Bit of a MS rant.  ( might have complained before. i donno )

I'm off a few days. People post in a 'shared' teams channel. It sends you an email.  "you have a message" but ZERO details. To force you to login and use their freaking product.  No.  its also why i tell people if we are on fire, txt me do NOT use teams. 

So for the last 2 days teams ( web ) had no spell check.

Now its back. and guess what. they changed it to be like OWA left click ..  arrgh. F- Microsoft 

Windows 10 NUC Print server ( long story, a fairly recent Linux update, wont work now native so had to go back to win10 to print ).

"do you want to opt into backup bla bla bla ( full screen ) .  No. "reject"

Then another "you should enable backups"   grrr 

Regardless of operating system I am surprised that you have a print server at all.  Most people just print straight to the printer over IPP (or LPD or JetDirect for older printers) unless they're part of a huge corporate network that needs a server-managed queue.

Thankfully, I'm now daily-driving Linux at work again.  After ten years of having to deal with Windows ... I am back home.  Viva las penguinistas.

In the beginning there was no way to print from Linux, it required firmware ( really.. as dumb as it sounds.. it did ) to be pushed to the printer every time it prints, which was only possible via windows and their proprietary drivers.  Eventually cups and stuff supported it so the 'print server' went into the closet.

Fast forward a couple of years and after some recent Linux updates this spring, i cant print anymore.  Its usb, and keeps disconnecting, then connecting, repeat until i unplug it. Not even a print driver thing, but at the USB device level.

I dont print but perhaps 4 times a year.. so it wasn't worth spending too much time on it to figure out what happened and if it could be undone, or go out and buy a more friendly one.. I still had the print server/nuc in the closet, so it was trivial to 'fix'. ( i saved it, just in case ).  if need ever changes, ill go out and get one that 'just works'. 

Thu Dec 11 2025 20:28:45 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

Regardless of operating system I am surprised that you have a print server at all.  Most people just print straight to the printer over IPP (or LPD or JetDirect for older printers) unless they're part of a huge corporate network that needs a server-managed queue.

Thankfully, I'm now daily-driving Linux at work again.  After ten years of having to deal with Windows ... I am back home.  Viva las penguinistas.

They don't.

And ya its old. I think it was their first USB desktop sized laser printer? Or at least one of the first. But, like mentioned wasn't to be replaced over time with new stuff as its used so rarely and since 'made' it work it was good enough.    its old enough HP no longer sells toner cartridges for it ( as far as i could tell anyway ) and had to go with a 3rd party clone cartridge a couple of years ago when it *finally* ran out.  

Fri Dec 12 2025 03:57:03 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

Ok, so you have a shit printer. I didn't think they made "winprinters" anymore.

I feel like with MS printer queues - you're trying too hard - if you have if/true statements to make it work. I don't script, I'm a Windows admin - it sucked - but never if/true statement suckage. 

Usually it was just mapping it by IP rather than named server. 

Mon Dec 15 2025 00:48:05 UTC from darknetuser

I have many nice stories about printer drives developed by ofshored teams.


if (true); then (...)

Also lots of

while (true); do
if(condition); then break
(...)

We've gotta give Apple credit where it's due.  Once driverless printing and IPP Everywhere and Mopria became a thing, Apple basically said to printer manufacturers "you're going to support this if you want to be able to print from an iPhone or iPad"

But yes, if you're trying to send a print job to a printer on a different network than the one you're on, a bit of help is needed.

I do it so naturally - I don't event realize the ridiculous hoops I'm jumping through just to get things to work. I got my newly refreshed i7 v5 Surface back on all my printers in 15 minutes of when I needed them. Which is once in a blue moon.

Again,  this is what pisses me off... I am really good at IT, but can't get hired. Reasons. I'm sure.

Wed Dec 24 2025 15:41:31 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

We've gotta give Apple credit where it's due.  Once driverless printing and IPP Everywhere and Mopria became a thing, Apple basically said to printer manufacturers "you're going to support this if you want to be able to print from an iPhone or iPad"

But yes, if you're trying to send a print job to a printer on a different network than the one you're on, a bit of help is needed.

So apparently Microslop (always call them microslop, they apparently hate that) has renamed "Microsoft Office" to "Microsoft 365 Copilot App".

And when confronted with this stupidity, their response was basically "We didn't rename Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App, we only renamed Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App."

Apparently nobody wants Copilot and Microslop is having a tantrum.  Satya in particular is offended that people don't want it and is demanding that we stop calling it "slop."  And thanks to the streisand effect, the name has caught on fire and is everywhere now.

Meanwhile, the market share of Windows 11 is actually decreasing.  Yes, you heard that right.  Between people downgrading to Windows 10 and people moving to Linux (both increasing now), Windows 11 is actually in freefall.  It's glorious.

I think Microsoft seems to be big enough that they're IBMing themselves currently. 
When I had to reset my Surface Pro i7 (Gen 5) recently - I lost my copy of Office - which was a "perpetual license." 

There are ways around it - but not ways that Microsoft supports. My support for my perpetual license has been EOLed - and because it was digital distribution - I had no idea where my original download and keys were... so... Ahoy Matey, raise the Jolly Roger! 

Sat Jan 10 2026 19:42:48 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: Microslop Co-poop

So apparently Microslop (always call them microslop, they apparently hate that) has renamed "Microsoft Office" to "Microsoft 365 Copilot App".

And when confronted with this stupidity, their response was basically "We didn't rename Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App, we only renamed Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot App."

Apparently nobody wants Copilot and Microslop is having a tantrum.  Satya in particular is offended that people don't want it and is demanding that we stop calling it "slop."  And thanks to the streisand effect, the name has caught on fire and is everywhere now.

Meanwhile, the market share of Windows 11 is actually decreasing.  Yes, you heard that right.  Between people downgrading to Windows 10 and people moving to Linux (both increasing now), Windows 11 is actually in freefall.  It's glorious.

I think Microsoft seems to be big enough that they're IBMing themselves currently.

From your lips to God's ears, my friend.  I talked about that happening decades ago but my timeline for it was woefully short.

Let's hope it is inevitable.  I don't care if the company is still around, I just want Windows to become not-a-thing.

When I had to reset my Surface Pro i7 (Gen 5) recently - I lost my copy of Office - which was a "perpetual license." 

Yeah, that's the scumbag change they made when no one was looking.  "Perpetual" licenses are now tied to the machine they were installed on.  It's usually pretty easy to find an "OEM" build of Office 2019 for $30 or so, but it's grey market and will definitely only activate on one machine.  Newer versions will be available only in specific variants (Office 2021 Extra Ads Edition) and will cost more.  They really want you on the "pay forever" train.

Thankfully, the days of document fidelity becoming unusable unless you upgrade to the bleeding edge version of Office are largely over.  MIcroslop itself created some of this problem when they introduced the web versions of the Office apps, which have about as much fidelity to their desktop apps as LibreOffice.  Now you can use a competitor or an old version and still be good enough most of the time.

For me, the answer was piracy. It is always the answer for me - when corporations block me in a way that feels... unjust. 

Hacking, cracking, bypassing. Often - breaking laws. 

The problem is always the possible repercussions - which weren't a problem in my teens and early 20s, when I had nothing to lose.