Yup, I also think that's childish. Just make the default something that most people will find familiar and easy to use

That would be nice but Google won't do it because Android is precisely a vehicle they use to spy on us and promote their products. So they're interested in preinstalling as many of their apps as possible so that you are more likely to use their services.

Yup. Virtual +1 because I don't have mod points. Microsoft are evil and have been getting worse in regards to Windows but Apple aren't saints either. They are notorious for designing their hardware and software so that they only play nice with their products and no one else's (unless absolutely necessary).
The only mainstream OS that let's you do as you please with your hardware is Linux and I say this as a long time Windows user.

Yup, as ridiculous as "smartphone sales numbers have stopped growing! oh gowd it's the apocalypse!" claims. I guess it's part of the news sites need to keep creating new content: They run out of interesting things to say and have to make obvious claims

The ps5 has 16 GB of RAM total. That's shared between the GPU, OS, and game code and data. So, while they might allocate more than 8GB (which is a common amount of VRAM on many PC GPUs) for the GPU data you can be sure it's less than 16 GB.
OTOH, even today, the "ultra" settings in many games in PCs are higher than what's used in current gen consoles. That could be a reason why you might need a GPU with 12 or 16 GB of RAM to run things at 4k/ultra on PCs not because current gen consoles have 16 GB of VRAM just for the GPU (they don't)

This. They've really fucked up the taskbar and Start menu on Win11. It's ok to simplify things for common users but don't make things harder for power users

This being Microsoft you *might* be able to remap it but more likely than not they will push you from time to time to the MS app.

They claim to be cheaper than the originals adjusted for inflation. I haven't checked. Anyway, I've watched the Youtube video and they have metal cases and internal structures so *some* of that price is justified.
I guess it's part "it's expensive to make" and also "because this is a replica of an iconic product and keyboard enthusiasts are crazy enough to pay this".

Wow. You have 30 year old drives that work? I didn't think hard drives could survive that long

Yup.Also applicable to almost everything: Functions, classes, scripts...

What? Windows 11 already has a reason to exist: Keep pushing ever more publicity to the users and make the basic elements of Windows slower and or less useful (no labels on taskbar items, no "ungrouping" either)

I think it's just a case of someone made a design that got trendy and it snowballed from there. I mean, I get it: Monochrome icons make the UI look more uniform but they also make icons harder to tell apart. Lately Microsoft has gone a little bit backwards and most of their icons (on Office at least) have a few colors, enough to make them easier to tell them apart but not as many as the "classic" icons of yore. I think it's a good balance.
Excessive whitespace? Yeah, I hate it. Some applications (Firefox, GMail web) let you choose the amount of whitespace. That should be standard but many just decide a touch-optimized UI and call it a day. Yeah, it's easier but it's a disservice to your users

Wow, the IronSource thing is very scummy. It's something that I'd expect from no-name Chinese manufacturers. This, and Microsoft adding publicity for their own products and third party apps on Windows are very worrying trends in OS. I'd really really like the option of paying a bit more money at purchase time and get rid of all that publicity

Yep, same thing happens (or used to happen. I haven't bought or followed printers in years) with inkjets: They sell you the printer for a very low cost. The cartridges of course are included with the purchase but they have very little ink. Some people then see the price of new cartridges and the cost almost (or more) as a new printer. Result: Some people throw a working printer and buy a new one

Yeah, iPhones and smartphones in general have become "integral to people's lives" But you can do 99% of the things a high-end iPhone does with a 300$ Android. The camera will be worse and the CPU slower (but indistingishable so for most tasks and most regular Joes).
If some people are willing to pay even more for top-model iPhones good for them. I won't be one of them