Windows 12: Paintbrush now comes with ads to Microsoft’s subscription AI Paintbrush service. Also bucket fill is now a $0.49 DLC.
That’s going to be in the free upgrade to Windows 10 and 11. Back porting some critical features to old, but still supported releases, is an essential part of good customer support.
DLC? All we offer is a
monthlyweekly subscription.“What to make quick copies of certain areas of the image? Buy 100 packs of both ‘Copy’ and ‘Paste’ tokens now on sale in the Microsoft store! Each use of Copy or Paste function uses only 1 token. Make sure you stock up for ‘Back to School’!”
And don’t forget! you have to pay to shut down your pc!
Not only that. Pay to get even more ads and tracking!
What a deal!1!!!1
That’s despicable. Us real users will subscribe to Windows (I’ll subscribe to the basic package with the CMD/powershell add-on package). Windows will bundle the subscription with my Office 365 subscription so I only have one easy monthly payment! Plus my Fusion 360 and Photoshop subscription, Backblaze subscription, Google Drive subscription…
I’m so excited
Don’t let your guard down. Maybe this time they’ll fully pull the TPM/UEFI trigger and make it impossible to install any other OS on new PCs… they have lots of leverage over manufacturers to tighten the screws on the BIOS and boot process.
Time to learn how to hack motherboards I guess
Time to not buy from shitty OEMs that agree to do this
The European Commission would appreciate the multi billion euro “donation” from Microsoft if they did something so obviously anti competitive.
I agree, but also when has a threat of a fine ever stopped a capitalist from doing what they want? They just call it the cost of doing business.
Microsoft had to provide a separate edition that gave the user a browser choice for 10 years because the EU successfully called anti-trust on Windows doing IE/Edge as default.
The kind of fines that are based on global revenue are at least enough to slow them down. Right now we are a bit in a phase of Whac a Mole phase of the EU doing new directives with these kinds of fines and American companies trying to find loopholes, but I don’t see how Microsoft would weasel out of this one.
Also the US is interested in busting some trusts at the moment and that sort of behavior could cost Microsoft dearly. It’s one thing to demand that your software only run on your hardware, it’s a whole other thing to pay companies to block their hardware from software you don’t own
iPhone 15 is heavily rumored to be USB-C. So… at least once?
Or doing it regionally
I don’t think they would hard shoot themselves in the foot like that thankfully/sadly? idk my opinions on it. They would start with company graded devices before doing a consumer lockdown, since they are less apt to get massive backlash from that, they have tried already and backtracked iirc with lenovo systems
I hope you’re right. But the only reason it hasn’t gone as far as it has it because everyone watches them and pushes back. I remember the ARM-based Windows laptops they tried pushing, which had fully-locked bootloaders (WinRT?) That’s their endgame…
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Haha I have read about the ways to defeat the bogus Win11 CPU checks. A fake check to enforce the upgrade treadmill!
That’s never gonna fly as long as the EU exists. They’d never allow it.
I sincerely hope you’re right :)
It might be a problem to many of us if they do something stupid to GitHub…
They did already
Switch to gitea
True, the access tokens instead of logging in is a pain, and it’s probably a grasp to force users to use their shitty interface rather than do everything in the terminal and just push it to the repo. The free storage do be convenient tho…
If you looking for free storage you can also look at codeberg
Kindof proud to say I never installed anything after Windows 10, including that.
I quit after Windows 2000. XP seemed like it just added bloat to force you to buy a new computer without adding anything useful and my computer wouldn’t run it. I used 2000 until I couldn’t any more then got an Ubuntu disc when they used to mail them out for free and never looked back.
Windows 2000 was a low-key disaster, but I get not wanting to use the fisher-price interface.
But man, did Win2k fanboys beat that one point to death to try and slander XP . 😂
(to be fair: XP before SP2 was an unmigigated disaster as well. It just got a fix eventually, but 2k never did)
XP for me!
