The article is the personal experience and sharing of editor Matt Hanson from Techradar technology site.
Nothing in life is truly free, and Windows 11 is a great example of that.
Although Microsoft’s latest operating system is offered as a free upgrade to many users (upgrades from an older version of Windows to a newer version often require users to pay to get the privileges), but behind it turns out there are a lot of “prices to pay” for using Windows 11.
First, it includes sharing an ever-increasing amount of data with Microsoft – something the company forces you to accept during the setup process. Microsoft is also using Windows 11 to push users to use its own services. For example, you will now be required to have a Microsoft account, which usually comes with signing up for a Microsoft-owned email account. You’ll also be encouraged to use Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage, rather than alternatives like Google Drive or iCloud.
And once you really boot into this operating system, things get worse. Microsoft’s Edge browser is installed by default, and although it has come a long way in development and improvement since it was first released in 2015 with Windows 10, many people still prefer to use the browser. web other than it.
However, searching for and installing another browser in Windows 11 using Edge will result in a lot of pop-ups and messages from Microsoft urging you to try Edge. Honestly, this is going to be a bit annoying.
But at least you can still bypass those, install the web browser of your choice and make it the default browser – something Microsoft has at least made it easier after a lot of pressure from users. And even though it’s annoying, it’s still acceptable in the end, because everything is ‘free’.
It wasn’t long before, however, that you discovered Microsoft had become increasingly desperate – and even greedy – in trying to force users to use its services, and that got me started. don’t like this operating system.
A particularly egregious example of this happened the day before. While using my personal computer, my computer suddenly loses access to the Internet every 20 seconds or so.
My PC is connected to the modem via an Ethernet cable and a Powerline adapter (a device that transmits the Internet over the home electrical system). So my first step is to reboot and reconnect the adapter.
As the problem persisted, I tried to disable and re-enable the network adapter connection in Windows 11. In previous versions of Windows, this was a fairly straightforward process. But Microsoft has now buried this option in a number of different settings screens — another annoying Windows 11 feature.
Then I decided to try using the built-in network troubleshooting tool. Again, in previous versions of Windows this was easy to find and was part of the troubleshooting process. The operating system then disables then re-enables the network adapter, and this has fixed similar problems before.
Using the Settings app, I found what I think is similar to what’s called ‘Fix network connectivity’. However, when I clicked on it, I discovered how the greedy Microsoft was trying to force users to use products and services on Windows 11.
Instead of launching the expected troubleshooting app, Edge popped open – even though it’s not my default web browser. This has annoyed me, because even if you set another web browser as your default web browser, Microsoft will frequently ignore that and use Edge instead.
Edge then downloaded Bing – Microsoft’s still-discredited search engine – and searched for the keyword ‘Fix network connection problems’, which resulted in a Microsoft website.
Now, it’s pretty obvious that this American giant is forcing people to search the internet for solutions to their networking problems. And when trying to click the link, instead of showing the page, Edge says I’m offline, because it coincides with the time my PC lost connection.
Most people who are having network connectivity problems will not be able to access the internet because of the connectivity issues they are trying to fix. So forcing them to go online to find answers is quite ridiculous.
Thankfully, since the network problems are intermittent, I can wait until my internet connection is back up, then refresh the page to see what Microsoft recommends. If the network connection problem is severe enough that I cannot connect to the Internet, I will never be able to view this page.
And as it turned out, that wasn’t necessarily the problem. Because the main problem is that the site is quite useless, giving only vague suggestions mainly around Wi-Fi connection problems. So obviously nothing applies to my situation.
The price of free is sometimes quite expensive.
I finally figured out the problem myself. I dropped to my knees (not to bow to the PC) and checked the back of my computer. Turns out the Ethernet cable was a bit loose. Pushed it back and problem solved.
However, this little incident not only proves that I am an overthinking idiot, but also shows that Microsoft is more interested in quietly promoting their services and products to the hands of customers. users, in any way.
The only reason Windows 11 makes people access Bing search via Edge to fix network connectivity issues is to get people to use those products. And in essence this help from the manufacturer will not help fix any problems users may have with their network connection.
That makes me feel uncomfortable with Microsoft, and less like Windows 11 and the general trend of this operating system. Microsoft’s desire is to have more people use its service, that’s understandable, and in a way, this is the price we have to pay to get Windows 11 for free. But the company’s complicated and heavy way of doing it showed greed and disregard for the needs of users.
This needs to change, otherwise, even if it’s free, Windows 11 won’t be worth it.
Refer Techradar