There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our unshittified experience

Source

:::spoiler alt-text

I can’t believe a paid OS needs a tool like this. Here’s a GUI tool called OFGB (Oh Frick Go Back) to remove all the ads in Windows 11. It’s understandable if a free OS or app needs ad support, but this is just crazy github.com/xM4ddy/OFGB

[Screenshot Of a GUI Tool To Removes Ads From Various Places Around Windows 11] :::

Telodzrum ,

Sure, but Microsoft has favorable ESG reporting. Your move Nix.

K0W4LSK1 ,

At this point it would be easier to install a new user friendly linux distro…

CCF_100 ,

It boggles my mind how many Windows users refuse to switch to something else and insist on patching together Microsoft’s intentionally broken excuse of an operating system…

K0W4LSK1 ,

Lol right I saw a post about tiny11 iso I was like wtf thats way harder then just installing linux. Microsoft got people brainwashed

BigPotato ,

The usual, I would but games (and proprietary software for work)

I run a Linux machine literally next to my Windows desktop and yeah it’s 98% for my daily usually but that’s still a week worth of “Not working” for my year.

Fallout 3 was hard enough to get working on Windows many moons ago but even with all the “Use Lutris” or “Use Heroic” cries, it’d be easier to run a whole Windows VM than to get it running natively and in the forty minutes of time I have to game, I’d rather just play the game sometimes.

So, if I have to play in their Sandbox, I’m gonna shit in it first so they don’t try to come play too.

Plus, VR and all that.

cybersandwich ,

That’s why my windows partition is still in regular use. I play apex legends. It used to play flawlessly on pop is but over a year ago at this point it started screwing up.

I’d usually be able to get it working after a while, but when I have 30-45 minutes or maybe an hour at most to game, I don’t want to spend all of it “fixing”. I’d rather restart into windows and be playing in a minute.

cyberpunk007 ,

The devil you know vs the devil you don’t, I guess. Comfort etc.

z00s ,

Sometimes you don’t know how bad your ex really is until you’re in a new relationship

CCF_100 ,

😔 ain’t that the truth

whome ,

For me it’s simply laziness, and the fact that I don’t use the OS apart from explorer. I think that’s the thing for a lot of people the actively use so few parts of the OS that the question wether the OS is intrusive, bloatware free or efficient isn’t part of their concern. They, me included, don’t tinker, don’t optimize, don’t script etc. I just start the programs thati use. I probably will give Linux another go with my next PC build though.

Theharpyeagle ,

The truth is that most people don’t really care. A lot of them don’t even know what an OS is, they just need a machine that lets them browse the internet, write documents, and maybe play some games. An ad is maybe an annoyance to them, but not one that’s going to make them install a new OS. It’s not because they’re dumb or ignorant, it just doesn’t rank that high on their list of priorities (even if we think it should). I think being in these communities kind of makes us forget that a lot of people don’t think that much about tech.

I do think that easy to install/use Linux distros could one day start changing some minds, but that distro won’t be one that’s popular with current Linux users. You’d basically need something that very rarely requires you to touch a terminal, even for troubleshooting, because that’s where people will nope right out.

On the other hand, this is why stuff like that “look at all the data Google has on you” video are important. For us it’s a yeah duh moment, but the average Chromebook user probably has no idea and is rightly surprised about it. Reach people in terms they can understand.

Charzard4261 ,

Absolutely this. 99% of people I know never want to touch a terminal, and I don’t blame them. They’ve been shown that what they want to do can be simple, why would they settle for less? Something really big needs to happen for them to change browser, let alone a whole OS.

drislands ,

I love Linux as much as the next guy, but installing a new OS is not easier than downloading a single program and clicking check boxes. No need to be hyperbolic, Windows is bad enough as it is.

K0W4LSK1 ,

Yeah it is easier dude. with windows you have to install the new OS and then open edge and download Firefox then go download the program and check the boxes. With linux mint you install the OS. Idk sounds easier to me

drislands ,

Well, that’s fair. I thought you meant easier to install Linux over an existing Windows 11 install.

Schadrach ,

Maybe, but Windows has the advantage of being preinstalled on the hardware most people are buying (meaning they get to skip the install the OS step for Windows).

K0W4LSK1 ,

I wouldn’t call forced adoption an advantage. if anything they are taking away your freedom of choice by making it harder for you to switch, Because you have to remove the windows OS to switch. Why dont you get the option for linux at the store they are open source licensed so there is no issue distributing for free and giving people the option.

