> WhatsApp for Windows was originally an Electron app, and it was eventually replaced with UWP after years of investment. Four years later, WhatsApp is going back to WebView2, abandoning the original WinUI/UWP native idea.
> My understanding is that the recent layoffs at Mark Zuckerberg-headed Meta likely disbanded the entire team behind the native WhatsApp. I don’t see any other reason why Meta would abandon its native app for Windows. Meta will save costs by maintaining the web app codebase on Windows, but you’re going to hate the experience.
Giving them more time won't change much if they have resigned from devs in order to save some money.
In the article [0] (also posted on HackerNews [1]) they share a link to page, which is a guide how to run new Affinity (v3) using Wine/Bottles combo [2].
> The bundled Pop!Shop app store is the notable turd in the pool, but it's optional.
I agree. It’s the second most irritating thing. I am glad that I have written my tiny `update` bash script, which takes care of installing all updates (apt, flatpack, brew, etc.) without touching "app store".
I believe the bundled Pop!_Shop originates from Elementary OS and suffers from issues with proper background job processing. I find all those “store” apps for GNOME to be poorly written, often displaying incorrect numbers of updates, and generally slow.
I have been using Pop!_OS on my old Intel-based Dell laptop for over 5 years. Now, I'm alternating between my M1-powered Mac and Pop!_OS as my daily driver. Before, I used Ubuntu for over 10 years and tested various distributions.
Pop!_OS is probably the best Ubuntu/Debian derivative I've used. It's buttery smooth for everything I need it to be. I haven’t encountered any bugs or major problems that are strictly related to Pop!_OS. It feels like Ubuntu, without slow Snaps (Pop!_OS is Flatpak-centered), Canonical ads (Ubuntu Pro, MicroK8s...), and with a slightly modified GNOME desktop environment.
If I had to find the worst thing about Pop!_OS, it's a negligible issue stemming from muscle memory after using macOS. The Super+Left/Right Arrow keys on Pop!_OS are used to switch between applications, while on macOS they are meant to move the text cursor to the start or end of a word. I haven't found the option to disable it yet.
Maybe "likely new" is a bad word to describe it. Comparing to many email providers I know or used 7 years is a pity. It have matured enough to consider it will stay for longer and it won't disappear soon, what has happened to many competitors on e-mail service market. I said "new", because both Migadu (since 2014) and even ProtonMail (since 2013) brought a lot of fresh air in last decade. I my observation for some reasons Migadu gained more attention among people looking to have an email with own domain name in last few years than in previous. When I also shared a link to Migadu to some friends, they also saying "oh, I hear about it for the first time". That's why I am saying "it is likely new on the market", it still have potential to gather new customers by advertising (on the contrary to ProtonMail, which seems media coverage helped a lot).
> I also don't believe that it has near-zero reputation.
Well, I guess I was too harsh but it is small company that already had various problems while operating (thankfully only downtime / lack of support) and it is hard to trust that no leak or breach will happen (and this is what makes me more concerned than some bureau). I also said "it has near-zero reputation for anyone looking for a private" - I don't generalize to whole service but only to private/safe message exchange. This service is perfectly fine for people in IT, startups or just personal emails but if I would be a person, who exchanges confidential documents I will stay away from Migadu. Why? They do not encrypt data on their servers [0][1], which is clearly opposite to what ProtonMail does [2].
> 4. They don't encrypt anything other than SMTP, IMAP, HTTPS. You can encrypt your emails manually but they don't encrypt anything on their servers. They claim this is impractical and doesn't truly help with privacy or security.
> 5. They don't force you to give them your real name or personal info, but there are no anonymous or cash payments. They only process payments via PayPal or Stripe though they claim to not keep any information about you that way.
> Another point, which may matter to some people, is that while Migadu may be a Swiss company, the data centers where the mails are hosted were in France (this was the case at least a year ago). So the situation is somewhat comparable (not entirely though) to Fastmail being an Australian company with data centers in the U.S. being used.
> For those who want multi-domain email services for a lower (flat) price, look at mxroute. It's based out of the U.S. though, which may not be an option for people who want certain services outside Five Eyes jurisdictions.
Weird speaking that, but I would be more of concerned of (an accidental) breach of privacy by some Migadu employee than some <country-name> burreau. Not saying about some typical script kiddie or some hacker-magician getting in possession of logins with passwords as leak. It is likely new on the market and I am tempted to say it has near-zero reputation for anyone looking for a private mail right now. Location do matter, but execution more.
What touches me the most is how much I like the GUI applications look [0][1]. As a person, who use GNOME Shell DE on daily basis I really miss to see the titlebars condensed with the menu just like VSCode does. It was what I liked in the very last Unity DE and I happy to see this once again. I am also amazed how simple the TextEditor is [2][3][4] and how handy looks your libwidget components [5]. Congratulations!
> WhatsApp for Windows was originally an Electron app, and it was eventually replaced with UWP after years of investment. Four years later, WhatsApp is going back to WebView2, abandoning the original WinUI/UWP native idea.
> My understanding is that the recent layoffs at Mark Zuckerberg-headed Meta likely disbanded the entire team behind the native WhatsApp. I don’t see any other reason why Meta would abandon its native app for Windows. Meta will save costs by maintaining the web app codebase on Windows, but you’re going to hate the experience.
Giving them more time won't change much if they have resigned from devs in order to save some money.