It should be noted that you can still use Notepad without a Microsoft account
Despite the ability to still use the software without an account
Are we not doing context anymore?
What is this? Just outrage for the sake of outrage?
Exactly. The issue is that it’s a freemium model, where they advertise a product with additional features in Notepad. But Notepad itself is still free.
That’s still bad, but so is the title.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s hard for me to contain my incredulity: have you been asleep for the last decade? Has a very obvious pattern of enshitification not been constantly proven as a rule on the tech sector? And an article is… outrage?
Not the article, I meant the comment section
The year of the Linux desktop has arrived.
Are people just going to keep reposting this misleading shit headline of a post until no one reads the article and just goes along with it?
Are the people constantly reposting this even reading the article and realizing how illiterate they look?
After taking a look at the pictures of the article, I noticed “requires AI credits”. Credits?! What is this now? Some shitty mobile game? Really, Microsoft isn’t ashamed of anything anymore…
I mean, I don’t know about Microsoft and windows, so maybe this is different, but the name sounds crazy!
Likely you’ll have to pay for some AI service, because the executives’ children cried after watching an old sci-fi, that “we can’t have intelligent conversations with out computers in 2016 in the real world, while in 2015 in the movie adaptation of Don’t Build The Torment Nexus, there was Torment Nexus the intelligent and smart computer”.
My understanding of the different operating systems
MacOS: One time hardware payment for their service (plus for every other device)
Linux: Free as in price free and freedom
Windows: 30+ subscriptions to edit 1 file, then cooldown till next day or upgrade subscriptions to enterpise version for a kidney/per user/per month.
Title
ChomeOS: Communism for the children, supported by the Education System
imo macOS is better value than Windows. A Windows PC of similar quality to what Apple offers (built quality and specs) is not that much cheaper and with a Mac you get a ton of actually usable software included.
Obviously FOSS still wins offering a ton of good software for free, lots of choice and the option to choose from hardware at any price point. But Windows is just bad unless you’re an enterprise user or gamer (and the latter is changing fast in Linux favour).
A Windows PC of similar quality to what Apple offers (built quality and specs) is not that much cheaper
I don’t think that’s true, at least if we’re talking about hardware. The only thing that I think really makes this argument is the screen, because you need to go really high end to get the same quality screen (if it exists).
If we mostly stick to CPU, RAM, storage, etc, then you can get a really competitive PC for about half the cost. I bought a decent ThinkPad new about 7 years ago for $500 (E series), which was pretty competitive w/ the Macbook Pro in terms of specs, and I still use it to this day. I didn’t go top-of-the-line, so the CPU was a little worse and it had integrated graphics, but I could absolutely find a similar build to the MBP for $1k or so, probably less. The MacBook Air and Mac Mini, however, is a lot harder to find a competitor for and I think their value is quite strong with that form factor.
If we include software, then yeah, macOS offers a ton of value, since you get a decent office suite and a bunch of other utilities included with it, whereas w/ Windows, you just get trial versions of subscription software. So valuing the included SW in macOS vs Windows really depends on the individual.
Windows is just bad
Agreed. I only buy “Windows” laptops to install Linux on, and on my last laptop, I got a $40 discount because I told the sales rep I wasn’t interested in Windows and they gave that to me.
That said, the value that Windows provides that other OSes don’t is compatibility. macOS can’t play Windows games, and Linux can’t play some games that work on Windows. If you need that compatibility, the value assessment is a lot different than if you could switch platforms without giving anything up.
Yeah, but if you look at the whole picture and not just specs, the hardware isn’t priced that badly. Like you said, a similar screen would only be found on high end devices and I would argue you can’t even get a trackpad that is as good as the one on a MacBook from any other manufacturer. You also get a pretty decent webcam and speakers and the aluminium chassis is exceptionally good too. If you don’t care about those things then I understand looking mainly at specs, but if you do these things add up to a really good user experience.
