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Microsoft now permits uninstalling Edge, Bing, and OneDrive to adhere to the EU's Digital Markets Act.

These changes are only applicable to users in the EEA. For those outside the region, Windows will continue to function as it is!

The changes to Windows for DMA-compliance include:

  • You can now uninstall Edge and Bing web search using the built-in settings. Earlier, the option was greyed out.
  • Third-party web search application developers can now utilize the Windows search box in the taskbar using the instructions provided by Microsoft and choose any web browser to show results from the web.
  • Microsoft will no longer sign-in users to Edge, Bing, and Microsoft Start services during the initial Windows setup experience.
  • Data collected about the functioning of non-Microsoft apps, primarily bug detection and its effects on the OS, from Windows PCs will not be used for competitive purposes.
  • Microsoft, from now on, will need explicit user consent before combining data from the OS and other sources. It will also deliver new consent screens where required.
orosus ,

Does this EU's Digital Markets Act also applies for Android and all the preinstalled apps by Google and the phone manufacturer?

witchergeraltofrivia ,

For anyone looking for something like that right now - https://grapheneos.org/

CaptKoala ,

GrapheneOS user here, compared to my stock android pixel it's night and day, no sense of my phone spying on me.

I use almost entirely FOSS on the graphene one, I now do most of my daily phone activities on the graphene, and use the stock primarily for work (I refuse to taint the graphene phone just so I can do my job).

The installation was extremely simplistic compared to other custom android versions I've run. It was literally: plug in phone, click button, phone restarted itself, clicked another button, done.

kylian0087 ,

Hey I am also using GrapheneOS. And what you could do for work is setup a second profile that is not allowed to run when not active. That way it is fully isolated environment for work. Add to that that GrapheneOS lets you install Google related things inside a user profile without needing them to have root access. as some work related things might require google services.

CaptKoala ,

I have a second profile set up already, exclusively for Google play services and anything else I don't want on the main profile.

I might make a third exclusively for work, but as it stands the second phone actually makes more sense in that regard in terms of taxation, simplicity of use etc. no faffing about with profile switching, just check which colour phone and then slam that fingerprint down on the sensor.

I do however welcome suggestions, perhaps I should make a post rather than just lurking in the comments for once...

squozenode ,

The one issue I have with graphene is the incredibly broken backup, but they know that and are working on replacing it.

Other than that, rock solid.

CaptKoala ,

I've not yet messed with backup, there's nothing on this phone I would miss if it were lost, stolen or broken.

I do however have it's entire contents backed up manually to multiple locations, so even if the worst should happen, it would simply be a matter of transferring to a new device.

ego ,

Been on graphene for a few months now. Aside from a few apps that are over-reliant on the Google ecosystem, it's works fine. Would recommend. Battery is also a lot better with all the tracking and such removed.

EngineerGaming ,
@EngineerGaming@feddit.nl avatar

More like LineageOS because Graphene is only available on very specific, hyper-expensive devices. Or just expensive if you want one that is already out of support.

kylian0087 ,

Not really. Almost all the google pixels are supported. You do not need to get the pro versions if you don't want to.

EngineerGaming ,
@EngineerGaming@feddit.nl avatar

Normal, non-pro are expensive AF too. The non-pro Pixel 7 is around $500. The latest ones I remember seeing for $300 and under are Pixel 5.

kylian0087 ,

I mean if you are going to put GOS on it. Perhaps a second hand device is not a issue. Also non pro cost about 400 where I live.

EngineerGaming ,
@EngineerGaming@feddit.nl avatar

$400 is a whole lot for a phone as well.

orosus ,

If you buy them second hand they are not expensive, I bought recently a Pixel 6 in backmarket for 200€ and it works perfectly.

EngineerGaming ,
@EngineerGaming@feddit.nl avatar

6 barely has any Graphene support left - normal updates until next year and extended ones for just a few more.

orosus ,

In Graphene Os site, it says it has 3 years of support left. Normally my phones don't last that long. So it's fine for me, but obviouly I would recommend going for a newer Pixel version if you find a good deal.
Edit: typo.

EngineerGaming ,
@EngineerGaming@feddit.nl avatar

My phones usually last six years at least, three is nothing (and even then it is not "full" updates). Point is - Pixels are premium phones, so the ones that you would get for $200 would either be old models or quite used.

maynarkh ,

It does as per the law. I don't know whether Google is compliant as of yet.

turkishdelight ,

It applies to all 'Gatekeepers', including Google.

watcher ,

But I thought this was a crucial part of the operating system?!

