
Windows update resets your default programs so they can suggest using Edge - aminozuur
https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/im0rbv/installing_the_last_windows_update_resets_your/
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ocdtrekkie
Pretty sure the user is wrong about what caused this dialog. It was the recent
Firefox update.

Firefox 80 added being a PDF reader as a Windows-selectable preference, as
seen in this dialog. Whenever a new app for a given filetype is added, Windows
asks you which one you want to use.

While Edge getting a special category at the top is annoying, this showcases
the uphill battle Microsoft faces, where they get blamed for the actions of
other software and user stupidity on a regular basis, because people don't
understand how Windows works, in general.

~~~
tremon
_because people don 't understand how Windows works, in general._

I'm not ready to absolve Microsoft of this blame, though. Yes, every operating
system is a complex beast, and no single person comprehends it all. But
Microsoft seems to have a particular fondness for non-transparency in all its
machinations, whether it's pricing, licensing, telemetry, file formats,
product usage documentation or even its APIs.

Not to mention that Microsoft is a repeat offender in this particular space,
so I would probably have jumped to the same conclusion.

~~~
wayneftw
> ...non-transparency in... pricing, licensing, telemetry, file formats,
> product usage documentation or even its APIs...

Despite that, Windows is easily one of the least annoying OSes that I have to
deal with.

I wish I could run it on my phone.

Instead I either have to accept the walled gardens where there is zero
transparency or spend all my time hacking my phone to give me the same kinds
of freedoms that I enjoy on Windows.

~~~
brmgb
> Despite that, Windows is easily one of the least annoying OSes that I have
> to deal with.

Considering how annoying Windows 10 can be (scheduled reboot which you then
can't disable, update downloading in the background without asking and at the
most annoying of time, impossible to disable telemetry), I feel sorry that you
use OSes which are actually worth.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Both Android and iOS also do these things, generally speaking.

~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
What Android are you on that forcibly installs updates and reboots?

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I believe on my last Android I had to disable some system apps to prevent it
from installing an update I didn't want. It was a Motorola. My iPhone will
allow me to defer it a couple times but always lets me know what date and time
in the future it'll install the update, just like Windows 10 does.

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ffpip
The thing is I tried out Edge because Microsoft said it is private, etc.

Chrome is less noisy than Edge. When I opened the new Edge, requests were sent
out to taboola.com , doubleclick.com, and other ad networks.

And who wants ads on the home page? It's so slow to load.

Instead of pushing it down out throats, if they say what is actually better,
people will use it. Is it faster, more private, etc?

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GnarfGnarf
I am so fed up with Windows changing my default program associations _every_
week.

I set PDF to Adobe Reader. Next week it's back to #$%@ Edge again.

I set PNG, JPG to HyperSnap. Next week it's bloody Edge again.

I have written a script to reset the associations, but it does not work.

    
    
        :: need double-% so it doesn't mistake it as a parameter of this batch file
        ftype htmlfile="C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" "%%1"
        ftype jpegfile="C:\Program Files\HyperSnap 8\HprSnap8.exe" "%%1"
        ftype pngfile="C:\Program Files\HyperSnap 8\HprSnap8.exe" "%%1"
        ftype AcroExch.Document.DC="C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" "%%1"

~~~
atraac
I use 4 separate machines with Windows 10 and it never changed my default
handler for any file extension...

~~~
GnarfGnarf
Do you allow regular Windows updates?

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jeroenhd
What's strange or new about this? A new program was installed to deal with
PDFs so Windows asks if you want to use a different program for opening PDFs.
I can do without the special treatment for Edge though, there's nothing that
makes it special other than that you don't need to install Chrome on new
Windows machines anymore.

From a technical standpoint, Edgium and Edge are significantly different. The
migration to Edgium was actually surprisingly smooth, I've gotten Chrome
updates that broke more spectacularly and that's the exact same browser.

As another comment here already suggested, there's a good chance this has
nothing to do with Microsoft because Firefox registered itself as a PDF
handler in the last major update.

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capableweb
I noticed this as well. Not only is it again asking me what browser I still
prefer (still Firefox, thanks for asking), it shows it in a special category,
at the top, and took the liberty to add itself to the bottom bar (next to the
start button), without any questions asked. Just appeared after the update.

I thought Microsoft learnt it's lesson already with forcing people to use
their browser, but seems not.

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anaganisk
This is definitely not the right way to do it, but this is one of the very few
ways to bring down Google's monopoly, in browser or search market share.
Keeping aside privacy issues, as and more data users feed to Bing, more
powerful it can become.

~~~
capableweb
Abusing your market position to bring down another entity is not the way. If
Google is truly holding a monopoly, the lawmakers/enforcers need to fix this
instead.

