Microsoft: Difference between revisions

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Xbox: Added info about the encrypted SSD situation. If someone has a good citation that isn't old forum posts and such regarding the HDD situation with the original Xbox, it would be much appreciated.
 
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}}[[Wikipedia:Microsoft|'''''Microsoft Corporation''''']] was founded in 1975 by ''Bill Gates'' and ''Paul Allen'' in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is one of the "Big Five" tech giants, well known for licensing ''Q-DOS'' from ''Seattle Computer Product''s as ''MS-DOS'' prior to purchasing it in 1980, as well as ''Windows'', the graphical extension to ''MS-DO''S. They are also known for developing the ''Microsoft'' ''Office Suite; Access,'' ''Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and'' ''Word''. Additionally, they developed the Xbox under ''the Microsoft'' ''Gaming'' division and the ''Surface'' line of laptop devices and the cloud platform ''Azure''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zachary |first=Gregg Pascal |last2=Hall |first2=Mark |last3=Montevirgen |first3=Karl |title=Microsoft-Corporation |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Microsoft-Corporation |url-status=live |website=britannica.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Michael |date=August 12, 2021 |title=The Rise of DOS: How Microsoft Got the IBM PC OS Contract |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-rise-of-dos-how-microsoft-got-the-ibm-pc-os-contract |url-status=live |website=PCmag}}</ref>
}}[[Wikipedia:Microsoft|'''''Microsoft Corporation''''']] was founded in 1975 by ''Bill Gates'' and ''Paul Allen'' in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is one of the "Big Five" tech giants, well known for licensing ''Q-DOS'' from ''Seattle Computer Product''s as ''MS-DOS'' prior to purchasing it in 1980, as well as ''Windows'', the graphical extension to ''MS-DO''S. They are also known for developing the ''Microsoft'' ''Office Suite; Access,'' ''Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and'' ''Word''. Additionally, they developed the Xbox under ''the Microsoft'' ''Gaming'' division and the ''Surface'' line of laptop devices and the cloud platform ''Azure''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zachary |first=Gregg Pascal |last2=Hall |first2=Mark |last3=Montevirgen |first3=Karl |title=Microsoft-Corporation |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Microsoft-Corporation |url-status=live |website=britannica.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Michael |date=August 12, 2021 |title=The Rise of DOS: How Microsoft Got the IBM PC OS Contract |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-rise-of-dos-how-microsoft-got-the-ibm-pc-os-contract |url-status=live |website=PCmag}}</ref>


Through business acquisitions they own numerous other tech-related businesses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of mergers and acquisitions by Microsoft |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft |website=Wikipedia}}</ref>. Buying up platforms and services that millions of users relies on daily. Most notable acquisitions; Skype, LinkedIn, Github and Activision Blizzard.
Through business acquisitions they own numerous other tech-related businesses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of mergers and acquisitions by Microsoft |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft |website=Wikipedia}}</ref>. Buying up platforms and services that millions of users relies on daily. Their most notable acquisitions include Skype, [[LinkedIn]], Github and [[Activision Blizzard]].


They also invest heavily in artificial intelligence enterprises, ''OpenAI'' (best known for creating ''ChatGPT'').<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vincent |first=James |date=July 22, 2019 |title=Microsoft invests $1 billion in OpenAI to pursue holy grail of artificial intelligence |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/22/20703578/microsoft-openai-investment-partnership-1-billion-azure-artificial-general-intelligence-agi |work=The Verge}}</ref>
They also invest heavily in artificial intelligence enterprises, ''[[OpenAI]]'' (best known for creating ''ChatGPT'').<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vincent |first=James |date=July 22, 2019 |title=Microsoft invests $1 billion in OpenAI to pursue holy grail of artificial intelligence |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/22/20703578/microsoft-openai-investment-partnership-1-billion-azure-artificial-general-intelligence-agi |work=The Verge}}</ref>


