I love the periodical "Let's finish setting up your PC" screens Windows springs on you before you get to desktop

They always give you a scare since it looks like Windows is booting into a recovery environment. Just had one, and the only options I had were "Remind me in 3 days" and "Continue".

It's always about Microsoft wanting you to set Edge as your default browser as well as trying to get you to log in on a Microsoft account and you have to individually decline every suggestion since you can't just skip the fucking thing.

Piss off, Microsoft

34 comments

This was a major reason that I switched to Linux.
I'm no zealot, no opinions on what others feel is best for them. However, this was annoying enough to make me feel like my computer was not in my control with the constant asks if I want to try 365 and forcing my wife to make a Microsoft account that she didn't want.
- The issue is Microsoft thinks they know what's best for you. Sure, Linux might not be for everyone, but Windows is for no one. Microsoft is so aggressive about forcing you into things, including things you've gotten rid of previously. It's really frustrating, so much that I eventually just got tired of dealing with them and switched. Linux has been great and nearly everything works perfectly, usually out of the box, except a few games with anti-cheat that haven't included Linux.
  
  I straight up removed onedrive. Microsoft can fuck off with the duplicate user folder (including a second Documents, downloads, and desktop folder). So damn confusing both before and after I understood what was going on.
- Ah yes, I forgot that it also wants to push 365 on you. I assume I'll need to get Linux on this laptop next year since it doesn't pass Win11 requirements.
  On my desktop Microsoft tries to sneakily push a Win11 upgrade as a regular system update every now and then.
- the thing about windows is that your computer is not in your control unless you ameliorate it, and even then theres some things that AME can't help you with
  
  Why does their guide have such a weird obnoxious tone? It's like the guide is trying to massage the egos of semi-technologically literate gmers.

I pretty much only use Windows at work (not my computer) and just the fact that it tries to shill shit like ChatGPT to you in the log-in screen sickens me. It's like a free-to-play mobile game except it is an operating system which you're theoretically supposed to pay $200 for. Then I have to look up all sorts of registry hacks just to do things like get the ordinary right-click menu back in the file browser because there isn't even an exposed option for it.
And it still doesn't even have grep.
This periodic 'let's set up your computer all over again' thing is a dark pattern designed to prey on people who aren't computer experts. There are people I care about, family and friends, who are not computer experts. The modern Internet and software landscape is incredibly user-hostile. When I set up computers for people, I take a lot of care to configure it in a way where these people aren't going to get sucked into some vendor lock-in, leak personal information all over the place, or get fooled into paying for Acrobat just so they can rotate a PDF. This delayed reconfiguration wizard is designed specifically to undermine this sort of careful hardening effort. It is bad enough that you need to spend four+ hours after installing Windows just to make it usable by changing dozens of settings and installing dozens of libre software packages to do things which ought to be included in a standard OS distribution.
- Speaking of shilling, back when Starfield came out Microsoft snuck in ads for Starfield into the "Windows spotlight" lock screen photo rotation. That stunt really pissed me off since it's one of the Windows 10 features I actually like
  I hate the slimy and overbearing way MS tries to keep hoisting its browser and MS accounts on you. I also hate all the useless clutter they shove into the OS interface, like MSN news, both in the Start Menu and as a separate taskbar widget. Don't need shitty celeb gossip, thank you
- mfw Windows still doesn't come with a package manager
  mfw you still can't remap hotkeys with OOTB Windows
  mfw you can't move the taskbar to the side of the screen without using regedit
  mfw you can't move files to another directory by dropping the files from one tab to another
  mfw right-clicking gives you a useless menu that nobody uses
  
  mfw Windows still doesn't come with a package manager
  I'm not a Windows-head (never owned a Windows PC), but MSI's seem to quack and waggle like a package. If you mean "they don't have a central repository", yeah, unless if you count their appstore or whatever they call it.

"Let's finish enabling the telemetry and tracking features."

All that money and Micro$oft still can't make a good browser.
- Mikkkro$oft
  
  Microshaft Winblows

Just wait until you have another Microsoft exclusive key on your new laptop because Microsoft wants a key for their new Copilot assistant garbage, and knowing Microsoft they will probably get their way because they can just tell OEMs to add it or they won't let them ship Windows on their laptops. I wonder how much Microsoft can get away with before people start to look for alternatives (Linux).
Introducing a new Copilot key for Windows 11 PCs
- : You stupid peons WILL like our chatbots
  For PCs without Copilot enabled, including those that aren't signed into Microsoft accounts, the Copilot key will open Windows Search instead (though this is sort of redundant, since pressing the Windows key and then typing directly into the Start menu also activates the Search function).
  VERY COOL

Since Windows 8 was released over 10 years ago, there's a repeated pattern where em-dollar sign introduces a bunch of bullshit that nobody fucking wants and a bunch of plucky Windows power users^TM design third-party tools to either get around or attempt to get rid of the bullshit that em-dollar sign wants to push. We can see this in Windows 8 when em-dollar sign got rid of the start menu and some Russian dude came up with classic shell (well technically he came up with it before Windows 8 was released, but the general point still stands). Em-dollar sign would eventually put back the start menu (with an inferior design with what they had in 2000, XP, Vista, or 7), but I haven't seen anything else where em-dollar sign faced enough backlash to get rid of some bullshit nobody asked for. This is a cat-and-mouse game where em-dollar sign will constantly enshittify their already shitty OS even more while those plucky Windows power users^TM expend more and more effort to essentially polish a turd.
All these debloater Powershell scripts, registry edits, third-party tools, Windows update stoppers are just workarounds. We all know what the actual solution is.

- You're completely right- I fucked up and there's no excuse. I will reflect on this failure and call up my old English teachers to let them know I let them down
  
  that's not what I meant. I'm sorry

didn't they have a whole lawsuit about this shit with IE? how is this still allowed?
- Microsoft never stopped bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. Instead, they integrated Internet Explorer directly into the file browser / graphical shell to the degree they could claim it was an essential component of the operating system. This tight coupling of the browser and the OS was an architectural and security nightmare, but they got their way despite losing the anti-trust case.
  Under the present political environment, this sort of anti-trust litigation is impossible. Silicon Valley has an incredibly powerful lobby in Washington, and all of the largest Silicon Valley firms are contractors for the Pentagon. They are effectively part of the state, and their acquiescence to the surveillance and security prerogatives of the state keeps them safe from this sort of retaliation. These firms are very close personally with the highest levels of military, intelligence, and law enforcement administration.