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shanehoban
I update my windows maybe once a year, or once every 2 years or so. I just got
too tired of background network activity, and bad windows updates.

I also use my mobile hotspot due to my current living situation, so when
gaming, network activity can be detrimental. Now I use simplewall by henry++
[0] to block all network activity (whitelist) - and my god it just works
amazingly well. Can't recommend it enough. Easily blocks updates too, and even
blocks edge, live.com, and linkedin, which I really don't care for!

[1]
[https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall](https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall)

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dminvs
They turned Skype auto-start back on as well.

I guess we're back to the old MSFT.

~~~
ffpip
They never turned it off.

~~~
imglorp
Wait, haven't they been ignoring/deprecating Skype for a couple years now,
pushing towards Lync? Or is that only business?

~~~
sofixa
You're so far behind.

They rebranded Lync to Skype for Business, which at least looked like regular
Skype, trying to target younger people, but really sucked. Then they abandoned
SfB and now we're on Teams, which imitates Slack and integrates SharePoint and
all that shit, but works relatively well even if it's UX is pretty poor, there
are bugs and it's cloud-only, contrary to the old SfB.

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bserge
Windows update does a lot of things. Resets defaults, resets your Ethernet
adapter settings, deletes partitions, makes the OS unbootable (tip: use Legacy
BIOS mode instead of UEFI, it's more stable and actually fixable with recovery
tools), and more.

If you're forced to use Windows, Microsoft takes it as you liking their superb
OS, so you gotta live with it, let the hate boil, until you finally switch
away forever.

~~~
gruez
>Windows update does a lot of things [...]

All of this is a non-issue on LTSC, since all the updates are security-only.
Regular Windows has "feature" updates every 6 months, which do what you
described.

~~~
bhj
Not to mention the performance difference between Pro and LTSC is night and
day on an HDD. All that extra overhead is much less noticeable with an SSD,
sure, but it's still there.

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ShradhaSingh
I stopped the edge update in between and my windows got corrupt.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
Same, I had a BSOD on every boot halfway through the Windows logo part of the
process. I had to make a Windows flash drive with another computer and do a
repair install to get my PC back. And the first thing I saw on the first
successful boot was "Welcome to Edge!"

~~~
bserge
The Windows 10 bootloader likes living on the... edge. One wrong step and it's
toast, two wrong steps and not even recovery can help you :D

I found installing Windows 10 in legacy (not UEFI) BIOS mode makes it more
stable, and the various recovery tools (sfc, bootrec, etc) actually work.
Strange, but this is Windows, so maybe not that strange.

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moksly
I may be in the minority here, but I actually don’t mind that. I probably
wouldn’t get around to choosing edge for it, if it didn’t.

Hell, I probably wouldn’t even know how for most things. Heh.

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Ahmd72
I was brought up in a Windows environment, from home to school to friends, it
was pretty much everywhere. Now that we are so used to it do we realize how
horrible Windows OS is, to give an example my Windows 10 continuously asks me
to update and then when I try it fails. So I stopped doing it and then they
came up with feature updates, the worst it automatically downloads itself even
when I have blocked Windows Update service and then asks me to restart my
computer to install it. If I leave my computer plugged in and locked which is
part of any normal person's workflow, it will automatically restart and then
try updating which it fails. No dialog box shows up telling the update failed,
no reason why the update failed just that it failed. The cycle then continues
again, I wish I could sue them so bad that they will start caring about this
kind of stuff.

~~~
Narishma
I have a similar issue on one of my laptops. Windows Update always fails to
install those big updates. I think it's because it reboots into some sort of
safe mode where power management isn't active, so the laptop quickly overheats
and shuts down. My work around is to set the connection to metered so it
doesn't automatically download those big updates. It's been working so far.

~~~
Ahmd72
Doesn't work for me, are you talking about security or feature updates?

~~~
Narishma
Feature updates.

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sys_64738
The M$ Edge PDF reader is a thing of beauty, IMO. I much prefer it to the
Adobe Reader which is network challenged. Edge can still use the PDF when the
windows share is offline.

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sjg007
I still can't print with windows 10. Tried everything. Canon MF2470 networked
or USB.

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pcdoodle
Remember when they called it "My Computer". Now it's called "This PC". No
ownership, only tenancy.

~~~
andylynch
To be fair - I do think this term is a better description, eg for the company
desktop you are using, the pc you happen to be on in a library, at a friend’s
place etc etc. I would also think that from an ownership perspective, the
number of Windows PCs owned by the individuals using them is going to be a
minority (I’d love to find some numbers on this but do not think they are
reported?)