MP3Martin , (edited )
@MP3Martin@programming.dev avatar

The Internet Explorer system stuff is still there, the difference is that when it launches as a normal browser, it automatically opens Edge instead of IE. (iirc)

lud ,

Yeah, internet explorer is integrated deeply in places you wouldn't expect.

helenslunch ,

Which is entirely unnecessary and done explicitly so they can pretend it is essential to the operation of the machine.

lud , (edited )

Nah, mostly it's just done stupidly many many years ago but MS being MS wants backwards compatibility.

Even MMC needs internet explorer for some stupid reason. It uses it to show HTML files or some shit.

fishos ,
@fishos@lemmy.world avatar

No, it's because IE was just a modified File Explorer to begin with. It was never its own independent software, but something cobbled together from already existing code. It's these constant dependencies that are the problem due to laziness and bad practice.

Look into League of Legends and how Skarner and Minions are a structurally important part of the games entire code for another example.

helenslunch , (edited )

IE died years ago.

Edge is Chromium.

fishos ,
@fishos@lemmy.world avatar

And yet it's code is still in there doing work. Way to fail t reading comprehension

helenslunch ,

No it's not. It's Chromium.

OfficerBribe ,

It is, specifically MS Edge WebView. For example new MS Teams and new Outlook client are using WebView. Widgets are using it as well as do many other things.

This uninstall will most likely still keep Edge present, it will just be somehow hidden / not as easily accessible.

woodenskewer , (edited )
@woodenskewer@lemmy.world avatar

how about fucking autopilot too instead of having to find a registry to disable it.

Edit: I'm dumb and don't know what I was even being mad at. I should have said copilot, that’s what I actually meant. I didn’t realize autopilot was a thing.

OfficerBribe ,

What do you mean. Autopilot is an enterprise feature. If you bypass Autopilot you are either circumventing your organization's policy or you bought a computer that was not removed from org properly.

_dev_null ,
@_dev_null@lemmy.zxcvn.xyz avatar

circumventing your organization’s policy

gasp

bane_killgrind ,

A literal felony!!

SynopsisTantilize ,

As the sys engineer for an organization that creates the policy....don't do that

Flax_vert ,

I'm going to do it

SynopsisTantilize ,

I'm gonna force my entire company to edge harder because of this policy! Long live edging. I hope they edge over chrome Everytime.

Flax_vert ,

Make them yahoo while you're at it

SynopsisTantilize ,

Sure! But I'll use a group policy to disable any searching via address bar so they have to go to "www.yahoo.com" I'll block any site that isn't prefixed with www. Manually

TonyTonyChopper ,
@TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz avatar

This incident has been reported

subtext ,

https://xkcd.com/838/

woodenskewer ,
@woodenskewer@lemmy.world avatar

I was given windows 10 pro with the computer I adopted. I didn't realize it was an enterprise feature.

OfficerBribe ,

Are we talking about this feature? If yes, you must simply ask company / school in which that computer is assigned to to remove it from their Autopilot list.

Clipboards ,
@Clipboards@lemmy.world avatar

Further, Microsoft has a support queue specifically for requesting removal if you can produce purchasing paperwork

... Not that anyone with technical chops should care. This will only ever impact you at OOBE, which is easily bypassed

woodenskewer ,
@woodenskewer@lemmy.world avatar

I should have said copilot, that's what I actually meant. I didn't realize autopilot was a thing.

OfficerBribe ,

Oppossed to me who somehow forgot Copilot is a thing :) Should have realized that.

I have it simply disabled in settings so it does not show up. Maybe it is not completely disabled and some parts of it are still running amd would need to apply policy to disable it, but can't say it bothers me much.

Darkassassin07 ,
@Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca avatar

Or you actually bought a 'pro' license in the hopes of being treated less like an insolent child by a device you own.

Clipboards ,
@Clipboards@lemmy.world avatar

Autopilot and Pro have absolutely no tie other than Pro being a requirement to leverage the enterprise feature

Darkassassin07 ,
@Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca avatar

Ahh shit, Freudian slip...

I thought we were talking about copilot. Microshafts desktop AI tool. Not autopilot, the corporate device deployment/lifecycle/recycling program...

I'd imagine most of the upvotes thought the same.

