My new laptop is an acer put out by Microsoft.

With Windows 11
The home page is MSN news and it is the pits. So much rubbish, so many ads.
Click on a story and get a few lines.
It has co-pilot. Effin useless.
I wanted to search something, I had Australia in the subject line.
Never showed anything from Australia, only UK.
What a useless system.
There is a feedback button bottom right of page.
Left feedback.
"Has to be the worse home page of any. Co-Pilot is useless. Microsoft is a fraudulent company (The head of the consumer watchdog has slammed Microsoft, claiming it "deliberately hid" a subscription option from Australian customers.)
Be prepared for a billion dollar fine."

Luckily Google search engine is still available.

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

When MS moved my PC from WIN-10 to WIN-11 it tried to transfer all my photos to its so-called "cloud", deleting their extensive folder systen I had built. It then took a large number of them, mixed them with looked like company trade-marks and put the lot behind one of the MSN openers hiding behind an innocuous-looking weather note in the corner of the screen!

I found that out only because the shysters had used a photo no-one but I could have taken, to illustrate the MSN tile for opening that strange mixed-images folder.

All this without my permission or prior knowledge, and you cannot contact the company to ask what it thinks it is doing. We serve it, not vice-versa, in Microsoft's owners minds.

Oh, I agree the MSN news-plagiarism and advertising billboard is appalling. I think it perhaps the most ineptly designed, gimmick-ridden, cheapskate of all Microsoft's products.

MS is trying to persuade me to install Co-pilot. Little pop-ups for it appear at odd times. I refuse it, and have also turned off or "uninstalled" many of those so-called "apps" we users are grudgingly allowed some control over. (Games, camera, Bluetooth and a few others.)

As for my photographs, I rebuilt the archive under a different directory name to keep MS out of it, and backed them up on external drives; but I fear some have been lost for ever.

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Gusman · 61-69, M

@ArishMell All you can do is - in your head - say, bugger off Microsoft. 😀

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Gusman Indeed I frequently do say such things!

If I could I move to Linux but don't have the technical knowledge to do so safely, and some of the software I use can operate only on Microsoft 'Windows'..

Gusman · 61-69, M

@ArishMell Same reason I do not mess around with what I have. Do not have the knowledge, skill or confidence to change things around.
Plenty of members who say, It is easy, all you have to do is...and...and...and...
Not for me, nothing to do with operating systems and the rest is easy.
Each time I have bought a new laptop I have paid Geeks to you $150 to set it up properly.

ElwoodBlues · M

To improve browsing experience:
Install the Firefox ESR browser, make it default, enable tracking protection, make google your default search engine, install an addon for adblocking. It's FREE!
https://www.firefox.com/en-US/browsers/enterprise/?redirect_source=mozilla-org
(ESR is extended support; means you aren't bugged to update the browser so often)

I hate how the MS start menu has become a billboard. My preferred fix for that is called OpenShell, also free.
https://openshellmenu.com/download

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

Google does the same thing on Android devices.

There should be ways to turn that garbage off. Yet I'm no longer familiar with MS anymore.

I've literally disabled Google search and Motorola"s AI stuff, in addition to any voice options. Plus Google's chrome browser and all GPS options.

That's just the obvious stuff.

Northwest · M

Acer is the real culprit here. They decide how much bloatware is installed.

Apple does the same thing on my iPhone and my Mac, if I use the options selected by them.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest they get kick backs by MS just like Motorola gets kick backs from Google.

Northwest · M

@DeWayfarer Microsoft is not allowed to do that, courtesy of a decades old decree.That money is going to Acer.

Google initially bought the mobile hardware business from Motorola, and when they were done with it, that part was sold to Lenovo which is where it still lives today (I believe).

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest This is a Trump administration though it's purposely overlooked.

The bloatware continues no matter who owns what.

Do you know that on All android devices every app gets maximum processing time? Same for all background operations for all apps.

It's purposely done to bloat. You literally have to force stop every app you use.

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