More Windows bloatware

[BJG145]

The computer's been acting up this morning, audio cutting out, and I realise what's caused this when I find that Microsoft has added an icon to the taskbar to inform me that the sun is out, along with a load of celebrity gossip. Grrr.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/m ... st-update/

[Eddy Deegan]

Yep, annoying indeed. Not obvious how to disable it either, as they've omitted the option from the normal taskbar settings. It's described in the linked article but for convenience here is the way to turn it off. Right-click the taskbar to invoke the context menu then select the following:



I sent them some pretty negative feedback via the '...' menu within the widget before disabling it too.

[James Perrett]

Oddly enough this really annoyed our lad this morning. Thanks for the instructions for turning it off.

[Drew Stephenson]

Another thank you from me. I'd noticed it but it wasn't bothering me. I don't really see the need for it when I have these things called, ironically, windows...

[Jorge]

Now that you mention it, the sun icon on my taskbar has disappeared. Could it have happened when I let Windows update itself a couple days ago? According to the article that should have turned the icon on by default, not off. The Turn Off setting for News was checked when I looked, and I didn't check it. The overarching annoyance is MS forcing too many things on us, including timing of updates. Has anyone noticed that little things start to go wrong or not work if you postpone the update installation too long?

[wireman]

This lasted about 2 minutes before I disabled it following reboot from update of my work laptop at some point last week.

[OneWorld]

It would be nice to know exactly how these updates improve Windows because I can never see anything apparent. I guess the anti-virus is kept up to date but apart from that what are they supposed to do?

[Dynamic Mike]

This lasted about 2 minutes before I disabled it following reboot from update of my work laptop at some point last week.

Same here. I hate the fact that it's not even mentioned in the details for the update on the microsoft page. It's annoying that Windows 10 thinks it owns your PC & 'knows' what you need, but I worry more about the changes they make that you can't see.

[S.Crow]

I have been using the free Classic Shell as a start button and menu replacement since Windows 8 was released.
No problems that I can recall and none of the nonsense that MS shove at you.

[OneWorld]

I have been using the free Classic Shell as a start button and menu replacement since Windows 8 was released.
No problems that I can recall and none of the nonsense that MS shove at you.

Yes but is that the 'lipstick on the pig' same gal different dress? It might just be a different GUI but the slopware is still there in the background?

[OneWorld]

This lasted about 2 minutes before I disabled it following reboot from update of my work laptop at some point last week.

Same here. I hate the fact that it's not even mentioned in the details for the update on the microsoft page. It's annoying that Windows 10 thinks it owns your PC & 'knows' what you need, but I worry more about the changes they make that you can't see.

Yep, that is the most irritating aspect of these updates. Microsoft is so arrogant as to dictate how our computers look and function, it is so dictatorial

[Hugh Robjohns]

And Apple don't?

[ef37a]

And Apple don't?

Two wrongs Hugh, two wrongs!

I have just noticed an extra icon in my taskbar and it is telling me I need to do an update.

Hmm...Oi may B e bek.

Dave.

[MOF]

And Apple don't?

Apple allow you to set automatic updates or not. You receive notifications on boot up automatically but you’re not forced to update.

[James Perrett]

And Apple don't?

Apple allow you to set automatic updates or not. You receive notifications on boot up automatically but you’re not forced to update.

And Windows is exactly the same here.

[MOF]

And Windows is exactly the same here.

I got the impression that updates were being installed automatically, other forum threads about using a Windows laptop for location recording mentioned this being a problem, specifically for audio interruptions.
Obviously I’m an Apple fan but truly I’ve never had audio faults caused by other background system issues: “ The computer's been acting up this morning, audio cutting out, and I realise what's caused this when I find that Microsoft has added an icon to the taskbar to inform me that the sun is out, along with a load of celebrity gossip”.

[ef37a]

And Apple don't?

Apple allow you to set automatic updates or not. You receive notifications on boot up automatically but you’re not forced to update.

And Windows is exactly the same here.

Eh?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

And Windows is exactly the same here.

I got the impression that updates were being installed automatically, other forum threads about using a Windows laptop for location recording mentioned this being a problem, specifically for audio interruptions.

Windows only installs updates automatically if you allow it to. Unfortunately the default is to allow it and most people don't change the default setting so we end up with all these posts of woe. Anyone using a Windows computer for serious work MUST make sure that they have it set up appropriately.

Apple tend to cater for creative people better with their default settings but there's no reason why Windows can't work equally well with just a few tweaks.

[Mike Stranks]

Thanks Hugh and James for a more reasoned perspective...

Windows is an operating system with a truly huge footprint. Most (non corporate) users will not be bothered in the slightest by this latest addition - many will welcome it. I was ambivalent, but have now switched it off.

Those here who are 'huffin' an' puffin'' should perhaps look at their smartphones. Mine is knee-deep in stuff I don't want, but am unable to remove. Microsoft is going with the flow with these extras - except that it gives you the option to remove it. And my smartphone (iOS) keeps telling me that it has an update available - at about the same frequency as Windows.

As for updates... what's the big deal? My machine tells me that it's got some updates and then leaves it to me as to when they're installed.

As for the number of updates... the partial Internet stoppage last week reminded me of the old programmers' adage "There's no such thing as a bug-free program, but there are programs where not all the bugs have been identified." Windows is a vast and complex OS. The most rigorous testing will still let some bugs wriggle through. It's the user who finds them. So they're fixed and an update is issued. Even in the most professional of software development companies 'twas ever thus...

Windows has given the person in the street personal access to stuff that was unimaginable 50 years ago - not least the audio community. If you don't like what a general, broad-based OS gives you, buy a specialised version of it or switch to Linux.

[merlyn]

... or switch to Linux.

Linux gets updates. If a machine is on the internet it needs updates.

If a user wants zero updates then that machine can't be on the internet, which is a nice idea for a music production machine -- the 'appliance' approach -- but it isn't practical for most people.

A sane approach to updates would be to allow 'security' or 'critical' updates only.

The complaints are about Microsoft messing with user settings which I don't see any way to defend.

[Hugh Robjohns]

A sane approach to updates would be to allow 'security' or 'critical' updates only.

Absolutely! Wish they would provide that option.

That would keep the machine as 'safe' as possible, and allow the user to decide on which feature updates and enhancements they wanted to implement, and when.

The complaints are about Microsoft messing with user settings which I don't see any way to defend.

Me neither.

My DAW computer randomly decided it couldn't find the two RME AIO cards inside the other day after an 'update'. I had to reinstall the same RME software to make it play nicely again.

Grrrrr...

[Dynamic Mike]

Windows only installs updates automatically if you allow it to. Unfortunately the default is to allow it and most people don't change the default setting so we end up with all these posts of woe.

On windows 10 Pro you can only defer updates for 35 days. But nobody is complaining about security updates, it's 'feature updates' that you should be able to opt out of. My main complaint is that following updates you are helpfully advised 'some of your settings may have been changed' but never told which settings. So you need to trawl through privacy settings etc. to see what's been enabled.

Most people probably have no idea what they're sharing with MS. Unless you've turned off 'getting to know you' in speech, inking & typing then every word you've ever typed has been collected by MS, same with Cortana (I never trusted her in Halo!). You've essentially agreed to a key-logger that's turned on by default.

[ef37a]

Just read today (on teletext news of all places!) that Msft are dropping support for W10 in 2025 and a new "revolutionary" OS will be announced shortly.

Dave.

[awjoe]

Revolutionary? I'd prefer evolutionary. Revolutions are messy.