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[–] 154 points 3 months ago (6 children)

Unlike traditional web apps, OneDrive Photos is actually quite well built. It has a Windows 11-like Acrylic design for the context menu and does not take up a huge amount of resources, as RAM usage stays under 1GB

Excuse me, a photo gallery that takes 1gb of RAM, especially in this economy, doesn't seem "quite well built".

This fucking web app wrappers, Picasa had 100x more features while using 50x less resources

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  • [+] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    Is it actually doing it in-device? Given that it's attached to OneDrive, I was rather under the impression that it was just offloading the processing to their servers.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago

    If the "native" Windows app it's running on a dedicated browser and coded with web tech, it's still a web app even if it's an .exe

    Did you know that Picasa could still group people by facial recognition in windows XP with 1 gb of ram in TOTAL? (Clarifying: 1gb to the whole system, not only a single app)

    And are you sure that the indexing is running locally? Because it's called "onedrive photos", not "windows photos", so they can totally do the indexing on the cloud.

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  • [–] 247 points 3 months ago* (23 children)

    Fun fact: Microsoft will try to guess your passwords to open and scan your encrypted archives when uploaded to OneDrive.

    Microsoft also hands your BitLocker recovery keys to the government on request.

    Microsoft also uses your local machine’s GDID to deanonymize and track you across the internet for the government.

    These are paid surveillance services Microsoft provides to the government, paid for by your tax dollars. No wonder they desperately want to force you to use OneDrive.

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  • [–] 18 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Wow, that's how it managed to find "malware" (not actual malware) in a password protected rar that I shared

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  • [–] 18 points 3 months ago

    To be fair, a lot of platforms just flag any encrypted archive file (not just rar) as malware. Their argument is that those files are commonly used to get past malware detection, which is kinda true. Still a pain for everyone who has a legitimate need for the feature.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Well if I'm already paying for Windows, I might as well use it, right? /s

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  • [–] 38 points 3 months ago (14 children)

    Hey now! I can honestly say Microsoft has never done that with any of my computers!

    (Why yes, they do all run Linux. How did you know?)

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  • [+] -24 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (13 children)

    If any of your Linux machines use SystemD, then Microsoft has done that then there’s something to be aware of with those machines. SystemD has a global system ID that can be used like the Windows GDID apparently.

    Edit: not MS

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  • [–] -1 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    Tell me more. I may have to move to a distro without systemdeez.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (9 children)
  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago* (8 children)

    Okay but correlate that with the same methods and usage and by the same threat actor (MS) in this case.

    Or any of the combination, as a treat

    I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's extremely implausible.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (7 children)

    Absolutely zero reason a init system needs admin date of birth. Yes separate issue entirely, but it’s showing a trend and the direction things are headed.

    https://blog.bofh.it/debian/id_473

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago* (5 children)

    To be fair, yeah that shit is egregious.

    But that's not at all what I asked you or what you claimed. Those are technically two different things. And not technically like yes or no. Those are entirely different security fronts.

    You've got to back that claim up or take it back, and I have a feeling you'll be taking it back.

    It's okay to be cautious, and it's especially okay to warn others of trajectories that could lean into privacy or security issues, but it's not okay to make shit up.

    Lastly it's no longer an init system. It's a system that happens to handle init.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    That’s fair. I didn’t mean MS was the threat actor, just the seed from which this grew. I definitely take that back after reading up more on where machine-id grew out of.

    However, I don’t concede that machine-id is theoretical for user fingerprinting. Any software installed can read it, especially a browser. That’s the vector for tracking across the web. Do I have instances of this occurring, no. Seems plausible and the more we can sandbox things, especially “web browsers” (untrusted app runners more like it) the better.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (3 children)

    Probably correct. I'm not going to pretend to have the know how, but I would assume that if this was exploited widely, we'd have heard about it.

    Would it be a great target? Maybe. Attack it. Show us all the love of contributing in hardening it.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I’m not technically inclined enough to harden against that, nor do ai really have the inclination. But here is a thread on that topic where I even heard about it.

    !privacy@lemmy.ml

    https://lemmy.ml/post/49710604

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago* (1 child)

    I did just read I think 90% of that, and it just seems like that person is sour about systemd in general.

    I agree it's not unix/Linux philosophy but it's the best we have.

    Does it do too much? Maybe. I haven't seen that exploited on a large scale in the real world, but it's definitely a golden key.

    There are options. But it's just one of those things. You're pissing in the wind unless you're willing to write it yourself. You can use non systemd distros or even use bsd.

    All that said, you're absolutely right to be concerned, but speaking on it like it's an active vulnerability is dangerous.

    It's also evident that it's reliant on the software you run, it's not systemd that's giving you away, it's your application that you chose to install that's abusing or neglegent of systemd's access.

