Microsoft has become a virus
 

This is not the operating system I originally paid for.

Today's Windows 10 update installed Edge again.
(This was supposedly uninstalled many times before until 'uninstall errors' occurred.)
There is no way to uninstall it.

Edge and Internet Explorer saves data even when not being used.
This is the very definition of spyware virus.

It also includes a taskbar pop-up which force-feeds me political "news".
That is not the definition of an operating system to make hardware work.

The only roll-back option is to reinstall everything from scratch.

Damn I'm pissed.
WTF just happened?

I haven't used Windows in years.
You could try Linux. Check out the Distrowatch site https://distrowatch.com/

They review all kinds of open source operating systems.

Disclosure: My son edits the site.

Best
Les

I must agree.

I had to look up how to turn that "news" off.
I feel sorry for the people that get exposed to the kind of trash it was showing.
That wasn't real news.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623578715.jpg

I recently switched over to Apple from Windows and regret not doing it sooner.

I'm in the market for a new computer.
What is involved with getting linux? Pros/Cons?
Can you just get something with it preinstalled? The biggest program I'd run is just photoshop.

I'm not a Windows fan for the same reasons. I'm not really an apple person either, but am open to anything at this point.

I've been using Linux for years.
- I doubt I'll ever use a Microsoft product for anything at home.

Microsoft is just too big. Something could have been done 20 years ago but not now.

Linux is easy but it's not a step by step procedure like Windows.

And you can run Photoshop on Linux but I haven't done it.

Here's a good place to start: https://www.linuxmint.com

OP i'm with you. Spent quite some time trying to figure out how to get that garbage off my computer the other day. Mother****ers.

I've always experimented with alternative operating systems. Over 20 years ago, when I was running Win 95, I got a copy of Win NT 4.0 and ran that. I think I eventually went to Win 98 and then had dual boot Windows and various flavors of Linux. I eventually dropped the linux and stuck with Windows. (Linux wasn't ready for prime time back then) I was happy with Windows and would defend M$ and Windows to folks. I've never liked IE and always used Firefox (from before it was Firefox when it was Netscape).

My last Win PC was running Windows 7 and it ran great (for 11 years, and is still running, I wiped it and gave it to my son). I'd go weeks and sometimes months without rebooting. I didn't let it auto-install updates. I didn't run any virus or malware protection except for the free Microsoft stuff.

When Win 8 and then eventually Win 10 came out, I did not upgrade, no interest. My wife got a Macbook Air. After tinkering with that for a couple of weeks before I gave it to her, I decided that my next PC would be a Mac.

A year ago, I got a 27" iMac, and couldn't be happier.

Windows was getting worse and worse with the spyware and tracking crap and the browser integration.

I work in education for IT stuff, so I have access to all the various versions of Windows, including the -N european versions that don't have the Movies, Music, etc. installed.

Mac isn't much better with their walled garden philosophy, and they are intentionally disabling features in the new OS X when run on x86 hardware and not the new Mx chips, even though the x86 hardware can do the task w/o issue.

I still only run Linux on my personal stuff, and have since 1999. Up until 3 years ago, I was Linux only at work as well, and am about to move back to Linux only again.

For those wanting to try Linux on the desktop/laptop, I would recommend downloading Mint (www.linuxmint.com), I like the MATE desktop version. Mint is basically Ubuntu with slightly different default install options and a much nicer default desktop set up ( the GUI isn't part of the OS in Linux - it is just another application....). You can run it entirely from a DVD so boot to it and make sure your hardware all works (some wireless cards can be problematic still), and if you choose to install it if it detects Windows on your computer it will offer to set up a dual boot system automatically for you.

I use several programs that REQUIRE Win 10 Pro.

Edge is always there, but unused. I just looked in task manager and since the last month Edge has run for 1 second total and used 0 data on the network.

I use Firefox for my browser. The only time I use Edge is for some sites to download files. Firefox wants to protect me from downloading from some government sites or sometimes my own One Drive folder. It is really annoying when I can't download a file my business partner put in our company One Drive account. Edge always lest me download it since it is all Microsoft.

What features?

Some of the security that doesn't allow deep access is a pain, but in the grand scheme of things, it's something that I can live with. Mac isn't perfect, but it's, for me at least, better than Windows has gotten to be.

Another linux guy here. About 10 years now. There are many distributions out there . I like trying new ones so its entertainment for me. I can do an install in about 5 minutes. Try that with Windows. Currently on a Puppy kick. Fast and easy to use . Only problem is sometimes it is difficult to get my printer working.