Schadrach ,

Sure sure, but we’re talking ease of use for a typical end user. Also, Firefox isn’t mandatory for the other app, so you technically don’t need to add that step even if getting away from Chromium in general and Edge in particular is a good idea as regards avoiding advertising.

mctoasterson ,

I have used the Chris Titus debloat tool before and it works pretty well.

Really the fact that this is necessary at all is disgusting. Start Menu ads are straight up AIDS. Not to mention curated news feeds in Start and other places. Why not just tell me what my opinions and purchasing habits should be, and eliminate the middleman?

I feel like even novice Windows users would be better off with Pop! OS and Wine at this point.

possiblylinux127 ,

I want to make a script for Linux that adds ads everywhere. It would be tricky with Wayland but not impossible. It could start by installing browser extensions.

T00l_shed ,

There is a special place in hell for you lol.

Murdoc ,

If they were fake ads like in GTA and Cyberpunk, it could be fun, provided you could turn them on and off anytime.

mossy_ ,

Now I wish there was an advertising studio where, like, they specialized in shitty ads for real things. Like “I made a game on newgrounds, you WON’T LAST TEN SECONDS” but it’s just a flappy birds clone or something

possiblylinux127 ,

I’ll use the Google Ad platform

From there I’ll encrypt all your files and make you watch an ad per file to access your data

RamblingPanda ,

Uh sorry, this is a big file. Here’s the second, unskippable ad.

CCF_100 ,

It has a 1 in 500 chance of serving you a 300 hour ad you cannot skip, and if you attempt to restart the system to get rid of it, it’ll make a note of that and restart the ad from the beginning after the next reboot.

RamblingPanda ,

If you try it twice, it will delete the file you were about to access.

T00l_shed ,

Super-hell now.

slazer2au ,

Na just throw ads into system logs. Or do what Ubuntu does and throw an advert every time you run apt upgrade.

kevincox ,
@kevincox@lemmy.ml avatar

Have you tried installing any packages from NPM recently?

FrostyCaveman ,

9474733 packages are looking for funding

kevincox ,
@kevincox@lemmy.ml avatar

I think that is the better case. That is just NPM aggregating the metadata. There are lots of packages that print their own ad.

thisbenzingring ,

Make it for Hannah Montana Linux plz!

Delusional ,

And call the script “Windows”

possiblylinux127 ,

I was thinking more along the lines of “optimizer”

far_university1990 ,

Like this? What would an ENSH*TTIFIED Linux distro look like?

sirico ,
@sirico@feddit.uk avatar

Genuinely where is the line for people still putting up with this stuff?

theareciboincident ,

Yeah that went out the window when American corpos found out during the pandemic they can literally just keep raising prices for shittier product and Americans just… keep buying it

Welcome to the end of human society, we’re just getting started. Should have chosen a birthdate a few decades earlier, too bad!

nehal3m ,

For bullshit like spinning rims or golf clubs that wouldn’t surprise me but it’s not like I can just choose not to eat. I HAVE to buy food.

madcaesar ,

The worst thing about the future is that everything is fucking data mining and ads. Yes, EVERYTHING, from cars to fucking refrigerators.

kautau ,

And subscriptions. Once hyper capitalism got its whiff of subscriptions there was no turning back.

whatsgoingdom ,

Follow this simple tutorial to get root access to your fridge and install a foss OS …

Murdoc ,

I think that it’s one of the benefits of monopoly. People don’t think “I wonder if I should start checking out alternatives?” but instead “Damn, that’s annoying. I wonder if there’s a way to fix this?” Alternatives never even enter their head. See, there’s already a tool for the problem in the post!

AVengefulAxolotl ,

Yeah sadly, whenever you say PC / Laptop people associate it with windows. You buy one of these, its windows. People dont even know what else is out there.

TwanHE ,

Putting up with the ads or putting up with the workarounds?

Since I’ve been running debloated windows since win 7 it has never bothered me to run a few scripts after install or use a modded iso. But if that wasn’t an option I’m not sure if the last few games holding me to windows would be enough.

whome ,

I think for many people, me included the OS is more or less invisible bc I use so few OS elements. File browser and that’s it. Hardly any other gui feature comes to mind that isn’t a third party program.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I mean Windows is a free OS. You can freely download and install it without paying and receive nothing but a watermark in exchange.

It’s become more and more like Android over the years where “you are the product” so this is unsurprising.

makyo ,

Agreed, they don’t even have the cash cow that some other free OSes have in their app stores.

lseif ,

most people pay for it when they buy their computer.

helenslunch , (edited )
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Sure but you can also download and install it entirely for free.

