Hey y’all, today I experienced another push for Linux from our friend Microsoft.
5 minutes ago, I wanted to use the timer app on Windows, so I could manage my work/break schedule, and this fucker showed up.
Yes, that’s a prompt to sign in with a Microsoft account to use the clock. If you close it, it pops up 30s later. Clicking “Don’t sign in” or closing the process responsible for displaying it is useless, and guess what… IT PAUSES THE TIMER WHEN IT SHOWS UP.
I guess this is another thing added to the super long list of things which will eventually make me switch my main workstation to Linux once win10 is discontinued.
/endrant
Hope y’all are having a great day :3
Why wait. Start switching now.
This. Be proactive. Don’t wait for microsoft
I have moved my laptop over to kubuntu for a while now, but I have too many workflows that rely on windows ) :
Better start soon then to get those workflows going quicker
better to start figuring out your workflow on linux now than waiting for shit to hit the fan and do it in a hurry.
Best to wait until the last second and switch cold turkey. What could possibly go wrong?
What are they?
I ditched Windows roughly 15 years ago and I run a MS Silver partner shop.
I daily drive Kubuntu (was Arch but I need to tick boxes). I used to teach DTP, WP, spreadsheets etc and Libre Office is fine as a replacement for MSO. Email - Exchange and Evolution EWS. I create the most complicated docs in my firm and MSO works with them OK.
I 3D print stuff and use LibreCAD and OpenSCAD. All good. Also note that there are lots of other CAD apps on Linux for free/libre and of course we have
As far as I am aware, games is the only area that Linux might fail and that issue is shrinking rapidly.
8 years or so for me. I miss Ableton and Sibelius. I have Bitwig and Musescore but I still miss them. Musescore is getting better and better (I am planning on moving to lilypond anyway) but Bitwig is too alien for me. It is almost the same bu not really. If it was completely different, it might have been easier to get used to. Also I wish there was a viable open source alternative to Bitwig.
was in the same situation for a while, but I switched a few weeks ago and I’ve never since looked back
then even more reason to start de-windowsifying your workflows now rather than doing it all at once later
This is actually surreal ☠️
the clock app has a built in spotify integration and player.
the calculator sends diagnostic data.The diagnostic app does absolutely nothing.
That’s not true, the placebo effect is very real
I remember my windows ~7 days when j thought pressing a button in windows and watching the bar load and say done actually fixed things 😭
I’m glad that you want to switch to Linux, but I think there’d be open source solutions for Windows too. I daily drive Linux, and I would begin with looking for open source timers if I ever need timers. Why not do the same in Windows too?
Here are a few: https://alternativeto.net/software/free-countdown-timer/?platform=windows&license=opensource
lol, that’s so stupid. why does it pause the timer? did they do that intentionally?
I’d imagine it’s to force me to sign in to use the timer. Shittify the version that can’t track as much, and force the users to use it logged in
Does the timer “jump” to the correct time after you dismiss the window ? It’s also possible that they didn’t bother testing the app when logged out, and that the popup blocks the UI thread while it’s displayed. In short it could be bad coding and QA instead of intentional enshittification.
No it pauses the timer. Once I dismiss the popup I can see that the pause button icon has been replaced with the continue/play icon. Clicking it unpauses the timer until the popup pops up again.
OK so this is most likely by design, impressive.
I can imagine the project lead in the meeting: “Okay guys, we need to make the worst timer app ever, so I can sell my better timer app in the app store. Any ideas?” “You can start the timer, but need to be online and sign in with 2FA to keep the timer running.” “Brad, you’re a genius.”
I think Microsoft is way overconfident
Microsoft had made a product that has for decades been used to run other people’s software. They’ve unintentionally made windows a “monopoly” in the sense that no other os can run windows only software perfectly. Most consumers will probably think Linux " is just a terminal and too advanced", and the others who can install a distro might still be locked into using windows because not all software can run under wine.
So to you they might seem overconfident in that you can switch, but for some they’re shit out of luck in the department of alternatives. Microsoft knows they can exploit their users, and they will do it
Then explain Chrome OS. Seriously though a lot of software is web based these days. Windows is not special for most cases.
This is supposed to be the most used operating system, recommended for its ease of use. Meanwhile you have to sign in to use a clock app. Such a shame, especially because the focus timers are actually useful.
That is disgusting. 'nuff said.
Obligatory Windows is bloat.
why wait the death of win10 when you can switch now, get that painful first days learning things out of the way now that you have a fallback if absolutely necessary
I cannot speak for the OP but most of the pepper claiming they are waiting will not switch. They may use an illegally patched or trimmed version of Windows 11. Many won’t even do that.
The biggest risk for Microsoft is that everybody stays on Windows 10 without updates. Or that massive customers will force them to push back the “enterprise” date over and over. To encourage migration, expect Microsoft to make Windows 10 just as bad as 11 before support expires.
most of the pepper
autocorrect moment?
If Microsoft cared about the risk of folks staying on Windows 10, they wouldn’t be making millions of computers into e-waste because they don’t have the right TPM.
This is why I install Linux on all my Dr Peppers before I drink them. Otherwise they just forget to switch.
Windows is a platform for Office. Linux is not a supported platform for Office. Most businesses will not migrate their desktops off Windows because they will not migrate their workforce off Office.
Beyond that, Windows is not as important to Microsoft as it used to be. The real money makers are Azure and Office. With Azure, they do not care if you run Linux. They even have their own distro ( Azure Linux — previously CBL Mariner ).
Azure is the future ( even for Office ).
Since Windows is less strategic, Microsoft is looking to milk it as a cash cow while they can. So, Product Management is tasked with finding new ways to monetize it. Data is worth a lot of money. The best way to farm data from users these days is to frame it as security ( or AI ).
Expect a lot more SIngle Sign On. Expect a lot more AI. Expect a lot more cloud integration. Expect all of these to focus on data harvesting.
A bit later, expect “services” for Linux that attempt the same. Like Google on Android. This is harder though as Windows does not have monopoly control over Linux as a platform. I am sure they are having many meetings about how to change that.
this is a post for /c/microsoft or /c/windows, not /c/linux 🤷♀️
