Because the alternative was four local channels with poor programming and poor reception, which were also full of ads. You paid for better programs and better video quality.
It wasn't that long ago I was using tools like Spybot and Ad-aware to remove things that were considered malicious. Now it's built right into the OS and browsers.
I already got off the Windows train as soon as Microsoft put ads into Explorer. As the article says they backed it out, but it didn't take a genius to see that they were going to keep trying to put ads into the OS after that. I switched to Linux, with the only reason I keep Windows installed being for games that won't work in Proton.
Shout out to StartAllBack, the replacement Start menu. It started back when Microsoft had abandoned the Start menu altogether. These days Windows 11 Start is more or less OK but shoving ads into it definitely is user hostile.
$5 per machine gets you a nice third party Start menu. It's more flexible too; these days I mostly use it because it lets you move the taskbar to the left edge where it belongs on an ultrawidescreen monitor.
The problem is that windows has a lot of unremoveable stuff built into it (which could probably be removed with some effort) , that’s why spending 5 dollars is like putting lipstick on a pig. The OS is hostile to the user, why would I spend any time in that land?
An upgrade to windows 11 is a big downgrade. Whatever systems I have windows 10 (just one) I’ll keep at that. Will steer clear of anything Windows or Microsoft in the future.
The same can be said for Windows 8 -> Windows 10. But that's mostly because Vista and 8 were exceptional low points.
You can even empirically show that by how abysmally bad their sales were. According to [1], Vista peaked at 25% market share (of Windows installations), when XP still had >70% and Windows 7 was just releasing. Windows 8 (including 8.1) similarly peaked at around 25% right before the release of Windows 10, at a time where Windows 7 held 65% market share, with the rest going to XP.
Vista was fine too. I ran it for years, never had a single issue. I've seen it said that the problem with Vista was the system requirements were way too low, which I guess makes sense but I can't really confirm or deny. I built a machine well above the minimum specs so I never noticed any issues.
I used ME for a while. I must say it was extremely performant, shaved off about 15-20 seconds of boot time (compared to 98 SE) off my Athlon XP 2000+ machine. A cold boot in about 25 seconds. Which was a real time saver because it crashed every 2-3 hours.
Didn't they already? IIRC they also installed Candy Crush and Spotify without my consent. Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry used most of my disk i/o for an hour every day, seemingly cataloguing everything I have installed. I will never ever use Windows for professional purposes, they are dead to me except for use as a glorified Steam launcher.
That’s Steve’s greatest interview, when he was in the wilderness between Apple and … well Apple. My favourite part is his whole conversation about the printers Apple started when he was there. He waxes poetics about how innovative they were at making laser printers for the Mac. When he just stuffed a Canon printing engine in a plastic shell, and had Canon do it for them. But to him, the focus is on the innovation of desktop publishing, and he’s not wrong.
There are a handful of times when the stars and planets aligned and the Microsoft desktop experience was consistent, coherent, and I dare say, pleasant:
* 1999: Windows 98 + Office 97 + Internet Explorer 5.5 + Visual Studio 6.0
* 2005: Windows XP (with Themes disabled) + Office 2003 + Internet Explorer 6 + Visual Studio 2005 (and Windows Media Player 9 gets an honourable mention)
* 2010: Windows 7 + Office 2010 + Visual Studio 2008 (but using Chrome instead of IE)
But between 2012 and 2019 (i.e. the Windows 8, Metro, and UWP kool-aid in Windows 10) it was naught but an incoherent mess - and since 2013, all releases of Office have been mildly grating.
I'll concede that, as far as superficial aesthetics are concerned, Office 2023 on Windows 11 looks nice, but that's honestly the only improvement I can cite; Windows 11 is a no-go for me so long as it has a lobotomized taskbar and start-menu - and I really don't think I'm missing out on anything except crows-feet on my face from constant frowning...
The ads themselves are also particularly egregious masquerading often as news.
Very many times I’ve seen “BREAKING NEWS” only to click in and see something about some celebrity getting divorced or some other tabloid garbage like that.
Can’t believe this is the flagship product of a $3T business sometimes. And it’s such an easy fix too.
Yep, Steam Deck for games and PopOS for real work. Windows was already a pain in the ass before becoming infested with ads, I no longer choose to subject myself to it.
