Tools: Microsoft Account Bugs Locked Me Out Of Notepad – Are Thin Clients...
I don't want people to switch away from Windows; I want Microsoft to treat its premier operating system like it used to.
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
A couple of weeks ago, I found that I couldn't open Notepad on my desktop PC. It wasn't because Windows 11 had crashed, but rather, Microsoft told me it wasn't "available in (my) account". It turned out that an error (0x803f8001) with Microsoft Store's licensing service stopped me from opening a few first-party apps, including the Snipping Tool.
Yes, even the app I usually use to screenshot error messages was busted. Ironic. Now, I'm usually a fairly level-headed Windows enthusiast who can relate to users who both love and loathe Microsoft's operating system, but I couldn't open Notepad.exe — are we serious?
You've probably all seen the memes: it's called "This PC" now, and not "My Computer" anymore. It's usually easy to laugh off as a disgruntled conspiracy, but I can see why it trends when the themings of Software as a Service (SaaS) are creeping into the most basic Windows apps.
After all, Notepad is supposed to be the absolute barebones, most ultra-basic app in the entire OS. Well, it was, before Microsoft added Copilot and users started looking for a way to disable the unusual AI addition. Sure, you can still type C:\Windows\notepad.exe into 'Run' with Windows + R for a legacy fallback, but many perhaps wouldn't know about it.
I'm still a Windows guy, and I always will be. Nevertheless, I can't ignore that Windows 11 regularly feels less like an operating system and more like a thin client; just a connection to Microsoft's cloud with fewer options for you to act as the administrator of your own PC.
To be clear, I don't have major problems with the default, out-of-box experience (OOBE) of Windows 11. In fact, it doesn't take me long to make changes when installing fresh copies on new desktop builds. Default pins on the Start menu don't matter because I barely use it, and disabling ads is straightforward enough. The major points pretty much boil down to:
After that, I don't take issue with the normal desktop — unless something unexpectedly breaks. Our Editor-in-Chief, Daniel Rubino, said it best, "People don’t hate change. They hate surprise." It was certainly a surprise to lose access to my plain text editor, loaded up with more than what an extended (Windows + V) clipboard would be useful for. Nobody asked for this.
So, is the solution to look for open‑
Source: HackerNews
