Should OS makers, like Microsoft, be legally required to provide 15 years of security updates?

  • pathos@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    What we REALLY need is to curb microsoft’s market dominance. If more alternatives for OS and usable replacements for MS office em would exist, this would not be a problem and would not need to hamper innovation for the sake of back porting (the main counter-argument as a dev).

    • elucubra@sopuli.xyz
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      12 hours ago

      Linux and all its flavors?

      What’s wrong with libreoffice or anyoffice? For a large percentage of users, Linux is fine, especially as many applications have an online option. For the stuff I do, in Linux, online Office is more than sufficient.

      An org I work with provides me with a 365 license, but I I’m more comfortable in Libreoffice.

      Office is used bythe majority, but majority doesn’t mean they are right, they are simply more.

        • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          Windows is far more jank than a lot of Linux distros/desktop environments.

          Like…

          • Multiple different right click menus?
          • No consistent and cohesive design language even throughout system or first party apps?
          • Having to search online for an exe download page, download, open downloads folder, double click, click next through an installer?
          • Updates that happen when you don’t want them to, take forever, and break things?
          • Fucking ads everywhere?
          • Web results in your start menu before actual stuff on your system
          • Multiple settings apps?
          • Sleep that doesn’t work?
          • Convoluted process for setting things as the default app?
          • Dark mode that’s only functional for some apps?

          It’s actually incredible how much money Microsoft has, and how much more they spend than probably all Linux DEs combined, but they’ve still yet to fix so much low hanging fruit.

        • Attacker94@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          I have had more issues with formatting between ms 365 desktop and ms 365 online than I’ve had with libreoffice

    • Cricket [he/him]@lemmy.zip
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      8 hours ago

      Hmmm, I don’t agree. The trend is in the opposite direction. Microsoft Windows used to have a larger market share and supported hardware indefinitely. Now that their market share has shrunk, they are also limiting support for older hardware. This only shows correlation, not causation, but it does show that more competition has not improved the issue and that we need laws to do that instead. MacOS, the primary competitor to Microsoft Windows which also has Microsoft Office available, only supports their hardware for 6-8 years as well.

      Edit: just to add, if anything, this actually shows that more competition and reduced market share probably increases the pressure to cut support for older hardware because it probably becomes less profitable to do so.