Windows 10: What's coming in 2016? What comes next for Windows 10? If 2015 was a year of revolution, 2016 promises to be a year of consolidation for Microsoft's operating system. Windows is now delivered "as a service", meaning incremental updates with new features as well as security patches, but Microsoft still seems works internally to a schedule of …
>Sadly that website insists that you "Please enable cookies and refresh the page" (without telling you exactly which cookie they want enabling) - thus slurping even more info about you :)
Privacy Mode.
Also handy for telling gmail what it can do with its remembering of you when you're logged out.
"Sadly that website insists that you 'Please enable cookies and refresh the page' (without telling you exactly which cookie they want enabling) - thus slurping even more info about you"
I am having trouble understanding your brand of paranoia:
* You have issues with accepting cookies from support.microsoft.com
* Yet you apparently continue to use Windows. Else why would you care about GWX?
* And you don't routinely use your favourite browser's private browsing mode. You indeed seem to imply ignorance of it.
I don't know, really. Is there a real issue you're facing, or are you just making up objections, at this point?
And a similar, but more general, question to the downvoters: Is there a real issue you'd like help with -- maybe the KB isn't understandable, etc.? Or are you just disappointed that the world doesn't contain as many conspiracies as you'd imagined?
> I am having trouble understanding your brand of paranoia:
Thank you for your concern ;)
> * You have issues with accepting cookies from support.microsoft.com
Absolutely, indeed i block cookies from most websites, although i allow them for the session on say, e-commerce sites, so that my shopping basket works. With regards to Microsoft specifically, at work i don't block cookies, and because i have various accounts for MSDN etc., when i go to the support website it must find some old cookie and decides that i need to logon to see the site. But it DOESN'T tell me what account it wants me to login under (MSDN, live, 365 or whatever)! Trying the same from home (with no cookies) works fine (no login required). That is unnecessary complexity, monitoring and meddling.
> * Yet you apparently continue to use Windows. Else why would you care about GWX?
I have been using Windows for nigh on 30 years (starting on a VAXmate in the mid eighties). Over that time it gradually got better up to XP, stumbled badly with Vista but then recovered well with Windows 7. Since then it has exponentially got worse in almost all respects, so i WILL continue to use Windows, but on "7" only, and will be planning a migration soon ready for support ending (or nag-ware/slurping going too far).
> * And you don't routinely use your favourite browser's private browsing mode. You indeed seem to imply ignorance of it.
I have already tried your link in Private Browsing mode, and it doesn't work there either - although that is probably because i am blocking the cookies anyway. I actually go much further than Private Browsing, and use the likes of NoScript and RequestPolicy etc. There are too many 3rd-party hangers-on out there for my liking (and it speeds up browsing muchly).
> I don't know, really. Is there a real issue you're facing, or are you just making up objections, at this point?
The issue is, i can't see the contents of the link that you posted due to Microsoft's unnecessary messing!
> And a similar, but more general, question to the downvoters:
FWIW, i didn't downvote you, indeed if i could read the article and it was useful, i would probably have given you an upvote.
Cheers,
mb
I see...
Well, I personally don't see the harm of cookies in a session that will cease to exist as soon as you close the browser window. But I respect your choices and desire for extreme privacy. So here's the bit that I use to block GWX on machines that should not get it (I assume you'll know what to do with it, as you sound like an intelligent person, aside from what I would consider too much paranoia. But then that's a very fine knife edge to walk, and maybe you're the one of us who's got it right):
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX]
"DisableGWX"=dword:00000001
Oh, the downvote is only because you made it sound normal to have to jump through flaming hoops to block an unwanted upgrade.
Also, FWIW, when I tried them, those instructions blocked the automatic upgrade, but not the download (6 GB of it), which I actually didn't want, either, and which is darn difficult to remove, it being protected against the owner of the computer.
What I would have liked is a checkbox, that, when ticked, starts the upgrade process, and when unticked, completely disable it. «Completely» meaning, you know, like, «completely». No GWX.EXE process lurking, no hidden download, nothing, until I decide to tick it again.
