The onedrive integration is one of the most annoying things about windows for me right now. Not just the constant nagging, nor the "Adverts" pasted over my computer, but one day I woke up and something had decided to move all my documents to a new "onedrive" folder, despite never signing up for anything. (Or at least "asked me" in some super easy to miss clickthrough)

This naturally broke a stack of apps and scripts,and my expectations. And as explorer seems to do some magic to make it /look/ like everything is in the same place, but then causes inconsistency with other ways of accessing folders, breaks decades of learned experience on how the model of files and folders work.

And this was still on windows 10 - at least if there's an upgrade migration you /expect/ some things to work a bit differently, and then have the option of not upgrading if that behavior is important. But what's the point of having "versions" if you just backport all the breaking changes anyway?

The newer versions of Windows seem to care less and less about what the user prefers.

This is emblematic in the message boxes that offer a choice between Yes and Not Now/Maybe Later. It takes real effort to make Windows accept a No.

I wish I could understand why product managers come up with these ideas and developers implement them. Every release, Microsoft improves Windows in one way (like WSL) and then adds two reasons why it should be uninstalled completely. I use OneDrive on certain computers in my business. In others, it's inappropriate. On all my business computers, Xbox, Candy Crush, MSN etc. are inappropriate. And Edge was great for a while until it became the preferred route to feed me clickbait and more annoying pop-up ads. Why chase your users away?

Times like this I am happy I am mostly Windows free with my work as a Linux kernel developer.

Still need Windows for a few things. Like playing my GOG.com games. No, Heroic or Lutris do not work well. With the exception of playing the rebuilds of Diablo I.

My next gaming machine will likely be Linux only if I ever get myself to finish the OG Baldur's Gate I and II. You can buy the Enhanced Edition on GOG and put in a support request to have the original added to your library. I bought the original when it came out on GOG. You may want to do that for mods or if you just prefer the original.

edit: To clarify: I want to be able use GOG Galaxy for game syncing and convenience. That does not work well in my experience with Proton.

Disappointed it doesn't show you a photo of the Product Manager responsible for OneDrive and make you answer them personally, like Jira went through a phase of doing. A totally missed opportunity.

It should be the law that PMs have their faces on such things to promote the same trust we feel towards real estate agents. Privacy policy when signing up? The PM should be there, being responsible.

Anyone here work at Microsoft that can explain how anyone at the company thought this was a good idea?

Seriously. I'm genuinely confused. MS never had the best UI (hello MS Word toolbars) but those happened over time through attrition and added features.

This is one of many intentional user-hostile experiences.

What would be better is, when OneDrive unilaterally crashes without user input, or fails to start on boot, Microsoft answer one of those questionnaires for me:

   Microsoft closed OneDrive without user input, terminating all synchronization of shared files for the following reasons :

   ( ) Bad coding- error
   ( ) Updating unrelated application, sorry we didn't restart the application.
   ( ) Did we crash OneDrive?! Are you sure?
   ( ) We prefer that you use M365 online
   ( ) Other

> Hopefully, Microsoft won’t start injecting a poll at shutdown demanding to know why I’m turning my PC off for the day.

Clearly they've never used Windows Server.

Strange that data corruption [1] is not offered as one of the options :)

[1] https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/onedr...

The article notes the items in the dropdown:

  Here are the options the app lets you pick:

    I do not want OneDrive running all the time
    I do not know what OneDrive is
    I do not use OneDrive
    I am trying to fix a problem with OneDrive
    I am trying to speed up my computer
    I get too many notifications
    Other

  Sadly, there is no "none of your business, let me quit" option.

My decision to just stick with Windows 10 LTS version for gaming is reinforced as a good decision on a fairly regular basis at this point.

My partner was on Windows 10 and was running into some issues with OneDrive. Apparently it just moved the entire user directory (or something like that) to OneDrive and most of his files were not local. We tried to disable OneDrive and his Desktop just disappeared.

We finally just got rid of it, but it was a pain and I don't think he ever turned it on. At least not purposefully.

Also please don't say to just use Proton and SteamOS for gaming. I have had enough issues with games not working under proton (Particularly if not from Steam) or updates breaking games on my Steam Deck that I also use Windows LTS on my Steam Deck most of the time now.

Edit: I remember what the problem was. he ran out of space. So the service that he didn't sign up for (at least purposefully) that synced his entire home directory stopped syncing because he ran out of space on it, and his files are basically being held hostage by OneDrive.

Edge on first use after startup used to prompt for Microsoft login with an un-skippable modal pop-up, had to terminate the process and restart the app to bypass.

