It's probably not reasonable to expect this to improve in 2026.
9d 5h ago by piefed.world/u/The_Picard_Maneuver in microblogmemes from media.piefed.world
Stop trying to use your computer and get back to consuming damn it. Why are users so difficult!
Seriously, has no one thought of the shareholders!??!
"someone died because the cpr tutorial had 5 unskippable minute long ads"
<joke> you all are worrying about your small problems, but what about John the shareholder? why isn't anyone thinking of John the shareholder? </joke>
yeah I use tone indicators like html tags, no, you can't stop me
I remember how the startmenu didnt suck on windows 7 and just worked. Good times. That was also the last time where you could find most of the options in one place.
Like in 2015 i was weirded out how a multibillion dollar company wasnt able to just make a new app for settings with feature parity to the old thing for their major new OS release. 10 years later: lmao.
Even the windows 10 startmenu didn't suck if you took the time to customize it - The Metro tiles were nice, with grouping and folders making everything pretty neat and reducing the need for the standard program list to a minimum; I made mine 3 columns wide, which made pretty much every app i regularly needed available on the fly, using horizontal space that's much more available than vertical one.
I just use OpenShell to make all of my Windows 10 machines’ Start menus into Windows 7 start menus hahaha. It even fixes search!
I haven't any windows machines left (at least physical), and i'm pretty comfortable with KDE Plasma, although i'm sure i could make my start menu nicer. Damn, now i have to look into it lol
haha tell me how it goes (if you do, im curious cuz im a newbie)
From memory I think it was 8.1 that introduced the right click menu. Everything you ever want to do with the start menu in one right click menu. No apps, just shortcuts to the terminal, shutdown/sleep, settings, etc. I never used the start menu again except by accident (or when hitting the windows key to search).
I have to use a Win 11 machine for work.
If any of you are able to install software on the Win10/Win11 you're using, install Microsoft PowerToys (Run). It adds a Spotlight-like run/search dialog with a hotkey press that works as you would expect an indexed search to work. I never use the windows start menu anymore due to the enshittification of it.
They can do whatever they want, it'll be without me.
I'm not saying that my Linux installation was super easy to set up, but once set up, I've had fewer problems than Windows.
I for one do miss my system restarting in the middle of some work to apply an update.
You can do that in Linux too! Just put an entry in crontab to reboot the system sometime during your working hours.
thanks, i've been missing that feauture.
I just installed Linux the other week and it WAS super easy to set up for me. I was really surprised but everything just worked
The hardest part was getting my Windows-only games to play properly in Linux. Rocket League was relatively easy, but Skyrim was a real pain to get working. But now that Skyrim is working, it strangely feels either the same or slightly better than it does in Windows.
That's been my experience too. I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to game on Linux. There have been some games where I had some issues, but the same could be said for Windows too. I think the gaming specific aspect is roughly equal between the two operating systems.
The nice thing about Linux though is that when it does go wrong, I am better equipped with the information and tools to be able to effectively troubleshoot and fix the problem. At least, in theory — I am still learning, so I often find myself wading through logs that I don't understand, with little progress. It does at least feel more empowering though, to have the abstract option of being able to fix my problem, even if I am not able to grasp that opportunity in practice.
Easier than installing and setting up Windows in my experience
Unrelated to that exact image but I'm gonna rant about other windows shit because I feel like it.
Windows decided my page file needed to be 80 GB. I do not want it to be 90 GB. I go to the start menu and search up "page file" to see if there's a settings menu. First result is a random file in an application's directory that can't be opened/displayed by any program on my PC, then a list of other unrelated files.
So I open Control Panel, hoping to find it where I did before, and I click on System. What do you know, that menu no longer exists, and redirects to Windows Settings. Where do I go from here? Maybe the giant Installed RAM section because the page file is just a (overly simplified) method of extending your memory to your disk? No, of course not, that menu's not actually a menu, it's just a stat counter.
Instead, I have to go to Device Specifications, then the section titled Related links, then click Advanced system settings. Oh whaddaya know? Now I'm in the settings menu that used to be behind the original System option in Control Panel!
Now I'm in the Advanced tab of that menu. But where do I go from here? That's right, Performance Options, and then another Advanced tab!!!
Then I have to click the Change button, where Windows has... conveniently enabled System managed size so it could choose to set my page file to 80 GB.
I edit, it, hit Ok, have to hit Apply in the other menu too, have to close out the no-longer-needed Settings and Control Panel windows that only served as a maze to get me here in the first place, and THEN I can restart my computer to reduce the size of the page file, even though it is currently not in use by any program, and all data is in RAM, and the file could reasonably be shrunk by the system at any time.
After the restart, this process begins all over again, because this is my third attempt, and Windows automatically reverts back to managing the size itself, and sets it to 80 GB. I have 5 GB of storage space left on my disk.
The descent into advanced Advanced menus really is the cherry on top of this shit muffin.
That's how you know that what you're doing is real hacker shit. The secret Bill Gates Satya Nadella doesn't want you to know!
As I say, when you're hunting around for something in Windows and you come across a dialog box that came straight from Windows XP.... you're getting close.
Had to go through this the other day. At the third consecutive "advanced settings" menu I wondered if this was some kind of sick joke
at this point arch linux is more user-friendly
unironically this
maybe even... what's that one harder than arch? forgot what its called, think its artix?
copilot fuck off I'm already outsourcing some memory to google (don't have to remember everything) I'm not outsourcing creativity to you.
All this yes. If you're actually looking for help, you have to also click "set" after changing the page file settings.
I empathize with this slightly non-ideal situation.
But can you imagine how insane it would be if you were told to do something like copy/paste swapoff /swap && truncate -s 8G /swap && swapon /swap into a terminal? TEXT? Like a caveman? The horror! The heresy! How can anyone be expected to do something so complicated! This is entirely unreasonable UX and the reason why Linux is straight up unusable.
Btw here's 15 bazillion commands in a .ps to perhaps disable some of the ads in your start menu until the next time your computer reboots.
I agree with the sentiment, and it would definitely make a lot of troubleshooting easier, but you do gotta remember that 99% of people are so non-technical they won't read anything going into their terminal, or if they do, they won't know what it means.
You could just as easily replace that with sudo rm -rf /* and they'd run it just as quickly, and that's my worry.
IMO we should just have settings menus alongside commands for most things any normal user might have to encounter, since that's just a more user-friendly interface in terms of preventing accidental bad command execution and also just letting people find things on their own without having to look up a command every time if they don't want to learn a short book's worth of terminal commands.
The kind of person who blindly runs commands also blindly runs any .exe or .bat they download from github which is not any better.