InternetCitizen2 ,

Just because they aren’t as punitive anymore doesn’t mean its free.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I mean, for all intents and purposes, it is.

burgersc12 ,

Its “free” to install. Still a pain in the ass and needs to be unlocked with MAS lol

some_designer_dude ,

MacOS is free and has been for years. Still no bullshit.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

MacOS is not free, it’s just included with the hardware…

redcalcium ,

How the heck did those tools developers figure out how to remove those various ads in windows? Did they do it the hard way, fired up a debugger to reverse engineer how those ads were displayed? That takes some dedication. We in the Linux land have it easy because the source code is available to mess with.

brbposting OP ,

Great question!

CarbonatedPastaSauce ,

It’s not difficult. Corporations won’t put up with this shit and MS knows it, so there are (almost) always documented registry entries or GPO policies you can set to disable this crap.

But you shouldn’t fucking have to. Which is why I’m now on Tumbleweed instead of Windows for my daily driver.

tuxrandom ,

Couldn't M$ make corporations deal with it anyways? It's really not like they could just switch to Linux or Mac with their very specific BS piece of software of which every company has their own that runs on Windows only.

CarbonatedPastaSauce ,

They could try but anything over a medium size business likely has a specific contract with Microsoft and they probably have language preventing this kind of thing. I know my company does. And there would be a ton of pushback from any security org that knows what they are doing, since ads are a common vector for security incidents.

Microsoft is already getting their money from the corpos, it’s the ‘freeloading’ public they are trying to squeeze revenue from.

ilinamorato ,

Microsoft is already getting their money from the corpos, it’s the ‘freeloading’ public they are trying to squeeze revenue from.

Yeah, those bums who only paid for the software once.

CarbonatedPastaSauce ,

If you saw an enterprise licensing agreement you’d know just how true this is. We pay for this shit over and over and over.

gnuplusmatt ,

Pro, Enterprise and Education SKUs have less of these “features” enabled

lemann ,

Most likely this IMO, with all the driver and executable signing/integrity checks nowadays I doubt they can get away with patching the system files a la Windows XP style.

bruhduh ,
@bruhduh@lemmy.world avatar

Hell yeah brother!) tumbleweed ftw! P.S my top 3 distros is debian tumbleweed gentoo because of WIDE architecture support meaning you can launch it on almost ANY pc out there

UntitledQuitting ,

This is the third reference to the tumbleweed distro I’ve read today. Sounds like I have a new VM to set up!

CarbonatedPastaSauce ,

I think you’ll like it! I sure do. Been on it about a month now, maybe 5 weeks. No complaints.

TimeSquirrel ,
@TimeSquirrel@kbin.social avatar

Conditioning everyone to see their computers as media consumption kiosks instead of the powerful, productive machines they are. That's where MS OSes are headed. They tried too early with Windows 8 Metro, but they haven't lost sight of that concept.

"My TV shows ads so it's only natural my computer does too." - I bet a lot of people already think like this.

brbposting OP ,

Ick

db2 ,

Pretty soon it’ll want to use your idle cpu net and disk for undisclosed purposes as part of the EULA.

lemann ,

The Telemetry collection service does a good job of that already, especially on laptops where it wakes them from sleep, and eats through the battery while idle in a backpack. I’ve been stung by this many times since Windows 8 - I now unplug then hibernate my last remaining Windows laptop, work-issued.

Also moved as much personal gear as possible over to various Linux distros a while ago, except my PC where some games cannot detect my sim peripherals & freetrack emulation under WINE

crusa187 ,

Pretty insightful, and quite possible as people are being trained on the “app experience” vs computing proper.

some_guy ,

Someone actually downvoted this. That person is a loser and a bootlicker. Sucks to be you!

brbposting OP ,

Maybe cuz it’s a Windows meme?

But totally also a Linux meme :) so maybe that was Nadella

Bishma ,
@Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

But how do I stop all the ads in Linux for penguins and wildebeest?

mexicancartel ,

Plays unskippable FSF anthem by Stallman

Join us now and share the software,

You’ll be freeee hackers, you’ll be FreEEeeEeEeeee…

Zip2 ,

Yeah, these Linux ads are getting really annoying.

spacesatan ,

How dare people post about Linux in /c/linuxmemes

sirico ,
@sirico@feddit.uk avatar

I read it as a joke, like to think lemmy doesn’t need that dumb /s nonsense

caustictrap ,

I have win11 on my gaming pc and i don’t see any ads. Maybe because i use local account.

tomkatt , (edited )

Same. I main a Manjaro mini-PC but have a separate Windows gaming rig. No ads. I did use a reg key to disable start menu web search a while back but otherwise haven’t made any system changes.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

There’s really no need to run Windows gaming rigs anymore 🤷 I have 2 and both are Linux

tomkatt ,

I have some games I play that do not play nice with Proton. In particular, my wife and I are pretty obsessed with Solasta: Crown of the Magister (over 500 hours and counting), which has poor compatibility in wine and proton to my understanding.

