Monopoly giant can't stand it when anyone else has a monopoly:
Microsoft Edge has been spotted inserting a banner into the Chrome download page on Google.com begging people to stick with the Windows giant's browser.
As noted this week by Neowin, an attempt to download and install Chrome Canary using Edge Canary – both experimental browser builds – led to the presentation in the Edge browser window of a banner graphic celebrating the merits of Edge.
"Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft," the banner proclaims atop a button labeled "Browse securely now."
This was on a Google web page, google.com/chrome/canary/thank-you.html, and it's not clear how this ad surfaced. Edge appears to display the banner by itself when the user surfs to the Chrome download page on Google.com, which is just a little bit aggressive.
[...] An individual familiar with browser development confirmed to The Register that he could reproduce the ad, which was said to be written in HTML but wasn't placed "in" the page. He described the ad as its own browser window that, surprisingly, was viewable with Edge's "Inspect" option for viewing source code.
Our source speculated the ad was implemented in a way that pushes down the "Content area" – the space where loaded web pages get rendered – to make space for a second rendering area that holds the ad.
[...] Among those who concern themselves with the nuances of browser behavior, it's argued that blurring the boundaries between what the browser presents and what the website presents is both confusing and a potential security risk.
(Score: 5, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 23 2023, @08:57PM (1 child)
Original Copy
Conspicuous Absence
Awfully Good
Military Intelligence
Deceptively Honest
the added trust of Microsoft
Found Missing
Good Grief.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Friday March 24 2023, @07:21AM
Common Sense
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ledow on Thursday March 23 2023, @09:11PM (18 children)
Rule #1 of consumerism:
The more desperate a company gets trying to force me to use their product, the further out of my way I will go to TOTALLY IGNORE their product at every opportunity.
I'd be using Edge by now, most likely, if Microsoft just put it as a download and let it just exist.
But this insistent shite of getting in my way, second-guessing my commands, re-setting my defaults, and generally annoying my every interaction with it means I will literally do what I can to remove it from my OS and use a competitor instead.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by corey on Thursday March 23 2023, @09:40PM (4 children)
Yep same. I actually now miss Internet Explorer. But I never used it anyway, but this shenanigans is ridiculous. I can’t believe they actually go to the extent of fuckerising websites for their own gain. I think Google should sue them for meddling and tarnishing their website (IP?).
My work PC sets Edge as the default browser at each start up and whenever I open it. Whenever this happens, I need to open Firefox settings and manually set it as the default again. Unfortunately I somewhat have to use it as it automatically authenticates our internal internet websites using Okta whereas with Firefox, I have to enter passwords, TFA, etc.
This seriously needs to be back in court with antitrust written on it.
(Score: 4, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 23 2023, @10:49PM
>this shenanigans is ridiculous
In the early days of dialup, I found it remarkably new (and good) to be using my current ISP to search for a new ISP, with no interference. Kinda shocking that it took this long for a "carrier" to use their position of power to abuse that power in the targeting of competitors.
No surprise at all that it's Microsoft doing it.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @02:28PM (2 children)
I actually now miss Internet Explorer.
LOL, Edge is Internet Exploiter rebranded. If it was open source I could prove it. But I agree, both Microsoft and Google need to be back in court for anticompetetive behavior. Monopoly is not capitalism, monopoly is fascism.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2023, @04:04PM (1 child)
Edge is Google Chrome rebranded, actually.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Friday March 24 2023, @07:13PM
Ironically, it's mostly open-source as well as it's actually based on Chromium.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gaaark on Friday March 24 2023, @02:37AM (9 children)
Then use linux: i recommend Manjaro.
I don't see ANY of this nonsense Microsoft throws at it's users (like monkeys flinging poo).
I just can't believe people still use that crap.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Informative) by maxwell demon on Friday March 24 2023, @03:53AM (3 children)
At work, you don't get to choose your operating system.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday March 24 2023, @12:12PM (2 children)
Unfortunately, yes, but what you do at home makes or breaks you IMHO.