I am speculating that only a fraction of users explicitly shut down a program that appears beasides the clock. Is it truly worth irritating that segment of users? I am one of those who occasionally turns off OneDrive. However, the idea of starting to look for alternatives has only just struck me. I'm really tired of waves of popups everywhere.

This is a great way to poison your data collection by forcing users to select an answer they may not mean, just to proceed.

Completely unrelated, but this reminds me of a French bank that was amazed that they had so many customers that were farmers. Like almost all of them, despite being a bank present everywhere.

It took them years to realize that part of the creation of a new account was the question about your work. Since the employees of the bank did not want to bother customers with these silly questions, they were picking the first one - agriculteur (farmer).

You get the stats you deserve.

Crazy stuff, and the logical endpoint to the kind of paternalistic UX design that has been fashionable for the last few years.

RIP "bicycle for the mind", hello "fuzzy handcuffs for the mind".

"I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen."

I’ve noticed the Office and OneDrive web apps now make it subtly harder to download your files. All part of their lockin strategy I suppose.

Installing Linux distros these days is trivial, and i encourage anyone with a usb stick laying around to give them a try.

Don't forget the big flashing "Backup" button that shows on Windows 11 23H2 prompting you to upload your files to OneDrive. I ditched OneDrive due to all of these annoyances.

I've managed to avoid the Windows 11 "upgrade" so far by disabling my motherboard's TPM in its BIOS menu. Not sure what I'll do in 2025 when Windows 10 hits EOL.

Bad taste is irreparably laced through Microsoft's culture. It's why I've stopped using their products.

When I worked there the job of PMs, and many managers, seemed to be to figure out how to appear polite while attempting to distort common sense to get their metrics pumped up.

One way to say "none of your business" is to abandon their OS. Did so at the beginning of the year and haven't looked back. (Linux Mint on workstation; Debian 12 on laptop; Proton via Steam for games) The more I hear about the direction Microsoft is headed with their desktop software, the more it feels like a good call.

It seems magnanimity of MS that they are just asking to explain. Else they could force user to submit sound mental health certificate. After all who in right mind close OneDrive. Right?

Windows is constantly reminding me why I moved to Linux and never looked back.

Just yesterday I was fascinated by the Bing bar adware in the DirectX installer[1] which is not even working in Win10 [2].

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/iefa47/this_...

[2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/91sf3p/forgot_to...

Let's contrast that with iCloud - which cannot be turned off, even if you are not logged into the iCloud service.

I've been trying to get rid of OneDrive for months now, but I haven't been successful. It's yet another thing that makes me really hate Microsoft products.

OneDrive will randomly hijack your Desktop, Downloads, Documents folders etc shortly after installing Windows. It's a pain to undo it. Errors, forced logins, lots of internet searches to find workarounds etc. One of the most annoying things about Windows RN.

Needs a new option in the list "Fuck You Microsoft". :)

Gotta make my numbers, better use every dirty trick in the book before the inevitable performance review where every department in Microsoft goes at each other like a pack of rabid hyaenas. The desperation is rank.

I’ll never buy Windows ever again. Win10 was my last hurrah. I want to thank MS for things like Win32, gaming; I thought WSL was going to be a thing that allowed the best of both worlds and everything was going to be better.

I was wrong, and it’s very clear I was wrong. It’s a shame really and kind of sad. It’s like your favorite hammer turning against you; a tool you’ve used for decades decides to self-immolate. Or maybe a hammer that you’ve used for decades and then started playing an ad and tracking your location every time you pick it up.

Terrible.

Got a Debian installer USB stick that says they're wrong.

It looks like windows is just a store for Microsoft products nowadays. While having the majority of the OEM devices with windows, MS are really pushing their services and subscriptions on the users. And they do it the M$ way,the most annoying and mischievous way. Personally, I have one laptop with Win11 pro, for playing a couple of games. The pro edition should be for professionals, right? Nope, it's the same annoying and intrusive experience as the home edition. Screw it. I have other laptop with Pop_OS, a world of difference. My work laptop has Mac OS, and I'm really surprised how apple is so much less intrusive and annoying than Microsoft. Don't have an Apple ID? No problem, you can use your PC, we are not asking/begging every 3 days to create one. You aren't using any apple apps? Sure, you can install and use what you want, we will not cry and appeal to your emotional side. Wait? You installing Google chrome? Go ahead, just install like another app. Just change the default browser, with no questions, just 2 clicks. That simple. Windows looks like the android version of Chinese brands, full of ads and preloaded with bloatware, really.