Of course in an ideal world there'd be a perfect GUI for everything, and we've gotten a lot better at that in the last few years. But it's not like windows is lacking in things that are only configurable through CLI or the registry (which is even more opaque). I'm not saying Linux is perfect, just pointing out the hypocrisy.
While true, copying and pasting is much easier to exploit, especially since websites can alter your clipboard. Not to mention that people are already more wary of downloadable executables, but less so for commands.
For example, I'm not sure if you saw the newer attack vector a lot of scammers are using, but essentially they'll have a 3-step process saying "Press Win + R" and "Press Ctrl + V" then "Hit Enter", as a fake captcha, and the site automatically copies a malicious command to their clipboard, which then gets run when they paste.
A similar attack vector could take place where a user copies a command that looks legitimate, hits paste and enter, and only then is it clear that the site copied a new command to their clipboard that isn't the one on the site they thought they checked.
I do agree that Windows is still pretty shit in this regard though. I just think we should seek to not emulate that as a requirement for users to edit certain settings if we can help it :)
The attack vector of convincing users to do stuff exists regardless of whether a niche GUI exists somewhere to do <the thing>. The only proper defense against social engineering is a) training and b) following the least privilege principle (which neither Windows or traditional Linux desktop's permission model properly, as the current user in either case has full permissions to retrieve extremely sensitive credentials such as browser cookies without interaction).
Trying to defend against this from the perspective of de-normalizing the CLI is like defending against drunk driving by adding a bittering agent to Guiness beer exclusively.
As for clipboard highjacking, I am well aware, which is why any decent modern terminal emulator should a) strip escape codes by default and b) support bracketed-paste, to prevent immediate execution of a pasted command. If yours does not, please consider switching to a safer alternative (such as kitty).
remember that 99% of people are so non-technical they won't read anything going into their terminal
That's a bit ambitious. People don't like to read anything on their computer. I've had people call me over to help with a "computer error" when Word is asking them if they'd like to save their document.
IMO we should just have settings menus alongside commands for most things any normal user might have to encounter, since that’s just a more user-friendly interface in terms of preventing accidental bad command execution and also just letting people find things on their own without having to look up a command every time if they don’t want to learn a short book’s worth of terminal commands.
THIS. As a lifelong Windows user I'd rather deal with layers of shitty GUI, than having to memorise terminal commands and always pay attention not to mistype them lest I fuck my system up.
I can't switch to Linux yet due to lack of support from my essential programs, but even if it wasn't for those, I'd still be annoyed if I had to use a terminal to change settings in my system.
IMO we should just have settings menus alongside commands for most things
There are - PowerShell.
Changing the size:
$pagefileset = Get-WmiObject Win32_pagefilesetting
$pagefileset.InitialSize = 1024
$pagefileset.MaximumSize = 2048
$pagefileset.Put() | Out-Null
Disabling automatic sizing:
$pagefile = Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem -EnableAllPrivileges
$pagefile.AutomaticManagedPagefile = $false
$pagefile.put() | Out-Null
we do, but better ones would be nice...
yeah this is why i want to never touch windows again
Hmm... Not sure how Linux' terminal is any better than this, tbh.
Even ignoring all the wacky command names - you have a billion different commands, each doing everything in its own way.
PowerShell is uniform and standardised. This makes learning things super easy. Like, you can't tell me that you don't know what's going on by just looking at the code I posted.
i meant on graphical versions like the settings app could be a lot better
command line/terminal depends on what youre used to and whatnot
It's not that bad in the GUI as well, as long as you don't try to angrily fight against change, like OP did.
Go to Settings -> System -> Advanced -> Advanced Settings. You're already on the old-style dialogue known from the Control Panel days. Two more clicks and you're in the spot where you can change the page file settings.
People love to shit on Settings, but that's just weird dudes being angry at change. Control Panel was a chaotic mess. As a guy who worked as first line IT support at the time when Win10 came out, I could not be happier when Settings happened. Everything had a super neat, super easy to follow "route" I could describe to the user over the phone. No need to start describing the difference between the side-bar links, and tabs, and having to click "OK" six times to ACTUALLY save the change you made, because the setting you changed was buried six pop-up windows deep...
they both existed in 10? control panel also still exists, just harder to access.
they both existed in 10?
Yes, Settings first released with Windows 10. The one in Win11 is very similar, just slightly different design.
control panel also still exists, just harder to access
As a guy who worked in IT for over 20 years - I hate CP with a passion. It's a complete mess, and chaos. You click an icon to open a view, to click a link to open a window, then switch to a tab, and press a button to get another window with more tabs... "Press 'Advanced' four times in a row to get to where you need to be" kind of nonsense.
IMO we should just have settings menus alongside commands for most things
So like KDE
Would you recommend MS make it easy for idiots to fuck with the page file?
Yes?
If my page file is set to 80 GB by default but isn't being used by applications because my actual RAM utilization is always under 80%, and they have a dedicated settings menu for it, you'd think they could make getting to that settings menu not take a minimum of 8 separate clicks (assuming you have memorized exactly where to go from the start, and never click the wrong button or link), 4 separate menus, 2 nested "Advanced" menus, and multiple fields and checkboxes to tick off and edit after all of that, just to say "Use less of my disk for the page file". This could literally be a slider in Settings.
The page file doesn't cause major system instability if you adjust its size, unless you're constantly using much more RAM than your system has, and the page file is manually set extremely small.
It just helps keep your system more stable by offloading excess data that can't be stored in RAM to your disk. My entire computer, even under heavy load, never needs more then 2-5 GB of space on top of my RAM, and that's when I'm running games at max settings, my browser with 40 tabs open, and multiple instances of 3D design software in the background, hardly a common enough occurrence for Windows to justify going "eh, maybe they'll actually need 80 GB, you never know", and never letting me change it even after I restart.
Swap is also used to offload data in RAM that's used infrequently to instead prioritise caching data that doesn't need to be in RAM but is nevertheless used more frequently.
If you're playing Dark Souls and have a web browser open in the background, each time you die the game may need to re-load some level data or assets from disk (e.g. they relate to the area you respawn in, but not where you keep dying). If the computer can instead keep those in RAM, you can respawn faster. If it has to put Chrome on disk that may be a worthwhile tradeoff.
just looked up a page file. that thing should never be 80gb except under extreme circumstances. I wonder if that's part of why dad's laptop (what im using right now) has at max 14ish gb of free space, if you're lucky
I wonder if that’s part of why dad’s laptop (what im using right now) has at max 14ish gb of free space
Well if you want to find out if it is, you can just follow the extremely convoluted set of steps from my original comment to try and find out where the menu is that'll tell you... 😅
If anyone wants a fix for this, yes I know Windows sucks etc, I have to use it for my job:
Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and hit Enter.
Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search.
Double-click Do not allow web search and set it to Enabled.
