2/20/24
Recently Microsoft made some changes to default apps in the Windows Operating system.
Most of these changes left users scratching their heads. It's one thing to update an app to modernize it, or to make it run more smoothly,
it's a whole other thing to completely phone in the interface, and include malicious, offensive advertisements.
Most users realized the only reason they updated these was to shove advertisements into them so they can make more money.
Let's look at the Weather app. It use to have a sense of calm, it worked as it should have, it was intuitive to use and looked nice. I had a display in my living room that just showed that Weather app, that's how much I liked it.
Then they decided to shove the offensive ads in. Now it's irratically laid out, doesn't load the weather info half the time, information is hard to find, even just the temperature you can no longer just glance at it, you have to hunt for the most basic information.
They really thought they could just ruin the user experience, shove ads in, and everyone would be happy?
Let's go to the Microsoft Store and view the reviews. Nine out of ten are people complaining, confused, and some very angry about these changes. Maybe one in ten is a comment that seems like it wasn't written by a human, praising every terrible change that's been made. Every single other comment has a human tone to it, none of the humans like the update.
But, Microsoft has a new idea! Maybe if they were to use an AI to "summarize" all of the comments, people could just read that and save themselves some time.
Problem is, they of course can't let the AI do what it's designed to do, like every corporation they've decided to cripple and censor their AI model to lie to users. Their ideas don't last without censorship.
Let's read what their AI has to say, then look at the comments, you tell me what you notice.
"Users highly recommend MSN Weather app for its comprehensive and accurate weather information, easy navigation, and beautiful design. The app provides detailed weather information for local and remote places, including pollen information, sunrise and sunset times and historical charts. Users appreciate the ability to save favorite locations and switch between hourly and graph views. Overall, users find it reliable and informative, and it is their go-to app for weather."
Now let's look at the truth, what real people are actually saying. We don't have a full sample here, because Microsoft has been wiping negative reviews out and pushing up fake bot reviews, but even with this being the case, the negative reviews far outweigh the positive ones. Even their ratings are a lie, they show that most users have given a five star rating, when in fact most actual reviews you see are overwhelmingly one star.
"1 star - Added ads... like Microsoft needs more money. Please let me disable the news. :)"
"1 Star - The app no longer functions properly..."
"1 Star - Cluttered, ugly, full of ads..."
"1 Star - Wrong location..."
"1 Star - Ads ruin Weather App..."
"1 Star - Full of ads..."
"1 Star - The ads are awful..."
"1 Star - DISFUNCTIONAL, can not set home location..."
"1 Star - Could not set my location..."
"1 Star - Never loads, just spins and spins..."
"1 Star - Wrong location..."
"1 Star - New interface sucks, recent update flooded screen with useless info..."
"1 Star - Ruined by spammy ads..."
To (actually) summarize the rest of the reviews, people mention it is unreliable, spammy, bloatware, does not work, wrong location, too many ads, can't change location, radar no longer works, web wrapper complaints, and then a random string of five star reviewrs saying very empty stuff like "I enjoy the improvements that have been made and enjoy the ease-of-use."... yea I'm sure that was written by a human with emotions.
Why is Microsoft choosing to lie to us? I understand sweeping bad reviews under the rug but why lie about them and say the opposite?
Here's what should be done, the person that re-wrote the weather app so they could feel important and like they are useful in the company should have been looked at like the idiot they were, and fired on the spot.