Same after Windows 8.1 ! 🥳
I’ve had to use Windows 11 a tiny bit for work and it was the most painful experience I had for a while. Most apps I used on there had obvious bugs, like the VPN chosen by my company requiring me to reboot every time it goes to sleep …
Actually I totally forgot 8.1 existed. 😀 Same here in that case!
10’s my last one. I’ll be going on a linux journey here soon enough - maybe keep a dual boot of 10 on a separate SSD for the games I absolutely can’t get to work in linux, but they can keep their Windows 11/12.
I’m right there with you.
Microsoft (and honestly a lot of mainstream software) has been slowly evolving over the years from providing robust, full-featured products that allow you build your own workflows to shipping things with an inherent “paradigm” or “ideology” on how they should be used. Mostly (unsurprisingly) to the ends of data collection, ad serving, and profit driving. Gross, gross, gross.
Data collection will only intensify as microsoft saw the gold rush in AI and plans to integrate chatgpt-like assistant to the next iteration of windows.
I’m sticking to my win10 LTSC vm whenever something doesn’t run on wine. I dont like it when candy crush appears on the start menu.
Ever hear of Secure Time Seeding? It’s real, and fits this meme perfectly.
Microsoft stinks, I use Windows because I’m lazy. MAC is so much worse though, why have I never heard a Linux user criticize MAC?
We’re busy criticizing Apple as a whole.
Id wager few have used a Mac compared to Windows. Windows was always more ubiquitous, and its usually the default in work and school settings so it has a lot more chances to disappoint
Exactly. During my 4 years in University I have not even seen Mac from far. Most of the computers were cheap Dell mini pc and the rest was desktop computers. I couldn’t hate on something I haven’t seen…
Because Mac is tonnes better than windows still despite inflated hardware costs.
How Mac is better? It is just worse variant of Windows.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/0saKpm5g8iU
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Bad bot, NewPipe works great but the piped website is horrible and I have yet to get it to even play a video with default settings.
Why is it a bad bot?
Personally, I prefer using really YouTube. I like having the record of what I watched on my account and being able to interact with things like the “like” button and comments, or add it to my Watch Later playlist. So I’m never going to intentionally seek out Piped.
But that doesn’t mean the bot is bad. It’s doing a good job for people who do prefer that site of making it easy for them. And I don’t see anything wrong with that.
I called it a bad bot because it’s become annoying, I strictly only use NewPipe on mobile because I like the features. I see this as nothing more than mass advertising with a bot to auto correct ppl.
However, with the bots I’ve seen here both piped.video and piped.yt do not work on my desktop or mobile devices, I have tried troubleshooting it but it’s not worth too much time when I can just view the direct YT using adblock and still not have any issues.
There is no reason the website should require me to turn off protections or other things if my current settings work on YouTube already.
It is also annoying that I have bots turned off in my settings and for some reason this bot that goes around making messages is the only one I see anywhere.
Most of us used Windows before and a Mac is a lot closer to Unix (many Terminal applications and stuff work well) but from a usability standpoint the completely walled garden is awful and bashing Apple is one of my favorite hoppies, iOS and their hardware are just even better attack surfaces and I like low hanging fruits!
/me waves from thé back.
Windows 12 dev employee: what if … what if… We break the taskbar into bits.
Wait wait wait… I think we can uh… maybe just maybe not add bloat… Turns around to see the employer… Gulp
Turns back to screen… Adding bloat is always the answer… Right boss?
I do love polybar, though.
The Start menu will now be hosted in SharePoint Online so that your shortcuts are available everywhere!
I am waiting for an taskbar, entirely replaced by bing chat. You will never find anything with seconds of the delay, besides internet websites and is horrible to use with bad internet. Offline mode will also not be available anymore, because Microsoft needs funktion critical telemetry
If they break it into bits, maybe they can allow it to move to the side of the screen!
Then I can move directly from 10 to 12.
Didn’t use win11 for some time, TIL this is not allowed (at least not easily)
Okay I’m not very technical but I hate Microsoft with every fiber of my being and want desperately to break from them but can’t bring myself to switch my regular and gaming PCs to Linux. It just feels like too much work like I’d be starting over and most of all I just fear change. Is there a good YT series/channel or blog or something I can check out that might make things a little less intimidating?