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  • [–] 20 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    Zipping files was never enough to secure them in the cloud. It‘s always recommended to properly encrypt sensitive data properly before you upload it. Whether you use OneDrive, Google Drive, Proton drive or whatever.

    Still amazing how far Microslop goes to sniff through your stuff preemptively, though. Your cloud storage should be none of their business but sadly it‘s their entire business now. Privacy laws should definitely extend to digital space you rent no matter the circumstances.

    If cloud providers argue that‘s too dangerous then they simply shouldn‘t be in business. If a government says it‘s too dangerous then they shouldn‘t be in power. Obviously they don‘t trust in the people who voted for them. Therefore they don‘t trust democracy and are therefore fundamentally undemocratic and a danger to the people.

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  • [–] 74 points 3 months ago

    One drive was the final kick that made me jump to Linux. I had removed all my files from it and turned it off several times over the last few years then randomly, something like The Sims 2 will have a brand new game file and I know, One Drive stole my documents... Again.

    Well the most recent time they took all my shit and put it back in One Drive was after that update where randomly One Drive was glitching out hardcore. It deleted all my files. All the files that should not have been in there to begin with. Microsoft help basically said, too bad so sad, if you were paying for it maybe we would help you.

    I installed Mint that day. Haven't been back.

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  • [–] 40 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    That sounds a lot like typical Windows features over the years. Using WIndows at work today I unpinned Co-pilot and that stupid new Notes app from my taskbar three times. They kept coming back, not right away, but ninja like.

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  • [–] 18 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Are you sure it wasn't your workplace group policy bringing them back?

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Unlikely. Microsoft took away GPO control of taskbar and start menu a while back, and I don't think they restored it. And even if they did, a company would be more likely unpin and block them than to push them.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    I'll taken your word for it, but if taskbar and start menu were controllable, I'm pretty sure after the third "I've deleted the internet/copilot/notes" support call I would be enforcing that the default taskbar items stay there.

    Some companies might be resisting copilot, but many are going all in on it.

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  • [–] 31 points 3 months ago

    The decade of the Linux Desktop, sponsored by Windows11

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  • [–] 29 points 3 months ago* (9 children)

    How to turn off OneDrive with Group Policy.

    Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > OneDrive.

    • Save documents to OneDrive by default: Disabled
    • Prevent OneDrive from generating network traffic until the user signs in to OneDrive: Enabled
    • Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage: Enabled

    The last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to Disabled if you use OneDrive.

    Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

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  • [–] 18 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Won't work for Win11 Home. But it's MASterly easy to conver your Home to Pro or even Enterprise. MASterly easy.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago* (3 children)

    Nice pun but might as well link to it. It's already MASsively popular.

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Every Windows debloater script comes with the caveat of "until the next update". Instead of becoming a Windows Defucking Engineer I just left it entirely.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Except that these are group policy settings. The stuff they provide to allow businesses to manage their endpoints. Businesses that actually have enough size and money for Microsoft to care. Businesses that can have strict audit and data security requirements relating to things like not allowing data to even brush against something like OneDrive.

    To be more direct, the only reason I can't count the number of times they've broken a Group Policy is because I legitimately don't recall it happening in the past decade.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    Fair enough. I work in IT but endpoint config and group policy isn't my area at work, so most of my experience is with my personal computers at home. I at least usually hear the latest bullshit Microsoft is pulling from our endpoint management/config guy.

    I should also bear in mind that I stripped down and customized the hell out of the install media before I last installed Windows on any of my devices, and I've run a shit ton of other customization/privacy/debloat tools afterwards as well. Usually by examining the policy and registry edits or PowerShell code they run and just picking and choosing parts for myself. Lots of good tools out there, but none I trust to do exactly what I want with no oversight or investigation.

    I'd still say that Group Policy is usually the best option for configuration shit sticking though, due to it being Microsoft's "business side" solution for endpoint config for quite a while now.

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  • [–] 29 points 3 months ago

    So does Copilot and Microsoft Copilot 365. I enforce GPOs to ban/remove them, and every couple Windows updates, it reinstalls, and each next day I see my alerts pop up they're back.

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  • [–] 21 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Yesterday I found that my C drive was almost completely full and that was causing issues, digging into it I would that somehow a bug in One drives logging had generated almost 30 GB of logs, and the funny part is I have OneDrive disabled on my laptop. Tech has become such a toxic shithole field I wish I picked a different career

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  • [–] 17 points 3 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I want to but I don't have enough external storage to back my data before wiping off windows and doing a clean Linux install, need to buy some hard drives first, hoping this AI scam hasn't inflated the prices on those as well

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  • [–] 17 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    this has been a thing for years, I remember having to uninstall it so many times, back when I had windows, I mean. :P

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    There has got to be a lawsuit against this shit.

