The top 1% own over half of all stocks and the top 10% own nearly 90% so it really isn't that "many". And you know what other companies are in those index plans you own, Microsoft's competitors and customers that would both be squeezed if Microsoft gains a monopoly on some hypothetical super valuable AI tech. If Microsoft suddenly doubled in value, you would barely notice it in your 401k.

Most Microsoft products have miserable UX because of this enabling mentality. Someone has to come out and say "enough is enough".

A broad index fund sans Microsoft will do just fine. That's the whole point of a broad index fund.

Can I direct my fury to you, for having to pay extra for my hardware when using a PC to install Linux? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_of_Microsoft_Windows

Or being forced to use Teams and Azure, due to my company CEO getting the licenses for free out of his Excel spend? :-))

Feel free. I can be your pseudonymous villain.

Much appreciated. I will conserve energy, and reserve my next outburst until a future Windows Update.

> ..reserve my next outburst until a..

You'll just waste your time :)

Look, it's Microsoft's right to put any/all effort to making more money with their various practices.

It is our right to buy a Win10 Pro license for X amount of USD, then bolt down the ** out of it with the myriad of privacy tools to protect ourselves and have a "better Win7 Pro OS".

MS has always and will always try to play the game of getting more control, making more money, collecting more telemetry, do clean and dirty things until get caught. Welcome to the human condition. MS employees are humans. MS shareholders are also humans.

As for Windows Update, I don't think I've updated the core version at all since I installed it, and I am using WuMgr and WAU Manager (both portables) for very selective security updates.

It's a game. If you are a former sys-admin or a technical person, then you avoid their traps. If you are not, then the machine will chew your data, just like Google Analytics, AdMod, and so many others do.

Side-note: never update apps when they work 'alright', chances are you will regret it.

it'd be nice if we could enforce monopoly regulations too.

We do, but it takes a long time, and by the time we get to enforce the thing, the party is half-over. How many years was Microsoft playing around with IE as default browser? And they are still playing dirty games with Edge. It's not that they don't learn. It's that they will play the game until someone stops them, and then they will begin playing a different game.

Some people downvote (it's not about the points) but I merely state the reality and not my opinions.

I've made my living as a sys-admin early in my career using MS products, so thank you MS for putting food on my table. But this doesn't negate the dirty games/dark patterns/etc.

It's a game, of the kind where the winning move is not to play. Except we're being forced to. Human condition is in many ways fucked.

> Or being forced to use Teams and Azure, due to my company CEO getting the licenses for free out of his Excel spend? :-))

The pain is real :(

"You use Windows because it is the only OS you know. I use Windows because it is the only OS you know."

"Why don't they just buy stock"? Marie Antoinette or something

I wish there were more commentors like you.

I nominate this commentor to be interim ceo of hn comment quality control.

Your powers will include broad sweeping bans when comments fail to reach a minimum humor threshold along with the power to elevate your sucesssor who you will reincarnate into... Dalai Llama style. (rip... This was a positive comment. I'm no dalai Llama.)

I simply purchased stocks on the free market so that I could become wealthy. Others were not so wise /s