Finally, I'm not the only one noticing this.
I've long said that the moment "My Computer" changed to "This PC", it showed how MS really thought of your computer as theirs that they so graciously allow you to use once in a while.
this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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Never even paid attention to the change.
My hardware, my PC.
Then again, I'm used to enterprise environments where there are multiple users profiles, where "this computer" makes sense.
Oddly enough, the old joke was "it says My Computer because Bill Gates thinks it's his."
I do agree with the sentiment of the meme and your comment.
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Should change the sickle to the Amazon logo.
Don't be gross
This is dumb. I'm currently sitting at a computer at work. It's not my computer. It's not even my workstation at all times, who sits where depends on how the shifts work out each day. "This computer" is a more general expression which encompasses "My computer", one which is more correct in many cases and slighly less precise in the case of your computer at home.
It makes perfect sense in a world where it's common for people to use a computer they do not own. The former designation didn't. Hence the change.
And guess what? If you really care, you can rename it to whatever you want.
Sir this is a meme community
I'm not calling for the post to be removed for misinformation. I'm calling a meme dumb.
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Yeah, this is on the level of those conspiracy theories that insist the Illuminati or whatever are constantly leaving enciphered clues about their existence in plain sight for no practical reason except so that Dave can post about it online after a long day at AutoZone.
As an added bonus, "This PC" is more concise in terms of character count and syllables – which actually is pertinent for something that might get namedropped a million times a day.
"My PC" is shorter. Checkmate.
Well except "no" because the shortening is just an added bonus from the main benefit which is to make it generally more accurate. "My PC" unfixes it.
lol what’s with the dig at AutoZone?
AutoZone fucked my dad. (It's the first retail estblishment that came to mind.)
Didnt they actually switch to "This PC" like a decade ago?
Yeah, I think it was changed in Win 10 (or maybe 8/8.1?)
Well, they started with enshitification a few years after getting the MS Basic contract with IBM... So yeah, the switch to "This PC" was about 3 decades too late.
They started with the enshittification of the thing, before the thing was a thing.
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I actually always thought that the mid-aughts trend of putting "My" in front of everything to make it feel personalized was really bizarre, considering that you weren't ever the person labeling it that. Some developer or marketer you never met named it that. It always annoyed me when my icons started getting relabeled with names that a boomer grandpa might put on them, felt really pandery. Prior to the "My" trend, "My Computer" was just "Computer".
Didn’t “My Computer” exist since like Windows 95 or so?
Also back when it was first introduced I heard some explanation that people were expected to rename it using their actual name. So something like “Joe’s Computer.” Though I don’t think anyone really did that in practice, which just resulted in everyone always having the “My Computer” icon on their windows desktop and it became the norm.
Yes, Win95 called it My Computer, but at the time it was maybe the only GUI to do that. I remember the trend really kicked off in the early aughts with MySimon and their advertising campaign. Then all of a sudden every header in the OS got the word "My" tacked on.
What do you mean header in the OS? Like .h files? I haven’t seen this.
No like textual headers of windows and settings sections. Shit like "My Settings".
Is that even still possible? Renaming My Computer i mean.
I would think not. But I’m a tech illiterate Linux user who hasn’t used windows in 20+ years.
Looks like it's coupled with the computers hostname now. Configured with the Run command sysdm.cpl. Classic new Windows.
I kind of think this might have all been the original vision of some small group of engineers. Like on the network you might see “Joe’s Computer” and “Jane’s Computer” and “Bob’s Printer”. But that vision all got lost in the larger Microsoft macrocosm between how they handle host names and networking and their SMB protocol, and their installers not properly renaming that stupid desktop icon. And ultimately we ended up with the ubiquitous My Computer everywhere.
you can actually still do that! enable the desktop icon for 'computer' in settings->personalisation->themes->desktop icon settings, then go to that icon on the desktop and right click it and rename. although i have gotten used to win11's 'user files' one with quick access and recent and use that one instead---when it works, anyway (right now it is not)
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Tho MySpace has never been space
"sideloading"
"direct messages"
private messages.
Remember when PM went to DM overnight?
I still stand by saying PM. DM is dungeon master ffs!!
Although, its not private in any way, ha
Idk definitely lots of privates in my DMs.
When someone had to explain that "sideloading" meant "run whatever you want on your device", I knew right then we were in trouble.
Linux intensifies
This is why I don't understand why Lemmy hates cloud computing. It's like the communism of computing! "My PC" becomes "Our PC."
It's not the technology running on the PC that people have a problem with. It's the owner of that PC.
No it’s their pc
I don't think most people here have any problem with collectively owned computing such as torrenting or SETI@home. The problem are private companies.
If you ever encountered an User you know Microsoft was just fed up with people calling confusing „my computer“ as their personal PC and thinking they can remote access theirs by clicking it on every device
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Also, it's showing a computer screen and not an actual computer, at least not clearly. Anyway, I'm in the clear, Gnome doesn't have desktop icons.
[right click] Rename
Call it whatever you want.
Interesting how seriously people itt are taking this. Obviously it's not very likely the change was specifically to warm you up to losing ownership of your computer, although it's also not entirely impossible that kind of culture at Microsoft contributed to the decision subconsciously.
It's a meme. Seems like Peter Griffin's presence here would indicate we're not really making a claim about a real conspiracy...
Just like changing "personnel" to "human resources" was benign, amirite
Wait til the vibe coders add an emoji to the name.
In an age of multi-computer households and more complex home networks, this change made sense IMO.
I got more than 1 computer.
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