Fuck you MS
this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2026
0 points (NaN% liked)
Technology
87575 readers
3764 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Back in 2008-2009 I shared this crazy idea with my peers that Microsoft was moving towards an "always connected" OS that would probably be hosted on their servers, because you can make more money charging someone for access to their data than charging them once for their OS.
they laughed it off and told me that nobody would fall for that.
....who's laughing now assholes?
load more comments
(1 replies)
It is a Thinnet client. They have been around for at least 26 years.
Walk into any office or business that runs off the cloud or a local server and they will likely have dozens.. I mean dozens of these lying around.
I know the gaming community looks at these like a vampire looks at a rosary but it isn’t new tech or even a new concept.
Back 25 years ago the company I worked for was looking into changing the computers for thin clients, then powered by JAVA, aaand of course dynamic workplaces that gets reinvented every seven years or so.
In the end they decided not to because people wanted to feel that they had their desk with their computer and not a floating office limbo as daily reminder that they are replaceable labour.
But most of all, their stationary computer had a CD ROM so they could listen to their own music while working and the thin clients couldn't even customise your wallpaper.
The only real case I can think of where people like thin clients is when they move between stations. I worked at a hospital that used them and it was a fantastic solution. A doctor/nurse/whatever could walk up to any station, beep their ID, and a couple second later their session would load up. It was a huge pain in the ass to build and maintain though. These new devices might actually have a benefit there. Managing W365 through Azure/Intune is leagues easier than managing Citrix with Windows VM pools.
If the pc has specs to run something from the cloud it has specs to run a local os.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Our best hope is that companies outside the US stop buying Microsoft. People will need to produce computers for them. Then we in the US can import them and run Linux.
‘Someone, do something about our problem so we can take advantage of it’
Fuck this is exhausting
Do you say similar about all the corporations and governments who have relied on the US for decades? Hmmm?
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
And when your Internet goes down, you can't even work locally.
Genius!
I'm sure CoPilot in the cloud already took that into account though and goes off on all sorts of tangents with the user disconnected.
What could possibly go wrong?
yes but how often does your internet go down? I agree with the sentiment and I hate this but we should think about this from an average user perspective when we make our argument. Internet doesnt go down, I've had more electricity outages than internet outages in the past 5 years. if you live in a city its a rare thing.
The reason why people shouldnt want this in my opinion is not because its day to day worse but because its worse long term. These companies will offer it at a low price to entice you then yank the rug out from under you. You will never be safe with an option like this because at any time it can be taken from you and one day there might not be an alternative market of computers to purchase.
yes but how often does your internet go down?
About once a month. Not for very long, but it is an annoyance. Xfinity usually does maintenance between 1am and 2am, and the Internet will be out for about 30 minutes to an hour. About once a year it goes down for at least half a day.
My OS hasn't gone down at all in 20 years. I don't want that to change. If an OS stops working for an hour once a month for maintenance, it's a piece of refried shit.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Someone will install Linux on them and use them as a cheap barebones computer. I'm sure with a bit of jiggery-pokery they can be repurposed to something useful.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Unlike Dell, Asus did mention a few more details - the system will pack DDR5 memory, HDMI, USB-A, USB-C, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and 2.5G Ethernet. Exact details regarding the USB and HDMI port were not offered, however.
Isn't the amount of memory kind of a tiny bit more important than which generation it is?
No, no. You misunderstood. You have a “memory” of a thing called DDR5, which you used to be able to afford and purchase. You are supposed to bring that memory with you to reminisce fondly while using this piece of junk Dell is trying to sell you.
load more comments
(1 replies)
This is horrifying in that it signals a concerted push towards getting consumers on cloud computing.
But in terms of self hosting your own compute these actually look great, especially if they’re subsidized to get you into a subscription fee. As long as we can break into the bootloader and run Linux on these, they look to be very capable and efficient small compute boxes. 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, DDR5 memory, and Intel N series processors?
Self hosters and homelabbers will be licking their lips.
load more comments
(2 replies)
So a thin client?
Yes. You run windows remotely, probably through that 2.5G ethernet.
I'd rather be struck by lightning than use cloud computing through Wi-Fi.
Sorry I meant that along the lines of "this is already a thing just marketed differently." Hyping up something that already exists as something new just feels odd and forced. Like if I made a car but called them "vroom vrooms" and marketed them for driving down Young street only.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Unless the pc is free, why the fuck would anyone use it?
Because an 8GB RAM stick costs $9,000 and hard drives literally can't be had at any price, but this shitty thin client thing is only $49.95 + $10/month subscription. ($25 per month if you want it with ~~no~~ fewer intrusive ads.)
Coming soon, to a dystopian AI future near you.
I'm not using it even if someone is paying me (unless someone hacks the firmware, but that's a different story)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Something similar to this concept is great for enterprise environments. Imagine an employee at home using a basic thin client that just connects to a "mainframe" of a server that exists on premises and is running an individual VM or whatever for each employee's thin client. That is already a widespread concept. But for a home PC, with that VM being run on the OS manufacturer's servers? No, I don't think anybody should want to pay for that.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)