Double-click Don't search the web or display web results in Search and set it to Enabled.
Click Apply and OK.
Windows: where you enable to disable.
... Until the next update enables it again
Job security for the it admin <3 windows cares!
lmao "cares" <3
Why do people still suggest using Group Policy for this?
It's complicated for the average user, it's non-existent for the vast majority (Windows Home doesn't give access to gpedit.msc).
Just go Search -> Settings -> turn off Web Search, like a normal person. Job done.
That can get reverted when windows updates, the group policy doesn't
No one on Lemmy should be running Windows Home lol
That can get reverted when windows updates, the group policy doesn’t
I set mine through settings 7 years ago on my laptop. It went from Windows 10 (with all updates) to Windows 11 (and all updates) and it didn't change.
No one on Lemmy should be running Windows Home lol
Huh? Why not? Is this some sort of elitist cabal where we look down upon people who can't dish out the extra money for features 99% of the population don't need? Or are we somehow advocating for piracy for... clout?
Setting can revert, look at this thread. I regret replying, I was mostly joking about Windows Home but he main reason is because it requires a MS account though. Calm down.
Setting can revert, look at this thread
Like, I said:
I set mine through settings 7 years ago on my laptop. It went from Windows 10 (with all updates) to Windows 11 (and all updates) and it didn’t change.
It was around 10 years for my PC, although that didn't go up to Win11.
No settings changes observed. I don't know, maybe it's a regional thing - I'm in the EU.
I regret replying, I was mostly joking about Windows Home but he main reason is because it requires a MS account though.
Well, when your joke sounds exactly like what a lot of people are actually saying, and you don't add the infamous /s tag, don't be surprised when someone doesn't interpret it as a joke.
I wish to run linux but dad doesn't understand shit about it so I'm not allowed to linux mint (chill im a noob) his laptop but he does want me to flash 11 on it because it's been used a decade no resets and storage is full. the forced update actually deleted a summary i needed for a book project for school lol
when i get my computer to work, ill linux the thing, whatever i find most comfortable with as a safe distro, multibooted with whatever i'm experimenting with. all i need is a power supply, a case, and an on button
In many if not most cases, you can just add the registry entry for the setting, even in home versions, though to your point, it's harder than it needs to be.
Really, it shouldn't be an issue in the first place, but here we are.
Really, it shouldn’t be an issue in the first place, but here we are.
The average user utilises this feature quite a bit (as exemplified by the fact that the feature still exists - the dreaded telemetry is what would tell Microsoft if it was a dead feature). The average user would have no clue how to turn it on (or even that it's a possibility). The "power user" has no problem turning the feature off.
Which is why the feature is on by default.
I'm skeptical. The average user is an office worker or creator that wants to get their task done and uses search engines of their choice in the browser of their choice for searching, not the start menu, because the start menu opens their query in edge instead of the browser they use.
I'm not convinced.
You know how every now and again the "pro user" community is pissed off because a useful feature gets axed?
That's because the "pro user" community goes out of their way to fully disable telemetry, which means - according to the data Microsoft receives - nobody is using said features. No point in maintaining something that nobody uses, so it gets the axe.
Web search is not only still around, it's being developed, and will get extra features in the upcoming updates.
It's complicated for the average user,
The irony that M$ does this to its users
Group Policy is not intended to be used by average users, it's for system admins.
Average users have Settings, in which you need to click five times to get the same result as going through GP gives you.
Not sure what's ironic about that.
If this comment was suggesting a Linux command to fix an issue on Reddit, rather than Windows aerobics on Lemmy, it'd have a thousand comments about how Linux is not ready for end users because nobody wants to browse obscure options to fix usability problems.
But we all know that Windows isn’t ready for end users…
They still didn't open a command line
True. They opened a dialogue box that uses a 2007 UI, changed one specific obscure policy, "enabled" the policy to "disable" the feature (how intuitive!) and are now praying it doesn't reset after a system update. All of that to be able to use search, a feature computers had mastered in 2002. Let's also hope Group Policy Editor is enabled on their version of Windows.
How user friendly! So lucky he didn't have to use a command line interface!
I'm not your enemy here, I'm using cachyOS right now, I'm just saying how the layman thinks, and they are deeply afraid of a black screen to type commands.
Win + r and running gpedit.exe is simply a terminal command with extra steps.
I thought gpedit was a command line?
someone please correct me, I'm kinda confused
... Until the next update enables it again
lol yeah, but to be fair group policy usually doesn't reset... Until it does. If it were a managed device the domain controller or MDM (Intune) would be resetting it every time you log in so it would stay off but with local group policy you don't have that kind of guarantee. Strangely to me Intune doesn't use grop policy and instead uses a separate configuration API that it calls "Configuration Service Providers" that can lock these settings too.
One of the reasons I run linux at home is that I don't need to do this for my own computer that has been pretty stable on Debian with XFCE going on 20 years (different hardware too, just migrated home).
new linux user here (or trying to be, when i get a power supply, case, power button for frankenstein)
tips? also which distros, de, wm, etc would you recommend (yes im this new, i installed mint twice and grandma thinks its windows, so we're good. also its just on her 1 computer she almost never touches)
that sort of thing on my work computer pissed me off so much that I finally swapped to Linux on two of my computers at home
The Windows start menu is completely useless now. I know they pushed using the search to find apps, but I never used it that way except as a last resort.
I've been on Mint for just over a year, now. I'll never go back.
By find apps, do you mean the ones I installed already or ones in their marketplace or whatever?
Because I've never been able to have it find my own god damn programs that I installed locally and fully given up on ever using the start menu.
I despise that it defaults to a web search if it can't find what I'm looking for, which is most often a very real setting that I know exists...
How does it not work? My Win11 start menu is flawless, start typing receive app, no ads.
This is shocking to me. I've got a success rate of maybe 20%, the other times it will search the web for something, list a top option that's completely unrelated to my search while the app with the the exact same name as the term I searched is right below it. Granted that second one is fine-ish, but I'm used to Linux where muscle memory gas me pressing enter as soon as I've typed what I want, and if I do that on windows it starts the wrong app.
Just throwing this out there, you can turn off web search in the windows search bar... I believe it requires editing local group policy or registry, but it's an easy tweak that you shouldn't have to do again
It should not require this, but for those of us stuck on Windows, full or part time, doing that does make using it marginally more tolerable
Try running MMC…
I know this is the wrong audience, but you can type cmd into explorer's address bar and it will launch a terminal in that directory (I think this works with any command in your path)
I'm more of a shift-right click > PowerShell kind of person, but this is good to know
I'm a windows key "cmd" enter person
I still need to use Windows for work so I appreciate it, I didn't know that one
But OP wanted Terminal, not cmd.exe They're not the same thing.
type "wt" instead of "cmd" then
Indeed. Also, tried this when I saw it and was surprised that, not only did the Terminal app show up first, but I saw no ads in the start menu at all. Turns out the settings I set on my Windows 11 partition back in 2022 are still there, and I just don't see stuff like this.
