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I mean... At this point, what even would make people switch from MS? End users don't care, companies don't care so MS just gets away with piles and piles of slop.
A lot of commercial software (think TurboTax) doesn't support Linux. Those that do require somewhat convoluted installation. Closest analog that Linux has to this is idk, snap on deb?

Agree that web browsing is easy enough, but people want to install programs on their machines. Doing so on Linux still exceeds the average consumer's capabilities or willingness.

I've been using it daily for a few years, and just last night I had to Google around about AppImage, which I had never heard of.

Norms and addiction: the same reasons people refuse to quit smoking cigarettes in spite of evidence it will harm them.
My mind immediately jumped to the "pull out the plug!" moment in a movie.
I’ve killed a laptop by placing it in a backpack which failed to suspend. Based on the heat I assume parts of it cooked despite any thermal throttling. It’ll be interesting to see the damage a bug like this might cause.
The health dashboard says it only affects Enterprise and IoT. The KB note says “all editions”. Which is it? I wish El Reg did deeper reporting besides their snark shtick.

Also, 3/4 of comments here are already off-topic. Never change, HN.

> Microsoft says that entering the command "shutdown /s /t 0" at the command prompt will, in fact, force your PC to turn off, whether it wants to or not.

Wow how the tables have turned…the argument used to be you used Windows instead of Linux because on Linux you might occasionally have to use the scary terminal to fix an issue haha.

Can this be pasted into Win+R? That might give a novice user more confidence; pasting a short command that literally says "shutdown" into a small, easily identified text dialog box seems clear enough.

Small added benefit, presumably it's harder to accidentally run a multi-line multi-stage command because you had the wrong thing in your clipboard (I don't have my windows PC handy, but if you paste multiple lines into Win+R it doesn't execute anything, correct?)

Alt+F4 on the desktop does the same thing, but does it with a neat UI. No scary CLI needed.

Edit - it's Alt+F4.

I think this is an exception that proves the rule.

The average Windows user literally has no concept of a terminal. The average Linux user does indeed have to copy and paste terminal commands off the internet to fix issues or do seemingly ordinary customization frequently.

This is not new. Operating a windows machine has always included a bunch of magical commands. It's just that it has usually been in the registery. The cmd and powershell stuff is kind of a new direction.

Regarding Linux, I dont think most people need command line for normal work. Obviously the guy that runs an obscure dist in RAID-6 on his toaster would be different, but for most normal people just install Ubuntu and use it.

Instead of putting Copilot everywhere, Microsoft could hire some proper devs and qa to avoid such problems, But no, MS employs vibe-coders only and fired the entire qa team.
I thought Nadella fired all the QA in favor of outsourcing to the different "rings" of beta users. Do they have any significant QA in house anymore?
Windows doesn't need QA. Why would it? The entire purpose of QA is to make sure your product has acceptable quality, so that you don't annoy customers and drive them to the competition. This isn't a problem for Microsoft: almost no one is going to stop using Windows, no matter how bad it gets. So why spend money on QA?
It seems to me that MS has started to vibe code Windows. It's so surreal that they managed to kill the shutdown program. I mean: this 1 simple program worked for 30 years no probs doctors hated this trick but idk
So, should we assume that they vibe-coded this patch? Sad...
It sounds like introducing minor issues today is the best way for Microsoft and Apple to push OS updates that nobody is asking for.

My two cents...

They're probably just testing the waters. They already took away proper standby, because reasons.
The fact is that Windows isn't the cash cow it used to be for Microsoft. Windows makes up less than 10% of Microsoft's revenue now. Server and Cloud and Office 365 make up the bulk of their income now.

As time goes on Windows is going to be smaller piece of this pie and I suspect Microsoft will move it over to a subscription service or you will just have like 1000 ads shoved in your face. I made the move over to Linux last year and Windows will have to live in a VM.

It's already become a veritable Times Square of advertising. We have a windows PC in the office to play DDR, and the "Live Home Screen" or whatever used to be the Desktop looks like MSN! Live or the Yahoo Homepage.
I just use Windows to launch Steam and rooting for Steam OS.
Maybe they could ask CrowdStrike to issue a software update to "fix" this.
-omg, I always disable windows update -more harm than good unless you're in some more sensitive position
In recent months, with any computer that runs into Windows issues, I just take it as sign that its time for me to format it and install linux.
Slightly off-topic: my PC always comes back to the login screen immediately after I manually use "sleep" from the power menu. I have to to the sleep thing again. Has anyone else run into this issue?

My Mac Mini M4 is on its way. Can't wait to stop dealing with this mess.

(Just this morning, I noticed that the login dialog for network drives, which has worked fine for decades, has misaligned text fields. I don't want to think how this could possibly happen.)

I have a bluetooth mouse that will wake my desktop, untouched; I physically switch it off when I'm away from home
> my PC always comes back to the login screen immediately after I manually use "sleep" from the power menu.

> My Mac Mini M4 is on its way.

Hate to tell you, but my Mac does the same stupid thing. I have to physically yank the HDMI cable.

Microsoft really wants people to use other operating systems. This is quite amazing.

It does not affect me as I moved to Linux in late 2004 already, but I can't help but feel I would have to be constantly annoyed at Microsoft for abusing me and my computer.

Thank you for spending 22 years debugging Linux. I migrated Windows 11 to it yesterday and it was absolutely painless :=)
My biggest fear when getting a new laptop is that I won't figure out the BIOS fast enough to get it to recognize the usb drive I have plugged in and it might actually boot to windows. Now I will be extra freaked out because it might not even let me turn it off to try again!
I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
AI already fighting the humans for control of the machine
>PCs refuse to shut down after Microsoft patch

it was many patches ago when I refused to even start my PC after Microsoft's patches (when they made it so you couldn't reject their telemetry), at least not till I had linux installed (which I had anyhow been running all along via Xwindows, before the Microsoft-mind-virus-infected systemd, wayland, and btrfs crowds decided to ruin linux too.)

are the BSDs still safe?

Haha I have never used the start menu to shutdown windows I mean it hasn’t been for 20 plus years; I have it engraved into my head for so long to use the shutdown /f /t 0 /s has what a price of shit os.
I know that error since, dunno, i guess: 1995. No other OS has this unprofessional and annoying bug. And no other OS vendor managed it to drag a bug like this for 30 years. None that i know of.

Don't forget there are younger people, thats maybe new to them, or they seek the error on their own side. Just unbelievable to read that 30 years later.