QuarterSwede ,
@QuarterSwede@lemmy.world avatar

Yup

turkishdelight ,

''Software you can't uninstall'' should not be a thing.

kylian0087 ,

Absolutely agree. Look at Linux. Want to uninstall the kernel? No problem! If it is a good idea you can argue about.

small44 ,

This need to be applied to smartphones

smileyhead ,

Imagine phones coming with a clean Android with the ability to install Google Play Services like a normal app 😌.

And documention to port other operating systems or new Android versions.

Burn_The_Right ,

The closest thing is Fairphone. Also, unfortunately, only available in Europe.

photonic_sorcerer ,

My Fairphone had a far from clean android install.

Burn_The_Right ,

Really? The Fairphone has bloatware on it? Can it at least be removed easily?

Why can't we just have nice things like basic phones and printers without a bunch of fucking trickery?

photonic_sorcerer ,

Bloatware consisting of default apps and google play store. Not what I'd call bloatware.

Burn_The_Right ,

Ahh. That all sounds fine to me.

muix ,

Same, but after unlocking the bootloader, it had a very clean LineageOS install.

hagelslager ,

Fairphone comes with standard Android? Unlocking the Fairphone to get a de-googled Android is easy for someone somewhat technically inclined.

Burn_The_Right , (edited )

My understanding was that the entire point of Fairphone was not to be under the thumb of a corporation and that would allow us to use our device how we want for as long as we want. If it was designed to be married to a corporation, that would make me distrust Fairphone as well.

hagelslager ,

In a way it does, but by default it comes with a fairly standard android. It's more about the hardware modules and repairability than about the software.

Burn_The_Right ,

Standard Android sounds fine to me. That's to be expected. Bloatware would be unexpected.

hagelslager ,

No bloatware that I can recall!

oce ,
@oce@jlai.lu avatar

It's actually sold in the USA /e/OS through Murena https://murena.com/america/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-fairphone-4/

Burn_The_Right ,

Fairphone has made it pretty clear that they have no plans of selling future versions in the U.S. though. They allowed Murena to sell their older Fairphone 4, but the 5 and later versions seem likely to be EU only.

(The EU radio hardware makes EU versions incompatible with U.S. networks, in case anyone was thinking of trying to import one anyway)

oce ,
@oce@jlai.lu avatar

Where has this been made clear? Also, I'm using the fp4, it's perfectly up to date with current needs and probably will still be in 5 years.

Burn_The_Right ,

While they haven't made an official statement on their website, they have indicated in interviews that they don't have any plans to have an official presence in the U.S. This is why a third party company (like Murena) would need to import the phones and handle customer service here.

They also have no plans for the 5 to be altered to function on U.S. networks, making it clear their latest model is not intended for use in the U.S. There is no indication Fairphone has plans to move into the U.S. market. They seem pretty content where they are currently.

Dehydrated ,

You just described GrapheneOS, by far the best mobile operating system IMO

PiratePanPan ,
@PiratePanPan@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Shame it, by sensible design, only works on Pixels.

Dehydrated ,

Because Pixels are the only Android phones with reasonable hardware design (in regards to security)

areyouevenreal ,

Where is this coming from? Do you have any sources?

Dehydrated ,

Pixels have many hardware security features that can't be found on any other Android phone. Examples are the Titan M2 chip, which uses the Android StrongBox and Weaver API, Insider Attack Resistance and hardware attestation. It enables a strong implementation of Android Verified Boot. On many other Android devices, Verified boot is insecure or entirely broken. Pixels are also the only phones on the market with hardware memory tagging.

I highly recommend this section of the GrapheneOS FAQ and this video.

helenslunch ,

That comes from the GOS devs.

Dehydrated ,

Just read my other comment https://lemmy.world/comment/8376049

helenslunch ,

Yes they mentioned that in the comment you just replied to.

the_crotch ,

Now imagine your boomer aunt trying to sideload an app store on her new phone

smileyhead ,

This could be a common knowledge everyone has. Like inserting a SIM card and entering a PIN, this also had to be learned.

And not sideload. Install.

the_crotch ,

Maybe your family is smarter than mine, but none of my 60ish aged aunts or uncles have learned to install a sim. They have the store do it, or their kids, or struggle through the instructions the carrier sent then complain about it for 3 weeks and forget it by the next time it comes up.

Sideloading is a form of installing and it applies in this case. Its also a lot to ask of the sort of people who will turn on their new device and say things like "it's says to enter my email address, what should I put?"

