Microsoft's latest Copilot coercion forced me through the five stages of grief over the death of the Windows 11 desktop

[Windows Central]

Microsoft re-enabled a feature that will open Copilot automatically on devices with a wide screen. The functionality is in testing among Insiders and has caused controversy within the Windows community.

Microsoft's latest Copilot coercion forced me through the five stages of grief over the death of the Windows 11 desktop : Read more

 

[timwhite]

I agree 100%. Not only are Microsoft’s efforts to upsell us and feed us advertisements irritating, but they also seem to be slowing down the OS and materially degrading the whole Windows experience. For example, the start menu, where everything literally starts, is sluggish and unresponsive. What in the literal how is this ok with Microsoft? Are they so eager to make more money with ads that they’re willing to sacrifice pretty much every single user’s experience as they use their foundational software?

 

[K Shan]

As someone that likes Copilot and wants to see it integrated this is getting annoying. It's just going to make people hate windows and Copilot.

It's not just Microsoft, there seems to be this trend going on in UI trying to push features. I'm sure some excel file has a number go up everytime someone accidentally triggers Copilot and they think they are doing a good job. This is the equivalent of promoting your new line of cars by driving them and running people over. Yeah, you'll get that engagement number up, but it's not going to get people to want to use any of your products.

 

[nop]

according to article, feature can be disabled through the Settings app - I'm willing to give it a try but glad it can be disabled if too much

 

[naddy69]

At what point does this become Officially Ridiculous?

Why not have a dedicated Word key? Why not auto launch Notepad on startup?

I guarantee you that within days (minutes?) of the arrival of keyboards with a copilot key, there will be a registry fix to disable it.

 

[fdruid]

I think I have a while before fully accepting what Windows has become, a monetization path for Microsoft and a billboard for its services.

Well, welcome to the present. This has been happening for years and it's perfectly fine for them to make money with their own OS and ecosystem.

Your overall attitude of clutching your proverbial pearls at MS trying to do something to earn money is frankly hard to take seriously. But I understand hot takes like this both generate clicks and also garner sympathy from the like minded users who wished everything stayed the same as Windows 7. Not a good look for a technology journalist, honestly. But maybe that's me.

 

[Hanley Gibbons]

Are they so eager to make more money with ads that they’re willing to sacrifice pretty much every single user’s experience as they use their foundational software?

I think the answer is pretty obvious. There's a reason they're the most valuable company in the world right now.

 

[Arun Topez]

Launching on boot is just flat out going too far. Everything to this point regarding Copilot is already pushy enough. This just REEKS of desperation. If they have to push it this much, it clearly shows people aren't using it.

I said it before, I've never been a fan of macOS, but the more Microsoft is doing this, the more I'm convinced on switching.

 

[Tony n]

Downgrading to Windows 10 and maybe To 7.

 

[Sean Endicott]

At what point does this become Officially Ridiculous?

Why not have a dedicated Word key? Why not auto launch Notepad on startup?

I guarantee you that within days (minutes?) of the arrival of keyboards with a copilot key, there will be a registry fix to disable it.

I think it's already ridiculous at this point. These features should be opt-in, not opt-out. And many of them should just be separate apps.

 

[Mobiguy]

Well, welcome to the present. This has been happening for years and it's perfectly fine for them to make money with their own OS and ecosystem.

Your overall attitude of clutching your proverbial pearls at MS trying to do something to earn money is frankly hard to take seriously. But I understand hot takes like this both generate clicks and also garner sympathy from the like minded users who wished everything stayed the same as Windows 7. Not a good look for a technology journalist, honestly. But maybe that's me.

Welcome to the extortion economy. They do make money from their OS when I swipe my credit card to "buy" the software, or when I buy a computer whose price includes a payment to Microsoft.

Ok, they don't actually _sell_ me the software, just give me permission to use it, but the fact that I paid them should give me some right to get at least as much value out of my use of their product as they do.

People will eventually get used to the ad creep, like people got used to watching commercials on TV. Difference is, we didn't pay for the shows back in broadcast days. Now, we pay for cable and still waste time getting pitched for products we don't want. Windows will get there eventually, because people are convinced it's worth the cost in time and inconvenience. Microsoft's shareholders like their dividends, and they're the people MS really cares about, just like any public company.

I have no dog in this hunt. I switched to Ubuntu almost a decade ago. I control the experience, and the computer does what I want.

I boot Windows maybe once a month to run a backup. Did it today and sat through a 20 minute forced update before I could start working. Every encounter I have with Windows makes me happier that I switched. I'll be over the moon when I see what I would have had to put up with if I ran Windows 11.

As to the rest of you, I'm sorry.

 

[Jack Pipsam]

Downgrading to Windows 10 and maybe To 7.

I wouldn't consider going from 11 to 10 a downgrade at all

 

[naddy69]

"I said it before, I've never been a fan of macOS, but the more Microsoft is doing this, the more I'm convinced on switching."

I switched when Windows 10 was new. It was the first version of Windows I was not interested in. After using Windows at home since Windows 95.

And BTW, from 1995 to 2010 (or so) Windows was 95% of the U.S. market. Mac was 4% and "other" was 1%. Today Macs are 25%, Windows is 65% and "other" is 10% in the U.S. Why? Because Macs (and "other") have been getting better. Windows, not so much.

Obviously, MS knows that Windows percentage has been dropping for almost 15 years. Desperation indeed. Which is why Windows 11 looks more like MacOS.

 

[TheFerrango]

Well, welcome to the present. This has been happening for years and it's perfectly fine for them to make money with their own OS and ecosystem.

Your overall attitude of clutching your proverbial pearls at MS trying to do something to earn money is frankly hard to take seriously. But I understand hot takes like this both generate clicks and also garner sympathy from the like minded users who wished everything stayed the same as Windows 7. Not a good look for a technology journalist, honestly. But maybe that's me.

Spoken like a true corporate lackey.
While yes, it's legally their right to do so, that doesn't mean it isn't still a pushy, annoying tactic that devalues Windows and shouldn't be happening in a paid for product. The fact people are too lazy/invested in the system to switch to something else shouldn't be a pass to turn their OS into a billboard