I've heard too many people complain about the shit MS throws at them, but when you call them on it, they say, "Oh, it's not that bad."
Sheeeiit.
Plus, businesses that use MS crap and get hacked and customers personal/financial data stolen should be fined and executives should be jailed, IMHO.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday March 24 2023, @04:49PM
You just gave me some insight into myself. I've always been into some kind of tech (hw, sw, cars, whatever). When there are difficulties, challenges, mysteries, annoyances, etc., I get very motivated to "conquer the beast". Often when I figure it out, I'll say out loud "I win!".
In the 90s I ran Windows 3.1 when nobody else was. When 95 came out, I had already gotten sick of MS and was running Linux fully. But then businesses, my parents, others, were buying computers in the late 90s - early 2000s and I had to deal with Windows more and more. Begrudgingly of course. I didn't see a path to getting them on Linux without a ton of my support, and many ran applications that were Windows, including MS office suite. Wine was too much of a mess for me in those days, and all the emulations made things run too slow.
Then a good friend gave me a laptop that came with XP. I got curious and motivated to take back control of a computer. Of course when MS finally got XP debugged and patched, but of course now deprecated, they were coming out with Vista, 7, 8, 10 (the last Windows EVER!!), and oops, what's this thing, 11?
So as I sit here writing this on a Win7 OS that I have gotten full control of (and need many Windows-only applications), I realize that soon I will be forced into 10. But only after I can get full control of all processes and updater mechanisms will I run 10 Internet connected.
TL;DR: I run Windows mainly because I conquered it. But otherwise I'm a huge Linux nerd.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday March 24 2023, @09:11PM
They have different requirements than you. If you're going to evangelize in front of them then you gotta take that into account instead of treating them as if they're self-destructive. In many cases "It's not that bad" is a perfectly fine answer.
I've had people preach to me about switching away from Microsoft for years, not ONE of them actually asked me what I use my computer for. I've had a chip on my shoulder about that for a long time. "You guys know that more than 95% of what I do on my computer happens in 3rd party apps and not the OS itself, right?"
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @02:36PM (4 children)
Then use linux: i recommend Manjaro.
Thanks, I'll try it. Right now my favorite is Mint, I have it dual-boot with kubuntu. I can't get kubuntu to see my network drive, and I can't get Mint to accept audio input, so I record in kubuntu, reboot to Mint, and copy the files to the network.
I can't find Open Office in either distro, at least without hassle, and Gentium Book Basic doesn't render properly in Libre Office. So, so far I have to do my writing in Windows.
If any of you have other distro suggestions, I have a 2 TB hard drive in the Linux computer to try them out on. Room for plenty of OSes.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday March 24 2023, @04:22PM (1 child)
I'm guessing you've probably looked there and it might be what you mean by "hassle", but in case you haven't, at the bottom of the "install instructions for open office on Linux" page on the OpenOffice site there are links for it in the unofficial Debian repository, and links for instructions on how to install in Linux Mint or Ubuntu.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @07:15PM
Thanks, I'll look.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday March 24 2023, @05:06PM (1 child)
There are so many. A good place to start is "distrowatch" and look at the list sorted by popularity / download frequency. That said, many of the technical challenges might not annoy people like me so much. For example, I dig in deep and get things working. I'll download source code and compile something if I can't find it in package form.
Mint, Ubuntu, Manjaro, MX (which I really liked in the brief time I tried it- I gotta recommend it) and more are all derivatives / offshoots of Debian. So if you get the main Debian repositories, and Ubuntu and others, in your repository list, you should be able to get anything and everything out there.
I used to be quite expert with getting a Linux install to communicate well with Windows (IE, "see" Windows shares). I'm okay with Win10, but they did something to make sharing between 7 and 10 extremely difficult, and I haven't bothered to figure it out fully. I've made it work, but it required fiddling. I'm guessing your Windows install is 10?
Someday, probably fairly soon, I'll be forced to conquer that stupidity. MS tries to make it look like they're doing something about security, but it always makes life (much) harder for the good people, and gives the criminals added motivation.