Don’t get me wrong though. I don’t want to shill for Apple here. There are some things that are just obscenely expensive. The cost of RAM and storage upgrades is an insult. Or the Mac Pro wheels or basically anything “small” (adapters, the Apple cloth etc.).
Sure, if you’re looking for exactly what Apple offers, then they offer a decent value. But if you want any changes, you’re SOL.
I personally don’t care about half the things they ship standard (screen, camera, chassis, trackpad), I really care about things they charge extra for (RAM, storage), and I like some things offered by other manufacturers (TrackPoint + mouse buttons from Thinkpad, repairability, keyboard feel, etc). I also don’t really like macOS, even after using it for years at work.
For me, they offer poor value. For someone else, they offer good value. It all comes down to what you value.
Full access to notepad? So what, I need to pay to be able to toggle text wrapping or look at the about menu? It’s fucking notepad.
EDIT: I didnt expect so many downvotes taking sides with MS
[obligatory linux boast] I really prefer Kate to Notepad because KDE makes superior, non AI encrusted software that actually works for it’s users. And it’s FREE!
I like Kate as a program but man KDE need to change how some of their app names appear in Plasma.
A new user looking through their start menu and seeing “Kate” will have no idea it’s a text editor/notepad. The same is true for multiple other programs.
Okular, Dolphin, Cantata… ask someone who’s never tried Plasma before what those programs do and I’d wager you’d get an incorrect answer for each one.
What does “Excel” do? What does “Steam” do? What does “Balena” do? What does “Conky” do?
Programs that we think of as being part of the OS, such as the included text editor, is a very different thing to something like Steam, imo.
Steam isn’t preinstalled on your PC, it’s not a core part of your desktop OS. You download Steam yourself, so you’d only do it once you already know what it is.
Third party apps kinda need unique names and branding like that to distinguish themselves.
A newbie won’t know what “Kate” or “Okular” do. They might know what “Dolphin” does because it has a folder as the app icon (although users of screen readers won’t see that). They will probably know what “Notepad” or “Text Editor” does, though.
Kate isn’t a part of the OS, though… the text editor that is a part of the OS is called “vi”.
It literally is. It’s part of the KDE Plasma desktop. It comes preinstalled.
The Vim, nano command line text editors also being there doesn’t mean Kate isn’t an OS app.
Would you say the Dolphin file explorer isn’t an OS/system app on the basis that you can use commands like cd, mv, cp, pwd in terminal? Because I certainly wouldn’t.
It’s part of the KDE Plasma desktop.
KDE is not “The OS”.
Would you say the Dolphin file explorer isn’t an OS/system app
That is correct. Dolphin is not a part of “The OS”. Case in point, you can install Kate, and Dolphin, on FreeBSD. And on Windows.
Having vi is a part of the POSIX specification, therefore, it is a part of the OS.
You’re sounding like one of those people that says “ummm ackshully it’s GNU + Linux, not Linux”
Yes, you can have a desktop without a desktop environment. Well done. Nobody does that in the desktop space. Kate is an OS program.
If you install a distro with KDE, you will have Kate. It’s an OS program.
Case in point, you can install Kate, and Dolphin, on FreeBSD. And on Windows.
Pahahaha, that’s not what defines whether a program is an OS one or not. You can run paint on Linux if you wanted to. Based on your definition, Paint therefore isn’t part of the Windows app suite.
Let’s get back on topic - do you think a normal user will hear “Kate” and think “ah, that must be the text editor!”, do you think they’ll hear “Dolphin” and think “ah, that must be a file manager of some kind!”?
The title is quite sensational compared to the content. They only added an AI Rewrite feature for notepad that requires a Microsoft 365 subscription. Considering the cost of AI, and the fact that it will very probably run in the cloud, it is very reasonable that it isn’t free. Everything else about notepad remains free / included with the price you paid for the OS.
I agree, but the idea of adding AI to notepad is quite insane in its own right
