This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
There you are, racking up multi kills, bonus points are pouring in. The map is yours and you are about to push the score back in favour of your team…
When all of a sudden
“DO YOU WANT TO TURN ON STICKY KEYS? PWEASE LOGIN TO ONEDRIVE TO ACTIVATE YOUR 365 COPILOT ACCOUNT SUBSCRIPTION. ACTIVATING BITLOCKER LOCKDOWN.”
I don't even care what they do at this point, they've proved themselves to be so incompetent that I have no desire to go back to windows.
Of course not.
Install Linux, Problem Solved.
Get rid of telemetry, ads, AI, and the MS account requirement for a start.
Microsoft is reportedly looking at Valve's SteamOS as the benchmark for gaming
Yeah, that's Linux
Valve's SteamOS continues to show significant advantages over Windows 11 for gamers, with better memory utilization and improved in-game performance, but Microsoft has a plan to combat that.
Let that sink in for a second. Linux with a not-an-emulation layer API runs Microsoft Windows games faster than Microsoft Windows, and so now Microsoft is scrambling to get windows at least as efficient again as Linux in running Windows products.
Anyone ever trusting Microsoft again is a dumbass fool
If Microsoft wants to win users back, the only way to do that is by re-releasing Windows 7, and make a legal contract to never add spyware, monetization, adware, AI, service accounts to install/log in to the PC, or anything else to it.
Windows 7 was the peak of their capabilities. everything before that was building up to 7, everything after was a series of missteps and fuckups.
But thats never gonna happen.
I might consider Windows again if they made civil promises in such a way as to expose themselves to existential-level class-action lawsuits, should they go back on their word. Nothing less. Show me you’re ready to die for my trust, otherwise you’re not getting it back — ever.
Actually… hmm… could we plebs trick the execs and shareholders into giving us powerful corporate positions, where we can do exactly this? That would be a very aggressive and interesting way to make corporations beholden to the public good.
I nuked my hard drive when they kept shoving more invasive idiocy, more sloppy shite, and a confluence of cloud crap into it.
They're not going to win me back by integrating their overpriced subscription PS+ knock-off crap further into their joke of an OS.
There’s nothing MS can do to make me trust them again. They can “love bomb” all they want, but a toxic ex is a toxic ex.
Publicly traded corporations will always exploit anything and anyone they can get away with to maximize their profits. They will only improve just enough to trap you again, then the exploitation begins again.
a toxic ex is a toxic ex
This, for sure, but if she wants to dance I'll dance with her. 🤪
For serious, tho: people change. I don't expect mega corporations to ever change for the better. They'll do whatever they need to get money and you can guarantee they'll fuck you (the bad kind) as soon as you're invested.
For serious, tho: people change. I don’t expect mega corporations to ever change for the better.
at the very best, they can, on occasion, do something thats accidentally good.
But that never really meaningfully alters the trajectory of evil.
They should try not sucking. Not spying on their users. Maybe let me tell the OS what I want it to do and not have to do whatever it feels like in any given scenario.
We don't even need hope for Microsoft/Windows, hoping for that just means hoping for more shit.
And what will their ambitious plan be?
Marketing, bribery, coercion, cheating. Those are the only things Microsoft has ever excelled at (pun intended), as software development is something they have NEVER done well
Their ambitious plan is to protect their desktop monopoly. Microsoft had planned on making gaming a major part of their revenue. However, they messed up so bad that it created the first true threat to the Windows monopoly on decades.
If the SteamOS tech stack can get consumers off Windows, then it makes it that much easier to threaten the Office monopoly as well.
Definitely gonna be restrictive contracts so manufacturers can’t sell both and forced advertising for Microsoft services like Google does with Android OEMs.
Hahahahahhahahahahahhahhahahahahahahahahahhahaahahahahhahahhahahahahahahahahahshshshha!
Why would anyone get their hopes up about a Microsoft product?
Some of the hardware sold under their name is/was quite ok.
I'm not sure who designed and created that stuff, though.
Knowing Microsoft, the new project is an update to DirectX which has features impossible for Proton to translate without violating anti-circumvention laws or an always on DRM baked into core features.
Section 1201(f) of the DMCA allows for interoperability; I’m sure Valve’s lawyers will figure it out
They could also do the Nintendo thing and plaster their trademarked name all over critical functions or interfaces and then sue anyone who tries to re-write their software, since you still have to handle calls to the MicrosoftTMOfficialDirectX13Windows_draw() function. Using a registered trademark without permission violates a different set of laws.
