Alabaster_Mango

If you paid someone for Windows and still had the activate message then they ripped you off.

While some softwares have free versions, unactivated Windows isn’t that. Free versions are typically feature-limited, or serve up ads to cover the cost. More importantly they are intended to be free and offered as such. Unactivated Windows is a paid product that hasn’t had the proof of purchase (product key) applied yet. Microsoft has hitherto been lax about enforcement, at least against non-enterprise users, but it is still against their terms of service to continue to use Windows without providing a key.

Like, sure you can get it and install it for free, but that doesn’t mean it’s a “Free Version” in any official sense. If it was indeed a free version then they wouldn’t pester you to activate, they would clearly state it’s a Free version, and the activate watermark wouldn’t be there.

This is digging deeper into my youth, so take this with a grain of salt, but I’m pretty sure older versions of Windows were different. I remember having to provide the product key during the installation of Vista way back when. Before I ever saw the desktop. This is when Windows came in a box from a physical store. Nowadays with online purchases it makes sense to provide a level of computer functionality so users can access the online store.

That’s not exactly the same as them offering the whole OS for free. That’s basically a trial version. The “Activate Windows” message is stuck there and it will bug you with reminders to activate all the time. Their intent is for you to purchase a key from them. Any other method to remove the message and activate Windows that does not involve paying them money is against their terms of service.

Saying that’s Windows offering the OS for free is like saying you can get free books from a library if you just don’t return them. It goes against the intent of the service.

I don’t know all the details, but you can buy Windows 11 from them still. An “upgrade” from 10 to 11 may be free, at least that’s what the world’s most annoying pop-up was telling me before I switched to Linux.

You’re forgetting piracy. I didn’t buy any parts with OEM licenses. Granted I went grey market for my Windows 10 so I paid someone like $20.

OneDrive also deletes files off of your computer if you don’t use them often enough. When I was switching over to Linux I had to download a bunch of stuff that was made on that PC! Ridiculous.

Like, you can turn that off, but I don’t think I ever signed up for that specifically.

No joke, one of the last straws for me was their stupid copilot popup on the active cell in Excel. Hated that garbage. Also their refusal to let me just use the file explorer to save my files. Maybe I’m an old fogey, but every new addition felt like a step backwards. I have now switched to Linux and am having a decent time (not for everyone tho and I totes understand if others don’t want to make the switch).

Then why do all my quarters have big ears now 😭

I’m pretty sure the Gov. General can revoke royal assent on behalf of the monarch. That doesn’t happen a lot, but I think it could technically and legally still happen. But yeah, the royals almost no impact. Except for the time the royal couple people visited Slave Lake after the fire (JK).

Why are you mad at me? Lol. I was pointing out that it’s not as bad as the riding count makes it look. I am not your enemy guy.

You can be a douchebag and advocate to kick Alberta out, sure. I’m not that big of a defeatist though. We had an NDP gov a few years ago, and support for the UCP is getting flaky. There are a lot of progressive grassroots movements that are going through the province.

92% of ridings != 92% of Albertan Voters. The UCP only got 52.6% of the vote.

ETA: Land doesn’t vote. Maps can be misleading.

Yeah, they all talk a big game about independence, but it’s all hogwash.

We overlook it a lot too. Like, the Governor General is appointed by the reigning monarch, and has final say on laws and such, but it’s mostly a ceremonial role. I don’t think we’ve ever had royal assent refused? I am no political scholar tho.

I heckin’ HATE the Alberta Prosperity Project! If we ever went “independent” we’d get Venezuela’d immediately!

Markdown formatted that as a bullet point. You can avoid that by putting a backslash in front of the asterisk.

Typing this:

\* Test Message

Will get this:

* Test Message

Without backslash:

• Test Message

I’m an electronics guy. You wouldn’t believe how many fun little circuits never make it past a simulator 😞.

Don’t worry! If your ADHD mind is anything like mine you wouldn’t have finished the game anyway. Just 120 hours of non stop labour until you burn out and never touch the project again!

P.S. I am kidding. Issues like hyper focus with burnout are surmountable. Don’t be afraid to start stuff. ADHD creators unite!

I love when scumbags freely out themselves.

Women being beautiful is just one of those free goods that we get in our reality.

Like, that is messed up. Are you saying that women are just things to look at? Because that’s what it sounds like, yo.

For one thing there is an issue of agency, or control over their own appearance. Dressing up to look and feel pretty FOR THEMSELVES is a completely different thing from having an external force dictate their apparel. Let’s be real, that “external force” is probably mostly a bunch of old dudes.

Another issue, and this is a big one, sports isn’t about ogling hot bods! They are there to play sports. Athletes, especially Olympic ones, put immense work into training so they can excel at their sport of choice. They do not put all that work in just to become “eye candy” or anything of the sort.

They don’t do this to dudes anywhere near as bad. Imagine if the NBA uniform was crop tops and skin tight briefs or something. That can be comfortable, but in front of an arena and the whole world? Different story.

Whenever I do that around non-motorola people they get sooooo envious, lol. It is a great feature, and I agree it should be universal.

Motorola phones also have great gesture controls! Karate chop to turn on the flashlight, and do a Snowpiercer style twist to open the camera. Twist it a second time to open the selfie camera. I think they patented these features though, which is pretty yuck.

Moto G phones also have a jack still. Dying breeds for sure 😢

I meant in the comments. At the time I posted there were only two other comments and both in the negatives, but nothing else. The post was, and still is, decently upvoted.