I so enjoy that warm fuzzy feeling of ownership and of control over the machine.
"Oh, the downvote is only because you made it sound normal to have to jump through flaming hoops to block an unwanted upgrade".
Well, on my first Linux install I had to rebuild the kernel to get the soundcard to work. And even now I seem to have to manually cleanup the /boot partition if I don't want the damned thing to run itself out of space and panic into a deadlock.
And we will just not get into what would be needed to run and manage an actual network of Linux machines populated by real users instead of wizards.
So, you see, there are various hoops in different places one needs to jump through to get things done. I mean, why else would anyone pay us IT pros, eh...? ;-)
"What I would have liked is a checkbox, that, when ticked, starts the upgrade process, and when unticked, completely disable it".
A perfectly reasonable request, really.
Except you need to factor in the target demographic: these are *not* users one'd trust to make rational decisions after fully weighing all the consequences. If I had a dollar every time someone told me that a message came up and they clicked it away before they read it... well... I wouldn't be richer than Bill Gates, but I would certainly be retired by now. So think of the need to edit the registry, etc. as you proving that you know what you are doing.
Well, on my first Linux install I had to rebuild the kernel to get the soundcard to work. And even now I seem to have to manually cleanup the /boot partition if I don't want the damned thing to run itself out of space and panic into a deadlock.
Admittedly I've only been using Linux for my main machines for a few years now, but I've still never had an experience like that. That said, in the very rare few cases where one distro doesn't work I find another does. I've had the odd case with graphics drivers where I've been encourarged to visit the vendor's site to get their driver for better video performance, and I've even seen a model of printer that has absolutely no Linux support. None of the other problems.
I booted this into Windows today so I can't check /boot, but on the machines I own/admin I have never noticed any hint of an issue with it. All Debian or Mint.
And we will just not get into what would be needed to run and manage an actual network of Linux machines populated by real users instead of wizards.
I have an elderly friend who has 3 Mint machines in his home - there's his main desktop, a media machine behind his TV (which he uses mainly to watch horrid old movies on YouTube), and the more recent one during the last winter is a machine in his room which was set up so he could still watch those things without having to get up on the colder days. It also has links to the other content of the media machine. He is computer illiterate and ancient, but manages the onerous task of clicking the "update" icon when needed and running updates (admittedly Mint Update doesn't get everything apt would but it is geared to make sure users such as him don't get into trouble AIUI)
...these are *not* users one'd trust to make rational decisions after fully weighing all the consequences. ... So think of the need to edit the registry, etc. as you proving that you know what you are doing.
I would largely agree with you there - but I would want registry editing to be done to allow 10 to install. I've said before that I am quite happy to do in-place upgrades of OS's rather than reinstall from scratch (depending on users needs, and seeing how much stuff W10 deletes (inc paid-for programs and AV!) you almost might as well go fresh), but to do such a thing without a full backup of the machine is just asking for trouble - and we see a lot of customers who do get into trouble!
Always assume something will go wrong with such a process and make sure you can properly recover - that means a backup that is not on the machine being upgraded!
And FFS MS, I've said I don't want it! I have edited the registry. Stop trying to sneak GWX and other "upgrade tools" into my machine!
Oh, the downvote is only because you made it sound normal to have to jump through flaming hoops to block an unwanted upgrade.
Well yes it can be difficult to block an unwanted upgrade that masquarades as an upgrade that fixes various undisclosed problems.
What I would have liked is a checkbox, that, when ticked, starts the upgrade process, and when unticked, completely disable it.
Well in the case of GWX, some really helpful developer has done just that:
Install GWX Control Panel and put it in monitor mode. Whilst you're visiting http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/ spread a little joy and make a paypal donation...[Aside: No connection - but as this programme is of such utility it just makes sense to say thankyou.]
I have a Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit installation from a 'recycled' product key that I bought on ebay for £26. It works and gives me updates (often and slowly) but has never offered me an upgrade to Win 10. Is this because it's recycled/resold or have I been lucky/unlucky?
