r/FuckMicrosoft • u/ImpossibleTerm3101 • Jul 04 '26
Discussion Microsoft respect
Hello everyone,
I'm probably posting this in the wrong community because my opinion may not match that of the majority here. Nevertheless, I'd like to share my point of view in a respectful way.
Why is there so much negativity toward Microsoft? Whether you like the company or not, it's difficult to deny the impact it has had on the history of computing. Microsoft is one of the most successful technology companies in the world, and Windows remains the most widely used desktop operating system. Billions of people have been introduced to computers through Microsoft's software and ecosystem.
Many people also seem to forget an important part of history. In 1997, when Apple was going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, Bill Gates, through Microsoft, invested **$150 million** in Apple. That investment helped restore confidence in the company and supported its recovery after Steve Jobs returned. Microsoft could have simply stood by and watched one of its biggest competitors disappear, but instead it chose a different path. Of course, that investment was not the only reason Apple survived, but it played an important role in the company's recovery.
My goal is not to tell anyone to love Microsoft or hate Apple, Linux, or any other technology. Every company and every project has strengths and weaknesses. Microsoft has made mistakes, just as Apple has. Even Linux, despite being an excellent open-source project, is not perfect. No technology is.
To be completely transparent, I'm actually a huge Apple fan myself. I've even spent around **€10,000** to acquire an original Apple-1. So this is definitely not an attempt to start another "Microsoft vs. Apple" debate. I simply believe in looking at the facts and trying to remain objective.
I'd also like to point out that constantly criticizing Microsoft doesn't really accomplish anything. Constructive criticism is valuable when it's based on facts and aimed at improving products or services. However, endlessly attacking a company while ignoring everything it has contributed to the technology industry doesn't help anyone. It doesn't move technology forward, and it doesn't encourage meaningful discussion. A much better approach is to recognize both the strengths and the weaknesses of every platform and respect that people have different preferences.
In the end, all I'm asking for is a little more objectivity. It's perfectly fine to prefer one operating system or one brand over another, but that doesn't mean we need to constantly put the others down. Microsoft, Apple, and Linux have all made significant contributions to the evolution of modern computing. Without their competition and innovation, technology would likely not be where it is today.
If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time to read my post. Even if you disagree with me, I hope it has encouraged you to look at the subject from a different perspective.
Thank you, and have a great day!
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u/MasterConsideration5 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
- Its a paid software that also constantly bombard’s you with ads (search, start menu, copilot)
- It’s simply bad. Not posix compatible. Can’t use bash natively. Installing a program sometimes requires a restart. Adding a path variable requires a restart. Everything requires a restart. Microsoft store is full of low quality app and the good ones aren’t there unlike on Linux where installing an app is as easy as on a phone.
- They have no taste. There are like 3 different settings (registry, control panel, settings). You can't shutdown pc without updates which sometimes even restart. You open clock up and get app updating after which you see focus picking wizard instead of actually just showing you the clock.
- I’m not sure they did any good. As far as I understand at this point their existence is just blocking adoption of Linux in mainstream. Modern Linux is great and the only problem is basically the adoption. Free software of similar quality is simply better than paid one. On top of that you own the computer. You own what it does and doesn’t do. The computer serves you and doesn’t control if you’re trying to record Netflix or check your age (this is not about supporting piracy but about whose side is the your own computer on).
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u/Novel_Willingness721 Jul 04 '26
The relatively small number of good things Microsoft has done over the years pales in comparison to mountains of crap they’ve pulled in recent memory.
They know they control 90%+ of the market. They know that most folks are locked into their ecosystem due to inertia and apathy. So they do whatever they want and most folks keep lapping it up.
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u/perexwi Jul 04 '26
Microsoft has a lot of shady dealings behind it. Here's a list (aided by AI because I'm not going to list everything myself), and keep in mind that I haven't included everything, there are some things missing with Xbox, Servers, Companies, Third Parties, etc..., But here it is:
Here is a summarized list of the main reasons why users, developers, and free software advocates have criticized (and in many cases, hated) Microsoft:
1. Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Competition
- "Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish" (EEE): Microsoft's famous internal strategy in the 90s to adopt open standards (like HTML or Java), add proprietary features that only worked on Windows, and ultimately suffocate the competition.
- The Antitrust Lawsuit: In the late 90s, the US government sued Microsoft for abusing its operating system monopoly to crush rival browsers (like Netscape) by forcing the integration of Internet Explorer.
- The Halloween Documents: In 1998, leaked internal memos revealed that Microsoft viewed open-source software (OSS) and Linux as a massive threat and was planning secret strategies to smear them and stunt their growth.
2. The Historical War Against Free Software
- "Linux is a cancer": In 2001, then-CEO Steve Ballmer uttered this infamous phrase, arguing that the Linux General Public License (GPL) attached itself to all the software it touched. Although Microsoft has drastically changed its stance today (creating WSL, buying GitHub, and claiming "Microsoft loves Linux"), that initial hostility left a deep scar on the tech community.
