Satya Nadella: Windows is the "socket" for subscriptions like Microsoft 365 and Xbox Game...

[Dd663]

Oh, those.

They dont really bother me much, since I only click on the ones on the top row, to continue playing.

That's good. They definitely bothered me occasionally, though, when I still had an Xbox, when they would show images I found disturbing from games I definitely didn't want to play. If I could have disabled those promotional boxes, I wouldn't have cared, but I couldn't disable them.

 

[punctualturn]

I wouldn't have cared, but I couldn't disable them.

That makes sense.

But as mentioned, havent bothered me and since I am so used to only use the top row, I dont even notice what they are placing in there.

 

[zulu53]

I honestly didn't comment on this right away because I was thinking about it because it doesn't makes a lot of sense to me.

To explain Nadella is probably a true believer in just turning the entire company into a cloud/SaaS provider. Azure is the division he cultivated and it's probably one of it's biggest revenue sources right now but more importantly, the most stable of them compared to gaming and OS sales.

However I really think if it was just up to him, there wouldn't be a Windows 11 at all today. If you think about selling the big 3: Azure or Infrastructure as a service, Office 365 and software as a service and Xbox cloud so Gaming as a service, none of that requires a new OS. None of that requires an OS at all: they can just as easily sell those 3 very profitable services to say, a customer using a macbook or an ipad even. If a company buys into Azure completely, then all of your work can *easily* be done on an ipad: it already has a good keyboard and touchpad, Azure takes care of all of the ERP or CRM needs for the company, as well as shared drives and other typical office infrastructure and then office 365 is also where most people should be able to actually do work with the data and such.

So at that point why would they care if you use an ipad, a tv or other appliance or a laptop or desktop system using Linux? You're still a customer in a major way by paying for all these other services (Your company is at least) so they should be agnostic.

So if I had to make an un-educated guess, that would be that leaving the operative system business as a focus was probably Nadella's ideal situation but he just couldn't get the board of directors to buy in 100% so mostly Bill Gates said 'We're keeping Windows' back when he was still on the board since this decisions are made several years in advance. That's the reason why Nadella's Microsoft 'Loves Linux' but is not allowed to do anything about it and wants to pursue this stupid "Upgrade to Windows 11!" strategy and it's doing his best to basically say "No you don't understand, I really like eating sh!t this is quite the tasty meal I'm having! This is great!" While trying to continue to push Windows 11.

I disagree. BillG started the "bundling" concept that Nadella is merely extrapolating from. Creating Office was a means to defeat the better word processing (WordPerfect) and spreadsheet (Lotus123) programs available to both consumers and business. Part of the bundling concept was "The OS including the mandatory http browser interface is merely the entry point to convince customers to buy up to our other products, regardless of whether these are thick client software (standalone office) or thin client software (office365, Azure, etc. other cloud services). Think and thin being the terminology back then for local or cloud based computing. MS and Nadella do absolutely care whether you use MS or Linus for the OS. They have been very successful using MS OS as the entry point and have perfected it for this task. There is not logical financial reason to abandon this philosophy. The articles is just demonstrating that they are continuing to "force" integration and upward buying in more surreptitious (hard to detect) ways. Windows 12 bundled with the proper "extra" "Xbox" software is the entry point to less expensive high performance gaming: able to beat the standalone consoles - like Office beat out the better but more expensive WordPerfect and Lotus123.

 

[loki1944]

You guys probably already know what I'm going to say but I'm going to say it anyway because I like the sound of my own key strokes.

blah blah blah, Linux. Blah blah blah, Microsoft really wants to push customers away.

on a more serious note, forcing software and advertising on an operating system that people PAY FOR while collecting and selling user data to make MORE MONEY is seriously going to make push people into linux.

Most distros are on a Windows XP level of functionality at this point, which means you're going to have to download binaries just like you use to have to download DLL's to get programs working, but we're basically there.

While it is growing slowly, the desktop PC user Linux market share has consistently been growing for the last several years. Microsoft has been intentionally making Windows harder to use to make more money and sell more of their own products. Windows 7 was almost perfect, Windows 10 at the beginning, was solid enough for people to not complain or have a desire to quit. However, we are now reaching a point where people will start being willing to deal with the inconveniences of using Linux because of what MS is doing to windows. As more people switch, more of those inconveniences will get fixed and it will become more appealing to a wider audience. So on and so fourth.