"I have a Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit...... It works and gives me updates..... never offered me an upgrade to Win 10...." Hmmmm. AFAIK, all full versions of Win7 are viable for upgrade to Win10. If it gets updates successfully it is either validating fine or is not going to Microsoft for the updates but some malware site! Did you install from a DVD that came with the "recycled" key or from known good media? If it is validating OK with MS but not offering an upgrade to Win10 then it may actually be downloading the upgrade anyway and will surprise you with a message at some point of "Click here to start your upgrade to Win 10!"
Perhaps, in the next update, "Windows needs to restart" could be accompanied by a warning "and won't be usable for the following 20 minutes".
Perhaps the next update, having destroyed numerous shortcut keys, could restore them, so that I don't have to do so again.
Perhaps, instead of re-assigning various file extensions to Microsoft's favourite programs, the next update could leave them as I've set them.
Perhaps the next update could refrain from deleting a program simply on the basis of a claim that it is not compatible with the new OS
I felt your pain with the timing for updates, but oh goodness does having a new fast SSD speed things up. I used to put off reboots in an Acer Aspire i5 lappy as it was a big deal, probably a slow HDD to extend battery life. Banged in an SSD from crucial, and now I initiate reboots as I have had longer farts than the reboot period now. So when it updates itself, I no longer dread it. They're cheap, worth it if you can.
As for OneCore, made me giggle, mostly as it reminded me of the OneCare product MS launched some years back in another of their rebranding frustration exercises. Obviously nobody had read OneCare in their best "'Allo, 'Allo" accent!
This is due to your hardware. When running on an SSD, you don't even notice it and it boots in seconds. SSD is super cheap now, 75 for an EVO 850. Get one and see how fast and smooth your computer can be.
If you have a laptop, their hard drives are basically unusable (20 min or more to update or install stuff, etc..) Get an SSD and install fresh. Your PC will then be like a new machine. Biggest band for upgrade buck.
My son has a 150 dollar (new) Asus laptop. Horrid piece of shit. Slapped in an EVO 850 SSD and BAM, super fast and snappy. Boots in 3 seconds flat and is then usable, no waiting.
I have been using various flavours of Linux for many years and, by choice, have used it almost exclusively (on my own computers). My wife however has always used Windows because she needs certain programs that don't exist in Linux (or Wine-Linux etc etc). If that means Linux is inferior so be it.
But if Microsoft proposes a paid for OS-as-a-service and also runs the data equivalent of upskirt.com on the back of it then it's goodbye Windows.
"In the past, Windows Server releases have been matched with near-simultaneous Windows client releases that share the same core code"
Are you sure...?
As I recall, that only happened with Windows 8 and 8.1, not with any earlier releases.
Edit: It's rare when my memory doesn't fail me, but here you go:
Windows XP: 20010824
Server 2003: 20030424
Vista: 20061108
Server 2008: 20080204
Windows 7: 20090722
Server 2008 R2: 20091022
Windows 8: 20120801
Server 2012: 20120801
Windows 8.1: 20131017
Server 2012 R2: 20131017
Huh. In my head Vista and 2008 were released much closer in time. Perhaps because Server 2008 was released at the same time as Vista SP1, which was the point where I went "ok, Microsoft really aren't going to backtrack on this, I might as well get used to it".
I'd argue that the three months between Win 7 and Server 2008R2 counts as "near-simultaneous" though.
It was my original intention to migrate myself and all my supported users to W10 after giving it six months to settle.
The way MS have pushed the W10 upgrade has alienated everyone - and it is now off the agenda. It is expected that W7 will stay supported until 2020. In the meantime custom applications will be reworked for Linux Mint.
Existing investment in third party Windows-only applications is not internet dependent They will be run on either the moth-balled XP PCs or air-gapped W7.
I switched to Mint a few months ago and am happily staying there.
A VM with Win 7 gives me the ability to use the few Windows only programs I need to run.
I have had to work with Win 10 supporting the usual friends and family group most of us have and really do not like it, particularly the snooping of course. I value my privacy. I have - nothing to hide/done nothing wrong - but our government and companies sure cannot say that.