A modern consumer OS should come bundled with everything a typical user needs pre-installed. That includes an app store and a browser. The "knows enough to be dangerous" types should be free to remove it. That seems like a good compromise to me.

smileyhead ,

If they ask for help to setup their phones someone more technical, so I do not see a problem.

How do you define sideloading then? Also preinstalled Play Store and Google services is the exact reason why they are asked for an email address, something I wish should not be by default.

But okey, just preinstalled store would not be a problem for me as long as everything is available to remove, even with a warn sigh. I don't want to evangelise here, but on Linux installs it's awesome how not only browser and store is preinstalled, but also useful stuff like file sharing client, FTP client, office suite, email client... depends on the distro, but it makes it easy to ask "hey, can you share it to me?" or do something without asking to install anything new, while all can be removed with no marks left.

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Linux phone when?

Bronco1676 ,

Already exists but not in a good shape for "normie" use

https://postmarketos.org/

https://pine64.org/devices/pinephone_pro/

https://ubuntu-touch.io/

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

normie Linux phone when?

shotgun_crab ,

On the year of linux

The_Worst ,

They are working on it (or it is part of the DMA) to enable users to uninstall preloaded apps.

Decipher0771 ,

Seriously we did this in 1998, why this again??

phoenixz ,

Install Linux, get rid of Windows and be done with the nonsense

Aganim ,

I work with Linux on a daily basis, both as a server OS and a desktop OS. Unpopular observation perhaps, but I've yet to find a distro which provides a more stable desktop experience than Windows 11 does for me. I do enough Linux troubleshooting during the day, after work I just want something that works.

offspec ,

I'm curious what distro you use. I put my partner on fedora, she's not very techy, and generally speaking she doesn't really have any issues doing the day to day stuff. The biggest pain point was switching to Firefox and getting its worse profile system to work, but that was not a necessary change just a choice.

CosmicCleric , (edited )
@CosmicCleric@lemmy.world avatar

I put my partner on fedora, she’s not very techy, and generally speaking she doesn’t really have any issues doing the day to day stuff.

I can second Fedora (the KDE version). It's been rock solid for me, it works with all my hardware both old and new.

The biggest pain point was switching to Firefox and getting its worse profile system to work, but that was not a necessary change just a choice.

One of the biggest pluses for me was the ability to move my Firefox and Thunderbird profiles from one OS to another, over the decades.

You definitely had to take a few minutes out to massage the profile system to get the old profile to show up again (basically figuring out how to point back to the existing moved profile, and not the new one that a new install creates), but it was well worth doing so, for the portability that it affords.

offspec ,

I also use the KDE spin of Fedora fwiw

asdfasdfasdf ,

What's wrong with Ubuntu? I've used it daily for years.

QuaternionsRock ,

Just installed Ubuntu on both my desktop and laptop last week.

Right off the bat, maximized windows widen and slip the left edge behind the dock whenever it locks, which is infuriating.

Optimus doesn’t seem to be working as intended in my laptop. I also get a bunch of LSPCON errors on every startup.

I haven’t checked yet, but from what I’ve heard, HDR support is also lacking on Linux, which is unfortunate because I have a nice monitor.

asdfasdfasdf ,

I get those are problems for you, but Windows also has many problems. No OS is perfect.

Of those issues, I think the vast majority of users will not have any idea what Optimus or LSPCON are, and wouldn't care too much about HDR support.

The maximized windows thing - yeah I agree. It's crazy to me that they haven't fixed this.

squozenode ,

I can't stand dock shenanigans, I just froze it to never hide except with full screen video.

phoenixz ,

How do you have an unstable desktop? What card and or programs are you using?

In 20 years of desktops I've had issues with Nvidia cards, yes, and currently my KDE has a weird rendering issue where a specific window of my editor can flicker like once or twice a day, which is fixed by clicking it.

KDE4 was a hot mess back in the day after initial release, but it seems they learned their lesson and 6 seems quite fine (upgrading to that soon myself)
I've mostly done fedora and Ubuntu desktops and honestly they're a breeze.

