Hamartiogonic

That was a weird article. The simplest fix would be to keep your apps updated.

Although, in typical MS style, the error message will probably be either vague and cryptic or otherwise completely useless. If you stumble upon an update problem like this, troubleshooting it doesn’t sound fun.

😂 true

Yeah, and the headline is supposed to maximize the clicks, along with your fear, hatred and rage.

Can’t complain about that conclusion either. It fixes all your Windows problems once and for all.

Rule 1 in Reddit: never read the article

Rule 2: react to the headline

Since we’re on Lemmy, I thought I might get away with breaking the rules.

As someone who uses Excel on Windows and Calc on Linux, I can totally understand. There are some big differences so there’s a valid reason for sticking with Excel. Casual users won’t notice anything big, but advanced users will.

On the other hand, if you’re an advanced Excel user, it usually means you’re trying to make it do stuff that it isn’t very good at. If you want stuff that Calc can’t provide, it’s a clear sign you should have written that calculation in R or Python a long time ago.

DeskModder noted that it wasn't as simple as blocking an app based entirely on its name; for example, while VLC is listed in the big list of services and apps that are disallowed, it's specifically listing a Windows 7 version of VLC.

Sounds like Windows has a problem with really old versions only. I guess you should be fine as long as you keep your apps relatively fresh.

Ok, so a newer version should be fine I guess. If that’s the case, the title should be: “If you’re still running these prehistoric software, Windows won’t be able to update“

‘The online instructions for restricting data access are very complex and confusing, and the steps required are scattered in different places. There’s no clear direction on whether to go to the app settings, the central settings – or even both,’ says Amel Bourdoucen, a doctoral researcher at Aalto.

Sounds like there’s some dark pattern BS going on with those settings.

Well, the idea is that anything and everything can be hacked. It’s just that the difficulty varies wildly; some being trivial whereas others are impossible until someone finds an exploit. If you’re working with a total black box, you’ll have to make many assumptions, which means that figuring stuff out may take a while. If there’s at least some documentation, such as a patent, you won’t have to guess absolutely everything. That doesn’t guarantee that it’s going to be easy. Maybe the patent doesn’t go into much technical detail, but still manages to describe the product in just enough legal detail that the company can sue anyone trying to come too close.

I don’t think you mentioned the announcements often heard in shopping centers. As long as your ears work, you’ll be exposed to these ads.

That’s a lot like the papers that come with physical products, such as cameras or keyboards. This category of advertising isn’t particularly offensive IMO, and it’s also fairly relevant as opposed to most online ads.