[OliveMate]

I think the decreasing fondness of Windows can mostly be blamed on Microsoft forcing their internet services on users; with the need for Microsoft accounts being the most recent & damning of the bunch.

You had gadgets in Vista & 7, but they could easily be disabled. 8 had live tiles for things like the news (effortlessly removable) and introduced the Microsoft Store (which increasingly needs an account). 8.1 added Bing Search to the start menu (requires Regedit to remove nowadays), 10 added news & current events to the start menu, and in 11 they want us to register Microsoft accounts to use the OS.

It's ridiculous how much control we've lost over Windows so that Microsoft can tell shareholders more people are doing Bing searches and signing up for Microsoft accounts than ever before.

[judah]

FYI, Microsoft Store doesn't need an account. You can install apps without being signed in to the Store.

Source: I work on the Microsoft Store.

[trinsic2]

Microsoft store try's to dark pattern you to think you need to log in though. Or at least it did.

[aprilnya]

It no longer does.

[nkrisc]

How? When? Every time I tried to use it I was prompted to log in to a Microsoft account.

If it is in fact possible then you’ve done an excellent job hiding it.

[hacker_homie]

Yeah but it really looks like you need to, are they still showing the login modal dialog that you have to close before it installs?

[xnyan]

Microsoft lost me, longtime windows user, when they started fucking with the start menu. I play a lot of games, and was willing to tolerate a lot of abuse to avoid the hassle of changing platforms, but they literally injected MSN tabloid news article results and aware like candy crush above the local applications I was clearly trying to open.

There are definitely concerning trends with the direction of macOS development, but I still maintain a Windows 11 PC in a closet that just runs steam to play games and holy shit it makes Tacoma feel like the pinnacle of UI design and consistency.

[sevenseacat]

And things like the Copilot app that can't be uninstalled and send regular alerts to the user.

[ehnto]

Yep, the continued moving of the goalposts for how much internet integration is required was really why I bailed on it.

That is putting it kindly mind you, it has become increasingly user hostile software. Distrusting you, the owner of the computer and software, whilst also exploiting your information and usage telemetry, hoovering up private files into the cloud, pushing their online services into every crevice. MSPaint connects to the internet now, like back it off just a little bit you greedy sods. Can't a man draw some pixels in peace?