The solution is obvious: pin Steam to the taskbar, not to the start menu, as well as Chrome.
Put a shortcut on desktop to shutdown the computer, then never use the OS for anything else.
I recently put Kubuntu on my desktop and I've been way happier.
Who is windows for? Is it for gamers? Is it for office workers that were raised on windows at school? Do people just use it because it comes preinstalled on their computer?
Why would anyone with a modicum of self respect use this system any longer? Gone are the days when you had to be a nerd to want to use something else, when dislike of windows was about how Microsoft behaved in their commercial dealings, when it was an ideological decision. It is a practical matter now, people wholly uninterested in tinkering with their computer are getting sick of it at this point.
An operating system is supposed to get out of your way and let you operate the machine.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 102 ms ] threadThey also installed an 8KB "PC Manager" without any notification.
"Progress"
[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40018948
$5 per machine gets you a nice third party Start menu. It's more flexible too; these days I mostly use it because it lets you move the taskbar to the left edge where it belongs on an ultrawidescreen monitor.
I've heard a similar refrain about every windows release since XP.
Not saying it was or is wrong.
You can even empirically show that by how abysmally bad their sales were. According to [1], Vista peaked at 25% market share (of Windows installations), when XP still had >70% and Windows 7 was just releasing. Windows 8 (including 8.1) similarly peaked at around 25% right before the release of Windows 10, at a time where Windows 7 held 65% market share, with the rest going to XP.
Statista tells a similar story [2] [3]
1: https://windowsreport.com/windows-market-share-history/
2: https://www.statista.com/chart/4225/windows-market-share-by-...
3: https://www.statista.com/statistics/993868/worldwide-windows...
Vista was garbage but necessary.
Windows 7 was actively good.
Windows 8 was a dumpster fire.
Windows 10 would be good if it wasn't riddled with all the dark patterns which make it merely adequate.
Windows 11 is going to make the Windows 8 dumpster fire look good by comparison.
If you had ME, all bets were off.
Edit: On the right machine, ME was fine though. Much like Vista after SP2 and really late in it's lifetime.
That's exactly how I started my career as an engineer. As a 10-year-old boy, I had to learn how to fix it if I want to play games.
And it is the first time I know that what "Any Key" is.
Still true now and probably forever.
(It's great vintage Steve Jobs. He's trying to sound high-minded for a documentary-interview, but he really can't resist getting some digs in.)
* 1999: Windows 98 + Office 97 + Internet Explorer 5.5 + Visual Studio 6.0
* 2005: Windows XP (with Themes disabled) + Office 2003 + Internet Explorer 6 + Visual Studio 2005 (and Windows Media Player 9 gets an honourable mention)
* 2010: Windows 7 + Office 2010 + Visual Studio 2008 (but using Chrome instead of IE)
But between 2012 and 2019 (i.e. the Windows 8, Metro, and UWP kool-aid in Windows 10) it was naught but an incoherent mess - and since 2013, all releases of Office have been mildly grating.
I'll concede that, as far as superficial aesthetics are concerned, Office 2023 on Windows 11 looks nice, but that's honestly the only improvement I can cite; Windows 11 is a no-go for me so long as it has a lobotomized taskbar and start-menu - and I really don't think I'm missing out on anything except crows-feet on my face from constant frowning...
Very many times I’ve seen “BREAKING NEWS” only to click in and see something about some celebrity getting divorced or some other tabloid garbage like that.
Can’t believe this is the flagship product of a $3T business sometimes. And it’s such an easy fix too.
Yep, Steam Deck for games and PopOS for real work. Windows was already a pain in the ass before becoming infested with ads, I no longer choose to subject myself to it.
Lots of discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40018948
Using the Bazzite image has replaced Windows for me. Basically everything works.
I recently put Kubuntu on my desktop and I've been way happier.
What a depressing ending for that OS
Who is windows for? Is it for gamers? Is it for office workers that were raised on windows at school? Do people just use it because it comes preinstalled on their computer?
Why would anyone with a modicum of self respect use this system any longer? Gone are the days when you had to be a nerd to want to use something else, when dislike of windows was about how Microsoft behaved in their commercial dealings, when it was an ideological decision. It is a practical matter now, people wholly uninterested in tinkering with their computer are getting sick of it at this point.
An operating system is supposed to get out of your way and let you operate the machine.