I am really annoyed that our local library shelves are kept half empty, yet they purge books every spring. Our librarians don't seem to value preserving old books and building up the collection.

Microsoft is incompetent when it comes to managing user credentials, especially when someone has different credentials for different workspaces or companies. Letting MS infect your computer with an MS Account for login can cause a lot of problems. They tend to take over your world. Always have a local account, at least as a backup.

Also uninstall MS OneDrive so it can't mess up your file system. (You will need to uninstall it again after every major Win 10 update.)

Microsoft-Uninstall or Disable OneDrive

We do have it good overall with YouTube. There is a lot of good content.

I would be fine with reasonable ads. Static ads next to the video would be fine (mostly, they are sometimes objectionable). And I am getting a few static ads now. I think they are testing them because I only see them on some PCs.

However YouTube video ad quality is crap in many cases. I don't want to sit through it just because I hate the ad content. Then there is the frequency. Two unskippable ads before a 15 minute video with one or two in the middle is unacceptable. I'll stop watching YouTube if my ad blocker stops working.

True, it did spark a revolution. So only mostly bad.

...that resulted in a colossal waste of energy.

It's fascinating how disfunctional MS is.

Did the problem you described occur with Win11?

I uninstall OneDrive as part part of my standard Win10 setup process. I also uninstall Skype so it doesn't appear in the right-click menu.

It isn't customizing the web site. It is customizing MS Edge and the configuration of the browser's blank "new page".

There is no need to visit MSN. It's content just doesn't get loaded anymore in a new page.

Yes, that is what you are setting up, a custom MS Edge layout that is blank for a new page.

No extension is required.

Just open a new tab and then open Page Settings (the gear in the top right).

Set:

Quick Links - Show Promoted Links = Off

Content = Content Off

Done.

Then do that again every time MS Edge gets updated, because it's Microsoft.

MSN has always been a bunch of clickbait articles and celebrity infospam with a few genuine news articles mixed in. The first thing I do when installing Windows is to turn off all the crap "content" news feeds on the task bar and in MS Edge. I do see it occasionally when Microsoft helpfully turns it back on during some update. There should the option to switch from MSN-human or MSN-AI to some real news feed.

This situation obviously needs some mystery solving teenagers and a talking dog.

Youtube ads are getting worse and more annoying, breaking into the middle of programs now. The ad content also sucks and is usually stuff I'm not interested in and don't want to hear about. We should be able to give immediate feedback on the sponsor, the ad, and the product. I don't mind watching good ads, but they are rare.

I would be ok with static image ads. Now they have mostly flashing video ads intended to distract you.

Web pages of some sites with good content are so filled with ads that they are overly annoying without and adblocker. The AdBlock Plus browser for Android is great, and I will be doing a lot less web surfing and Youtube viewing if the ad/web industry negates it.

I rather enjoyed the Bobiverse trilogy starting with We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor.
https://www.goodreads.com/seri...

There's some good new SF stuff out there that is original to a big degree. I would like find more hard SF.
Suggestions anyone?
Robert James Sawyer and Andy Weir are interesting.

I'm glad that Windows 11 exists because I can choose not to install it.
Otherwise MS would be spending their energies wrecking Windows 10, and I'm reasonably happy with it as it is now.

Lenovo profits continue to sink partially because they stopped selling Win10, they make it impossible to downgrade new laptops and PCs to Win10, and many businesses do not want Win11.
Win11 is half baked, takes out desirable features and UI elements that people want, adds stuff they don't want, and isn't compatible with some software.
Microsoft is distracted with new crap and is ruining with Windows ecosystem.

"Astronomers puzzled by 'largest' ever cosmic explosion"
https://phys.org/news/2023-05-...
Links to papers are at the end.