I tried deleting Edge too with no luck

My MS Win 10 has tried to update now for a couple of months. I don't let it update the 'features' so that has kept it wanting to do it again, and again, and again...maybe some day it'll learn it isn't going to happen and it'll quit.

I do a lot of gaming (Steam FPS, flight sim, jigsaw and sudoku mostly) and invested a lot of time and money into that gaming computer.
Gaming on it only. Nothing personal. It's a neutral box. That's what makes the political advert pop-ups on the desktop feel so especially invasive.

The gaming box was actually originally intended to run MSFS2020 flight sim.
That was my dream game which I'd been lusting after a long time.
Microsoft ruined that dream.

I'd been using the 32-bit FSX for a long time and purchased probably a thousand bucks or so in photoscenery addons and software upgrades. You can't find everything in one place on the net and just stick it together. Every product is different and most are lacking in some way. For instance every island for the Caribbean is sold by a different supplier and some like Guadeloupe are sold as part of a separate package. Many areas can only be found in gracious freeware. Piece by piece I spent so many hours downloading and sorting files in correct order and tweeking just right. There is no drag-n-drop and auto fix there. It requires moving hundred of lines one manual click at a time. I collected the north half of Africa, flowing through almost all the middle east including Iran (no Turkey or SA), all of Europe, all of North America including the Caribbean and almost all of South America. I could finally fly most of the world with photoscenery underneath it all.

I wanted more. I bought the deluxe version of MSFS2020 one night.

A lot of crucial info was deceptively missing from the website.
Microsoft advertises "You own the game".
But how do you "own the game" when it requires internet connection to use the software each time?

There was an error code "no applicable device found" or something when trying to start the product.
I tried to return it unused within 24 hours..as advertised.
They required a manual customer service 'review' before a refund could be issued.
They could not 'find' my purchase order number. It was also not listed anywhere in my X-box or MS-Store account history.
Emailed back and forth many times with an idiot rep who played dumb.
They would not return my money.
Good thing I had saved a screenshot of the purchase. That was the only thing besides small claims.

TLDR:
Microsoft turned the most-desired software purchase into a nightmare.
Then they played stupid low-class tricks.
They lost my consumer trust, and my future business.

I was on Pop_OS! for about a year but seeing as the video drivers are a few versions behind, I kept having issues on a top-tier nVidia card. Getting every game to function was a hassle if there wasn't a specific Proton library for it.

I'll stick with Win 10 for now but used extensive scripting in PowerShell to obliterate a lot of the bloat/malware. I suggest you do the same.

The biggest problem with Windows is that every application you install and run has your level of permissions. Admin user? Whole system is vulnerable. Every application wants to install its "service" that runs at login, always in the background. MS is literally Malware nowadays.

Why does Win 10 keep logging me in as a new User? I can't even use my licensed software and I have to keep logging in as a new user on all of the websites that use passwords, Office, Adobe, etc etc. It was fine until around April or so.

Sooooooo....quit *****ing and use the other options like millions of people worldwide?

lololololol....this thread. Hi guys! Its not 1997 anymore.

Short answer: The other options are worse.

MS is that devil friend you know and hate...just hide the cheesecake before he comes over.
The others are opaque.

Apple destroyed the USB port and the headphone jack. Just to be an A-hole.
Where is your music? Hahaha. We don't know.
(Oh but we still keep a copy of evvverythink you do. Don't believe the occasional underdog article.)

Goggle?
Where to even begin..
When even government websites don't function without Google javascript, it might be an indicator that something has gone wrong with society.

So this morning I turn on my computer as usual. I go get laundry ready to go out to the garage and come back to find the screen is showing what I'd expect to see if I was trying to get to the BIOS.
It's telling me the battery might be dead, do I want to continue or go to the BIOS menu?
Can Win 10 even do that since I haven't allowed updates of 'features' to happen for quite a long time?
Do I have to allow those 'features' to update in order to get MS Defender updates?

Microsoft will fix all that with the new Windows 11 coming soon. ;)

HardDrive, you've mistaken this "I am the victim of big tech" thread for a "solve a problem for OP" thread. I mean, switch operating system? "The other options are worse!" And anyway every OS in existence is still going to have to have a web browser that cannot escape "Google Javascript" so what's the use? Don't forget about computers and their cozy relationship with big magnet.
And lest we forget john70t's background on the subject of tech (seriously, use the search functionality... I'm barely scratching the surface here) tech companies are in cahoots with...