==Consumer impact summary<!-- first draft of summary; some citations needed to throughout but otherwise should be okay. do not remove bullet points below until they are fully integrated elsewhere in longer sections -->==
==Consumer impact summary<!-- first draft of summary; some citations needed to throughout but otherwise should be okay. do not remove bullet points below until they are fully integrated elsewhere in longer sections -->==
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===Windows 3.1 AARD code===
===Windows 3.1 AARD code===
[[File:Windows 3.10.068 setup AARD code.png|alt=Windows 3.1 beta setup with a gray square in the middle in red text coloring that says "Non-fatal error detected: error #4D53 (Please contact Windows 3.1 beta support.). Press ENTER to continue"|thumb|Windows 3.1 AARD code]]
[[File:Windows 3.10.068 setup AARD code.png|alt=Windows 3.1 beta setup with a gray square in the middle in red text coloring that says "Non-fatal error detected: error #4D53 (Please contact Windows 3.1 beta support.). Press ENTER to continue"|thumb|Windows 3.1 AARD code]]
Users trying to install a beta release of Windows 3.1 on a machine running [[wikipedia:DR-DOS|DR DOS]] would receive an error message stating "'''Non-fatal error detected: error #4D53 (Please contact Windows 3.1 beta support . )'''", the error code was discovered by Geoff Chappell on April 17 1992<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chappell |first=Geoff |date=8 May 1999 |title=AARD code |url=https://www.geoffchappell.com/notes/windows/archive/aard/index.htm?tx=57 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112155815/https://www.geoffchappell.com/notes/windows/archive/aard/index.htm?tx=57 |archive-date=12 Jan 2024 |access-date=16 Aug 2025 |website=Geoff Chappell, Software Analyst}}</ref>
Users trying to install a beta release of Windows 3.1 on a machine running [[wikipedia:DR-DOS|DR DOS]] would receive an error message stating "'''Non-fatal error detected: error #4D53 (Please contact Windows 3.1 beta support . )'''", the error code was discovered by Geoff Chappell on April 17 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chappell |first=Geoff |date=8 May 1999 |title=AARD code |url=https://www.geoffchappell.com/notes/windows/archive/aard/index.htm?tx=57 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112155815/https://www.geoffchappell.com/notes/windows/archive/aard/index.htm?tx=57 |archive-date=12 Jan 2024 |access-date=16 Aug 2025 |website=Geoff Chappell, Software Analyst}}</ref> DR DOS was capable of running Windows 3.1, as it is compatible with MS-DOS, but the AARD code in the installer used undocumented structures to detect if the machine was running DR DOS in order to display this message. The rationale was to coerce the user into buying MS-DOS: "What the [user] is supposed to do is feel uncomfortable, and when he has bugs, suspect that the problem is DR-DOS and then go out to buy MS-DOS," wrote (at the time) senior vice president of Microsoft, Brad Silverberg, in a 1992 email.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-01-02 |title=Microsoft emails focus on DR-DOS threat |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-emails-focus-on-dr-dos-threat/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310065721/https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-emails-focus-on-dr-dos-threat/ |archive-date=2016-03-10 |access-date=2025-08-30 |work=CNET}}</ref>
 
===Xbox 360 Defect - The "Red Ring of Death"<!-- I don't know for sure if we should have a dedicated Company article for Xbox, or if we should just redirect red links for Xbox to this article (Microsoft). Personally, I think what they do is MS's responsibility because MS is the parent company, so Xbox's issues should be mentioned here. Either way- I'm just going to place this info here for now for folks to edit or change appropriately. -->===
===Xbox 360 Defect - The "Red Ring of Death"<!-- I don't know for sure if we should have a dedicated Company article for Xbox, or if we should just redirect red links for Xbox to this article (Microsoft). Personally, I think what they do is MS's responsibility because MS is the parent company, so Xbox's issues should be mentioned here. Either way- I'm just going to place this info here for now for folks to edit or change appropriately. -->===
{{Main|Bumpgate}}
{{Main|Bumpgate}}
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*'''Xbox storage monopolization'''
*'''Xbox storage monopolization'''
:Xbox Series X/S uses a proprietary [https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/seagate/en/content-fragments/products/datasheets/xbox-expansion-card-series-4tb/xbox-expansion-card-series-4tb-DS2081-4-2504US-en_US.pdf Storage Expansion Card] that costs more when compared to industry standard storage.{{Citation needed}}<!-- this section seems to reference a lot of support forums/reddit. not exactly the most professional but it's better than nothing considering this is user reporting -->
:Xbox Series X/S uses a proprietary [https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/seagate/en/content-fragments/products/datasheets/xbox-expansion-card-series-4tb/xbox-expansion-card-series-4tb-DS2081-4-2504US-en_US.pdf Storage Expansion Card] that costs more when compared to industry standard storage.{{Citation needed}}<!-- this section seems to reference a lot of support forums/reddit. not exactly the most professional but it's better than nothing considering this is user reporting -->
*'''Encrypted Storage'''
:Xbox Series X/S consoles have a removable SSD, but contain an encrypted partition that contains a key that is married to the motherboard. This key changes after every system update making it difficult to replace the SSD.<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=Sept 3, 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref> Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles allowed users to easily replace the HDD if they needed to as they didn't contain such encryption.<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=Sept 3, 2025 |website=iFixit}}</ref><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=Sept 3, 2025 |website=iFixit}}</ref> For the original Xbox, the HDD was married to the motherboard, but if the console was modded with custom firware, users could easily replace the HDD.{{Citation needed}}