Like yes, I prefer Linux and wish Windows 11 didn't have so much crap like this, but... It's so easy to turn most of it off and move on. Changed them once when I set up this machine and haven't touched them since. Maybe I'm lucky, but I never had an update change back settings, either.
this is actually incredible, thanks
Another option: use windows+r and type the exact name of the executable, the first time, and then it will remember it next time.
Also, can right click on the start menu and then click terminal
I can’t believe the stuff windows users put up with.
It all makes so much more sense when you accept the fact that the vast majority of the population doesn't know what the Windows Terminal is, but instead can tell you every detail about Taylor Swift's engagement.
Sorry for your loss. Linux is there for you though.
Eh, people put up with much worse shit than this in the grand scheme of things.
they shouldn't have to though. windows didn't used to be like this. it's sad to see the way it's been enshittified.
Windows users likely disabled that shit when they first installed the OS and never looked back.
Much the same as Linux users tweak the OS to their tastes.
actually no. most users don't and they don't know how to change it, and when they do whether its because they have to or because its annoying and they nearly break the system 3 times, and when they reboot it so the changes take effect, it reverts all changes made
but hey, at least they don't have to touch a command line or terminal
It started off like you were trying to say something factual but then it became clear you're completely exaggerating so I have no idea if you even believe anything you said.
And then you finished up with a random dig at people who don't want to use the terminal. Is this Slashdot in the early 2000s? Why are you shitting on people for using what they feel more comfortable with? Do you have infinite time to get familiar with everything in your life in order to use what, in the long term, is most effective (in your opinion)? Do you shit on people who drive automatic cars for "being afraid of the clutch" or on people who hire someone to install a light switch for fearing to "touch the circuit breaker"?
sorry made that when i was tired and my thoughts can not be coherently put in words when I am tired
it looks like i was trying to be sarcastic/make a joke
i'm also shit at the terminal so no, there is no superiority or anything, i'll break something if i touch settings or terminal. i was probably trying to make a joke and trying to make it somewhat relatable, but all intent is lost because i don't know right now
I typed "add or remove programs" which is verbatim the name of the shortcut, clicked enter, and it searched Bing for the phrase.
Windows search bar is useless.
Certainly it looks like your trying to post a meme on Lemmy 👍🔥 Do you need help with that? Here's my top memes brought to you by Raid Of Warfare get the new frog togs skin only $4.99.
Would you like to open this in edge? 💪🤔
Would you like to open this in edge? 💪🤔
I spent time over the holidays setting up edge on a relative's laptop.
One where I could't enable the play store.
Long story short, he has to run two bash scripts and can use it through a VM with debian 12 with KDE, because I tried to install wine on there last year.
jfc thats stupid
why did they want edge in linux? (if im understanding correctly)
Because he is the star of the hit IRL game "Boomers & Banks"
Someone told him to buy a Chromebook, and then he got a mail from his bank that he had to stop using Microsoft explorer and start using edge instead, so he wanted me to install edge on his Chromebook.
Can't log in to admin menu, had to launch Linux VM in Chromebook.
DNS kept resetting so i made a script to update DNS and one to launch KDE
wow thats stupid its literally in the name of the device
... Edge is in Chromebook's name?
no the lack of edge is in the device name
sorry wording while tired is wonderful
I'm hearing a lotta bitchin' about Windows and not enough uninstalling.
survivorship bias - those who have uninstalled, are not bitching about windows anymore
Can personally confirm, linux has been such a blissful experience all the frustration just evaporated, no need for such reckless hate.
Obligatory "If they choose the 'Netflix Quick Picks' route, at least they should recommend 'The Terminal' starring Tom Hanks!"
as a linux user (so, genetically superior in every way) i do not have this issue. hahaha....ah.
.... sudo app install ....... a friend?
You forgot to mention that you use Arch BTW.
then it would be
sudo pacman friend
or something like that. im not that fluent in arch, but i'm pretty sure
flatpak install companion.app 🥲
fuck flatpak
also how do i get it to stop gaslighting me into "i installed it in location" btw it says the place it installed it is real but i can't find it I think flatpack is lying
sudo apt install friend
aww it didn't work :(
As a Windows user - same. I have no clue where people are getting these screenshots from, I haven't seen anything like that, ever. Maybe a regional thing, I'm in the EU.
pov you just confessed that you're a windows user
Extremist fundamentalism of any kind should be considered a mental illness.
sarcasm, however, is a sign of intelligence, as is the ability to recognize it.
sudo app install … a friend?
sudo apt install fortune
just run that once in a while for jokes. feed it into espeak if you want it to talk to you
EDIT : 'fortune | tee /dev/tty | espeak'
So, we moving to Linux?
I like debian, cause its old and boring like me.
I like Devuan, because Debian went to the dark side.
I just tried this and the terminal app is the first thing to show up.
Yeah, this is bullshit
How is it bullshit? You clearly see the screenshot.
Let me lay this out for you: you've seen a screenshot - which may be real, or may not be, since screenshots are easy to fake - which backs a narrative which you and this service generally buy into. When that is pushed back on you don't go, "huh, yeah I guess this might not be the slam dunk it's presented as" but instead dig your heels in.
I booted up a windows machine and checked, and the first suggestion is the terminal application. I don't know if the difference is due to trickery or misconfiguration, but I do know that it's not particularly supportive of the narrative that you clearly subscribe to when a bunch of people don't even get the supposed bad behaviour.
Assuming that all the people who don't get the same result just turned off some option: my Linux laptop had an issue where it didn't work properly with monitors behind MST hubs. I spent hours finding an imperfect workaround and dealing with said imperfections until eventually (years later) it was fixed. In comparison, finding and disabling whatever option this might be controlled by takes a few minutes (I assume - like I said, I can't remember disabling it, if indeed I did, but I'm sure it wasn't complicated else I would remember)
Now, I still prefer Linux; it's the right trade-off for me most of the time. But y'all could stand to be less fuckin religious about it. Most people, I would think, would take the 5 minutes to google and disable something they don't like over the hours of time I've wasted for this one issue.
