this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024
465 points (96.2% liked)

Technology

60073 readers
2973 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] kevin@programming.dev 169 points 6 months ago (4 children)

We have seen this game 100 times. Opt in for now and then turned on for everyone 6-12 months later. It's just a temporary move to handle the bad PR.

[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 106 points 6 months ago (2 children)

You forgot the best part

Silently turned on via "security" update

[–] Ozonowsky@lemmy.world 63 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It's a security update because it adds new security vulnerabilities.

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 24 points 6 months ago

Same as it ever was

[–] WhoIsRich@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Or the other trick of constantly prompting "Turn on / Maybe Later" until people either accidentally accept or just give up to make nagging stop.

[–] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 6 months ago

That guy at the club who won’t fuck off

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.world 32 points 6 months ago (1 children)

registry switch that'll mysteriously reset itself. we've had this shit with countless windows configurations at work that our IT guy has to battle with on the regular.

[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I've had so many people jump down my throat for listing some of the many obviously fucked things Microsoft did on my PC just over the life of Windows 10. (And not that it should matter, but I even paid for Pro).

I turned all their various advertising and spying "features" off through legitimate settings, group policies, whatever, and the list of things that reverted themselves over time was insane.

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 8 points 6 months ago

User: Goes through 15 step process to turn off unwanted "feature".

Windows: I turned this on, in case it got turned off accidentally. I'll do this every reboot.

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

And not that it should matter, but I even paid for Pro

It should matter though. If MS wants to give away Windows for free, then users should expect compromised privacy. But it's not. They charge hundreds for it.

If Windows made a paid version that was private and secure, and that the user was in control of, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If they were giving away Windows for free, their behavior would still be unforgivable.

There is no scenario where any operating system including spyware or ads can ever theoretically be acceptable behavior. Any person who contributes in any way to that happening belongs in a prison cell.

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Well that's the only way a "free" product is sustainable.

[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Linux is free qnd plenty sustainable.

If you can't support providing something for free via a mechanism that isn't pure and unadulterated evil, then don't do it for free. "We have to be monsters to make money" is not a valid position.

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Linux is free qnd plenty sustainable.

It also has a vast array of enormous compromises, which is why no one uses it.

[–] arf@lemmy.today 3 points 6 months ago

I understand you have qualms with Linux, and that's plenty fine, but when the large majority of servers and smartphones around the world run it, you can't say that no one uses it.

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

That's not true at all. It has a huge market share, just not in desktops.

But again, that's completely and utterly irrelevant. If being evil is the only way for your business/product to exist, it does not deserve to exist.

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yeah dude, there's nothing they can do to fix this. They have eroded the trust of their users for decades. It will take them decades to get it back, if they actually tried.

Also it took hackers days to find vulnerabilities. Which is a massive security concern.

[–] arf@lemmy.today 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Can anyone give me examples of times Windows has done this in the past? I mean, I feel like this is true, but I legit can't think of anything that matches this.

[–] odelik@lemmy.today 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

In the last 6 months:

  • One Drive reinstalled and turned back on on my personal & work computer multiple times.
  • AI Co-pilot added to my machine and enabled "so you can start using it now!" with an obtrusive pinned shortcut on my start bar, to both of the same machines but at different time intervals. Uninstalling is virtually impossible and requires registry mods to 'remove" it. Not even a powers he'll command can remove it.

I don't want, or need, this add-on garbage.

[–] arf@lemmy.today 1 points 6 months ago

Perfect examples, thank you 👌