You're going to see me say something I may never say again so listen closely. One, and IMO, probably the only reason iOS still is held in such high esteem is that early Android SUCKED. Android existed before iOS but they could never get it right. If it wasn't for Apple actually trying to figure out how to make a usable mobile operating system we wouldn't be where we are today. And it took them until the ~iPhone 6 until we saw something remotely similar to what we have today as far as smartphones go.

My point being, open source and freeware take longer to develop than something with Billions of dollars behind it. What will happen with Linux is much like what will happen with Android. Developers create a fix for their specific problem and then it gets released in a kernel level update later down the road for free. Essentially, if Developers for "apps" want to make money they have to fix bugs in the opensource OS to sell them on said OS. If that OS doesn't have enough of a market share then the developer wont invest in resources to develop for it.

The more Linux grows, the more developers are likely to develop for and invest in it. The more they invest in it the wider the audience grows.

If Linux was as simple as XP, or W7 it would be a much more valid option for a far larger number of users; but it is far from that level of simplicity.

 

[Watzupken]

At the end of the day, we will own nothing. Everything will be on a rental basis, so Windows and whatever services will likely all end up on a subscription base model. In addition, it won’t be surprising they are gathering personal data in the background for advertising/ sale, plus, pushing advertising to you whether you like it or not. The only question is how aggressive they will implement these.

 

[yRaz]

If Linux was as simple as XP, or W7 it would be a much more valid option for a far larger number of users; but it is far from that level of simplicity.

Yeah, no. I'm calling BS. It's far easier to use than 98SE and on the same level of XP. In many respects its easier to use than XP because of the way it handles drivers. W7 was a God send because it got rid of XPs driver issues and DLL problems.

I cannot put into words how frustrating XPs networking issues were with 99% of the problems being a driver issue where the OS lacked a DLL and I had to go to a working computer, download the DLL, put it on a flash drive and then just paste it onto the other machine.

You either don't remember XP or haven't used Linux. Or maybe both, I don't know

 

[terzaerian]

Yeah, no. I'm calling BS. It's far easier to use than 98SE and on the same level of XP. In many respects its easier to use than XP because of the way it handles drivers. W7 was a God send because it got rid of XPs driver issues and DLL problems.

I cannot put into words how frustrating XPs networking issues were with 99% of the problems being a driver issue where the OS lacked a DLL and I had to go to a working computer, download the DLL, put it on a flash drive and then just paste it onto the other machine.

You either don't remember XP or haven't used Linux. Or maybe both, I don't know

The issue is more this idea that permeates the Linux community that 90% of your problems should be fixed in the command line, and that that's fine.

It's not fine, though, it's a shitty, tedious experience. Yes, the command line is more powerful than a GUI. It's elemental computing. It's more flexible. People should be familiar with it and know how to use it. But at the end of the day it doesn't change the fact it's also tedious as hell for people that know what they're doing and hazardous for those that don't.

By all means, the command line should be an option for troubleshooting. Even MacOS recognizes that. But it should be the nuclear option; making that the be-all, end-all for every issue outside of app and driver installs is just shitty, lazy UX. I wish to God someone in the community would recognize that already so we can get out of Windows Hell, and if someone has, by all means let me know.

 

[yRaz]

The issue is more this idea that permeates the Linux community that 90% of your problems should be fixed in the command line, and that that's fine.

It's not fine, though, it's a shitty, tedious experience. Yes, the command line is more powerful than a GUI. It's elemental computing. It's more flexible. People should be familiar with it and know how to use it. But at the end of the day it doesn't change the fact it's also tedious as hell for people that know what they're doing and hazardous for those that don't.

By all means, the command line should be an option for troubleshooting. Even MacOS recognizes that. But it should be the nuclear option; making that the be-all, end-all for every issue outside of app and driver installs is just shitty, lazy UX. I wish to God someone in the community would recognize that already so we can get out of Windows Hell, and if someone has, by all means let me know.