Let me lay this out for you: you’ve seen a screenshot - which may be real, or may not be, since screenshots are easy to fake
I ain't gonna bother reading any more of your comment than that, because the tone of your first sentence tells me everything I need to know about what you're going to say. below is the page from microsoft themselves covering the advertisements in windows, specifically saying they will push products and services relevant to the personalized information they have on your usage. the advertisements have been covered by dozens of journalists since early 2024. just because you don't want to admit it, doesn't make them any less real. have a nice day.
here's the Microsoft support page on advertisements. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy-settings-for-recommendations-offers-in-windows-11-807608ee-3de2-4498-8e7c-eb10d655567f
If you choose to turn on Personalized offers, we will use information about your device and how you use it, including Windows diagnostic data, in combination with your account info and data collected by other Microsoft products and services to offer you personalized tips, ads, and recommendations to enhance your Windows experiences. Personalized offers include suggestions on how to customize and optimize Windows, as well as ads and recommendations for Microsoft and third-party products and services, features, apps, and hardware to enhance your Windows experiences. For example, Windows might tell you about new features to help you get the most out of your device. If you stream movies in your browser, Windows might recommend an app from the Microsoft Store that streams more efficiently. Or, if you are running out of space on your hard drive, Windows might recommend you try OneDrive or purchase hardware to add more storage.
I ain’t gonna bother reading any more of your comment than that
Then don't reply.
here’s the Microsoft support page on advertisements.
If you choose to turn on
Literally the best-case scenario for you is that you're incensed over an optional feature.
Now go back and do the bare fucking minimum and read my comment before replying, since that's what we could now be discussing instead of me complaining about how lazy you are.
Literally the best-case scenario for you is that you’re incensed over an optional feature.
personalized advertising is on by default. you have to opt out, the support page lied on that one detail. turning it off does not turn off advertisements, it just makes them generalized to people in your area because the advertising is not optional. this is pretty basic, and how all advertising platforms work, not just microsoft. and you know that, you're just pretending you don't.
Now go back and do the bare fucking minimum
I'm not gonna waste my time reading novels by fanboys just because your feelings are hurt. you're under no obligation to like that. you can rage and throw a fit if you want, but I'm not going to play your game because I'm under no obligation to humor you in any way.
now, are we done here, or do you want to whine at me some more about how the thing that microsoft announced themselves can't be true because a corporation would never be mean to you?
fanboys
See, now you're typing falsehoods because you didn't bother reading for fifteen seconds. How embarrassing for you.
I'll take that as you giving up. Good. Now as I said before, have a nice day.
Can you recreate it?
that's a pretty silly thing to say, considering multiple technology websites have been posting similar screenshots and reporting on this for well over a year, ever since it was announced the ads were coming. was it bullshit when PC Mag reported on it? when CNET reported on it? when any one of the dozens of other sites did? was it bullshit when Microsoft themselves said they were coming?
it's bullshit because why? you fanboy microsoft? ok, that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion, but ads all over Windows is a fact of life now, and no amount of denial from you is going to change the objective reality. they've said they are going to be pushing advertising to more areas of windows. they don't give a shit if their users don't want to believe that. they didn't ask for your opinion on the matter.
Can you recreate it?
I would never subject myself to that sort of enshitified corporate bullshit. I value my time far too much to use windows. so to answer your question, I refuse to debase myself by recreating it. if you're into that sort of stuff I won't kink shame you too much, but that ain't for me, fam.
So that’s a no then
you're not particularly gifted with an overabundance of smarts, are you?
Here’s what I am gifted with: VMWare workstation pro and a Windows 11 25H2 iso. Just did a fresh install of Win 11 Home, and shockingly enough, TERMINAL IS THE FIRST RESULT FOR TERMINAL IN THE START MENU. No IMDB listing at all. So unless you are gonna to try and recreate the screenshot above, like I just did, STFU.
STFU
...or what?
Or nothing you clown. Nobody cares.
yes, I did, you just didn't have any retort to it. we're still waiting on you to explain why it's bullshit when microsoft announced it themselves and it's been covered on dozens of tech journalism sites since early 2024. there's literally a toggle in the control panel to turn personalized ads off.
You were wrong about this from the beginning, so go back to reading CNET and jerking off about Linux superiority.
see? I showed you. you can't handle it so you're just crashing out and refusing to even bother trying to refute it, because you know I'm fucking right.
here's the Microsoft support page on advertisements. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy-settings-for-recommendations-offers-in-windows-11-807608ee-3de2-4498-8e7c-eb10d655567f
If you choose to turn on Personalized offers, we will use information about your device and how you use it, including Windows diagnostic data, in combination with your account info and data collected by other Microsoft products and services to offer you personalized tips, ads, and recommendations to enhance your Windows experiences. Personalized offers include suggestions on how to customize and optimize Windows, as well as ads and recommendations for Microsoft and third-party products and services, features, apps, and hardware to enhance your Windows experiences. For example, Windows might tell you about new features to help you get the most out of your device. If you stream movies in your browser, Windows might recommend an app from the Microsoft Store that streams more efficiently. Or, if you are running out of space on your hard drive, Windows might recommend you try OneDrive or purchase hardware to add more storage.
cry more about it all you want, but Microsoft themselves say you are wrong, and I am right.
Ok pal. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
what's gonna help me sleep at night is you finally being honest and admitting that Linux is superior.
Nah. You just don’t know how to computer good enough.
says the one still using the OS made for boomers who can't figure out how to send an email. you can talk about people "computer"ing good enough when you take the training wheels off, kiddo.
lol. Says the Mint user.
even if it was Mint, it would still be a step above what you're using. I recommend you try Mint when you finally decide to stop eating crayons.
Hit me back when you graduate to RHEL
you mean the dumbed-down Fedora spinoff that offers enterprise support for corporations that can't figure out Linux by themselves? I don't need to pay for somebody to hold my hand, but thanks.
congrats on being handy enough with Google to find a random distro name to toss out there. pity the one you picked was for chumps who got scammed into paying for something that's free.
Know what I love about you Linux fanbois? So. Fucking. Easy. To. Bait.
That’s a lot of words for “distro I’ve never used before“
you baited me into roasting you over the coals. well done. the only reason we're still talking is because we made a bet over matrix on how long I can keep you responding. I figure you're the kind of person who can't walk away without getting the last word, so I expect you'll keep feeding the troll for a day or two until you give up.
Good luck on your quest to be a winner. Sorry if this kept you up all night.
Not bullshit. I don't use it other than at work and its constantly doing bullshit like this. Just because you're not seeing it doesn't mean it doesn't happen to others.
So you can’t recreate the screenshot either?
Did I say I can reproduce it reliably or that it happens every single time? It's obviously an intermittent issue or everyone would be able to reproduce it immediately. I don't have Windows at home so I can't even try. But good try, I guess? Don't believe me, I genuinely do not give a shit.
Seems like you give a big ol shit
Stay mad bro
giiirl i don't return to work until the end of january. you're but a gnat in the wind. blocking you just cuz i don't care to see notifications from you. have the day you deserve
👍
Shhhh… that doesn’t fit the narrative.