Windows10 is the worst WindowsNT ever released.
Microsoft under the new CEO turned Windows into a crap spyware, a virus. An unusable mess of an OS.
It isn't a professional OS anymore. It isn't a gaming OS anymore.
It just plain sucks.
Metro/ModernUI with Windows8.x and WindowsServer2012 demolished all the good work that was done with the excellent Windows7 and WindowsServer2008.
Windows10=8.2 and the upcoming WindowsServer2016 (with its upcoming virtual machines mess added to the mix along with all the spyware crap already on Windows10) are the final blow.
> Windows10=8.2
Windows 10 has made me think something I never thought I would... That I like Windows 8.1 better (than 10).
After playing with both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (in Vms), I like 8.1 better (than 10) since it was possible to use classic shell and a custom theme to make it look more like Windows 7.
(It seems to me that Windows 8/10 are working hard to turn my desktop PC from a universal platform for work and gaming into one whose UI looks/works like a phone meant only for content consumption.... One that doesn't scale well on my 1920 x 1200 24 inch monitor.)
Windows 10 has worse spyware, more Metro (which I hate the look/functionality of), limited update control, the 1511/Threshold 2 version seems to have done in custom (non MS) themes, updates sometimes seem to magically delete things... Just to name a few of my least favorites..
All that being said, I still use and want the Windows 7 UI over any of them.
I put off the update from 8.1 --> 10 for a long while as I was working overseas and on 3G data, seemed a bit decadent to download huge files and not fair on other users. Anyway, I finally did it on the above of a very techie friend... And its an utter relief.
I fucking hated windows 8, and 8.1 wasn't much better - click one Skype link and suddenly it'd take over the full screen modally, and a completely different link to be able to window it. Acres of wasted screen real-estate. Windows 10 is an order of magnitude more pleasant to use than 8.x, I have zero upgrade regrets, other than leaving it so long.
I'm confused. My Windows 10 Pro, desktop & laptop & tablet, plus those of all my clients, are running Classic Shell with no issues. Of course, I have deleted or disabled registry keys and services to stop the blatant theft of personal identifying data and the slurping of personal use patterns, software lists, et al. I suspect it helps that I - and my clients - use machines for work and real communication, and do not download and install every social networking app as a substitute for real person-to-person "interfacing".
Just in case you're getting your Classic Shell from, uh, disinformation sites, here's the info:
Classic Shell
FREEware
http://www.classicshell.net/
Requirements: Classic Shell works on Win 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and their server counterparts (WinServer 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, 2016). Both 32 and 64-bit versions are supported. The same installer works for all versions. Note: Windows RT is not supported.
No, I do not work for them, own stock in their firm, sell them services, or profit in any way other than the wasted time their product helps me reclaim when using the abomination that Windows 10 is out-of-the-box.
"Windows10 is the worst WindowsNT ever released....." Ah, an Apple user, perchance?
"....An unusable mess of an OS....." Bollocks. I have four units (two PCs and 2 laptops) at home running Win10 and all are stable and function perfectly, thanks, and plenty of work kit running with no issues.
".....It isn't a professional OS anymore. It isn't a gaming OS anymore...." I use it for both quite happily. Indeed, the Win7 PC I built and then re-installed with SteamOS has been re-installed with Win10 because Win10 has given a better and more stable gaming platform than SteamOS! TBH, I think SteamOS is not going to be ready for prime time for a while. In fact, I have had less issues with Win10 than I did with Win7 when it came out. True, I do not miss Win8.1, but I also don't regret upgrading any of my systems from Win7 to Win10.
Maybe you should actually try Win10.....
I've been using Hyper-V quite a lot recently (on 2012 R2), and I have to say it's pretty damn good compared to the other free offerings. (Assuming you are running a Windows domain obviously).
As for the interface changes, well, if you work in IT and can't adapt to a new GUI, perhaps you're in the wrong line of work?