I can certainly agree with that, but I'd argue that learning the one command required to download the binaries is FAR easier to do than searching the web and downloading DLLs. We're also in the digital age, everyone should be able to do basic trouble shooting on PCs. It's not any harder than putting gas in your car. Most of the time you can google the problem and just copy and past the command, which is quicker than search for and downloading DLLs. I know I'm a linux nut, all the regulars know that, too. However, it's not hard but it can be intimidating which I understand. That's also part of why I'm such a large advocate of getting past the learning curve.

 

[MrJelly]

If I wanted to use Linux these days I would pick Mint too. I replaced Vista on my mom's low end laptop years ago with Mint and it still works and gets security updates.

 

[MrJelly]

12.5 years ago windows didnt push advertisements to my desktop, aggresively change my browser to edge, or pester me with "news" and forced updates.

12.5 years ago was a different world, ads are everywhere now. Windows has just ads for MS products that makes them money in a product that doesn't. You can disable everything. No big deal for me. MS is no different here than Google or Apple.

LOLWAT? Microshaft doesnt own playstation you dolt.

Can you play online of Playstation without a subscription like on Windows? No. That's what I meant.

Which is going away, if you havent been paying attention, MS is forcing people onto cloud office. Besides, 99% of office workers can do their work fine with libreoffice or one of the alternatives

There were news about Office 2019 being the last standalone version yet 2021 is here. And it will be supported for years to come. MS will sell standalone versions until there is demand and money to be made, we'll see how long that will be. LibreOffice is meh, I would rather use Google Docs. But I agree, for simple office work there is no need for expensive SW.

Again, that is a HARD sale when google dos is free. There is a reason o365 and one drive are bundled together, onedrive is, as I said, a buggy mess and much harder for the tech illiterate to use then Drive is, that is when onedrive isnt messing around with your filesystem.

Google One 2TB costs $99.9 per year. That's not free in my world. Microsoft 365 Family also costs $99.99 and gives you 1TB for 6 users each + Office 365. Personal plan costs $69.99 and gives you 1TB + Office 365. And you can get M365 license way cheaper but not Google One. And OneDrive is also better for photos because they still show as files in the Pictures folder, while Drive hides them from you. Yes, OneDrive is not the best piece of SW, but it does what it should do.

Over 86% of the Steam library works properly in linux now.

You can have native-like experience because you play Platinum games, someone other can have worse experience because they play Silver or Bronze stuff. I'm all for gaming on linux and Valve is doing great work.

This isnt 2015. After the disaster that has been 11's launch, with neutered context menus and forcible lockdown of custimization and horrible UI decisions, calling linux desktop a sad mess is the pot calling the kettle black.

Linux distros look wonderful. But the maintainers make the same mistakes again and again. They constantly switch mature components for buggy bleeding edge stuff, UI can change multiple times in a few fears, there are still stupid boot problems after installation and so on. One version of distro can be perfect but the next one is a disaster. I'm talking about out-of-the-box experience of course. Windows 11 has it's problems too, I agree. But they are superficial or are just shades of the old MS shenanigans so I don't care.

I really do hope Linux will be one day solid alternative to Windows gaming and maybe thanks to Valve the day is quite close.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Oh, those.

They dont really bother me much, since I only click on the ones on the top row, to continue playing.

"The controller bar opens when you pair or connect a controller to your Windows 11 PC running the latest Insider Preview build in the Dev and Beta Channels," the Windows development team writes. "Your most recently played games and installed game launchers are just a button press away. Invoke the controller bar when you’re not already in a game, by pressing the Xbox button on your controller."

To be able to test this early preview, you will need to download the Xbox Insider Hub from the MS Store. Sign in with your Microsoft Account, navigate to “Previews,” and then join the Windows Gaming preview. Next, check for updates in the Microsoft Store to ensure you have the latest version of Xbox Game Bar (Version 5.722.5022.0 or higher). Reboot your PC and pair or plug in your controller to start testing!

Xbox Insider Hub - Official app in the Microsoft Store

Be among the first to test new and upcoming Xbox features, games and apps. By installing the Xbox Insider Hub and becoming an Xbox Insider, you’ll get early access and sneak peeks into the latest features and content on Xbox. Earn XP by completing quests and surveys, and providing actionable...

www.microsoft.com