It feels like one user-hostile move after another from Microsoft lately. Forcing Edge, using dark patterns to block Chrome, resetting telemetry with updates, the whole Recall fiasco... and now this. It's exhausting.
My working theory is they see Google's browser revenue and think, "we're the OS, we deserve a bigger cut." It's an incredible level of arrogance that's burning through decades of user trust for short-term gain.
Instead of all this, why not actually compete by being better? They could make Windows a bastion of privacy that protects users from app snooping. They could foster a real native app ecosystem again, like on macOS, so the OS itself adds unique value. That's how you build loyalty, not this constant squeezing of your user base.
I feel like Microsoft's attitude is that they can screw over their users, make money hand over fist by exploiting their private and personal data, and Windows users will be powerless because there's nowhere else for them to go. Anyone who was going to use an Apple computer is already doing it. They aren't afraid of linux either (although maybe they should be since it's been gaining ground). Why care about building loyalty or adding value when you're a monopoly?
They should be more scared... Mac, ChromeOS and Linux now have roughly 1/3 of desktop/laptop users. Linux having gained a lot of ground just this past year, and IMO Valve is probably solely responsible for most of that.
Even with the Valve store cut as high as it is, and some of their sketchy terms... they've been far better stewards to gaming than MS has been to Computing/OS.
Not even close, still around 70%.
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide
70% is by most measures, pretty close to 66% (2/3)...
It is all a matter of number engineering, after all, as by the old account tale, which got hired because it answered correctly the interview question with "what do you want the numbers to look like?".
Outside countries like US, and similar economically level, Apple desktops will never be a big presence, unless they change their premium price policies.
On the same markets, hardly any normal person can buy GNU/Linux desktop/laptops on regular computer stores.
Their choices are between Windows, ChromeOS and Android tablets with detachable keyboards, which naturally makes most pick Windows regardless.
And for most people, computers are just accessories like the wall clock. Even for people who work on a computer all day don't care about it as long as they can do their task.
Agreed, and those wall clocks will keep running Windows for the foreseeable future, even if they get out of rythm every now and then.
Exactly... they've had glimmers of greatness here and there, and it feels like a handful of executive weenies literally twist it to try and wrench every penny of value from every user/customer they can.
For the love of $diety, complete a UI transition across the OS, get things in order, stop shoveling things onto people, don't return ads and internet search results from start-menu searches and just make great products. I was an Edge fan until they added all the garbage, starting with coupons, etc.
VS Code has been good, but they gimp their own .Net support... they do great with .Net/C# but turn around and dump their only SQL for ARM option as ARM is taking off... They rebrand RDP despite it being considered the best UI remoting option around. They keep releasing CoPilot everything that doesn't do the one thing that would give their users the most value, and are sub-par with open offerings.
At this point, I cannot support MS-SQL over PostgreSQL for any new projects given a choice. I definitely don't support developing solutions to run on Windows Server, and I'm questioning my use of VS Code despite it being by far my favorite editor since shortly after release.
Isn't Google Revenue mostly Ads? Chrome is free, YouTube is free, and most of the services targetting the general public are also free. With Microsoft, it was expected that you pay for anything useful (Windows, Office, Visual Studio,...).
why? they already sell your data to all the 3 letter agencies