Thankfully, there are easy to access and use tools to completely rid yourself of the bullshit, ads, and telemetry within Windows. 
Mine too:
FYI, you don't have to use any third party tools and I didn't, either. Step 1 is to run the Enterprise LTSC IoT version of Windows (either 10 or 11). The consumer versions of Windows are extra bullshit, as we all know by now.
Remove the Windows Store via Powershell (you probably have to run as an administrator):
Get-AppxPackage -allusers *WindowsStore* | Remove-Appxpackage
That removes the store suggestions. It also removes the store entirely, as well as the ability to install store apps. Obviously don't do this if you are one of the 0.1% of users who actually use the Windows Store for some twisted reason.
Then in gpedit.msc / Group Policy Editor:
Local Computer Policy \ Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Search
- Allow Cloud Search → Disabled
- Allow Cortana → Disalbed
- Allow Search Highlights → Disabled
- Do Not Allow Web Search → Enabled (gets rid of the internet search)
- Don't search the web or display web results in search → Enabled (probably overridden by the above, I set it anyway)
Local Computer Policy \ User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Start Menu And Taskbar
- Remove Personalized Website Recommendations From The Start Menu → Enabled
- Do Not Search Internet → Enabled
There are settings for other nags and irritations in here that you may also want to configure to your tastes as well.
Also:
Local Computer Policy \ User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Windows Copilot
- Turn off Windows Copilot → Enabled
This is great advice, but I think we can all agree it absolutely shouldn't be necessary. All this ad bullshit, store suggestions, Cortana, Copilot, web search, etc. should be opt in, or not exist at all.
Might as well link a few:
However, do note the massive caveat of these tools is that they are proprietary, closed-source tools that must be run with administrative access to your PC, and I have yet to find a satisfactory open-source alternative.
If it works, it works, but I do question the security implications of allowing these tools that level of unfettered access to your system. If possible, I highly recommend giving Linux Mint a try, rather than relying on sketchy tools to debloat a sketchy OS.
I've been using Chris Titus's WinUtil : https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil
I have no idea if it is open source or not, I'm not really sure how to check that. I'm pretty sure that his utility includes shutup10 within it. Regardless, yeah, I should have linked it. Thanks for the reminder. It's been a fantastic utility and I've been very happy with it. Between that and WinAeroTweaker, I have my system set up pretty much precisely how I want it.
I am so close to jumping on the Linux train though. Not for any usability reasons within Windows, as I said, my install is pretty much perfect for my needs at this point. More of a moral stand against a company which I vehemently disagree with their stance and actions in the world. The only problem I keep coming back to is that 1 or 2 of my games won't work on Linux due to anti-cheat bs. That's pretty much my only sticking point now.
It's MIT licensed and has 223 contributors; pretty sure it's open source.
PS: it's 99.9% Power shell script, which is a scripting language and so by definition open source
Cool, I didn't know that. Thanks!
But does it revert after an update
No, I've never had that happen. Been running it like this for a few years now between two systems.
. . . how about that.
All the problems these people bitch about with Windows never happen to me. Maybe it's because I started with a plain vanilla ISO, no preloaded crap. 🤷🏻♂️
Best part? When I mention that I'm not having these problems I get downvoted.
I've definitely had this happen to me on Windows, more than once. I can't remember what I searched exactly, but I typed it in and hit enter, assuming I'd get the installed app with whatever name I typed, but instead it opened the browser with some online search results. Very annoying.
I'm sure it can be turned off, and it probably isn't as common as it's portrayed online, but it does happen, and honestly... It should never happen. The start menu is not the place for generic Internet searching. Period.
I don't know where you are, but it might be something about being within the EU. I am in the EU, and never get any of the ads and other shit people complain about. Like the biggest complaint I see about smart tv's is that they'll show ads on the smart screen, or install random apps, and neither my current Samsung tv, or my previous LG tv has ever done anything like that.
I have to use Windows at work and it's inconsistent. Sometimes I can do a search in the start menu and it'll immediately pop up with exactly what I was searching for. Other times I'll get something like the OP shows. And other times it just returns nonsense results. I don't get it.
it wouldn't show you this ad unless you typically watch this sort of thing. the advertising is personalized, although I believe you can opt out of that in the control panel.
This is the same kind of response when someone denies global warming/climate change because they looked outside and the weather around them appears normal.
That’s a pretty wild stretch.
It’s a like for like comparison, although I guess mine was done in 2026 so the meme is outdated.
So in other words, Microsoft saw the backlash specifically about searching "terminal", so they fixed that one specific bug.
Yes. They cared so much about memes like this that they fixed one bespoke search term.
They're in a massive PR situation with Windows 10 eol, and clearly an issue with tons of people doing literally everything they can do not switch. Social media is full of people complaining about it, and this goes viral. A simple tweak to the update they were going to put out anyway, and now it cannot be reproduced, so the people who were complaining look like liars.
Is it really that difficult to believe?
I just want to make sure you’re asserting that they went in and hardcoded it so that “terminal” pulls this up?
VS a more realistic “people complained about search and it’s been improved”
Or the real scenario: it’s a meme joke that doesn’t factually represent real life but is instead supposed to by hyperbole.
The techno-tribes asserting nefarious intent for the other techno-tribes is so so so very human.
My brother, does your keyboard not have a Print Screen key on it?
I don’t use Lemmy or Piefed on that computer.
It’s just for playing games. No other activity.
I believe the claim that Windows search is “indeterminate”, and won’t give the same answer each time. I’ve had things I’ve tried that turned out like that.
Doesn't this just prove that the search is inconsistent though... Unless you're claiming the original screenshot is photoshopped/faked?
The inconsistencies in the win 11 search as well as the forced advertisements on a device that I not only own, but also built is ultimately what pushed me away from windows on all my devices. I don't need a search bar that gets confused because it also needs to serve ads that are relevant to my telemetry they've collected, just find what I'm looking for and return it.
But equally I'm an engineer by trade, so learning a new OS isn't a daunting prospect for me, I can fully appreciate that these are issues that wouldnt bother everyone/aren't significant enough for people to want to make a change.
My claim is that the picture above is a fluke and what it may have been and it has since been improved.
The meme can be accurate, as were now in 2026 and not 2025 so it may have been fixed.
That’s a pretty good result. I often can’t even find Windows features via search anymore. Or stuff like their App Store gets opened and just… hangs, on a brand new install.
Love how this is what the world's talented and well paid humans are making.
to be fair, the talent and paygrade doesn't matter if the management is ass. Modern dey corpos are a disaster in that regard
Talented in what
p000l probably means the programmers not the ceos?