So what exactly is it that you're using that you have so many problems?

weeahnn ,
@weeahnn@lemmy.world avatar

I've been thinking about Windows 10 and how it's support is gonna end in 2025. Might install a Linux distro once it's time.

apfelwoiSchoppen ,
@apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world avatar

I've done it but media creation tools are not up to the same snuff.

weeahnn ,
@weeahnn@lemmy.world avatar

Well, I'll wait with it for now. Not too long ago, I installed Ubuntu on my spare laptop, but I don't really use it that often. And before I do switch, I'll probably go through everything I use and see what the Linux alternative is, unless of course it already works on it.

apfelwoiSchoppen , (edited )
@apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world avatar

A good idea. I rock an Ubuntu variant (Pop_OS!) and generally love it. But wait until you feel comfortable.

glasgitarrewelt ,

Who puts up with this shit anyway? Go buy an Apple. You can eat it while installing Linux.

Joelk111 ,

Had me in the first half.

I stick around with Windows due to shitty DRM and VR compatibility. It's been a couple years since I last tried Linux, so maybe it's gotten better. I should probably try it again.

potentiallynotfelix ,
@potentiallynotfelix@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

ALVR is totally capable at playing steamvr games if you have a quest headset, and htc headsets work aswell as valve indexes

Joelk111 ,

I'll have to look into ALVR. I've got an Index.

I also remembered that I wouldn't be able to play The Crew 2 due to shitty DRM, as well as Forza Horizon, unless I re-purchase it on Steam, as the windows store edition doesn't work on Linux (from what I understand). I really don't want to dual-boot again. I'll wait just a bit longer for Linux to get better and windows to get more enshitified.

potentiallynotfelix ,
@potentiallynotfelix@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

The valve index has native linux support so you don't need alvr or anything, its the same setup process as windows. And for most games with drm, pirate them. its just better.

Joelk111 ,

That'd be wild if it works. Might have to try Linux just for that.

The DRM and Anticheat (that I forgot to mention) games are online, so piracy isn't really an option so that's still an issue :/

potentiallynotfelix ,
@potentiallynotfelix@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

forza 5 cracked works fine if you dont want multiplayer, and the crew might get a crack but still hasnt been cracked to this day

Mr_Blott ,

It's been a couple years since I last tried Linux, so maybe it's gotten better

Have been seeing this same comment for two decades now so I'm guessing -

Narrator - "It hadn't"

Joelk111 ,

It has. It's been two or three years. In that time the SteamDeck has launched, bringing huge attention to Linux.

The question is whether the things that I want to play have improved.

minibyte ,

That’s great, I’m in! Now, workflow – how do I install Adobe Audition?

glasgitarrewelt ,

That's the neat part - you don't! Fuck Adobe.

raspberriesareyummy ,

These changes are only applicable to users in the EEA. For those outside the region, Windows will continue to function as it is!

You misspelled "Windows will continue to be as fucked up as it is!"

XM34 ,

Not for me :)

raspberriesareyummy ,

Not OP but okay, I'll bite: What exactly do you prefer about being locked into the MS ecosystem as opposed to being allowed to choose, including the choice to keep that very ecosystem?

XM34 ,

Nothing. I just live in the EU and am very happy about that fact. ¯⁠\⁠⁠༼⁠ᴼ⁠ل͜⁠ᴼ⁠༽⁠⁠/⁠¯

raspberriesareyummy ,

So in other words you misunderstood me stating that continuing to force those applications down users' throats is better described as "fucked up" than as "functioning"?

XM34 ,

I assumed you meant the entire quoted paragraph including the part about the EU. Therefore my bad.

Rye ,
@Rye@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Easy solution: don’t use Windows or if possible nothing from Microsoft at all

raspberriesareyummy ,

I personally don't, but for users in a corporate environment, it's not that simple. I had to leave my organization for a service contract to escape the toxic shithole that was corporate IT with a Microsoft bias.

art ,
@art@lemmy.world avatar

One of the reasons I love Linux is that I can install or uninstall any application I want. I don't even need a desktop let alone a web browser.

bartolomeo ,

https://suppo.fi/pictrs/image/e53b4360-947b-4cc0-8f1f-79090a655e39.jpeg

PixeIOrange ,

With Lynx You dont even need a browser to browse.

UmeU ,

One drive is the one that really ruffles my feathers.

It turns itself back on randomly, which wouldn’t be too much of a problem except for that it fucking remaps the desktop.. a file that was previously located at C:\user\desktop\ is now at C:\user\One Drive\desktop…

Note the space in the path, they didn’t even have the decency to use an underscore… \one_drive\… even though it’s one of their own rules in powershell scripting.

For those of us using powershell to automate stuff this remapping is a nightmare and should be illegal.

Too bad I am in the US and will just have to continue to get support calls from time to time when a users desktop gets remapped behind the scenes.

