What is the issue with the Win11 taskbar? I haven’t updated yet but looking at images online, it looks identical to Win10 except it’s centered like Apple. 
It’s centered by default but you can have the Start Menu on the side if you want, just change it in settings. (I always do.) I think you just right-click the bar to get to those settings.
Centred taskbar just seemed like such a pointless style-over substance change to me - the Start menu is in a different place each time depending on how many icons are showing on the taskbar, so operating the start menu with a mouse requires precise hand/eye coordination instead of muscle memory - when it’s in a corner, that’s where the mouse naturally stops when the screen edges constrain it.
Agreed. Certain elements of the UI that get used frequently should be in a static location, not moved around at whim by whatever happens to be running. It’s a terribly-flawed design.
Oh well, who remembers when the entire interface was replaced with “tiles” in Windows 8?
What a shitshow. I always saw that as Microsoft panicking at the dominant success of Apple in the mobile market, and it was their knee-jerk response to it. Yeah, a big tile thingy is useful on a device with a small screen, but forcing it onto every single platform? I’m glad that trend seemed to last about 5 seconds.
The only thing the Windows 8/8.1 Start menu had going for it was the scrolling/animated themes. (Yes, I’m easily amused.) I also thought Windows 8.1 was a good OS…certainly better than Windows 10, which killed Windows home usage for me after a supposedly routine update corrupted the database running the Start menu. There was even a Knowledge Base article about it! I followed all the steps, ultimately determined that somehow every backup of the damned database was corrupted too, and gave up when I reached the point that the only fix was a factory reset.
And I’ve already posted about this elsewhere, but fuck Microsoft for end-of-lifing Publisher. 
Word doesn’t even come close to that level of functionality, and don’t tell me I’m supposed to actually design binder covers in frickin’ PowerPoint.
There is an adequate level of free software available for creating graphics and artwork (Inkscape, Krita, …) and for complex desktop publishing (ConTeXt…)— it is orthogonal to what Microsoft may be doing, though. Last time I walked into a print shop, they were running some version of Adobe InDesign.
It might be worth my time to pester IT about some of those. I did convince them to install Logitech’s software for my keyboard, after all.
Since we are on the subject, it occurred to me to wonder what Microsoft’s contribution to free software may be. It is not zero, but how does it compare to that of other large corporations?
I have administrative control. How can i turn off one-drive and disable copilot?
I don’t know about OneDrive because it doesn’t bother me, but for getting rid of copilot I just uninstalled the app the usual way in system settings on all my machines. It didn’t come back, fingers crossed.
ETA: I also never get ads in Windows 11 or 10. For those who have them, where do they appear, in which apps or on which screens? Though I always set the privacy settings during installation to the tightest possible configuration.
I didn’t turn OneDrive off completely — I use it on occasion to share files that are too big to email — but I did stop it from syncing automatically. This is a pretty good explanation of the process.
@EinsteinsHund is correct regarding CoPilot.
I’m guessing the hate towards OneDrive is because it tries to take over where your files are being stored.
But, let’s say you embrace it, and let it store your files, is it unreliable or some other issue. Maybe privacy concerns for some people I guess.
Going back to the thread title: just four ways? Kind of disproportionate to the many ways they do it to us.
Yeah, the default-everything-to-OneDrive is a major PITA.
Never found it to be unreliable. Files are always there, and it’s a helluva lot better than Google Drive (and it’s accompanying software - Shits, Dicks, and Slits (Sheets, Docs, and Slides for the uninitiated)).
I just told OneDrive exactly what folders to back up and it backs them up and no others. It has never given me a serious problem that wasn’t my fault.
(At one point I had two completely different Microsoft accounts, one that I used for my PC and M365, and one that I used for my Xbox. Having them separated used to be fine but after a while it became a pain in the ass, so I tried to consolidate everything into one, and it was really touchy for a while, especially with OneDrive, but I eventually worked it out and it has been a breeze since then.)
FWIW, I’ve used Open Shell since Windows 10 came out, have used it for years with Win11, and never had any problem with it. Works as advertised for me.
Nitpick: Yes it had a different name in 2012 (Classic Shell ?), but the name is all that’s changed.
[quote=“xtenkfarpl, post:36, topic:1020975”]I would happily stayed on 7 indefinitely, except that a few applications and drivers I really need eventually stopped working or being supported.
[/quote]
AMEN, BROTHER.
I won’t lie. I loved 7. So much. Very fond memories of it.
10 and 11 have been fine, but I still think 7 was my favorite.
(Windows 8 can go fuck itself though, and Vista was even worse. And I consider WinME to be a prank, not a real OS.)
I remember when XP came out and I didn’t want to switch from 98. Windows 98 was something I knew well and I was very comfortable with it. And I didn’t like how XP was so tied into talking home to Microsoft for activation and everything. But it ultimately was better.
Correct. My (perhaps flawed) understanding is that Open Shell started life as a fork of Classic, then continued on by itself when the originator of Classic backed out.
My problem with OneDrive is not so much with reliability or bugginess as the fact that I’m simply not comfortable with my personal information being out in the cloud. I know it’s probably just as safe, if not safer, out there (even though we are talking about Microsoft), but I prefer to have custody — and responsibility — myself. Instead I have a NAS hung off my router, which is backed up on a regular basis; if that makes me a dinosaur, so be it.
BTW, I did resolve the Bluetooth issue I mentioned upthread: I didn’t realize that the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” box was ticked. I don’t know whether that’s the default for laptops, but when I unticked the box the problem went away.
I used it at work and had no troubles with it. But for it to work for me, I’d need to pay real money. And i already pay other people to back up stuff on my main computer, which is a Mac. The free level of Dropbox is good enough my other needs.