TL;DR: try MX. Like Manjaro, Mint, Ubuntu, many more, it's a derivative of Debian so you should have almost infinite repositories and packages available.
(Score: 3, Informative) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @06:58PM
I actually have four Windows installs, a really old XP notebook that's still useful, a far newer Dell with a few dead keys that's running Windows 10, a new Asus notebook with Windows 11, and two Dell towers, one running Windows 10 and the other dual boot between kubuntu and Mint Cinnamon. There are no data on any of them except temporary files, I use the 4 tb Buffalo network drive to store data, and a 4 tb portable Seagate to back up the Buffalo.
The Linux computer has 2 tb, plenty of room for lots of OSes.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by SDRefugee on Friday March 24 2023, @10:00AM
Same idea.. The more a company annoys the living shit out of me with their incessant idiotic commercials, the more I will absolutely NEVER EVER buy/use their product.
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @02:22PM (1 child)
Indeed. I've avoided IE whenever possible since Netscape, although it was the only browser allowed at work. I've used Firefox since that browser was called Mozilla, despite Google's efforts to cripple it on Android. I wish I could run Linux Mint on a tablet!
It just annoys me that the assholes at M$ now use their renamed Internet Exploiter browser as their help facility.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Friday March 24 2023, @04:22PM
This. I've avoided IE since forever. Chrome never had a chance.
(Score: 3, Funny) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday March 23 2023, @10:55PM (15 children)
ROFLMAO! Best one I've read all week :D
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 5, Funny) by RS3 on Thursday March 23 2023, @11:15PM (12 children)
It's subliminal hypnosis. They sneak it in here and there, repeatedly, and much of the herd believes it. They wouldn't say it if it wasn't true, right?
I trust Microsoft to spy on me. I trust they'll give me very buggy software, then continually force updates and upgrades, some of which will contain more bugs, some of which will disable my computer. The "when" is the fun surprise.
I'm sorry, it's not spying, it's "telemetry". You know, just like a rocket downlinks flight sensor and system data to ground control. Just pretend you're flying your favorite rocket and MS is monitoring you. So comforting.
(Score: 4, Funny) by HiThere on Thursday March 23 2023, @11:20PM (11 children)
I don't think you can necessarily assume that MS software will be buggy. Many people seem to think that Notepad and Solitaire are good programs.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday March 23 2023, @11:58PM (6 children)
True story, and an actual testament to MS OS being able to run (much) older software: I don't play games much, but one I like is date-stamped 1991 ("TutsTomb"). You can't resize it, but I'm pretty sure you couldn't in 1991 either. I have a small collection of simple games from that time.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @02:46PM (5 children)
Really? I can't get any of my old sixteen bit games to run, let alone eight bit games. I'm going to see if maybe they'll run on Linux under Wine when I get time.
I had a discussion with my daughter about this not long ago, with me asking "what ever happened to backwards compatibility?" She, brainwashed by ignrant professors who aren't smart enough to know that they're only competent in their own fields, said "well, the technology changed." I then pointed out over a century of backwards compatibility in vinyl record albums, and asked why Microsoft doesn't have automatic emulators built-in? There's absolutely no reason whatever why a DOS game designed for a 4 mHz CPU can't be easily emulated on today's computers that are thousands of times faster.
Microsoft sucks.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 3, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday March 24 2023, @05:09PM (1 child)
Try looking into DOSbox. It's a DOS emulator in most Linux distro repositories.
I've been able to play many of my old old 16 bit games in it without any problems.
DOOM I & II, Commander Keen 1-6, Descent 1 & 2, and Ultima 1-5 as examples. Most worked "out of box" but I did need to tweak a few settings for a some of them. Games like Ultima1-5 tracked hunger via the system clock ticks so on a 3.4Ghz system I'd starve befor I could even think of moving anywhere.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by guest reader on Friday March 24 2023, @10:28PM
While DOSBox [dosbox.com] is cool and it runs Dune II [abandonia.com] without issues, there are other games like Magic the gathering from Windows 95 era which are really difficult to run in emulators. The easiest way is sometimes to install a copy of Windows 95 in a virtual machine to run them by using their installers. The installers will also install compatible version of bundled Direct X which was also used for 2D drawing.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday March 24 2023, @05:22PM
Yes, M$ sucks in many ways. Gates was (is?) very clever and shrewd, getting IBM to ship MS OS with _every_ computer whether you wanted it or not, and forcing "clone" manufacturers to do the same.