As for the interface changes, well, if you work in IT and can't adapt to a new GUI, perhaps you're in the wrong line of work?
Changing the interface? You mean needlessly shuffling around programs and options, rearranging hierarchies and views.
It's easy enough switching from KDE to something Gnomish like Cinnamon to W7, because they're sufficiently different. It's deckchair shuffling like between XP and W7 that essentially changes nothing but the location of options, inciting exclamations of "What the Belguim have they called it this time and where the zarking fardwarks have they hid it?"
Retirement obviously.
MS will have to re-consider it sooner or later. Their grand plan to get 1 billion people on it 'just like that' is gonna fail and then there is Windows 10 on phones. Less that 5% market share is simply not acceptable.
MS has to get its act together pronto or... they will slide into oblivion.
Well then next move must surely be to transfer more functionality into the cloud. Given the audience and user cases MS are obviously targeting with 8 and now 10, there is probably no real need for a full fat OS on the client, particularly as everyone with Win10 will have Internet connections, so it wouldn't surprise me if more is made of platforms such as the HP Stream.
Given the audience and user cases MS are obviously targeting with 8 and now 10, there is probably no real need for a full fat OS on the client, particularly as everyone with Win10 will have Internet connections, so it wouldn't surprise me if more is made of platforms such as the HP Stream.
Flashbacks...fucking flashbacks:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/08/24/damning_ms_with_the_facts/
I think you'll find the lack of paragraphs is because of changes in the way that El. Reg. stores and formats articles between then and now. I suspect that many pages of that era won't format as they did.
I think that we're fortunate to still have access to news articles that old, even if they are difficult to read.
Going by history (Xbox 360 for ref) and shaded by my dim view of M$, they'll keep the OS free but move various features over to a "Gold" account requiring subscription.
Want to connect to friends while gaming? You'll need a Gold subscription.
Want to connect to M$ web features and services (including free games!)? You'll need a Gold subscription!
Want to back up your PC (Cloud service only, local back ups no longer available)? Get Gold!!
...
Ad nauseam
Each new "feature" of Gold added to fill a removed property of the OS which was taken for granted.
Moving to a subscription for the OS would be suicide.
In the long term, businesses will not tolerate paying a monthly or yearly fee to use a computer. I have a business and I can promise you I will never pay a fee, no matter how small, to use my computer. You know how these things go: the fee starts small then slowly increases. A business may tolerate the first fee, but the inevitable price increases will eventually reach a breaking point. Businesses will look to start saving money, and that means they will move to Linux. And then they will train their staff in Linux. And then their staff will go home and buy a computer like the one at work. How do you think Microsoft became so big to begin with? People wanted a computer like the IBM they had at their job.
If Microsoft starts a subscription to the OS, it will take a long time, but it will be the end of Windows. If businesses ever start switching to Linux en masse, then it is game over.
In the long term, businesses will not tolerate paying a monthly or yearly fee to use a computer
Depends on the computer, and depends on the OS (and the applications).
Try using serious OSes professionally* like zOS, VMS or Solaris and asking the salescritter for a perpetual license, to be paid just once. Red Hat and SLES require a support license, which is an ongoing cost, but also offer options that the free versions don't . Oracle also squeezes their customershostages for a yearly Danegeld, as do most other professional middleware and application software houses.
It's not unheard of even with Personal Computers. Smaller businesses that lease their PCs may not be paying a yearly Windows licensing fee now (let's ignore support licenses for the moment, they're usually per seat and per year), but once MS decides that way, having it included in the lease price isn't really that far-fetched.
* VMS has a hobbyist license program, which is essentially free.
> businesses will not tolerate paying a monthly or yearly fee to use a computer
They did so in the very earliest days of computers, and continue to do so today. Most mainframes were leased and that included maintenance and support.
Today most businesses (corporates) pay for one of the 'Volume Licensing programs' on an annual basis.
> If Microsoft starts a subscription to the OS,
They have been doing this for decades.
The subscription will start next year.
How do I know, you ask?