Besides, for now I don’t need the hassle. I boot up gaming PC, Steam launches, I play, then I shut down. I don’t need an excuse to leave the gaming rig powered on when I’m not using it. Maybe if and when I end up rebuilding it.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Solasta: Crown of the Magister which has poor compatibility in wine and proton to my understanding.

70 reports disagree

I don’t need the hassle

Linux is far less hassle in my experience. Especially with one of the many SteamOS-like distros.

But by all means, you do you.

I don’t need an excuse to leave the gaming rig powered on when I’m not using it.

…why would Linux give you that excuse?

tomkatt ,

That was just one example. And I’d you review that page you linked, they don’t all disagree, there were more than a few reporting issues with it. It’s gold rated, but not platinum.

I’m glad you’re enjoying the experience, but either way the point I was making is that my gaming PC is just an appliance. It works and I have enough other things to do that I don’t feel like reinstalling the OS and a butt-ton of games.

When I need to do a rebuild/upgrade in the future I’ll likely revisit Linux with it, but until then I don’t see the point. I only turn it on a few hours a week to game and otherwise it’s off. And when it is on, I just want to game, not potentially spend time fiddling or troubleshooting if something isn’t as expected.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Fair enough

Zoot ,
@Zoot@reddthat.com avatar

People are constantly pushing others toward Linux, because its nothing like it used to be. Id never touched a terminal screen besides a run command in Windows. I still haven’t had to touch when, except for making monecraft work a long time ago. (Which was as easy as copy pasting the commands by the way, and I was not at all doing something typical. Yet the guides were there.)

I can say however, finding a fix on Linux is significantly easier than it can be on windows. Just like any os, you’re gonna find times where you’re alone.

tomkatt ,

I don’t need a push, a Linux machine is my daily driver (and has been for something like 8+ years now), and I’ve worked in IT doing virtualization/automation/data management and compliance for several years. I spend a lot of time in the terminal.

To me the Windows gaming PC is essentially a console, no different than a PS5 or a Switch is to someone else. It’s been up and running as such since before Proton was fully viable and for its use case I don’t see a need to change it until it’s due for a rebuild/replacement/upgrade.

Zoot ,
@Zoot@reddthat.com avatar

Id say a steam deck is like a console. You turn it on, and you play games. A windows machine at the start is nothing like a console. Updates, forced updates, intrusive AI’s, constant suggestions, nothing is straight forward to me.

Maybe that’s just because I haven’t had to use Windows in the last 5 years, but thats been my experience any time I fire up my desktop.

tomkatt ,

I don’t see any of that. Cortana is disabled via settings toggle, no AI stuff, start menu web search is disabled. Updates are set to automatic download only and are only run upon shutdown if I choose “update and shutdown” instead of just doing shutdown.

I dunno, there are legitimate things to complain about with Windows, but none of this really fits.

In my case I power on, Steam launches, and I run a game. When done, I press the power button and it shuts down. That’s it.

Zoot ,
@Zoot@reddthat.com avatar

Yes, those are all things you’ve done now that you’ve set up your windows machine. Those are all steps you took to make life easier, what I’m saying is that requiring those steps makes Windows nothing like my steam deck.

I literally powered it on the first time I got it, installed a game, and played. I can’t say that about a windows machine, ever.

tomkatt ,

These are things for any OS though. I mean, on XFCE I spend time setting up my preferred shortcuts, software, tools, etc.

On Mac, install rectangle, shortcuts, debloat. There’s no perfect default for everyone.

The Steam deck is a special case because it’s literally a gaming handheld (though the term handheld for that thing is admittedly loose).

And there’s still some things even with the deck. Did you set up emudeck? Heroic launcher? Configure it for desktop mode?

caustictrap ,

Can’t play warzone and siege on linux. Windows gaming just works.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Never heard of siege. Only heard terrible things about CoD and Warzone so…no love lost there. Pretty much anything works unless the developer specifically opts out of it or they add some bullshit kernel-level anti-cheat.

Linux “just works” better than Windows in my experience, when it comes to gaming. All the Windows bullshit was always in the way. There has never been any sort of gaming integration into the Windows OS the way Steam Deck OS has.

