this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023

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You can’t get rid of it, you can only hide it: Microsoft imposes controversial Windows Backup on users (gadgettendency.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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You can’t get rid of it, you can only hide it: Microsoft imposes controversial Windows Backup on users::Like it or not, the Windows Backup app installed in Windows 10 and Windows 11 is here to stay, with Microsoft calling it a "system component" that can't be

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been on Windows since 3.0 (not 3.1) and MS-DOS, back when DR-DOS was a thing and IBM's OS/2 was a rising star, and the joke about how if operating systems were airlines, Linux would be the one where all the passengers bring parts and tools and build it on the runway themselves.

Oh, how the turns have tabled. Today, I installed Debian 12 with GNOME DE on an old 2010 MacBook, and then installed Budgie Desktop on top of that as an optional profile. It fucking screams on 13 year old hardware, lol. I'm not even done trying out all the distros and DEs I want to try out; that's just one. When I'm done playing with that I'll blow it away and install a different distro instead. And I didn't pay a penny for any of them.

There is literally no reason for me to stay on the sick, bloated advertising delivery/data collection system that is Microsoft Windows.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've grown up with windows (started with windows 95 in elementary school) and have been a Linux user since 2009. Watching windows decline and the Linux desktop grow and mature has been quite the ride. I've been distro-hopping for years and have finally settled on Debian Testing. It does exactly what I tell it to do. It helps me accomplish whatever task I'm doing and then gets out of the way.

Windows on the other hand is the polar opposite of that. Constantly nagging you to use OneDrive. New panels and "experiences" popping up out of nowhere. Unskippable OOBEs after a major update that force you to navigate some dark pattern if you have the audacity to resist using a Microsoft account. The telemetry that you know is running under the hood 24/7. Hands and knees begging you to use Edge to open PDFs?!?! Using windows today is like using Clippy - the operating system.

Linux has come such a long way, and outside of some proprietary edge cases, I can no longer imagine using Windows as a daily driver

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Yes. When I first booted up Linux Mint -- the first distro I had tried since Red Hat came on a dozen or so 3.5" floppies -- I couldn't believe it. I was expecting something a LOT less developed and shiny, but no -- and Mint is one of the lighter ones. That's why I'm trying so many, including ones I already know I won't use as a daily driver, because they're all fully fledged, completely operable computing environments.

If it hadn't been for MS Office I'd have done this long before now, especially when I got into a mandatory-Windows-Upgrade-and-break loop a couple years ago. But I absolutely despise the newer Office versions; they seem to break more with each release. If I have to go back to older versions to run it on Linux, that's just one more favor the FOSS community will be doing for me.

Clippy - the operating system.

Jfc, lol. At least Clippy wasn't all up in my shorts and sending the data back to the mothership. Gotta ask, though, given your age: did you ever get to use Microsoft Bob? You probably don't remember all the commercials; it was Faith Ford hawking MS Bob every time you turned on the tv. But using it, omfg. You boot up into a "living room." I shit you not. MSBob was a . . . really fucking weird five minutes, lol.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As a non windows user, can someone explain to be what all the fuss is about? It sounds like people are grumpy that they’re being shown a feature that they can’t use or don’t want to use, and MS is going to let people hide the UI for that.

What is wrong with this solution? Are people not going to be happy until every spec of the feature’s code is stripped from the OS?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

It's another way of trying to force users into using OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud service, and paying for the privilege. It's not a big deal for the tech savvy, but it's a great way to capture subscriptions from those that are not. Using it also requires a Microsoft account.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This isn't new

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The new backup tool ONLY backs up to OneDrive, and you MUST use a personal Microsoft account, not even a work or a school account.

Seriously, look at the link. If you want to use an external drive, for example, or a different cloud account, it's a different process and the settings are buried several layers deep.

If the new app were like the old versatile backup tool you picture here, there would be no issue.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wait, really? I'm currently using my university account to back up some folders to OneDrive (provided by my University), and it saved my butt last November when my SSD borked out of nowhere.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's what it says. From the same link as above, just below Step 1:

Important: You must use a personal Microsoft account with Windows Backup. Work or school Microsoft accounts won't work.

I think it's because to restore you MUST sign in with the same account you backed up with; if you drop out or get fired, you probably won't have access to that account again. They may also be throwing back any email address with .edu, though that seems a step too far. I haven't tried, that's just my guess: they don't want angry users screaming at them when they can't get their shit back down from the cloud.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

coming soon: Monthly subscription to use windows with the justification that it uses an online service in order to work

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Probably an unpopular opinion, but I don't see a problem with subscriptions for commercial software. Fixing bugs and security issues after release is an ongoing effort that costs money, so a one-time purchase isn't really economically viable in the long run. I honestly wouldn't feel comfortable using unmaintained software that might contain known but unfixed vulnerabilities.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Have you checked how much money Microsoft have recently? Their current model doesn't appear to be a problem for them.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You joke but this

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

what do you mean by this

do u think a cloud pc (with constant server costs) shouldnt be a monthly fee?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think this is likely the "new only Windows option" in the not so distant future. I think it shouldn't exist.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And what will be the host from which you will run Cloud PC? Linux, macOS?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What sick moronic idiot would want a cloud pc that's accessible via... a pc

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Their primary use is enterprise not private consumers. Think of virtualized OS accessible over internet that you can manage/protect and provide for example to some random consultant. Or just provide more powerful PC on low end HW.

It's costly though and not sure it ever gained traction because there always were alternatives like Citrix Desktops.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe there's a use case, but I'm anti-cloud and always will be. I struggle to think of a situation I couldn't do better with in-house (or even air gapped) VMs of my own.

Anyone who watches 365 uptime knows that Microsoft's cloud is a fragile laughing stock. They use a Twitter account because their own status portal is so laughably trash and unreliable. If you don't believe me I don't blame you. Here it is.

The day I trust any cloud platform (Especially Microsoft) is the day I promise to jump off a cliff.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Thank you. Exactly. The term "cloud" is just code for "someone else's computer" and as you say, there's very little that cannot be done without it. And once you entrust your data to someone else's hardware, all you really have are assurances and probabilities that what you expect will happen with it becomes what actually happens with it. No guarantees.

And you pay for all this, monthly, until the end of time.

I don't blame anyone that wants to go that route, I use a freebie bit of cloud for phone photos myself, but anything of more import, nah. More "cloud" for everyone else, I suppose, because they can have my share.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Use local accounts only and do not login to a Microsoft account.

Edit: In my situation, I used an MS account during a reinstall and disabled backups and logged out quickly after. There are methods to still do an offline install, from what I understand.

Disabling backup is annoying, but not hard.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You also can't use a work or school account, according to Microsoft:

Important: You must use a personal Microsoft account with Windows Backup. Work or school Microsoft accounts won't work.

There is also no way to use the backup app with local storage, like an external hard drive; you can ONLY back up to OneDrive with this.

EDITED to clarify: for now, you can still back up to another drive, but it's a different process and the "advanced settings" needed to do so are buried several layers deep.