Linux Mint is as easy as Windows to set up imo. Maybe try that on a stick
Dude, with the exception of Gamepass, Linux gaming is really easy.
If you’re okay with Redhat/Fedora, using Nobara Linux (it’s a spin-off, unofficial, but by the guy who does a lot of the Proton [magic compatibility sauce] stuff, GloriousEggroll, who AFAIK is a dev at RedHat) literally installs everything you need.
Steam → Steam
GoG/Epic → Heroic Launcher
Amazon/Blizzard → Lutris
Gamepass → You have to use the cloud version with Edge browserClick, install, game.
There’s only a few Anticheat PITA titles still (I believe Valorant is one) that won’t work.
Notable to the list of titles that won’t work is Destiny 2.
Having said that, I’ve been using Linux as my daily driver for everything, including gaming, since June, and I haven’t run into many issues. It’s certainly worth the minor hassle entailed to get some titles to work, if only to get away from Windows 100%. You can always dual boot.
If you aren’t very technical, I would also consider Linux Mint. You won’t always have access to the latest and greatest, but it’s simple and very easy to learn if you’re coming from Windows.
As a recovering Destiny addict:
Wow what a feature.
That’s really great if you don’t play online games, but 90% of what my gaming pc is used for is online, competitive gaming that doesn’t work on Linux.
Pretty much any game with an anti-cheat is a non-starter since anti-cheats being Linux compatible tends to mean they’re less effective. (Yes EAC is a config switch, but it runs at a less effective level on all platforms if enabled)
Heroic has Amazon games
Heroic Launcher recently added support for amazon, a lot easier to set up than Lutris.
You can have multiple operating systems installed and choose which one you want to use during boot. So just install GNU/Linux on a separate partition or a separate drive (a bit easier). Then try to use GNU/Linux as your main system. Install everything you need on it and configure it they want you want. Only switch to Windows when you absolutely have to. So you don’t have to be a GNU/Linux expert right away and you can choose when to remove Windows. It can be a gradual change.
I don’t know any good videos for beginners, but you can just look up answers to specific problems when you need them. If you will still have Windows, there is nothing to worry about. You can always ask for help here as well. So don’t wait and install GNU/Linux today! Choose the distribution you want to use, find a video on how to install it and start using it.
Here is a link to a video explaining the Free Software movement if you are curious why this operating system was created https://youtu.be/Ag1AKIl_2GM. Maybe it will motivate you.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/Ag1AKIl_2GM
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
I’d suggest setting up linux in a virtual machine first to get familiar with it first. There’s many many distros out there and if you don’t like the one you’re trying, just try another one. When you have one you like, you can install it for real.
It’s not nearly as hard as people make it out to be. For most distros you’ll likely have a system with a browser, libre office, steam (except games aren’t going to work well in a VM), etc. up and running in about an hour or two. It only really gets tricky if you’re trying to get some janky hardware working.
Dualboot Ubuntu and experiment there. That is what I did and loved the OS
You’ve got some time to plan out your transition :)
I’d pick up a Raspberry Pi 400 or a renewed Steam Deck depending on your budget. Those devices have amazing communities and both will build familiarity and confidence with the environment just through play. Find a project that interests you with one of those devices and follow along trying to re-create it. That’s where you’ll find most of your blog/YT stuff. I’d be happy to help try and find a project if you’d be up for talking about some of your interests or hobbies.
IMO the most important thing is to start using cross platform applications (E.g. LibreOffice, the GIMP) on Windows as well as you start learning the Linux environments. Especially if you are coming from the windows 7 or earlier era of gaming PC building, actually installing Linux is a piece of cake. Once you have confidence with the programs you’ll be using and the resources available you’ll have conquered a lot of the fear.
Honestly you’d be fine starting out with installing linux yourself 90% of the time, but I think it’s worth the peace of mind to start out with a pre-installed distro on a well standardized platform like the rPi 4 or the Steam Deck.
Or just create a VM.
