this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
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Let's put it this way; when Microsoft announced its plans to start adding features to Windows 10 once again, despite the operating system's inevitable demise in October 2025, everyone expected slightly different things to see ported over from Windows 11. Sadly, the latest addition to Windows 10 is one of the most annoying changes coming from Windows 11's Start menu.

Earlier this year, Microsoft introduced a so-called "Account Manager" for Windows 11 that appears on the screen when you click your profile picture on the Start menu. Instead of just showing you buttons for logging out, locking your device or switching profiles, it displays Microsoft 365 ads. All the actually useful buttons are now hidden behind a three-dot submenu (apparently, my 43-inch display does not have enough space to accommodate them). Now, the "Account Manager" is coming to Windows 10 users.

The change was spotted in the latest Windows 10 preview builds from the Beta and Release Preview Channels. It works in the same way as Windows 11, and it is disabled by default for now because the submenu with sign-out and lock buttons does not work.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I was on 8.1 when 10 was released. They never brought the good features to 8.1 back then, so I never expected them to do it now.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

my laptop has windows 10, just so i can stream amazon prime since they choke it down to like 320p on linux.

This is not just gonna make me put linux on my laptop, but make me cancel streaming subscriptions too. congrats microsoft. You're fucking everyone.

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Windows 10 will be my last Windows operating system. It’s been fine and it works well enough. I’ve already started setting up a drive with Linux Mint 22 for use moving forward.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

In the same boat. Mint has some growing pains but for mainly web browsing I've been enjoying an OS that doesn't feel like a ad billboard or a data snitch.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Everybody should learn about pihole.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Didn't they already put ads in the Windows 10 start menu? Every time I see a fresh Windows 10 install, it's got candy crush and a bunch of promotional links to Microsoft apps in the windows store (office, Outlook, etc.) in the start menu.

Tbh my biggest gripe with Windows 11 isn't even the ads, you can disable them or -- like I did back when I used Win11 on a spare partition for VR gaming -- just install a start menu replacement like startallback. My biggest gripe is that they removed the fullscreen launcher and mobile/touch optimized metro app system (ik windows store apps exist, but they behave like regular windows apps, which is awkward on a tablet when you're using it without the keyboard cover). I liked that Windows 10 basically kept all the Windows 8 tablet features, but made them optional so that you can have a full desktop experience on a tablet. Now windows 11 just feels kind of poorly designed and clunky on a tablet PC.

I ended up installing ChromeOS on my tablet through Project Brunch just to get a decent, polished-feeling tablet interface (with android apps, which is a huge plus since that's already a massive library of touch-optimized software). I run NixOS on my main PC, but for the tablet it was either Linux+GNOME (GNOME is the only desktop DE with acceptable touch support imo, especially paired with the cosmic shell extension for automatic window tiling), or ChromeOS, and I tried a bunch of different distros (including open-source chromiumOS distros like FydeOS).

In the end, I liked FydeOS, but ChromeOS through Brunch Framework has extra features I'd rather not live without (like Android phone connectivity), and FydeOS has borked touch support on the OpenFyde releases, so I'd need to use the proprietary Fyde For You builds with specific drivers for the Surface Pro 4, but those cost money after 90 days, and if I'm using a proprietary OS, I might as well pick the free one. If you've never used ChromeOS, it's basically like if stock Google android had a good desktop mode and could (easily/officially) run desktop Linux apps.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I'm in the EU and use Windows 10 LTSC so I mostly clear off of this bulshit. A few months ago I bought a cheap refurbished laptop to use occasionally and decided from day 1 it would be Linux Mint only since I only use it for the basics.

A few months later and I'm surprised how far Mint came. It's so easy to use. Customizing it was a bit harder but nothing major. And to my surprise...even games. I threw a couple of games at it and everything the computer can handle would run. I was from the time where gaming on Linux was a no-no.

When LTSC support goes, I'll most likely go full Linux. The only problem is the Adobe software but maybe I can fix that with a virtual machine.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (3 children)

...decided from day 1 it would be Linux Mint only since I only use it for the basics

What kind of out of the ordinary things cannot be done with it?

I switched from Windows 3.11 and I'm still puzzled by this.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I always love when people pretend to be mystified that someone has trouble running programs on Linux when I, a non Linux user, see plenty of examples of people having trouble getting programs to run on Linux scrolling through "Everything" on Lemmy

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Well, some people want to run programs on Linux that were written for other operating systems.

As it happens, it can be done, but it's not the simplest way to do things.

It's like buying a PlayStation and complaining it won't run Super Mario properly.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

What if those are the basics?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Cannot be done with Mint? I've OS hopped every few years - currently running Windows 11 at work and Mint at home. I much prefer the Mint install. That said, I'm a video producer - and video production just isn't there yet on Linux. CUDA's a pain to get working, proprietary codecs add steps, Davinci's linux support is more limited than it seems, KDenLive works in a pinch but lacks features, Adobe and Linux are like oil and water, there's no equivalent for After Effects... I don't doubt that there are workarounds for many of these issues. But the ROI's not there yet. I'd love to see a video production focused distro that really aimed for full production suite functionality. Especially since Hackintoshes are about to get even harder to build.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I guess that's a valid edge case. Although I thought that some professional editing suites had been ported (not Adobe's, obviously). Apparently it's not the case.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The way your comment reads, you've been using Windows 3.11 these past decades. 😂

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Why fix what isn't broken

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

As a long time Linux user, thank you M$!

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

Well.. it's time to HOST style AdBlock to shine baby...
If you use HAGEZI Ultimate Aggressive, 1Host Pro, StevenBlack, & Hblock filters in your machine, you practically immune to Microsoft ads

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Paying for an OS that phones home with incredible amounts of telemetry where you have to run adblock to get rid of the built in ads is just silly.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

or just swich away and let them have their little sandbox to themselves

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