Microsoft: Difference between revisions

|Microsoft has submitted various takedowns on games that compete against [[Minecraft]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maxwell |first=Andy |date=September 1, 2019 |title=Microsoft Puts Blocks On In-Browser Minecraft Clone |url=https://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-puts-blocks-on-in-browser-minecraft-clone-190831/ |access-date=Feb 10, 2026 |website=Torrent Freak |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260215012038/https://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-puts-blocks-on-in-browser-minecraft-clone-190831/ |archive-date=15 Feb 2026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mazeriio |date=Feb 10, 2026 |title=Tweet from Mazeriio |url=https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/Mazeriio/status/2021128578742513930 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321121352/https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/Mazeriio/status/2021128578742513930 |archive-date=21 Mar 2026 |access-date=Feb 10, 2026 |website=X formerly [[Twitter]]}}</ref> which unfairly thins out competition against the game.

“We have been increasingly worried about the trend on Windows,” says Selena Deckelmann, senior vice president of Firefox, in a statement to The Verge. “Since Windows 10, users have had to take additional and unnecessary steps to set and retain their default browser settings. These barriers are confusing at best and seem designed to undermine a user’s choice for a non-Microsoft browser.”--><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lockheimer |first=Hiroshi |date=Aug 18, 2021 |title=Tweet from Hiroshi Lockheimer |url=https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/lockheimer/status/1428047760620621831 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2026-0321-2130-35/https://nitter.us.catsarch.com:443/lockheimer/status/1428047760620621831 |archive-date=21 Mar 2026 |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |website=X, formerly [[Twitter]]}}</ref> and consumers alike over this change. Even if users modify all of these default settings, other features on the device, such as the taskbar's weather widget, which if opened, will create a new tab specifically in ''[[Microsoft Edge|Edge]]''.<ref name=":03" /><!--Another note to add under [39]

A feature seen within ''[[Windows 11]]''<nowiki/>'s parental controls is Family Safety. A key problem shown from this feature is that it can questionably ban certain applications from properly running on the device, with no notice to the administrator in charge of the device. In '''June 2025''', this feature banned the string "Chrome",<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=u/Witty-Discount-2906 |date=Jun 3, 2025 |title=Chrome won’t open (Windows 11) |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/1l2c552/comment/mvt1w2a/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321124027/https://old.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/1l2c552/chrome_wont_open_windows_11/mvt1w2a/ |archive-date=21 Mar 2026 |access-date=Jun 20, 2025 |website=[[Reddit]]}}</ref> which blocked the web browser [[Google Chrome|''Chrome'']] from functioning.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Warren |first=Tom |date=Jun 20, 2025 |title=Microsoft is blocking Google Chrome through its family safety feature |url=https://www.theverge.com/news/690179/microsoft-block-google-chrome-family-safety-feature |access-date=Jun 20, 2025 |work=The Verge |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260203193533/https://www.theverge.com/news/690179/microsoft-block-google-chrome-family-safety-feature |archive-date=3 Feb 2026}}</ref> Schools in particular use this feature on devices given out for students to complete classwork remotely, and as [[Google Chrome|''Chrome'']] holds the majority market share of web browser usage, (65-70%)<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 1, 2025 |title=Browser Market Share Worldwide |url=https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/ |access-date=Jun 20, 2025 |website=Statcounter |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260122220040/https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share |archive-date=22 Jan 2026}}</ref> there has been mass reports of students being unable to complete their classwork strictly due to this flaw.<ref name=":04">{{Cite news |last=Priestley |first=Peter |date=Jun 4, 2025 |title=Microsoft Family Safety Blocking Chrome Browser |url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_11-wintop_famsafety/microsoft-family-safety-blocking-chrome-browser/40023ef5-177b-4eed-a857-80ed15afa3a5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260305010351/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/3862286/microsoft-family-safety-blocking-chrome-browser |archive-date=5 Mar 2026 |access-date=Jun 20, 2025 |work=Microsoft Answers}}</ref>

Numerous [[dark patterns]] have been implemented in the form of vague language and a confusing user interface, which hides the option to create a local-user without a Microsoft account under sub-menus and small text. This implementation, first launched under Windows 10 in 2015, continues into the [[Windows 11]] installation process. In March 2025, Microsoft announced that the creation of a Microsoft account would be [[Forced account|mandatory]] when downloading Windows 11, claiming that the decision would tighten security and streamline the user experience (see [[Deceptive language frequently used against consumers]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-28 |title=Windows 11 Enforces Mandatory Microsoft Account for Setup: What You Need to Know |url=https://windowsforum.com/threads/windows-11-enforces-mandatory-microsoft-account-for-setup-what-you-need-to-know.358519/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-10-05 |website=Windows Forum |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260222014631/https://windowsforum.com/threads/windows-11-enforces-mandatory-microsoft-account-for-setup-what-you-need-to-know.358519/ |archive-date=22 Feb 2026}}</ref>  On occasion, Microsoft accounts have been unilaterally disabled by Microsoft.  The default experience with a Microsoft account and trusted computing is that if something goes wrong with the computer, you are likely to lose all your data.  Experienced users know to backup credentials to minimize this risk, however Microsoft sets most users up for failure.

In 2005, Microsoft released the ''Xbox 360''. Not long after, consumers began reporting an issue with their consoles of three red flashing lights on the ring around the power button. This was coined by consumers as the "''Red Ring of Death''", and by 2007, ''Xbox''<nowiki/>'s hardware engineers eventually discovered that the reason for it was a defect in the ''Xbox 360''<nowiki/>'s GPU.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 13, 2021 |title=Power On: The Story of Xbox {{!}} Chapter 5: The Red Ring of Death |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2d6IMBS8oY |url-status=live |archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=z2d6IMBS8oY |archive-date=2024-01-29 |access-date=June 4, 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

:Xbox Series X/S consoles have a removable solid-state drive (SSD), yet they contain an encrypted partition with a key that is married to the motherboard. This key changes after each system update, making it difficult to replace the drive<ref>{{Cite web |date=Jul 13, 2023 |title=New Xbox SSD interface is horribly anti repair|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbmzp-rqwfU |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=YouTube |archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=Bbmzp-rqwfU |archive-date=23 Feb 2026}}</ref>. Xbox One consoles allowed users to easily replace the hard disk drive (HDD) as needed since the hard drives did not contain such encryption<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 20, 2024 |title=Xbox One Hard Drive Replacement|url=https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Xbox+One+Hard+Drive+Replacement/36771 |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=iFixit |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251218160941/https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Xbox+One+Hard+Drive+Replacement/36771 |archive-date=18 Dec 2025}}</ref>. Though technically possible to replace HDDs on the Xbox 360, replacement drives have to be modified to report original drive information (like serial number) and in some cases cannot utilize all the storage available on a drive<ref>{{Cite web |title=Security Sector Information |url=https://fatxplorer.eaton-works.com/security-sector-information/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321125530/https://fatxplorer.eaton-works.com/security-sector-information/ |archive-date=21 Mar 2026 |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=FATXplorer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=Nov 28, 2024 |title=Xbox 360 HDD Replacement|url=https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Xbox+360+HDD+Replacement/3430 |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=iFixit |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260130220622/https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Xbox+360+HDD+Replacement/3430 |archive-date=30 Jan 2026}}</ref>. For the original Xbox, the hard drive was married to the motherboard, but if the console was modified with custom firmware, users could easily replace the drive{{Citation needed}}.