I don’t usually recommend a VM for learning linux TBH. It is a cheap way to get access, and for labs it can be convenient, but virtualization is kinda hit and miss on consumer UEFI and CPUs. Grabbing a rPI 400 is a far more consistent user experience.
but virtualization is kinda hit and miss on consumer UEFI and CPUs
It is? I have never had any real problems with either Hyper-v nor Virtual box.
I haven’t tried a huge variety of computers, only like 3 CPUs (and one xeon but I wouldn’t call that consumer). Two of those were the same computer but with a different motherboard and CPU and the other one is my mid range ThinkPad x280 with an i5 and 8 GB of ram and that works good enough.
But a Raspberry Pi 3/4/400 is always good of course.
Depends what you need to do, there are apps abd games that if you can’t leave behind you’ll either won’t be able to run or you will have to do a lot of work to get running. If you don’t use the Adobe suite and your games are officially supported on Linux (check them out on protondb.com) then you’re good to go.
If you want distro suggestions I can tell you my opinionated selection.Sorry, I have watched so many videos, yet I don’t remember exactly who goes in depth and presents with a simple step by step guide
Look at protonDB for game compatibility and try out a live USB with some easy to use linux version like Ubuntu. Most games will work except if they have anticheat.
I saw something about dual booting. I know you want to game but start small. Try a virtual machine. They aren’t difficult to setup and there are hundreds of easy tutorials. Get a feel for Linux. See how you feel and then dual boot. When you are comfy then migrate the truth is this community pushed Linux hard and that’s because it is mainly FOSS and it is private or more private rather.
However, no matter what anyone wants to tell you. Linux absolutely has its quirks and sometimes they get technical. There is a learning curve and some issues can divulge into multiple problems. This kind of thing can be frustrating but shouldn’t stop you from learning and experimenting. I like Linux but I also appreciate that Windows for an average consumer does what it needs to.
The other thing is there is one OSX and up. There is one Windows version. There is an insane amount of Linux distributions. The easiest to learn are Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and if you want something more lightweight and true to force you to learn then you can just install Debian.
Folks have mentioned dual boot before but you can also run Linux directly from a usb stick, without changing anything on your computer. You can try it to see what it’s like and when you remove the stick it’ll be like it was never there.
I love this because it means Windows users are even dumber than Homer.
Windows is the default. Linux takes time and effort to learn and has negative aspects beyond that. I think it’s worth it, much like I assume everyone here does. But it’s not a sign of a lack of intelligence to decide it isn’t worth it for you. My wife is smarter than me and a programmer who has come to the conclusion that as it is linux is too much effort for not enough gain.
Being a condescending prick keeps people away from it.
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Did setting up windows confuse you? Maybe it’s time you get taken to the home if things like that are starting to happen.
Seriously linux these days is way easier than when I tried it a decade ago, but the skill of “it’s not just double clicking an .exe or equivalent” to start new third party software took more effort than some people want to learn. The arch wiki is great and there’s no way in hell I’m going to get my in laws to use a computer that requires a wiki. Ubuntu is on par with windows and mac these days yes, but it’s similar difficulty to switching from one to the other. And for what? Less software that they care about (though more and more). More freedom to do stuff they don’t know how to do. More privacy they don’t care about. And the ability to understand senile assholes like you.
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Since switching to Linux in 2007, I have touched Windows only when paid to do so. Each successive move by Microsoft has affirmed for me that I made the correct decision. At this point, I would just not use a computer at home if my only way to do so was with Windows on it.
My only use for Windows at home is for Zwift, an online virtual cycling community, and I use a dedicated computer for that purpose. But someone figured out how to get it to run under Linux using Docker, so I figure when I can no longer use Windows 11, I’ll switch to Linux on that computer.
Supposedly that computer isn’t compatible with Windows 12, which I assume means that security chip or whatever is turned off (the computer is new enough - 2021 - that I assume it has it). I assume I could turn it on in BIOS, but…eh.
Probably only supports chromium browsers, such as the only browser you’ll ever need Microsoft
ExplorerEdge™deleted by creator
Homer should be labeled “Red Hat” in this day and age.