I have emails on file to and from Microsoft, where I queried their failure to issue me a standalone key for my retail version of Windows 10. I pointed out that their advertisements and support pages all state that the upgrade is permanent (for the life of that particular machine), and that those of us with full retail keys will retain our right to transfer that key to a different machine. I then asked why the auto-installed key for my machine was a generic non-retail key, and I even provided them a copy of my purchasing receipt for the full retail version. Purchased from Microsoft, I might add. They said that the free install was valid only for 1 year, and that if I ever had to reinstall after that year, even using my Win8 or Win 7 retail keys, that I would be required to purchase a full key because the "free" upgrade key would no longer be valid at the end of the "free" period.
In other words, once they have slurped us all in to the Win10 pool, they will treat us as a captive audience, and kill off older O/S. How will anyone reinstall and validate Win87 or 8 once those platforms - and their validation servers - have been taken off line?
No professional I know will touch it. Aside from its dysfunctionality, which is horrible (why the TP edition was so much better I don't know) -- the aka.ms/msa has ruined it for any professional.
That aka.ms/msa is wholly incorporated by reference into Windows 10 EULA Paragraphs 14 and 1b(i). The aka.ms/msa Paragraph 3b says that MSFT can slurp whatever private data it wants for 'investigating' whether you are obeying its Paragraph 3a Code of Conduct, which in the US bypasses all due process of law, and instead you only have recourse to arbitration.
So all third party data on your machine which is confidential, can be slurped, which violates HIPAA and every other privacy law on the planet, so you can be quickly sued out of existence.
This same aka.ms/msa applies to nearly ALL products MSFT panders, now. Happy bankruptcy.
DROP DEAD MICROFOP. Will avoid anyone using your stuff post Win7.
Cue the downvotes but, as a numpty, doing anything 'meaningful' under Windows(XP) was just 'tooo hard'. Now, still as a numpty, doing meaningful things under Linux involves much, probably less, of the same but I have a different attitude towards it. I expect things to blow up, not make sense or otherwise misbehave. It's still not my 'fault', in my World honest, but I am more likely to beat my head against Linux than have Windows repeatedly offer to change my diapers so they can examine the contents of the old ones whilst providing new leaky ones with the latest tinkerbell pictures.
Dunno about "simpler," but it's certainly working pretty well for me in most cases. I've moved to Mint 17.3 and it's been pretty good so far. The ONLY issue I've had since starting down the tuxedoed path has been that of connecting to network shares hosted on Windows boxes in a workgroup. If I could hammer that out and stabilize it, I'd be a happy camper. It's just "iffy" sometimes, when for no apparent reason it decides that itcan no longer validate against the workgroup.
Most annoying thing so far. Everything else is just fine. Fast, stable, updates without reboots, all of the nifty things that've been said over time. Even for this numpty.
Re: Bluto Nash, Network shares
Had the same issue. It's a bug which the community are looking into.
A fix that worked for me: Download and install Samba as well as Samba GUI. Edit the config and you'll be stable and good to go. You may need to restart the service or machine.
You WHAT? You make people like me who want their OS to actually work for more than 3 days at a stretch sound like Alf Fucking Garnett.
I've got a Win10 machine on my desk at the moment. It was a Win7 machine. Customer did the upgrade. Computer is fucked. Processor at 100% all the time, half a dozen popup programs at the start crashing straight away.
I have another one on the desk too. Customer did the upgrade. Computer is fucked. Windows Live Mail doesn't work, random internet disconnects from the wireless card, start menu sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Programs load, or don't. PS2 keyboard and mouse work, but only if you switch the machine off and on a few times. That one I have just restored to Win7 factory settings.
I just sent another one off today. Customer did the upgrade. Computer is fucked. Won't print to 3-year old HP wireless printer, won't run Chrome or Firefox, long (3-4 minute) delays between clicking on a desktop icon and it activating. Restored to Win7, oh looky, it works fine now.
Fixed another one on Saturday. Customer did the upgrade. Computer is fucked.