===Windows (Win 9x - Win 10)<!-- Reluctant to add this one unless we have more reports of this online, but I did find some microsoft support articles that mention Factory Resets happening with windows updates:  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/216587/why-a-factory-reset-without-my-permission-during-a -->===
===Windows (Win 9x - Win 10)<!-- Reluctant to add this one unless we have more reports of this online, but I did find some microsoft support articles that mention Factory Resets happening with windows updates:  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/216587/why-a-factory-reset-without-my-permission-during-a -->===
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Currently, Microsoft has neglected to inform users on rolling out a fix in the future,<ref>{{Cite web |date=Jun 3, 2025 |title=[User Feedback - Stable] M137 Windows - Increase in feedback about crashing |url=https://issues.chromium.org/issues/422222571 |access-date=Jun 20, 2025 |website=Chromium issues}}</ref> and the only solutions available to users is to either rename the executable on the affected device<ref name=":3" /> or disable "Block inappropriate browsing" inside the ''Family Safety'' settings.<ref name=":4" />
Currently, Microsoft has neglected to inform users on rolling out a fix in the future,<ref>{{Cite web |date=Jun 3, 2025 |title=[User Feedback - Stable] M137 Windows - Increase in feedback about crashing |url=https://issues.chromium.org/issues/422222571 |access-date=Jun 20, 2025 |website=Chromium issues}}</ref> and the only solutions available to users is to either rename the executable on the affected device<ref name=":3" /> or disable "Block inappropriate browsing" inside the ''Family Safety'' settings.<ref name=":4" />
====Removal of WordPad====
Starting with Windows 11, version 24H2, [[wikipedia:WordPad|WordPad]], a word processor included with every version of Windows since [[wikipedia:Windows_95|Windows 95]] was removed and would not be included with future clean installations. Microsoft recommended users to use [[wikipedia:Microsoft_Word|Microsoft Word]] for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf, and [[wikipedia:Windows_Notepad|Windows Notepad]] for plain text documents like .txt. Microsoft Word is included with Microsoft 365 for $69.99 a year, or with Office 2024 with a one-time purchase of $149.99.<ref>{{Cite web |date=Oct 4, 2024 |title=RIP: Windows 11 Update Officially Removes WordPad |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/rip-windows-11-update-officially-removes-wordpad |access-date=Sept 3, 2025 |website=PC Mag}}</ref>


===Microsoft account dark patterns when installing Windows<!-- Tone, and needs sources  May be deleted, see discuss tab for details -->===
===Microsoft account dark patterns when installing Windows<!-- Tone, and needs sources  May be deleted, see discuss tab for details -->===
[[File:MSInstall.png|thumb|An image of a Windows 10 installation, to illustrate the effort required to make an account unattached to a Microsoft account.]]
[[File:MSInstall.png|thumb|An image of a Windows 10 installation, to illustrate the effort required to make an account unattached to a Microsoft account.]]
Numerous [[dark patterns]] have been implemented in the form of vague language and a confusing user interface, which hides the option to create an account without a Microsoft account under sub-menus and small text. The dark patterns in the Windows installation menu have been in place since Windows 10 was launched in 2015, and continue into the [[Windows 11]] installation process.
Numerous [[dark patterns]] have been implemented in the form of vague language and a confusing user interface, which hides the option to create an account without a Microsoft account under sub-menus and small text. The dark patterns in the Windows installation menu have been in place since Windows 10 was launched in 2015, and continue into the [[Windows 11]] installation process. In March 2025, Microsoft announced the option to complete installation without making a Microsoft account was [[Microsoft ends use of "bypassnro.cmd" for Windows 11|being removed]].


===Removal of games===
===Removal of games===
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==See Also==
==See Also==
[[Microsoft Office 365]], an article on Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service which includes how to avoid the $30 price increase at the start.
[[Microsoft Office 365]], an article on Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service which includes how to avoid the $30 price increase at the start.
[[Microsoft Ends use of "bypassnro.cmd" for Win 11|Microsoft Ends use of "bypassnro.cmd" for Windows 11]], which talks about exactly that.


==References==
==References==
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<references />
[[Category:Microsoft]]
[[Category:Microsoft]]