Wild_Mastic ,

You never heard of Rainbow 6: siege?

20hzservers ,

Some people don’t play competitive FPS games exclusivesly, shocking I know.

Wild_Mastic ,

I’m one of those people. And not only in fps, I started avoiding pvp in every game altogether.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Heard of it. Can’t blame me for not recognizing a generic single-word reduction of the title.

caustictrap ,

I don’t need any gaming integration in windows. I turn on my pc, steam opens on startup and i click play. Nothing in windows gets in my way. I don’t update my drivers unless i am playing a new game on launch day.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I don’t need any gaming integration in windows.

I used to have problems all the time where there was some sort of XBOX overlay error message every time I launched a game. Games would minimize at random in the middle of a match. If you want to change any system settings you have to back out of the game, as opposed to SteamOS which has the quick access menu. Simply shutting down the system sometimes takes like 3 minutes, as you have to exit the game, wait for it to load the main menu, hit exit AGAIN, wait for it to close, then hit the Windows button and shut down. In SteamOS I don’t have to do anything except open the menu, select power, and select shut down and the system handles the rest.

Just a few of the OS integration improvements.

caustictrap ,

This is just a bad windows install. The overlay problem happens if you remove edge/gamebar without preserving webview2. I am curious what system settings do you change in the middle of a game apart from one click shutdown.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Very possibly caused by one of the many mitigations I had in place to remove all of the bloatware, telemetry and ads before switching to Linux. Not sure if that makes it any better.

takeda ,

Don’t you have any news, and other suggestions on the taskbar, lock screen etc? Also, are you in the EU?

caustictrap ,

No. I am from asia

possiblylinux127 ,

Asia is a continent

Stovetop ,

Astute observation

takeda ,

Is it possible that the suggestions Windows is giving you don’t perceive them as ads?

Dudewitbow ,

the more you use the native implementations of stuff, the more you see it. if you for example, dont use edge, dont use the native task bar/start bar, dont use the microsoft store, dont use any of the built in AI tools, then AD visibily would be minimal.

A good chuck of the Ad problems is usually fixed by using 3rd party software, be it completely switching OS, or using non native software.

its like trying to use old internet explorer and complaining about ads, when 3rd party alternatives exist, and of the subset who complains, a chunk refuse to get off IE, and look for ways to mod IE instead of just going 3rd party from the get go.

tyler ,

I mean not using the native taskbar is a bit further than fixing stuff by using third party software. The taskbar is an integral part of the OS. If you’re switching it out then you’re making significant, deep rooted changes to the OS.

Dudewitbow ,

its less rewriting the entire task bar, but overriding the functionalities of the start button (in which most of the Ads are displayed in)

Plastic_Ramses ,

It’s kind of embarrassing to see so many linux nerds talk about ads in Windows 11, like navigating the settings menu is difficult.

I use linux and Windows. I haven’t seen an ad in windows since i installed and disabled them.

Blue_Morpho ,

It isn’t hard but it is tedious because each of the ad settings is in a different location. Like taskbar has its settings which aren’t configured in the Settings app where you can turn off the ads. Settings has places in search and another in privacy. Look at the OP image. It’s 9 different settings that need to be found and turned off.

Plastic_Ramses ,

9 settings all easily accessible via the search bar in settings.

Idk im not seeing the absolutely gigantic issue that anti-windows people make it out to be - at worst, it’s a minor nuisance.

lightnsfw ,

The issue is ads are for supporting free software. Windows is not free therefore should not be showing ads.

spacesatan ,

1: you shouldn’t have to

2: you have to go to like 6 different places to get most of them and there are still ads for microsoft products baked into the settings menu

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

It’s embarrassing to see people actively defending the wealthiest corporation in the world baking ads directly into your operating system.

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble ,

I think I finally found it. There aren’t (officially) any ads in windows 11 yet, they just changed the wording of the toggle for the start menu to add ads as part of the toggle.

xda-developers.com/windows-11-start-menu-ads-avoi…

Kecessa ,

Same but I setup my install by pretending I’m from the UK and that’s the only difference I can see

djvinniev77 ,

Lol. I was on 11, haven’t seen the ads, probably due to nextdns, even ran the beta versions. But 24.04 came out and upon testing it seems my WiFi isn’t crapping out like if used to so I guess I’ll stay.

Man win11… Wtf…

acockworkorange ,

Man win11

I don’t think it comes with man pages.

Zorsith ,
@Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

I mean, technically powershell “get-help” but… yeah.

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