This would be fair use. Has already been decided https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_LLC_v._Oracle_America,_Inc.
Arguably the trademark issue has not been exactly resolved but I think this case will be very persuasive.
This is such a huge W for linux. It legitimizes linux as a real competitor in so many eyes.
That's because it is a legitimate competitor. It's the freedom OS, and only way for the world to escape Americas big tech fascism.
Yeah I know I've been using it for gaming for years. But when I say linux is good people might brush it off because oh you would say that as a linux user. But im highlighting that Microsoft saying this legitimizes Linux in a completely different way. It legitimizes it for all the people that see Windows as the best OS the people outside the linux bubble.
are they actually loosing any sensible userbase across all windows versions though? from statcounter I fail to see that, what stats do you guy usually look up too?
I abandoned Windows for Linux rather than update to Windows 11. I will be interested to see what Microsoft does, but at this point I seriously doubt they're going to be able to give me a good enough reason to return to Windows as my primary OS. At this point I only need it for a few applications that don't have a Linux equivalent and don't run on Wine.
Have you tried to Winboat the apps missing ?
I also switched earlier this year to cachyos. I'm definitely not going back. The simple fact that I need to boot the Windows old partition to update it makes me anxious.
I feel so much more in control of my operating system it feels really nice.
This looks cool, I assume it's not meant for super resource intensive programs though?
I know it's not possible for everyone, but I just cut ties with any application that wouldn't work on Linux and found alternatives.
For those that can't, it's worth it to go 99% Linux and set up a dual-boot. Also I made a video recently that details some security measures you can take on Windows to help you stay private if anyone's interested.
Reducing ai but not removing it ain’t it
The funny thing about AI is that it helps Linux transition in 3 ways:
Copilot shoved everywhere is irritating
Microslop abusing AI pushes one bug after another into windows
AI makes transition to Linux much easier. I tried multiple times and failed, but now, it's like having my own geeky friend who can help me solve any issue, sure... the guy hallucinates sometimes, but if you use your brain, it still can be really helpful.
Microsoft right now
MS... The only reason why I still ise it is because I don't have the time or nerves to get used to Linux in my current life.
Getting and understanding the workarounds I need to get working just to play my two favorite games that don't run on Linux is not something I will use my time on.
I need a plug and play windows clone on Linux that runds everything I know out of the box, sadly.
People here won't like that, but it's the reality gate that keeps many people aeay from switching.
Well, if MS ever tries to force me into ID verification or subscription windows or based on AI at its core I'll bite the bullet. But not before
Microsoft adds the bloat themselves, and ever increasing telemetry reporting back, promises to update W10 for the lifetime of the device, reneges on it with W11 quoting security as its rationale but leaving 400 million users without security updates. Does all this at a time Linux is becoming very friendly and android phones have a desktop mode so they can be plugged into a keyboard and monitor and bypass the need for Windows. Microsoft has a bit of a think about the market value of its idiot direction and decides to remove a lot of the crap slowing the OS and give people back a little privacy, touts it as a new way of thinking about personal computing.
I'd say i'm cautiously optimistic but honestly i'm just not optimistic. They want to 'remove bloat, reel back AI, etc' and I'm just going to ask "how?"
how can they possibly improve their OS when the past year updates to 11 have been the worst in the companies history. the past few months alone have been an absolute cluster fuck and that's saying A LOT considering this the same company that gave us ME and Vista.
Before rebuilding the OS they need to take a seriously look internally and rebuild teams, management, etc because its' clear as day the company that they have currently cannot produce the potential OS they seem to want to produce.
Yeah, MS lost a lot of trust with stupid things and getting that back - good luck with that. ~~I'm gone~~ I switched to Linux ~~since~~ a year (been on Windows since 3.0) or so and won't ever go back even though I still need to run Visual Studio in a virtual guest.
same. been using MS shit since the 90s, but built a new PC in early 2025 specifically to put linux and only linux on it. never looking back. there is absolutely no reason for me to ever install windows again.
people thought i was dumb for taking out a loan to build a PC--turns out that was the right move, 8% on a loan for early 2025 prices is better than whatever tf people are having to pay for components now
I'll never voluntarily use a Windows PC ever again. Wayyy too late
It's possible they're kind of admitting defeat with PC enthusiasts and will just settle for the average user and the business user. If they're smart they would make windows home free to use and then charge a fair lump for K2 (and make it extremely good - yknow - things software companies should be doing). That way it's a PR win and they can exploit both business models.
I strongly expect Microsoft to completely bottle it as usual though. They have some deep corporate rot imo.