They're also pretty good with example code, good API documentation, and general developer support, hence the proliferation of apps (and tons of cleaners, fixers, diagnostics, etc...)
Not sure what errors you're seeing, and it's possible you're not seeing the error. Sometimes you have to start older Windows applications in a command prompt window to see the errors.
You're likely missing some .dll files. I have a directory (folder) with the old games and these dlls:
weputil.dll
wep4util.dll
cards.dll
field100.dll
aboutwep.dll
abouttet.dll
You probably don't need all of them, but that's what's in my old games folder, all 1991-93 vintage.
If that doesn't work, you can try Windows' "compatibility mode" settings. You right-click on the .exe, mouse down to "Properties", choose the "Compatibility" tab, and try things. It should work. Mine run without any compatibility settings; YMMV.
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Saturday March 25 2023, @05:24AM (1 child)
I would bet most of those games would run just fine on 32-bit Windows 10, also known as the compatibility version of Windows. That's the version of Windows that still supports all that old 16-bit stuff. I've also seen it accept unsigned drivers originally written for Windows 2000 without a complaint. Of course, you're also limited to 4GB of RAM and support for things like newer graphics cards is pretty spotty.
As far as I can tell, Windows 11 is x64 only.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday March 27 2023, @07:21PM
Haven't tried it since 7, I'll have to now.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 5, Informative) by SDRefugee on Friday March 24 2023, @10:02AM (1 child)
Solitaire *WAS* a "good" program, back in the pre-Windows 10 days. Now it pesters you to *pay* a subscription for it.. Aint NO f'ing way, MS..
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @02:49PM
Someone has made the old game standalone. You can find it on Google. Their newest Solitaire is just trying to emulate the solitaire games on tablets.
And yes, what they are doing is evil.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2023, @11:07AM
Excuse YOU. Notepad is one of the best programs Windows has.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday March 24 2023, @09:19PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Touché) by jb on Friday March 24 2023, @04:46AM (1 child)
Don't forget that it is possible to add negative numbers.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday March 24 2023, @06:06PM
I don't disbelieve you; it's not impossible, nor shouldn't be done.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 23 2023, @10:56PM (7 children)
If Microsoft really wanted me to use their stuff, they wouldn't be blatantly advertising on the home screen, in the toolbar, in the browser, and wherever else they can squeeze an ad. Best to remove Edge from the installation media, so it never gets installed. Put a copy of Chrome, or Firefox, or whatever you prefer on CD/DVD so that you don't even have to download a better browser.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Reziac on Friday March 24 2023, @02:20AM
I wonder if I've not seen this nonsense because the first thing I did with Edge (which I can't be arsed to replace on a Win11 notebook not expected to regularly do online stuff) was install UBlock.... at which point it became essentially indistinguishable from Chrome, which I also trust to spy on me at every turn. Same motivation, different masters.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @02:52PM (4 children)
If you know how to remove Edge, let me know how. I can't even get it and the other useless M$ apps off of the start menu, let alone the computer!
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 24 2023, @04:25PM (1 child)
You start by downloading Windows installation media for Windows Pro, or Windows Enterprise. You want Group Policy Editor, which is not available in the consumer versions of Windows. Complete guide for removing most bloatware is available here: https://woshub.com/remove-built-apps-features-editions-install-wim-image/ [woshub.com]
Perhaps the most important bit of that page is,
So, you remove everything possible to remove from the installation media, then install Windows. Hopefully, you chose to install a local account, and not a cloud account. https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-install-windows-11-with-a-local-account [thewindowsclub.com] (I've heard stories that this no longer works for recent editions.)
