In the past they have had shady deals, but since the monopoly lawsuit of the late 90s, Microsoft has backed off from those strategies.
If you go to the store and pick a computer box off the shelf the $999 price includes a copy of Windows. Similar if you go to an online store and pick a pre-built system with Windows. Windows is included in the total price with no choice; it is “built-in”.
If you custom configure a system it may have an option like
Windows Home
Windows Pro +$50
Ubuntu Linux -$39
No operating system -$39
In that case the cost is broken out as a line item, and can even be skipped if you don’t want Windows. And if you build your own from parts, you can do whatever you want.
The shady practice Microsoft has not done for 20 years or so is restricting which operating systems a manufacturer could sell. In the dark days Microsoft negotiated terms that only gave the best pricing to manufacturers who licensed a copy of Windows with every computer they sold. Back then you usually were paying for Windows even if the first thing you did was wipe it clean and install Linux.
Users need some form of backup. OneDrive is easy to use, but the free version doesn’t come with enough space for most people. If you are going to pay for Office, it’s a great choice.
I presume you mean the subscription version of Office. Does that come with a lot more cloud space?
Because, again, Backblaze is a fixed price for unlimited storage (for personal or individual use). And it just backs up everything automatically, so it works well with any program. Since there are no limits, it’s just “set and forget.”
I also recommend installing Ccleaner. The basic version is free, and it will scan your computer and remove many unneeded and unwanted files. It’s also a convenient way to check startup files.
You can also use it to uninstall many unwanted programs, although the dreaded Macafee needs specialist treatment.
It should work entirely in the background, but you may need to turn it on first. There’s probably an icon in your system tray that you can click on that will bring up the interface and there should be a toggle button there somewhere. Otherwise, open it from your Start menu and then do the above.
No. As others have mentioned, you need to go into Windows Settings, click on Apps, then on Installed Apps. This will bring up a list, sorted alphabetically by default, of all of the programs installed on your computer. Look for anything with McAfee in the name, then click on the three horizontal dots at the far right of it. One of the options should be Uninstall. Do this for every McAfee app (program) you find in the list.
I’ve never used McAfee, but some programs try to wheedle you into not uninstalling them by launching a web page either extolling the virtues of their product, or dire warnings of what could happen without them. If McAfee does this, just close the browser without clicking on any part of the web page.
As a former software designer and researcher and long-time IT consultant, my perspective on why the term “cloud” is so hated – and particularly why I so despise it – is because it’s not only meaningless, but intentionally meaningless. It’s marketing bullshit.
The term arose with the advent of rapid wide-area communications, mostly those enabled with the advent of ubiquitous high-speed internet, where it started to become common to draw network diagrams with lines going out to a mysterious thing shaped like a cloud. The implication was, we don’t care how the functions here are executed, they just happen as a magical remote service that is someone else’s responsibility. It reminds me of this cartoon:
The “cloud” is similar to the step “and then a miracle occurs”, at least in the sense that the process designers are willfully distancing themselves from what actually happens there.
Please don’t misunderstand. The decomposition and isolation of major functional components is central to good software design. What I hate is that the term “cloud” is irresponsibly bandied about as some sort of ominipotent entity, when what it always really means in essence is “a server on the internet”. Of course it’s usually something like “one or more servers or server farms”, which may have redundancies and failover capabilities, which may have RAID storage configurations and do frequent backups, which may have redundant high-speed internet connections to multiple carriers, and which may be protected by a high level of security … or which may have none of those things. A cheap server with an internet connection plugged into the wall in somebody’s basement is as much a “cloud” as the world’s largest distributed network of data centers, and everything in between.
So say what you mean. The only actual “cloud” is that fuzzy white thing in the sky.
Based on my experience over the last few years, I would not recommend using Ccleaner to remove anything. IMHO, it long ago crossed the line to becoming invasive nagware that is virtually as much of an irritant as McAfee.
My standard line is that the phrase “the cloud” should be replaced with the phrase “someone elses’ computer” and then applied to your problem to see if you really want to do that.
“We’ll keep that sensitive data in the cloud” becomes “We’'ll keep that sensitive data in someone else’s computer” and then their eyes start to widen a bit as they see the issue, apparently for the first time.
An issue I recall a while ago was fairly simple. AIUI Canadian law forbade a local company from putting its books out of reach of Revenue Canada, i.e. out of the country. Since “the cloud” could be anywhere, it was debatable whether, should something happen, could Revenue Canada force a cloud owner in another country to obey a subpoena? This was particularly relevant if the business shifted from using a local app running on a local server, to using an accounting softwre service running on a remote serve (software as a service) Plus, with legal or medical records, if they are stored in the USA then the American government has overriding access to them whether Canadian authorities allow it or not. It’s perhaps more relevant to European countries which have more strict data privacy laws that the US does.
There are plenty of examples, but the one that comes to mind is the service offered by a number of companies “store your photos in the cloud”. I assume the motivator was “then they will order their prints from us!” When the companies realized, much later, that the business of photography had changed, people no longer craved piles of paper photos, they closed off the service. You’d better be technically savvy enough to have moved your photos before this happened. It’s not just photos. There are plenty of instances of assorted services, including movies and music, where what you thought you’d purchased would evaporate along with the service, when you as the product were no longer productive enough.
We’ve gotten to the point in communications where it does not really matter if you are working with a local computer or some remote server, the only relevant equipment is the display and the keyboard and mouse. But, what you produce or consume is stored somewhere, and that is the issue. How much control do you have over your documents, your photos, your records? How much control do you have over what intrusions others have? How much privacy? I think it was Google was scanning your email and using the data to build a profile for advertising etc. Physical possession and control goes a long way to assuring privacy and flexibility.
