Microsoft as usual trying to make a Swiss Army knife where none of the tools work as intended
this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
479 points (97.1% liked)
Software Gore
5321 readers
96 users here now
Welcome to /c/SoftwareGore!
This is a community where you can poke fun at nasty software. This community is your go-to destination to look at the most cringe-worthy and facepalm-inducing moments of software gone wrong. Whether it's a user interface that defies all logic, a crash that leaves you in disbelief, silly bugs or glitches that make you go crazy, or an error message that feels like it was written by an unpaid intern, this is the place to see them all!
Remember to read the rules before you make a post or comment!
Community Rules - Click to expand
These rules are subject to change at any time with or without prior notice. (last updated: 7th December 2023 - Introduction of Rule 11 with one sub-rule prohibiting posting of AI content)
- This community is a part of the Lemmy.world instance. You must follow its Code of Conduct (https://mastodon.world/about).
- Please keep all discussions in English. This makes communication and moderation much easier.
- Only post content that's appropriate to this community. Inappropriate posts will be removed.
- NSFW content of any kind is not allowed in this community.
- Do not create duplicate posts or comments. Such duplicated content will be removed. This also includes spamming.
- Do not repost media that has already been posted in the last 30 days. Such reposts will be deleted. Non-original content and reposts from external websites are allowed.
- Absolutely no discussion regarding politics are allowed. There are plenty of other places to voice your opinions, but fights regarding your political opinion is the last thing needed in this community.
- Keep all discussions civil and lighthearted.
- Do not promote harmful activities.
- Don't be a bigot.
- Hate speech, harassment or discrimination based on one's race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, beliefs or any other identity is strictly disallowed. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to discuss in this community.
- The moderators retain the right to remove any post or comment and ban users/bots that do not necessarily violate these rules if deemed necessary.
- At last, use common sense. If you think you shouldn't say something to a person in real life, then don't say it here.
- Community specific rules:
- Posts that contain any AI-related content as the main focus (for example: AI “hallucinations”, repeated words or phrases, different than expected responses, etc.) will be removed. (polled)
You should also check out these awesome communities!
- Tech Support: For all your tech support needs! (partnered)
- Hardware Gore: Same as Software Gore, but for broken hardware.
- DiWHY - Questioning why some things exist...
- Perfect Fit: For things that perfectly and satisfyingly fit into each other!
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Is everybody really out there doing arithmetic in their start menu search bar? Calc.exe is a click or hotkey away.
Calc.exe is a click or hotkey away.
The Start Menu is already there, no hotkey setup required. Plus, I can close it with a single key too. It's simply more convenient.
If you say so. I think having to wait for the latency of the web search to come back would drive me up the wall if I tried your method.
Win+number row are hotkeys for your taskbar favorites. No explicit setup is required other than having your taskbar favorites ordered how you want them. Pressing the hotkey will open the program if it's closed, focus the program if it's in the background, or minimize the program if it's focused.
I mean technically I do that, but mine doesn't do a web search (linux) so it's not equivalent anyway. It is very convenient tho
load more comments
(2 replies)
I grab the actual calculator on my actual desk, because I am a thousand years old.
You are far too powerful to be in the presence of us mere mortals.
I won't reach my full power until I'm as comfortable with my RPN calculator as I am with the regular infix ones.
load more comments
(2 replies)
It sits right where you need it, between your rotary dial telephone and your filing trays 👌
Horrifyingly close to the truth. The filing trays are wall-mounted and the landline is touch-tone.
The Dad vibes are chill af 😎
Do you also use a magnifying glass?
Yes, if the print is small enough. Usually to read serial numbers off things.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
To this day, I still launch the calculator with win+R then "calc" enter.
Basically muscle memory at this point
For me it's win "calc" enter.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Neither option is convenient for me. So I just have a calculator next to me just in case.
...yes? The spotlight/quick search tool is stupid useful. Everything is just a quick alt-space and a type away
I've been using Synapse on Linux for years and Windows powertoys is way better than this nonsense (which is super confusing because that's also an official Microsoft programme. Why do they have a superior version of their search that you have to seperately download?)
load more comments
(4 replies)
Nah. Most brain dead thing it does is when you search for something, and it brings up no results, so you remove the last letter and your results pop up.
Or when it refuses to show something you know exists on the computer until you enter the exact full file path
That's why I use Flow Launcher with the Everything plugin (now integrated on the Explorer).
Everything is an absolute godsend to deal with Windows' shitty indexer.
load more comments
(2 replies)
Or you press enter to open it, and instead the list changes and it opens something unrelated
This happens to me on Instagram and it makes me want to commit atrocities.
Not to mention it takes like 10 seconds to load and has completely random predictions
It's a start menu, not a calculator.
Oh wait, it's a web search?
It is showing a suggested search on the left AND the calculator with the right operation and result on the right. I'd call it confusing at best, but looks like it's doing what it's supposed to imo
Except it 'recommended' you add a zero and did it for you, changing the equation you asked it to do.
But you see, all you have to do is remove the 0 it added unprompted and you have the right answer it didnt give you.
Microsoft teaching free math skills out here by being terrible at AI.
i like it that KRunner on KDE does that out of the box too, except that it doesn't connect to the internet as a first suggestion, so it's an upgrade :3
load more comments
(3 replies)
This comes from your search results. I just tried it, and for me it answers what you'd expect. I suspect you use a search system that's either bing, based on bing, or sends queries to bing, and as a result of that it assumed you wanted to search for this specific thing.
Mind you, that makes it no less ridiculous since on the web, Bing can recognize that you put in a math query and answers it without wanting to autocomplete it. It's still bad, just in a slightly more specific way. 😂
I did just try this again on my work laptop and it searched correctly. But the 2nd "search the web" suggestion still added a 0. Maybe I had searched that by accident by hitting enter after typing it (as it still opens Edge/Bing annoyingly).
Disable Bing in the search box on your personal computer. If you're performing searches on your desktop, even if you don't select a web search, it's still being sent to Microsoft and stored.
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Use PowerToys Run instead. The Start menu is dead to me now.
I have it installed already, and I'd switch to using it in a heartbeat if it could replace the Start Menu in a way that didn't break things. I often open the Start Menu purely to show the taskbar over fullscreen games in order to switch to something else. If Run did that (and if binding it to the Windows key didn't break other shortcuts), it would be perfect for me.
Edit: I stand corrected. It appears that Run does sometimes show the taskbar, but it seems inconsistent.
load more comments
(3 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
not sure about windows 11 but in wkndows 10 you can turn it into fully local search menu without any bing crap and web searches with some tweaks
this also makes it open and search without any delay for some reason... Really makes it usable again
load more comments
(5 replies)
view more: next ›