Once Windows is up and running, before you even start setting preferences, you'll want to fire up Group Policy Editor, and disable those things already mentioned - Edge, Cortana, etc. You probably want to disable telemetry and advertising, guides here: https://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/140095-disable-advertisements-in-windows-10-through-local-group-policy [spiceworks.com] https://www.groovypost.com/howto/disable-telemetry-on-windows-11/ [groovypost.com]
You must understand, I've not committed all this crap to memory. I needed to install an OS to my wife's new computer, so I started searching and researching. I prepared the media according to my best understanding of several guides on the internet. I followed bits and pieces of advice for customizing Windows from several other guides. The finished product is very, very much like her old Windows 7 install, right down to moving the start menu to the left of the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and a couple other browsers are installed for her, I don't even know which she uses as her primary.
If you already have a Win Pro license, you can probably reuse it here. Or, you may choose to purchase a license. Or, you may choose to search for an online site that will do an Enterprise activation for you.
And, finally, don't be surprised if it takes you a couple days to get it right. Unless you're an IT guy who does this all the time, it's rather slow and tedious to gather the information, and practice creating your installation media.
I hope that helps!
(Score: 3, Informative) by RS3 on Friday March 24 2023, @06:10PM
Thanks for all of that. You're reminding me of some tools, IIRC called "slipstreaming" where you could expand, edit, and recreate a Windows install media. I never got too aggressive with it. I feared I'd remove something that would break the install and I'd have to start over. Hours better spent on things NOT M$.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday March 25 2023, @03:30AM (1 child)
Huh. After posting all of that earlier post, I had to do some searching. The simple answer to your actual question is RevoUninstaller.
https://www.revouninstaller.com/revo-uninstaller-free-download/ [revouninstaller.com]
I just ran the free version on the machine I mentioned earlier. The uninstaller left the shortcut in the toolbar after rebooting. I clicked that shortcut, and got a message that the shortcut was invalid. Files missing, etc etc. It seems to work. Of course, a single test doesn't mean I actually vouch for the program, or that I vouch for Revo. But, it seems to work! I didn't go searching for leftover files and crap, the uninstaller claims to have done that. It's just to late in the day for me, I'm headed to bed.
(Score: 3, Informative) by RS3 on Saturday March 25 2023, @09:59PM
Revo is one of far too many must-haves on a Windump machine. It seems to rip out pretty much anything, but as their disclaimer says, you might not be booting again.
I don't use "system restore" since switching to an SSD and the general advice is don't use it.
I've never had Edge on any of my machines. Well, it sort of tried to install itself during a Windows update, but it never worked and easily uninstalled.
I think with Revo you can do something like a snapshot before installing something, so that Revo can really rip it out, but that might be the paid version of Revo.
The absolute worst software I've dealt with so far, regarding uninstalling, is Allen-Bradley (Rockwell Automation) stuff. Even if you can uninstall something, it leaves a TON of crap, including all kinds of support packages and running processes. I had to use "recovery console" to delete some of the crap. Also can pull the drive and connect it to another machine as a secondary drive and clean out unwanted stuff. It puts a TON of stuff in your "Documents" and other local user folders. And then you'll want to edit the registry and try to remove all the crap it put in there. The extra crap doesn't get installed in a normal way with normal uninstaller .inf and other needed files.
Strong advice re: AB / Rockwell crap: use / buy another computer and dedicate it to AB / PLC software.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Tork on Friday March 24 2023, @10:33PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Funny) by Opportunist on Thursday March 23 2023, @11:02PM (3 children)
It's desperation.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday March 23 2023, @11:08PM (2 children)
Desperation from a giant corporation? Smells like opportunity. Any feature you want built into Chrome (or as a formally supported extension), submit it to the Edge team and tell them you'll let all your followers know that Microsoft listened to your feedback and incorporated it. No response? You'll let your followers know that too, and that it looks like business as usual for Microsoft. Let's see if that gets up to their marketing team.