    There was a massive lawsuit for simply including IE in the install as default, and this is 100 times worse than that.

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Dropped Microsoft a long time ago. Loving every second of it.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    Windows-free since 2014 in my case! Hated Windows 8’s user experience enough that I decided KDE was a better windows than windows and never looked back.

    In 2026 Plasma 6 is genuinely in the conversation for the best graphical environment for the desktop platform in general, partly because it’s very good and partly because Apple and Microsoft have let standards slip a lot in my view.

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  • [–] 13 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Make a script that checks for it and removes it? Linux has its pains but it doesn't have these pains.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    I corrupt the files. I take ownership, remove inheritance, and then deny Trusted Installer and System access. My windows systems generally have several components neutered like this. Major upgrades will sometimes overwrite my changes, but mostly they stick. Absolutely nonfunctional.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I’d rather not use windows than have to do what you’re doing to keep it functional.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Ok. Then don't use windows. Sounds good.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago

    Back in the day, I had my photos in multiple locations, some on local external drives, some in small cloud storage pockets….a bit of mess, really. Since I had a great deal on O365 family plan I thought - why not gather all of my various photo collections, and consolidate them on a single cloud storage - what could possibly go wrong? This is how I discovered that OneDrive doesn’t know how to read EXIF metadata properly. I ended up with basically a pile of over 30k pictures and videos, completely out of any order. Never again.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago

    I want to switch but I just can't give up winrar free trial

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago

    Once the leader of the pack. Now making it's way to the back.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    "learns" isn't the right word, they know you don't want it, like it, or need it. They don't care, a proper statement would be "microsoft never cares"

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Just say Fuck Microslop at this point, plenty of beginner distros for Linux nowadays. Sucks for company employees that force it though. Hey CEOs I have money saving advice, Linux is free! You can even not go bankrupt to claude! lmfao.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    Not true. You still very much have contracts with those companies be it RHEL or Ubuntu. It's less don't get me wrong, but not free. Like your small local shop could get away with it, but once you have regulatory oversight, things change.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    There is one single app I need for freelance work that I cannot replace with a non-windows app.

    It lives in a virtual machine and is shut down for 99% of its existence.

    The machine that runs the VM is the one I use for local LLM and fucking around with docker containers. It’s an insanely powerful machine that’s slightly RAM constrained. I can run what feels like an unlimited amount of containers on it, or that fucking Windows VM. I have to kill every running container on the machine just to run one single Windows app for 10 minutes once or twice a week.

    If my freelance work paid more, I’d buy a dedicated windows machine just to do this one fucking task. (And then I’d have to air-gap it, and figure out how to remotely start it somehow, because I don’t trust Windows at all, and don’t want it running all the time.)
    Or, I guess… buy access to a windows VM online? Hm. The convenience/time/effort trade off could be worth it at certain price points.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Same boat. And my work laptop just got fucked by OneDrive again, very frustrating. I have no other qualms with windows, honestly, but stop moving my folders. My desktop is no longer my desktop, despite me reverting back and all that. And it's far from a big deal, it's just an annoyance at this point. But I'm stuck because of my incredibly niche software.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    this is a legit question, but why can't you run that program through wine? does it need a windows account validation step or something or does wine simply not work for that program?

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    I… guess I never thought of that.

    I use MacOS (I know, I know), but I didn’t realize I could use WINE on Mac. I haven’t had a chance to investigate yet if I can make this work for me, but this was a good suggestion. I have this on my short list of stuff to figure out. Thank you!

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    I’ve faced this situation at work, we deployed a dedicated windows VM that all the devs shared for the one tedious task. Eventually got replaced with a saner system and we had no Windows dependencies at all.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago*

    A few years ago:

    Me: Why can't I remove Edge?

    IT Elitist: Because you have cheap peasant Home edition. They don't pull this crap on Pro and Business editions.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    It did this on Windows 10 as well, I don't know why this is all of a sudden some kind of surprise.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Theyvemoved on to 11. You should either still be on 10 or on Linux.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Makes me so glad I moved to Linux. Windows has just gotten worse and worse.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    It isn’t in charge of what windows is, Microsoft is. If you don’t like the product use a different product.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I make golden images for Windows at work. Everything Microsoft annoys/pissed me off.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    Oh, they learn all right: "hey, we can pull so much bullshit off and they still pay us. Let's do more next time"

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Their own f*cking fault. Anyone still using that garbage corp/software are just asking for it. Stop whining about your own decisions, start migrating to a non-psycho open OS. Please, spare other people from the guaranteed problems coming from your own stupid choices.

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