The app automatically installs Bing Visual Search and includes code to decrypt cookies saved in other browsers, Rivera said, and it also brings a “free” geolocation web API to the system.

The developer discovered “many” nasty tricks Microsoft integrated in Bing Wallpapers, which include trying to change the browser’s settings and set Edge as the default system browser. If the default browser isn’t Edge, the app will open the default browser after some time asking to enable the previously installed Microsoft Bing Search for Chrome extension.

  • dan@upvote.au
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    19 hours ago

    Why do people need an app for wallpapers? Just find some nice photos on Flickr, DeviantArt, whatever, save them all to a folder, and configure the OS to change it once per week.

    Reminds me of the “free smileys” and “free mouse cursors” apps from the 2000s. I thought we had evolved past that.

    • bluewing@lemm.ee
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      6 hours ago

      I do enjoy all the NASA photos and National Geographic backgrounds served up to me on a rotating basis without needing to take up local storage space to do so. But I ain’t running Windows either.

    • xavier666@lemm.ee
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      12 hours ago

      How do you save a picture? Where is Downloads? How do you apply a saved picture as a wallpaper?

      These are confusing questions to boomers and Gen Z.

      Why not have a simple app which “automatically” does all the hard work (just in exchange of a little of your data)?

      • bluewing@lemm.ee
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        5 hours ago

        As a “boomer” myself, I do know the secret of the ‘right click: Save as’. Who do you think thought up the idea-- that’s right, a Boomer. And we taught Gen X about it. Not my fault they didn’t pass on the ancient and now arcane knowledge to future generations. But I suppose you need to know how to use a mouse before you can right click anything. Having attempted to teach 3D CAD to high school students, my first job was to show them how to use a mouse and why fingers and CAD don’t mix. And do it before we could actually move on to the subject matter they were supposed to be learning.

        Still I do use an app for rotate my backgrounds and quotes. The app Variety works well with KDE Plasma with a large selection of repositories to choose from with beautiful backgrounds without taking up extra space on my drives. But what do I know, I’m just a boomer.

        • dave@hal9000@lemmy.world
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          4 hours ago

          Oh lord, as someone teaching a bunch of technologically illiterate college students something that requires a lot less computer skills, teaching CAD to today’s high schoolers sounds rough. I am a millennial that started on DOS, and joke to them that back in my day, to play video games I had to climb uphill both ways in the snow, and, use a terminal lol. And funny that you mention your KDE setup, I use plasma and one of my first thoughts was “I bet there’s a KDE widget/applet for that” haha

          • bluewing@lemm.ee
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            3 hours ago

            I suspect it might be easier to teach high school students. You get them younger and they don’t know no better. Fewer things to unlearn. But the skill gaps can be eye opening for sure. I’m old as dirt. I got my feeble tech start in front of a printer terminal-- we didn’t have such things as monitors. I don’t think I saw my first DOS prompt until I was maybe 19 or 20. But we stilled played Oregon Trail and some Space Invader game. And we loved it!

            And the first rule of KDE is “There is ALWAYS a widget!”