I’ve been a user since Dos 5.0 and Windows 3.0.

Today I mostly use Linux Mint on my dual boot laptops and need to convert my main PC over to dual boot Mint next. I rarely boot into windows at home and if it wasn’t for proprietary software at work running only on Windows I would have been done sooner.

I was mostly able to go from XP to 7 and avoided Vista and 8 altogether. Windows 10 was sort of ok with the ability to go back to a Windows 7 control panel when needed but it always felt half baked and unfinished to me.

I’ve just not been interested in 11 at all and the tidbits I’m hearing about Co-pilot reminds me of not only Clipit but the forcing of IE/ Edge constantly on user’s especially after every larger update but to mention resetting the default PDF reader to edge. In a work environment of 20 plus shop PC’s I was managing for low tech skill employees it was a pain in the ass chasing down the changes that were not made on my behalf.

What will be the Co-pilot’s flavor of this new round of BS from Microsoft? The forcing of a cloud account is another headache I don’t want to deal with either.

I will say Mint just mostly does what I need for my web browsing and general productivity needs without the constant game of trying to keep it the way I want it versus what MS wants for me with every update.

I’m at the stage of get off my lawn and screaming at a cloud in the sky next. That cloud is MS these days when adding in the annoyances of their Android keyboard *Swiftkey injecting Co-pilot and Bing into my searches. I’ve not played in Office 365 for a bit now but I can only imagine it’s just as bad now.

It’s a shame as their hybrid smart watch has been my go to for a few years now. Kind of reminds me of my old Pebble with the always on LCD screen. My gf also uses one too. The several days of battery life was another good feature

And they will package the Marvel with stuff you don’t want but make you pay for to get the Marvel and the same for Star Wars.

The high seas sure looks inviting again…

I think this was the stock that the eventual “he ducks” crowd came from

I feel like an outsider on these debates. I totally agree we should be able to own forever.

In my case I find there is so much new TV and movies I rarely go back to re-watch shows or movies so owning them isn’t on my radar. It’s a challenge just to watch a whole series I find.

I’m wondering how often do people beyond kids re-watch movies and TV shows? Kids seem to be able to rewatch the same movies several times a day…

Or you melt down the pot which I’ve done by not paying attention to the pot that boiled dried. I couldn’t figure out what this metal stuff coming out of the bottom of the pot was for a moment.

Yes I’ve noticed this on my devices now for awhile. I gave up and downloaded a separate app instead.

If I understand this correctly in my use case Assistant will get worse in my car with a aftermarket head unit. The mic isn’t that great on the radio and I’ve had better luck using the handset mic instead.

I have a couple of phones in use. 1 never answers which is fine as I have a display too, but the other answers every time I can do that if you unlock your device first.

Yes correct. This is what was suggested for NHL94.

I never really made it into the the Playstation or Xbox controllers. I wasn’t a big gamer beyond the NHL series in my teen years as I was playing a lot of hockey then I was married at the start of my 20s and things changed quick.

I’m guess I’m the odd man out with this

The real truth!

When was Times Square rejuvenated? Was it during his watch?

I had read at some point after WW2 Times Sqaure slipped into seedy and run down with building owners on the brink of bankruptcy before efforts were made to reclaim the area from the places that were not desirable.

I wonder if he had any role in that?

Kind of reframes the whole being a vegetarian thing…

I use to hate Microsoft so much for this with their early hardware I used to buy.

They would abandoned the devices by not providing the drivers needed for newer versions of Windows leaving the device a brick unless you want to still run 98 or XP.

I have a few of these devices in my place as a part of my home automation. It’s been struggling the last year with not confusing the basics and not mixing up the beginning of a news podcast as my voice commands. It seems like the newest display I own has the most issues.

I generally just use it to control and schedule lights and devices with smart plugs. The odd time I try to set timers or reminders but I’ve never really been a big voice command person. I too struggle on the best way to get it to play my YouTube music likes list. I just cast from my phone instead.

One thing it mostly gets right is stopping whatever is playing.

With my Soundbar no longer being new enough to work with Google Assistant I’m not looking forward to when the rest of my smart lights, switches, and plugs join it as we go forward.

I recall some of these things being advertised as great news features for their marketing drives.

Funny they didn’t mention the 1000 people they laid off across the various Assistant divisions being a part of the reason for the changes : https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/11/24034124/google-layoffs-engineering-assistant-hardware

But I’m told by the right that’s the best way to get every last drop of adrenochrome out of them!