Maybe there is a way using powershell and windows scheduled tasks to check to see if one drive turned itself back on, then auto turn it off and remap the desktop back to normal.

The absurdity of having windows check to see if windows screwed itself up, then if so have it fix itself is just laughable.

OfficerBribe ,

Sounds like a weird behavior, are you using Microsoft account for sign-in? Maybe that somehow triggers enabling sync back. Switch to local account if you do not want any benefits MS account gives.

That OneDrive feature is called Known Folder Move and it can be easily disabled. In theory it's a great feature for most, but I dislike it as well.

I have OneDrive disabled and have never seen it restart automatically.

UmeU ,

I have like 10 machines at 5 different locations. In order to share my 365 subscription across multiple machines, I have to have them signed into a Microsoft account. I need excel and ms access working on all my machines.

It’s happen twice since I implemented windows 11, both times after major windows updates.

Not too much trouble to re disable one drive and switch everything back to normal but it breaks a bunch of stuff for me when it happens.

QuaternionsRock ,

OneDrive redirection is hilariously bad. Official Microsoft documentation recommends against using it. Imagine having that little faith in your own product.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d1c10fca-d2a3-402c-b332-1b4211d21b31.jpeg

Simon ,

Why aren't you string quoting all of your paths anyway? I'm confused because the vast majority of paths wouldn't work the way you're suggesting.

squozenode ,

Yeah, I reflexively double quote every path.
It's still stupid though.

UmeU ,

Even something as simple as:

move-item “C:\Users\computername\Desktop\afiletomove.csv” (“C:\Users\computername\Desktop\destinationFolder\newFileName (0:MMddyyyy).csv” -f (get-date))

Stops working as intended when your desktop no longer resides at that path.

Also, I have the same functions running on multiple machines with different names so I have to dynamically resolve the path and piece it together using strings.

Simon ,

Okay, so if your source path changes, your script stops working? Who knew. Try ([Environment]::GetFolderPath("Desktop"))

UmeU ,

I am using that already, but if I recall, it’s the space in the path ‘\one drive\’ that makes that not work correctly.

Edit: I am actually using $Env:UserName

Simon ,

Yeah the deeper path might help.

Basically the thing to remember about powershell that separates it from other scripts is you want to pipe pipe pipe your data as far as possible so it stays an object, and then output a string at the very end - there's no tons of awk sed string manipulation like in bash, partly because of what you pointed out with how terminal input is interpreted.

UmeU ,

It’s only happened twice, after updates, that windows turned one drive back on and remapped my desktops. In those cases I have just turned it back off and remapped back to normal. Then env:username works again and I think the only difference is the space in the path with one drive, though it could be something else breaking when the desktop gets remapped.

I’m probably using powershell all wrong anyways because I am an amateur.

I use it to grab a file from an sftp by calling on winSCP, then convert from csv to xlsx using the excel module, then run a bunch of VBA to reformat the file, then save the xlsx with a date stamp. I use task scheduler to run it daily and I have it on like 10 machines.

Works great when one drive doesn’t mess with my desktop path.

kylian0087 ,

You know you can completely disable onedrive using GPOs?. I have done so on a DC i have but it shut also be possible using local GPOs.

DAMunzy ,

That's so weird. I was just praising M$ to myself because I noticed that they are using \OneDrive\ and \Documents\ now and no spaces to be found.

UmeU ,

Nice that might have been something they fixed.

trustnoone ,

What pisses me off even more is if you start saving too much stuff in your documents/desktop etc you start getting emails from microsoft that your drive is full and you have to purchase more storage (because your harddrive is likely much bigger then your free drive account).

So I know quite a few elderly people who think they now need to pay money to unlock more memory on their computer to save more stuff.

AnUnusualRelic ,
@AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world avatar

I'm always surprised at how brazen the corporations are in the US. That kind of shit wouldn't fly in Europe.

I spend so much more time reading labels in the US than in Europe (with so much head shaking).

UmeU ,

That’s criminal, preying on the elderly. Basically a tech support scam but it’s actually Microsoft running it

mariusafa ,

Use Windows 10 debloater tool.

farsinuce ,
@farsinuce@feddit.dk avatar

ShutUpWin10 and AppBuster from German O&O?

d3Xt3r ,

Speaking of German privacy tools... Win10privacy is still being updated from the looks of it, so that could be an option too.

farsinuce , (edited )
@farsinuce@feddit.dk avatar

Thanks for sharing. It looks like a great other option.

