Windows (likely) always could offer better privacy for a fee. You can buy a Windows computer incl. services at a price point you can only dream of Apple hardware.
Facebook/Inst/Wapp and Google show that the majority of people go with 'Geiz ist geil' (cheap is cool), privacy be damned. Awareness doesn't necessarily lead to actions (read: payments).
IMO what I paid for my Windows Pro license is already that fee and then some.
1) Microsoft had telemetry in Windows Phone.
2) The security/privacy mindset hasn't died alongside Windows Phone. I think it's actually gotten stronger, GDPR has been the biggest forcing function.
[disclosure: MS employee, but my employer wants me to state that this is my opinion, not that of Microsoft]
This mindset is toxic and needs to die.
Are there ads? I've never seen anything other than a very occasional promotional tile for a Microsoft product. Apple cross-promotes, too.
By your logic every developer is a Windows user, since they use Stack Overflow that runs on Windows, IIS and SQL Server.
And you bring up internet infrastructure?
There's also the TVs, set top boxes, refrigerators, and cars (among many other consumer-facing devices) that run Linux (which completely displaced Windows CE).
Trying to argue "well those don't count because they're not real Linux" is 1) blatantly false and 2) a textbook case of a No True Scotsman fallacy. Linux is Linux, regardless of which userland happens to be running on it.
Still, I feel like the only reason the Year of the Linux Desktop hasn't "arrived" is because we keep moving the goalposts on what "Linux Desktop" means (and/or maintain an unnecessarily strict definition of it), probably because we do mean "GNU Desktop" or "GNOME Desktop" or "KDE Desktop" or "X11 Desktop" or something along those lines when we say "Linux Desktop".
Would you count ChromeOS as a desktop Linux? If not, why?
But I suppose ChromeOS should count too since it runs on laptops and desktop computers.
Of course Linux (the kernel) is much more dominant on mobile because of Android. But then again Android is indirectly supported by Google ad revenue and so would contradict the original claim in the thread I'm responding to:
> Linux seems to be doing just fine keeping software maintained without ads or harvesting data.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/07/stallman_on_ubuntu_...
The fact that Canonical had developed spyware has nothing to do with the Linux kernel, glibc, bash, GNOME, systemd, PulseAudio, all of which prove that you don't need ads and tracking to maintain Linux software.
With the absence of telemetry, how do you know Linux is doing just fine? (specifically in the desktop world, not server world).
Microsoft has an interest in knowing how well Windows is doing, and Windows has lived in a world both with and without telemetry. It was way, way harder to gauge success prior to telemetry, and it was also much more frustrating for the user to communicate their problems. I don't think Windows could have stayed in the pre-telemetry engineering world and maintained its position as a competitive desktop OS.
I ask this mostly out of ignorance, I've got experience using Linux, but I really don't know what the dev-loop is like for active engineers.
You (Microsoft) shouldn't enforce people to send telemetry. Ask kindly and I suppose you'd get a better response. (VSC is a good example how it could/should be done)
There's nothing wrong with transparent, privacy-respecting, and configurable telemetry, but what windows 10 does is none of those. Trying to describe it as something that's good for the users comes off a bit disingenuous.
I look at Linux-focused communities on Reddit, Hacker News, etc (there’s always a good rant about Linux’s shortcomings).
But that would, you know, mean you actually need to pay competent people that can understand the discourse and engage with the community, something you guys clearly don’t give a shit about (have you ever seen the Microsoft Support forums? It’s a disaster).
Ugh. I am quite proficient with tech stuff, but last month trying Ubuntu 18.04 LTS on my desktop left me pretty disappointed. A hard no-no for anyone non-technical: the graphical login did not work until I manually switched to the text terminal and installed the latest NVidia driver (Titan V).
And even now one of my screens does not wake up until I toggle it on/off.
And no freeform per-screen DPI.
As an nVidia card owner, I feel your pain. It's a case of both sides (nVidia and Linux) digging their heels and refusing to cooperate.
A bit a more friendly reply would be appreciated.. What is toxic exactly?
Linux (the Ubuntu desktop which I use) might do fine, but it needs to be financed also, developers need a salary. (Some) people donate, there seem to be 'some arrangements with e.g. Amazon' and - I suppose - the main funds currently come from Canonical using server edition income.
By contrast most Windows users consider bugs to be something that requires an anti-bug spray.
This could fuel class complaints that the poor will be snooped on more than the rich.