tool you refuse to become proficient in, and computers are no different in that. The most toxic thing that happened to our industry os we suddenly seem to have drawn a line between Users and developers when in reality, there is only users.
I can use MacOS without knowing what a path update or a linker path is, and it can do every and any advanced thing a computer is capable of without me having to learn that. The developer having to go through hell to release software for MacOS is one person who will suffer for the benefit of thousands, instead of thousands suffering for the benefit of nobody.
Linux should come with a big sticker "Do not use if you're not a developer", because that's basically the answer to any complaint about the OS. Of course nobody is responsible, because it's OSS and just floating out there, everybody is a volounteer. But where are the people to say "Hey, let's integrate and make a great experience and test with real life users and real life work flows, and then sell it"?
I would have gladly pay for a Linux solution like that if it existed. Why is MacOS the only option for non-developers? People who make some PDFs, read and write e-mails, make invoices and graphics, make presentations and use advanced calendars. I want to do that natively on a machine and have everything integrated, like Mac does with Spotlight and such. Linux people tell me I should use web services for all that, but then there's no integration.
Since it's OSS, nobody has a right to complain, and that's fine. I just think OSS programmers could be less shy. Instead of releasing something half-assed for other devs to use, why not go the extra mile and deliver something that's complete and usable for non-devs and then charge for it? We'd gladly pay!
My Realtek Ethernet doesn't work on Fedora 38, but it did work out of the box with Pop!_OS.
Mozilla Thunderbird is a good email client.