I'll even give you a couple to start -- built-in textarea history for when the browser/network/site/computer crashes. Built-in adblock. Many, many choices.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2023, @11:19PM (1 child)
No, Smells like teen spirit! [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday March 24 2023, @02:32AM
Microsoft loves the smell of napalm in the morning.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 5, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Friday March 24 2023, @02:18AM (1 child)
People who use Chrome obviously like being put under corporate surveillance. So surely Edge is twice as good for them: it's suspicious Google code with abusive Microsoft patches. It should sell itself!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Reziac on Friday March 24 2023, @02:23AM
I use Chrome almost entirely for Youtube and other GoogleShit, under the theory that this keeps the largest chunks of GoogleSnoop all in the same basket. (And keeps it out of my other browsers.)
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bradley13 on Friday March 24 2023, @07:20AM (2 children)
I ran across some part of Office 365 - don't remember where - where it tried to insist that I use Edge. Even though I am on Linux. Yes, I know there is a Linux version of the beast, but why would any Linux user want to install Edge? It's just Chrome, probably with added Microsoft tracking.
Microsoft is getting really obnoxious again...
FWIW I'm pretty happy with Vivaldi. Firefox as a second choice. Edge? Not anywhere on the radar...
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SDRefugee on Friday March 24 2023, @10:05AM
If I'm on Linux, chances are VERY VERY good that I don't like Microsoft *for some/many reasons*... Then WHY ON EARTH would I EVER put a Microsoft product on my Linux system? It boggles the mind.
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @02:59PM
Microsoft is getting really obnoxious again...
I've been using Microsoft since DOS 2.2 and have never seen them to be anything BUT obnoxious. You must have a higher tolerance for corporate bullshit than me, probably because I'm old enough to remember when corporations at least tried to appear to be honest and thoughtful.
These new assholes are blatant, in your face "fuck you, peons! We don't give a shit! We own the government!"
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 3, Informative) by SomeGuy on Friday March 24 2023, @12:08PM (2 children)
I guess I'll have to glance and see if this is different from what they had been doing, but Windows/Edge have been bitching about using Edge instead for quite a while now.
The Windows settings make it sound end-of-the-world ish if you aren't using Edge, uploading your private data to Microsoft One Drive, letting them track you with a Microsoft Account, and whatever else bullshit they want to push on you today.
I'd ask why people put up with this kind of shit, but I know the standard parroted responce. We are all supposed to just shut up and put up with this shit, so give up all hope of ever improving things.
I hate this planet.
(Score: 3, Informative) by mcgrew on Friday March 24 2023, @03:02PM (1 child)
It's not the planet, it's our fascist government.
Under fascism, business controls the government. Under communism, government controls business. I don't see any difference, neither one is democracy.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday March 24 2023, @05:58PM
Absolutely agree, but there's another huge factor: people are enabling it. People have choices, but for a variety of reasons they just grab the quickest, easiest, simplest, cheapest, and marketers know and exploit this.
So hopefully we have wise, learned, caring people in charge who make rules and regulations to curb the too many ways business can become far too powerful. But then you have people fighting those rules, and TBH, sometimes the rules are (far) too broad-brush / sweeping.
A great personal example, somewhat touched on in the John Deere software discussion: US federal vehicle emissions laws state that any "tampering" of a car's emissions system (and that can include anything and everything with the engine, its controls, sensors, peripherals, etc.) is a federal offence. Wait a minute, for sure there are people who want more power output, and those mods may increase emissions, but I'm an efficiency nut. I want better efficiency, which, if done correctly, can also reduce emissions, and I consider that an important goal. I won't complain if I get a bit more pep too. But, it's a Federal Offense if I get my car to run better, because the factory is always under great pressure to get things out the door in a "good enough" way? IE, there's always a lot of room for tuning and refinement, but it's a federal offence? How about the law says: you're welcome to mod / tune your car, it just has to pass emissions test. That would spur lower demand for petrol, lower emissions, and general learning, knowledge, and innovation (an overused word).
I'm all for rules and regulations, but there needs to be a better and faster refinement process.