Maybe it’s my Win 11 Pro or the fact that I took 2 minutes to go to Settings and click a few toggles, but I don’t have any of this. 🤷♂️
A lot of these annoyances can be disabled somewhere in the Settings, but the problem is that there are so many of them tucked away all over the place. Windows 10 (I haven't used 11) was better than Windows 8 in terms of how unified the settings were, but I remember a few instances where I had to go rummaging through the skeletons in Windows' closet in order to change some stuff (e.g. having to go through the old-style control panel rather than the Settings).
Furthermore, Windows has the annoying habit of changing settings after updates, and it's an unnecessary inconvenience to have to go traipsing through the settings again and again to revert unwelcome changes. Even if it's only the minority of settings that get changed, and if those changes aren't too frequent, it's still draining on one's executive function to make your PC actually behave how you want it to. People get burnt out, and then this contributes to them struggling to find the time and brain to go through changing things.
Mostly though, I am just irked that it's necessary to go into the settings to turn this stuff off. I am a very techy person, and thus I enjoy tinkering (or perhaps "I enjoy tinkering, and thus I am a very techy person), and stuff like this annoys me so much because I know that I'm in the minority when it comes to willingness to wrestle my tech into the shape I want it. Most people won't go to that effort, even if it'll only take 2 minutes — the key thing here is that many of them don't know it'll only take a couple of minutes, and I don't blame them for that.
Good software needs to have sensible default settings. If that were the case, then I think we'd see more non-techy people figuring out what particular settings align with their preferences. As it stands though, configuring Windows to work in a sensible manner is a Task, and the activation energy required for that means that many won't do it.
I know I have to turn this shit off every time, and I even have a program that reverts my settings in one click. But I still forget every damn "security update" until I notice that fucking copilot is on again. I will never, ever find it acceptable for my changes to be reverted on a regular basis. When any other program fails to keep my settings, it's a bug and it's a bad enough one that I usually don't use the software. But Microsoft keeps doing it on purpose and it absolutely infuriates me that there isn't more of a backlash.
I really wish I could get more of my stuff working in Linux to make a complete switch. I don't even need all of it; I'll give some stuff up.
To turn off Copilot via Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Copilot. Double-click "Turn off Windows Copilot," set it to Enabled, and restart your computer.
It will never toggle back on.
I'll give that a shot, thank you! That will alleviate the latest, greatest annoyance at least.
I'll still have to run OOSU10 for like three dozen other settings I can't even remember, but that's never going to change. It shouldn't be that hard just to keep your settings.
I really do appreciate the tip, though. I will enjoy having copilot fuck off forever.
It's a mess of proprietary software and drivers. Some of it I hopefully can get working, it'll just take time. I've had a friend suggest a windows VM before, so I'll definitely look into Quickemu and see how much I can manage. I swear one day I shall be free!
what apps became uninstall-able
Windows 10 (I haven't used 11) was better than Windows 8 in terms of how unified the settings were
A bar so low we need a geological survey to find it.
even a geological survey wouldn't find it, the bar is buried below the 9 hells, right under where it's creator will be
this is a joke plz don't hurt me ms
A lot of these annoyances can be disabled somewhere in the Settings, but the problem is that there are so many of them tucked away all over the place
Search -> Settings -> "Disable web search" + "Disable suggested apps".
This is the "all over the place" you're talking about?
Furthermore, Windows has the annoying habit of changing settings after updates,
I had Windows 10 since day 1 (actually, since day -90, was test-driving it for three months before it went public release) and used Windows 11 since day 1.
Never seen any of this shit, not once.
Most people won’t go to that effort
Most people don't see an issue and many actually utilise that feature. How do we know this? Because telemetry is a thing and MS hasn't axed it yet.
Good software needs to have sensible default settings
"Sensible defaults" depend on the target audience. Techy people can turn all of this off, non-techy people won't think to turn it on. That's why, by default, it's on.
I had Windows 10 since day 1 (actually, since day -90, was test-driving it for three months before it went public release) and used Windows 11 since day 1.
Never seen any of this shit, not once. But, again, instead of fucking around with weird scripts or registry edits, I just disabled web search and search suggestions in Settings, like a normal person.
how dare you not having the same experience as the picture in the ragebait article?
I'm amazed the AI didn't suggest a cancer clinic near you.
Holy shit. Mac user here, that is wild.
Spotlight isn't much better, ads creeping in, and in App Store, Apple TV, and tons of popups for apple subscriptions now
I guess I’m not running the latest macOS right now so I’m not seeing this stuff.
I have disabled everything except calculator, calendar and settings in results from apps and it's somehow usable. Can't disable stupid buttons.
I said show me the true terminal!
Of course! Call to action button is missing, should be a green, vibrating "PURCHASE" button
The one thing I REALLY enjoy about the start menu kind of doubling as a Bing search is I can type in unit conversions and it'll do them then and there without busting out a calc or opening a web browser. All other cases are like this where it's annoying nonsense.
But other operating systems (as well as Windows with power toys if you hit alt + space) do this without having to integrate a search engine into the system search lol
I'd expect a serious OS to have this by default, without internet. gnome-calculator can take in typed input for any conversion - volume, weight, currency; without an internet connection, right on the calculator screen.
They did say without opening a calculator app... However, with KDE I'm pretty sure you can set up krunner to do this, and in that case you can literally just start typing while on your desktop, and it will start the search/conversion at the top of the screen
I want to upvote and downvote you at the same time lol.
That's what alt accounts are for right....right?
Do you hit alt+space at all? I accidentally discovered it just recently, hit it by accident, hit escape real fast, but then the mental picture registered in my head and I was like hmm, but couldn't figure out what I hit. The software I use for work has all sorts of ctrls and alts in it, and soi resigned myself to having to stumble upon it again, which fortunately I did. It's mainly a quick and easy calculator, you type some equation, and then you can have it automatically go to your clipboard.
This may just be a power toys thing, I have no idea, I use tools that are beyond my ability, whatever happens happens.
It's a power toys thing indeed
Just Install Linux
Win+R, wt, Enter
OR
Win-X, I
The start menu has sucked for a long time, but you don't have to use it. I cringe when I see other IT folks using its search feature to launch common apps.
At least they are improving the app list with a nice category view and removing the All Apps button (still in preview). That'll at least upgrade it from hot garbage to okayish.
You cringe, when you see other IT folks use it, but it's literally what it was built for and how it works on Linux to this day. (And even in a well managed corporate environment it works 80+% of the time)
And it's not like what you wrote works for any other application.
Funnily enough I started using the Win+Shift+Ctrl+Alt-shortcuts for OneNote, Excel and Word unironically as of late, because the start menu got sooo slow.
Right?! I love the people giving 'help' on how to launch the terminal in other ways, lol, but, this was the worst of them.