That should be unrelated to MS or Windows. There's a battery on the motherboard, maybe that's gone bad, or something else at a low level hardware level.

Yep ... or the stone age.

Interestingly and I didn't know this prior, the same lawyer represented Gore way back then.

That's what I thought too. Guess I'll see how it reacts tomorrow when I start it up.

Can't you find the file it reads from and move one component to a new folder on the desktop. I did that with that stupid cortana thing.

Oh Tishbet, you've gone so far above your duties.
It's almost like you have been writing all my words for me....
(also known as "poisoning the well" or "ad-hominen")

Only the first part in bold actually applies to this particular complaint. And the complaint is valid.
I bought an operating system.
Not a social network.

The closest analogy would be buying a house, but then the previous owner sticks a freeway billboard in the front yard.

Or imagine if this spilled over into other forms of electronics and retention of 'manufacturer rights' to alter a purchased device and a legal contract long after the fact. You drive your kid to school and try to have a conversation, but then the radio decides to turn on by itself to announce a message "too important to miss".

edit: A third one. The car won't even start until some poll/essential test/registration/etc process is completed. I'm sorry Dave I can't do that

( Let's keep this on subject shall we.)

Microsoft has become a virus
 

Excellent analogies.

I sometimes think the tech savvy guys have lost perspective. They seem to enjoy the challenges of managing/tricking software and have forgotten what it was there for in the first place. Making our lives easier, not serving us up to xyz company as a potential customer.

I'll play ;)

No, you can turn it off using the taskbar menu, right click mouse I think on the taskbar, don't take my word for it, try it out yerself. (On a side note, can we desist from these bold font shouting ? We can hear you clearly sans, this time and the previous times !)

Did someone say you're a "tech guy" maybe a writer, youtube tech star, marketing guy, exec , analyst, investor, the stereotypical old school Linux guru, just guessing , help me out ?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624209744.jpg

And that browser war is stone age stuff from the previous century. These days, security concerns are paramount so better have everything on auto-update folks, that's the price of entry into the modern Interweb, it being too dangerous to drive on otherwise.

Unless you're a tech guru, then yes, you can change anything you want in theory just like any other piece of software, reverse engineer the code and modify it to your purpose or more colloquially hack it ... what's the term they use on iOS, yes jailbreak, easy peasy. The only question then is whether you are good enough to do so. So, as a tech guy, take the challenge and go do it !

Well I certainly didn't want to offend anyone by using bold letters or Courier New. SmileWavy
Just figured that we read enough wall-of-text throughout a day to become tiresome without the cliffs notes.

Naw, I'm just one of those "consumer grade" people you've heard about.

All those extras become additional security risks in their own way. Doesn't it become a liability at some point?
I'm sure it's probably still there in the background sending and receiving data.

I wasn't able to undo the changes through the layman menu options.
The was no "rollback to last". Only reset to factory new.
Did they hide this on page 14,754 of the updated manual?
Win10 now disallows many functions such as removing unwanted browsers and other embedded software.

Funny thing was I provided some um choice words in the feedback section and the changes were gone with the next startup.

So when does spyware or adware become acceptable and commonplace?
Is there a definable line?

Mine started doing the same about a week ago.
After trying various steps...I found right clicking on the lower toolbar there was an option to stop the thing.

I know, like androioogle... they don't track anything or anyone. - oh . . wait. .

No, I found the option on the taskbar menu.

Looks like stevej37 did so as well.

No easy way to remove Safari from iOS or MacOS either ... for a non tech savvy person.

So what now ? Buy a chromebook :eek: ?

The likelihood is that the average non tech savvy consumer customizing e.g. deleting features, modules, modifying, hacking the system if you will perhaps in reaction to what they read online and following instructions they find online, becomes the liability at some point earlier than someone not. Again, no one's suggesting the tech guru shouldn't just go do it and test their mettle against the rest of the hacking world.

The virus part of this thread title is the installation of unrelated bloatware, aka spyware.
There are now zero laws which I am aware of regarding the stealing of proprietary data from users.
Everything (company data, medical info, tax info, etc) on a person's computer is fair game at this point. Open book.

Even after removing of unwanted software by the 'owner' these are automatically re-installed by the Operating System.
There shouldn't have to be two-tier system of 'hackers' vs 'average joes'. That should be assumed. As in "always opt out".

The non tech savvy consumer shouldn't have to fight their own product for control.