Do you get the picture now? Windows 10 is NOT READY and it was wrong to upgrade everyone's computer and force them on to it. It was stupid. No, it was cretinous, arrogant, and monumentally stupid. I have been rolling out GWX Control Panel as fast as I can to my poor customers to spare them any more misery.
Diehard? Don't make me come after you in a white vest with a machine gun.
You missed the point... MS's point. Those computers you rolled back, well they are now included in the numbers of "happy Windows 10 users". The numbers get more inflated if they count downloads where someone has had 5-10 downloads for this crap on one PC.
From MS's viewpoint, mission accomplished.
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@Porco Rosso - From what I have experienced with Linux and hear about Apple, the user's needs are considered important. Thus, an unwillingness to rake user's over the coals because they have changed something form the default setting/program. Users have customized their kit for a reason, some idiosyncratic but often very valid.
With Linux, if there's an impopular change to a GUI, the next thing that will happen is a fork, and the appearance of a "$distro-gui-classic". It also has a fair separation of system settings (in /etc) and user settings (in ~/.dotfiles) so there's little penalty even when changing major parts of the OS for a different distro.
With Windows, you're just a slave to MS's rhythm.
Customer bourght a brand new toshiba, which came with windows 10.
Weird faults appeared. They restored to factory image, faults reoccured, wouldn't see any wireless networks although it claimed the card was working. Only way to fix was a full shutdown, but the shutdown in 10 didn't do it, needed to do it with shutdown -i.
Finally I did a complete 10 install from scratch, no extras, and it's finally not failing. This is release ready?
Just had to drop my partner a line and ask if she was using a sneaky nick on El Reg, this sounds so much like it could've come out of our shop!
random internet disconnects from the wireless card, start menu sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Programs load, or don't. PS2 keyboard and mouse work, but only if you switch the machine off and on a few times.
Yes, it is quite amazing how this "cloud" OS seems to drop internet connections so readily, sometimes completely failing to walk with very common WiFi cards..
Actually I've just had a thought.. Could it be that things are so bad with Slurp's slurping that even the OS itself wants to act to stop them doing it? Is it one of these cases where things get so horrid that even inanimate objects rebel?
That one I have just restored to Win7 factory settings.
That seems to fix most W10 issues!
2015 was the year it was finally obvious to everyone that what ever disease Nokia had in 2002-2003, killing good stuff, insisting on S60, losing direction culminating with sabotage of Maemo and TrollTech's QT, that MS caught the same disease. Was VS6, SQL7, Windows XP, Server 2003, Office XP/ 2003 the peak and it's been downhill since with GUI stupidity and bloat?
Win 10 is a train wreck.
@LaeMing - The only reason to care about the OS on the device is the software that is (or not) available on it. If what is needed is readily available on an OS then it is worth considering. Slurp is relying too much on user lock-in to the Winbloat ecosystem. Other some business applications and games what most do on a computer is actually OS agnostic
2016 is the year m$ start charging for their win10 "service" and quit with the nag screens/instant free upgrades nobody wants.
You think the howls of outrage now over win10 are bad, wait until m$ start with "we're charging only £10/month to carry on using your own computer"
Sorry m$ .. windows for games only now here... everything else linux mint
Boris
PS I'm still wondering why a dual boot 2008 laptop running vista takes 5 mins to boot when the latest linux mint boots in 45 seconds..
...vista...
<channel Mythbusters>Well there's your problem...</channel>
Must admit.. Yesterday I uttered two comments seldom heard from me in our shop.. First was "damn, this machine is really snappy" (it was, things like browsers and MS Word opening damn near instant, certainly less than 2 seconds" Followed soon after by "WTF? This is Vista?"
With the right hardware/RAM etc I have seen Vista perform really well. Problem is, Vista performed rarely well in general.