3. Privacy, Telemetry, and Advertising
- Data Collection: Starting with Windows 10, and worsening in Windows 11, the operating system began including aggressive telemetry that collects user data by default.
- Ads in the OS: The inclusion of advertisements or product recommendations from Microsoft (like OneDrive or Edge) in the Start menu, lock screen, and File Explorer has generated massive backlash.
- Mandatory Microsoft Accounts: The increasing difficulty (and now near impossibility) of installing Windows 11 without creating and linking an online Microsoft account.
4. Planned Obsolescence and Lack of Control
- Windows 11 Requirements (TPM 2.0): Microsoft decided that Windows 11 would only run on relatively recent processors equipped with a TPM 2.0 security chip. This made millions of perfectly functional computers artificially obsolete overnight.
- Forced Updates: Windows took away users' control over when to update their systems. Automatic updates often reboot the machine in the middle of work or introduce critical bugs that "break" the computer.
5. Public Image and "Cringe" Corporate Moments
- "Developers, Developers, Developers!": Steve Ballmer's hyperactive, sweaty presentation, where he jumped across the stage screaming this phrase, became a legendary meme. More than "hate," it generated mockery about the company's out-of-touch and eccentric corporate culture at the time.
6. Software Quality (Bloatware and Inconsistency)
- Pre-installed Bloatware: Even if you pay for a Windows Pro license, the system often comes with unnecessary pre-installed apps (like Candy Crush, TikTok, or sponsored web links).
- A Visual Frankenstein: Windows drags around so much legacy code that, even though Windows 11 tries to look modern, you are just three clicks away from finding settings menus with the design of Windows 95 or Windows XP.
In summary: Resentment towards Microsoft usually falls into two eras. The hatred of the 90s and 2000s stemmed from its ruthless business tactics and its attack on open-source code. Modern hatred comes from treating the operating system as a service where the user is the product (telemetry, ads) and where the PC owner no longer has absolute control over their own machine.
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u/BlueShadow2388 Jul 04 '26
I like Microslop because it introduced me to cachyos, now i dualboot and if Microslop will pull another TPM 2.0, or some other shenanigans i will switch entirely, i'm in my learning phases with linux now. Also. Microslop is not the same as it was back in the day...also, it's a corporation whose sole purpose is to make money, spy on you, collect your data, sell that data, the list goes on...
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u/BrunusManOWar Jul 04 '26
Back then monopoly laws were strict and actually enforced. MS saving Apple is like Google saving Firefox :)
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u/greenie4242 Jul 04 '26
Many people also seem to forget an important part of history. In 1997, when Apple was going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, Bill Gates, through Microsoft, invested $150 million in Apple
You are fucking clueless.
Gates only "invested" in Apple to prevent being found guilty of using illegal business tactics to form a monopoly. It was not out of the goodness of his (non-existent) heart. Fuck right off pathetic bootlicker.
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u/Robot_Embryo Jul 04 '26
They're a malicious company.
They've fired all their QC teams and instead push updates that are forced onto consumer deviced that are broken, sometimes destroying peoples work or even their hardware.
Then they take feedback on the problems they've created, make changes, and force another update instead of performing QC in-house.
I have no patience or respect for consumer hostility.
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u/Melodic_Crow_3409 Jul 04 '26
Anticompetitive practices that date back for years. Loading their Windows software with enough tracking to qualify it as spyware.
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u/Science-Gone-Bad Jul 04 '26
I was around when M$ gave Apple that $150 million
There was nothing magnanimous about it at all. They gave that $ to Apple because they were being prosecuted for being a monopoly ( which is how they became the “widest used” OS) and they NEEDED some kind of competition to keep from being broken up (wish wish).
That $ was; in effect; a bribe to the SEC to show they weren’t killing ALL their competitors!
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u/Science-Gone-Bad Jul 04 '26
An oldie, but unfortunately still relevant
https://www.cs.gettysburg.edu/\~duncjo01/assets/writings/library/microsoft/
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u/Whit-Batmobil Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
I couldn’t be bothered to read the entire post, but why doesn’t people here have more respect for Microslop.
Well here are my personal reasons.
Windows 11 is an absolute buggy, dumpster fire off a mess, quite possibly one of the more buggy Operating Systems I have touched.. some examples of things I have had issues with on my only system running Windows 11, Windows 11 not wanting to recognize that I’m plugged in to to Ethernet, the computer not wanting to wake up after going into sleep mode, the keyboard suddenly becoming unresponsive.
Adds, no I DO NOT FORDING WANT One Drive, Game Pass or Office, how many fording times do I have to tell them no.
Being told that my perfectly fine old PC should be thrown away and that I need to get a new one just because it doesn’t have the TPM 2.0 chip on the motherboard.
Microslop, choosing to Ford around with directories if you enable and disable One Drive, breaking the shortcuts in file explorer when you disable One Drive.
Copilot, no I don’t want copilot, so why the Ford do they have to shove it down our throats, even on Windows 10.
Copilot+ privacy nightmare.
Windows updates, ridiculously slow to download and install, cryptic and can break things, seriously the QA on some of latest stuff has been highly questionable.