Now they must add another option: "I quit OneDrive because of this dialog!"

Reasons why I switched to Linux Nr.436 (I switched when Windows 10 started injecting News in the Taskbar without asking after an Update)

This is just as annoying as Docker constantly asking me to rate it.

This trend is just tacky.

They know the reason “it pegged my cpu and blocked out other processes.”

OneDrive is the worst background process I’ve ever run and at least once a day, I have to kill the process because it’s maxing my cpus. Over something stupid like syncing a random file that hasn’t been opened or changed in a year.

It’s curious how bad it is.

"I've never signed into OneDrive but it is taking up 60GB of space in my AppData folder"

I am hoping that signing in with a local rather than a microsoft account still stops this - after all, onedrive won't have an "identity" to know where to store the files.

I think eventually a solid antitrust case will bring them back to earth, but I'm very glad I jumped off windows over a decade ago so I get to skip all the nonsense in between.

maybe I am on an old version, but I dont get that at all. here is my info:

    OneDrive version: Build 23.214.1015.0001 (64-bit)

    Are you sure you want to close OneDrive?
    If you close OneDrive, files in your OneDrive folder won't sync with your
    files online.
    [Close OneDrive][Cancel]

Since long before, there was a pattern to skipping "bad" versions of Windows in favor of "good" ones: install Windows 95, skip Windows 98, use Windows 2000, pass Windows ME, use Windows XP, skip Windows Vista, use Windows 7, abolish Windows 8.

I dread the moment I am forced to switch from Windows 10 because they said there will be no Windows 12.

Anyone else finding it ironic how difficult it is to interact with this article because it is so utterly plastered with ads? I attempted to follow the link to an article about Edge blocking Chrome, and was met with a full-screen interstitial ad instead of the article I clicked on. Sad times on the Internet.

Why is OneDrive a closable thing? Shouldn't it just run behind the scenes (assuming the user has opted-in)? iCloud mostly works like this - once you sign in and tell the system to sync files, it just works. There's no visible app to start or stop.

The sad thing is that Windows can be lovely in the Enterprise, at least where I work it's virtually friction-free as everything is preconfigured and no annoying popus. For home use: different story.

It feels like part of the whole trend of constant polling and setting tips at 18-30%.

So is there a regedit you can do to disable OneDrive completely or does Microsoft worm their way around that as well.

Honestly the only thing keeping me from updating from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is that the ads and forced behaviors are an order of magnitude greater in their shittiness.

Whether it's Windows Insider or the recent OneDrive debacle, Microsoft solicits user feedback with a fervor that belies its fundamental indifference. It's a charade, and it's a waste of time to participate.

I would still use WinXP if Firefox would work. I really don't need anything else.

Microsoft has been a known quantity for a long time. At this point, anyone willingly subjecting themselves to their bullshit (as opposed to having it forced on them by work) has only themselves to blame.

Time to regulate OS releases. Prove your new version is actually an upgrade, and increase user productivity first - not just forcing them into your regulatory captured product suite.

And Microsoft wonders why I don't want to install Windows 11...

Same as restarting a server. It is something that should be running all the time so turning it off points to something not working, and asking for a valid reason makes sense.

The buzzword bingo management "Deliver on a integrated streamlined customer experience with inline analytics to deliver sharedholder value" culture strikes again.

Just run w10privacy once, it takes 5 minutes to remove onedrive, cortana, telemetry and every other windows cruft. Wish it was that easy for Android.

KPIs/OKRs run amok. Gross incentives shamelessly implemented by slavering product managers.

Microsoft, you should be better than this.

Industry obsession with data gone too far?

This reminds me of that

> please drink verification can

Greentext. Why people put up with this crap in their lives is beyond me.

Onedrive manager badly wants to reach his 2023 Q4 OKR. Help him! don't quit OneDrive.

prediction: next version will also make you watch an ad before being allowed to exit

Providing close reason is ridiculous. Don't think this would be technical guys at work, rather some marketing or someone who wants some stats.

But nudging in direction/reminding of backups at appropriate times - I actually applaud it. Let people think about it for a while.

MS sure loves their user hostile ux choices

> What’s next? Hopefully, Microsoft won’t start injecting a poll at shutdown demanding to know why I’m turning my PC off for the day.

Sounds like somebody never ran Windows Server.

I had a girlfriend like that once

One monopoly continues to single-handedly shit on personal computing for the whole species.

By the way, has anyone figured out how to show Google Drive as an option to save in Office365, without having to navigate through your hard drive?