Edit: Darn. It is recognised as a trojan:

https://feddit.dk/pictrs/image/19124b6f-92f9-42d6-9e46-b69de51545c2.webp

waigl ,

About 20 years ago, Microsoft was found guilty and convicted, because they forced their browser on their users, driving out competitors by abusing their de facto monopoly on PC operating systems. These days, they are doing the exact same thing again, just on an even broader base. I don't even understand how this verdict took so long.

BakerBagel ,

It makes perfect sense once you understand that regulators have only cared about stock prices for the last 40 years. The EU coming down on giant corporations is a new development

Contend6248 ,

Only because we don't have any tech giants, we've slept on it so we get the money this way and try to slow down others until we figure shit out.

You can see that we don't care about consumer that much in markets we're strong.

It's just lobbyism

masterspace ,

Lol this is asinine.

America let their tech companies get too big to the point that they are all behaving ridiculously anti-competitively, and you think the solution is that the EU should have let their companies get so big that they behave anti-competitively?

This is the EU steeping in to clean up America's mess when it spills over to them.

dezmd ,
@dezmd@lemmy.world avatar

Your simplification of the issues to steer this into your preferred narrative and conclusion is also asinine. The EU power broker's hands weren't getting their share of the bribes and are punishing orgs that didnt realize that the corruption they take part in is everywhere. Corruption in EU countries is old world corruption and is just part of the system bottom to top. Nobody has clean hands.

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Your simplification of the issues to steer this into your preferred narrative and conclusion is also asinine.

It's always projection.

0xD ,

You really have less than zero idea of what you're talking about, this is actually hilarious.

Contend6248 ,

Checkmate, amiright.

0xD ,

I impaled your heart with my mighty sword, peasant; And all that solemnly using but my words. Words... Forged in the gaping depths of my unending intellect, sharpened with rigorous studies, and honed through years of practice. You can only hope to reach the heights of my wit.

tip of my hat
turn to the beautiful maiden on my side

M'lady, I'm sorry that you had to witness this murder. Shall we?

make passionate love to my queen

bane_killgrind ,

I'll shake the piss hand over the shit hand any day.

masterspace , (edited )

Lol, try again number 24.

Contend6248 ,

Yes, if only the rest of the world would be so selfless.

rambaroo ,

Yes you do. SAP is gigantic. You just don't hear about it because they've infected every business instead of being a consumer-oriented brand.

masterspace ,

Because Apple saw that and said "hold my beer".

linearchaos ,
@linearchaos@lemmy.world avatar

"They" (collectively large lobbying corporations) own the US government.

evergreen ,

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture Read all about it

Rye ,
@Rye@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

sounds about right

Thorry84 ,

The fucking sad thing is, when they did it 20 years ago Internet Explorer became the gold standard. Now they are pushing super hard, annoying users, killing competition and they have a tiny market share. They aren't getting anywhere, just being assholes because they don't know how not to be.

banneryear1868 ,

Edge is just a Chromium build with more manageability for enterprise use.

anivia ,

Which is a problem, because Chromium is becoming a monopoly too. Safari and Firefox have a small marketshare and Google is abusing their power

DrMango ,

Demand reparations for Netscape Navigator!

sunbeam60 ,

The behaviour required of you when you have a monopoly is different when you don’t.

These days IE isn’t a monopoly. Chrome is. So Microsoft is allowed more leeway to nudge its users.

This isn’t a verdict. There’s been no court case. This is Microsoft complying with EU regulation, which is very recent. Microsoft has responded to it quite quickly.

DAMunzy ,

I was surprised I was able to uninstall Media Player on Windows 11. I played a video file on my laptop and accidentally selected "always open with". Lo and behold Windows Media Player doesn't play HEVC encoded files (not sure if it was 264 or 265). I thought I would have to tinker with the default program settings but tried "add or remove programs" on a lark and it worked. I then opened the file with VLC as one normally does and life is back in balance.

Inktvip ,

HEVC actually requires a $1 license you can get from the ms store. It's a royalty thing. OEMs often ship PCs with that license already enabled.

There are more applications than just windows Media Player that won't play hevc files/streams without that license installed.

VLC doesn't really seem to care about those things though and it's better than the default anyways.

DAMunzy ,

Yeah, I should have specified that it could have played it if I paid but I couldn't remember the amount and I'd rather use VLC.

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