This isn't OOP saying "OMG! For terminal specifically, Windows is making it so difficult for me! Please, someone, show me another way to get to the terminal! Bonus points if you can be a jerk while doing so!" It's them saying "Windows start menu search is fucking broke as hell and here is an example"
Saying that people are 'cringe' for expecting the search to work isn't helpful at all (people giving tips on other ways to get to programs though, yeah, that can be helpful to try and help others work around MS breaking basic functionality). This is functionality that has been in Windows since Windows 7 and has been in every OS with a GUI that I've used for a really long time ... expecting it to work isn't absurd in the least.
Can't we all just join together in our disappointment/hatred of the Start Menu Search functionality and the enshittification of the OS in general rather than having to try and make it into a "I'm so much better than you because I do this in a power user way"? Especially when that power user way isn't even useful for a lot of applications!
It's been broken and slow as hell since Vista. So yes, when IT "professionals" haven't figured out other ways to run common programs by now, it hints at how remedial their skills are.
Modern start menu search was designed to drive users toward Bing and give MS-favored results to users. It's hot garbage and has been for a while. So yeah, if you rely on as an IT pro it you probably aren't very technical.
You can launch any common inbox or Office app and most MMC panels from the Win-R menu. And most of them haven't changed since Windows 2000 / Office 95. Not being able to adapt and improve upon how you perform your job is sad.
then you probably aren't very technical.
Lol.
I get more frustrated at how many people, especially IT folks, don't get that these anti-features are configurable.
5 minutes (at most) in regedit and/or Group Policy to disable this bullshit entirely? No, let's add a three second mental hitch where I have to recall the magic key combo every time I want to open the program. And still leave the problem in place for everything else.
I just finished converting the last computer in my house to Linux. I do have a couple laptops that dual boot with Win 10 LTSC, but only use it for some niche things that absolutely require it.
I have installed Open-Shell on the win11 system I cannot avoid (Thanks for nothing ASUS for your total lack of effort in supporting standards on your laptops, BTW. Keyboard? Nah, we'll make its USB descriptors totally different just for the lulz. Sound? Intel HD, but why make it work with standard Linux drivers?).
https://open-shell.github.io/Open-Shell-Menu/
It's really good and makes the system feel like Win7 at its height in this respect.
https://programming.dev/post/41677333
Seriously. Holiday season is normally when family members ask for tech support. I couldn't believe how much work it was to just navigate a Windows 11 machine.
Don't they call it command prompt on Windows?
Yes, but there's an official microsoft app named Terminal, and it's honestly a very good application. You can do CMD and Powershell, as well as WSL, all in the same native windows 11 app.
I checked on my work VM that sadly runs Win11. There is a Terminal app now, but it opens powershell on this system at least.
It does, but you can reconfigure it to open the old cmd.exe or even your WSL installation.
Lol
I wonder if it caches the web result because their other shit isn't bloat-y enough.
I remember the windows XP days when the operating system was just that, and not a system designed to track the user and extract as much value/money out of them as possible. It was simple enough that even my dad could use it, if I have to get my dad to use his laptop now he can barely even comprehend the start menu, and thus he mostly just sticks to his phone, I for one am moving to Linux soon as I backup all my files and never dealing with this shit again
I procrastinated doing this for years, then finally set up a NAS a few months ago and backed everything up so that I could make the switch. It was worth it.
XP phoned home. Win2K was closer to the pinnacle of Windows development.
Phones have already become the mainstream computer, Microsoft is accelerating that trend.
Why would they, they don't have a mobile OS platform, I guess they make enough money now from enterprise services other than the core OS that they don't care much about the OS anymore at least not on the individual consumer level.
Microsoft is accelerating that trend with incompetence and greed, not as a strategy.
I managed to squeeze another year of updates from Windows 10 we'll see how things go....
Switched to 11 to keep up with our employees updating their laptops. It's been completely pain free. I managed 130 laptops at my last job, no problems. No idea how people are getting crap such as pictured.
You could use command palette. Works like a charm. No ads.
What dont people just disable that?
Used an ancient tool i found on github 5-6 years ago to disable Windows updates called WUmgr, still using Windows 10 and last update was sometime in July, the program works as intended, have no plans to update to last version of windows because this one works just fine and will keep using it until i finally switch to Linux.
I took this approach at windows 7's end of life. Eventually you will notice little things breaking, then there will be a watershed moment that will drive you to linux very suddenly, so be ready for that. In my case, it was Steam and Firefox completely breaking simultaneously.
Honestly there's not much that's holding me back from switching to Linux, i don't play that many online games, just Warframe at the moment which is kinda disappointing because it's mostly f2p and they still don't have Linux support and i mostly just play it on and off lately because 7 years is a long time to play 1 game, i mostly enjoy offline games and most should work on Linux, the only one that is worrying is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. G.A.M.M.A. and it could run better on Linux but i'm too lazy at the moment to switch to Linux completely, i do have 2 laptops and 1 old PC running Linux Mint and it's a surprisingly smooth transition, so yeah probably going to delay it till stuff starts breaking then switch and be like "i should have done it sooner".
Looks like Warframe works just fine on Linux: https://www.protondb.com/app/230410
Haven't checked in a while, does seem to have issues here and there but maybe the great Windows exodus will inspire DE to look into proper Linux support.
to me, this was like that that piece of sci literature where the protagonist could not even see the scenery, because it was so alien to them.
this has been a thing since early 2024.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy-settings-for-recommendations-offers-in-windows-11-807608ee-3de2-4498-8e7c-eb10d655567f
If you choose to turn on Personalized offers, we will use information about your device and how you use it, including Windows diagnostic data, in combination with your account info and data collected by other Microsoft products and services to offer you personalized tips, ads, and recommendations to enhance your Windows experiences. Personalized offers include suggestions on how to customize and optimize Windows, as well as ads and recommendations for Microsoft and third-party products and services, features, apps, and hardware to enhance your Windows experiences. For example, Windows might tell you about new features to help you get the most out of your device. If you stream movies in your browser, Windows might recommend an app from the Microsoft Store that streams more efficiently. Or, if you are running out of space on your hard drive, Windows might recommend you try OneDrive or purchase hardware to add more storage.
Searches the internet
Gets internet search results
"Yo what the fuck"
I think the complaint is that the start menu searches the Internet at all in the first place.
Step 1: Explicitly search not in browser but in menu designed to navigate your system Step 2: Hit enter to open first option because you just want to get there quickly Step 3: Automatically opens the browser you don't want to use to search for "family photos 2025" because it decided that was more important than opening the folder you made yesterday with all the family photos, aptly named "family photos 2025". Step 4: Generate returns for Microsoft's shareholders when they say Bing search volume went up.
No, this is blatantly false.
Searches start menu Gets sponsored internet results Yo, what the fuck.