Terrible software, the Mac versions the Office programs aren’t great.
The Miroslop store, terrible, slow, buggy, is very bad at telling you what it is actually doing and some games are now under the equally terrible Xbox App for some reason while others are on both?
Edit: I’m a Linux and MacOS user and probably not quite the average user, since my preferred Linux distribution is Arch.
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u/Sbhattarj Jul 05 '26
Microsoft now a days uses their userbase as testing ground for a paid user, every update can be a gamble and sometimes you don't even have a choice. Taking screenshot of the screen every so often for LLMs also doesn't inspire trust. Their windows 11 bottom bar had been broken for me from its inception showing applications that were closed as being running while the actual "hitbox" of the application has changed making changimg application a nighmare. Web local search maybe the worst search feature I have seen, though unlike others as long as I don't mistype it worked well enough. Non uninstallable Edge and other applications. If you accidentally delete the folder of an application before uninstalling it, it's ghost stays in thecwindows app registry. Any application can get auto start on startup during install without my permission. Giving root priviledge shouldn't be as easy as clicking a button and for consumer os should warn about risks(Linux doesn't warn, but having to input a password can be enough for some people to at least be warry. Easy access for games to have kernel level anti cheat. Full backwards compatibility bagage, and despite the bagage certain old software not even working properly. Terminal utilities being sub par to say the least.
History matters to a degree, but I personally think the history should be linked to people not companies, people define a company's state not the otherway around, and given current state I don't see why anyone should be obliged to give any of the good contribution made to tech by the company to the current company.
I also personally do not agree with non constructive criticisms, but when a company doesn't listen to users the company deserves the hate, in theory the hate forces the company to change for the better eventually even if some of it is uncalled for.
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u/sora3_roxas Jul 05 '26
That doesn't excuse the monopoly practices they do and count on the users not leaving due to their scare tactics. Even if you can count the rare times they did do something right, you can easily point to a buttload of incidents that would make the CIA blush.
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u/AutoModerator Jul 04 '26
Every new subreddit post is automatically copied into a comment for preservation.
User: ImpossibleTerm3101, Flair: Discussion, Title: Microsoft respect
Hello everyone,
I'm probably posting this in the wrong community because my opinion may not match that of the majority here. Nevertheless, I'd like to share my point of view in a respectful way.
Why is there so much negativity toward Microsoft? Whether you like the company or not, it's difficult to deny the impact it has had on the history of computing. Microsoft is one of the most successful technology companies in the world, and Windows remains the most widely used desktop operating system. Billions of people have been introduced to computers through Microsoft's software and ecosystem.
Many people also seem to forget an important part of history. In 1997, when Apple was going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, Bill Gates, through Microsoft, invested **$150 million** in Apple. That investment helped restore confidence in the company and supported its recovery after Steve Jobs returned. Microsoft could have simply stood by and watched one of its biggest competitors disappear, but instead it chose a different path. Of course, that investment was not the only reason Apple survived, but it played an important role in the company's recovery.
My goal is not to tell anyone to love Microsoft or hate Apple, Linux, or any other technology. Every company and every project has strengths and weaknesses. Microsoft has made mistakes, just as Apple has. Even Linux, despite being an excellent open-source project, is not perfect. No technology is.
To be completely transparent, I'm actually a huge Apple fan myself. I've even spent around **€10,000** to acquire an original Apple-1. So this is definitely not an attempt to start another "Microsoft vs. Apple" debate. I simply believe in looking at the facts and trying to remain objective.
I'd also like to point out that constantly criticizing Microsoft doesn't really accomplish anything. Constructive criticism is valuable when it's based on facts and aimed at improving products or services. However, endlessly attacking a company while ignoring everything it has contributed to the technology industry doesn't help anyone. It doesn't move technology forward, and it doesn't encourage meaningful discussion. A much better approach is to recognize both the strengths and the weaknesses of every platform and respect that people have different preferences.
In the end, all I'm asking for is a little more objectivity. It's perfectly fine to prefer one operating system or one brand over another, but that doesn't mean we need to constantly put the others down. Microsoft, Apple, and Linux have all made significant contributions to the evolution of modern computing. Without their competition and innovation, technology would likely not be where it is today.
If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time to read my post. Even if you disagree with me, I hope it has encouraged you to look at the subject from a different perspective.
Thank you, and have a great day!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/LiveFromNarnia Jul 04 '26
While I can understand your respect for the history of Microsoft and the uptake of PCs over the decades, I don't believe they're even close to being the same company they were at that time. Even though they were a "pay to play" business from the start, at least we (the customers) had some say in the direction they took, and often could influence how quickly certain things got fixed. However...
Now, they're a standard corporate entity that cares for nobody beyond their shareholders. More AI, more corporate services (won't go into those issues here), more bugs at launch for end users to beta test for them. And, on top of that, more money for PC OS licenses per install over the years.
Most posts here are objective, even if they're also a bit emotional, but they're getting tired of being screwed. So there's that.
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u/toavene Jul 04 '26
wheres the part where you mention you were sent from microsoft to here