Dear Microsoft,
Please concentrate on improving Windows 10 and leave me and my Windows 7 (soon to be Mint anyway) alone, you have harassed me with many updates and even after I followed all instructions it still came back. Yesterday because I check your updates before installing them one of the previously hidden updates tried to sneak past. I don't want Windows 10, I have no need for Windows 10, if anything it would put my productivity back due to the changes you have made as I am the sort of person that works out the least clicks or commands to do a job (I installed it on a laptop to try it, it didn't last long) and as per your upgrade page I don't like the bit at the bottom that says "Windows 10 is automatically updated. Additional requirements will apply over time for updates". What are these additional requirements? I click the link and it takes me back to the page with the link on.(https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-10-upgrade)
Many Thanks,
Soon to be non-windows user.
P.S. If you try to install telemetry once more then I'm gone, it's a sad state of affairs that I can't trust your updates. I'm only using it now because I'm ironing out the kinks for the software I use and need.
P.P.S. Stop trying to be google they beat you on phones/search/slurping data.
P.P.P.S. Sorry I missed off the fuck you.
I'd say, 2016 will bring, for MS, the good money it needs from captive users.
Some ideas:
- Mandatory put your VISA card number, get charged monthly (for whatever reason)
- Security as a Service: you're paying monthly and you can get security patches (and won't got pwned)
- Anti-Ransomware as a Service: the new mandatory WUS channel, rented to whatever malware authors in the World, can be deactivated ... for a modest monthly paiement
That's what I can see coming in 2016 TBH. Watch out after mid-year ...
Anon, by fear of revealing a deep secret :-)
"""Project C lets you package desktop applications as Store apps. In theory, this would let businesses standardise on Store delivery for all their line of business applications,"""
This is certainly part of the plan, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if it came to be the _only_ way of installing desktop applications (for the sake of security). MS wants 30% of everyone else's revenue.
I think the PC gaming industry realises this and that's why they are going full Steam ahead with SteamOS, Vulkan and gaming on Linux. I've migrated all my PCs to Mint and have been surprised and impressed at how painless it has been, I thought one area where Linux would be weak would be gaming, but the Steam client is just as good as the Windows client, and I have over 200 games (out of my library of 523) that work natively on Linux with a few being ported over on what seems to be a weekly basis. I thought I would need to boot into my Windows 7 partition quite often, but that hasn't been the case. I only use it to play Witcher 3, and that will have a Linux version soon.
...............Anyone remember this joyous bundle of cr@p....???
.
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`Trusted Computing' Frequently Asked Questions
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http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/23/nsa_germany_windows_8/
"A machine that contains a Trusted Platform Module and runs software adhering to the Trusted Computing specifications is, arguably, under the control of the vendor – in this case Microsoft. It also identifies the machine to the vendor, meaning that users' identities can be linked to their machines as well as their online activities. As Redmond is a US firm, opponents to the protocols argue, users' data is theoretically accessible to US spooks in the National Security Agency via the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as Die Zeit points out."
I'll be honest, the exodus to Linux is pissing me off. You want just enough users to form a healthy community, but not too many where is ruins the elitism.
Whereas before people would say "Linux isn't ready for the desktop. And my WiFi card doesn't work", I'd sit back, smirk, and say: Heh n00b.
But now thanks to Windows 10, many forums are full of happy Mint users. I'm not sure what OS I'll switch to, but I can't have all these filthy casuals around.
Thanks Microsoft.
I put W10 on a machine to evaluate it and the machine is effectively useless. It works. Barely. The machine isn't some old clunker, its a Lenovo IdeaCentre, a typical mid-range machine. Compared to the W7 that it came with W10's start menu is buggy, Cortana is a disaster, Metro is useless, its video drivers are dysfunctional, audio is hit and miss and Bluetooth missing in action. Its a mess. I cannot recommend 'upgrading' -- it will obviously work for some people but there's absolutely no way that I intend to purchase a new Win10 system or support any so-called upgrades.
The lifesaver is VirtualBox.
Upgrade to a SSD with favoured flavour of Linux with legacy stuff in favoured flavour of virtual machine.
Fast, simple, cheap and very refreshing.
For me Win 8 was when I arrived at the "fork in the road"... and I forked off :-)
Thank you MS for Win 8 and the train wreck that is Win 10.
From one very satisfied ex-MS customer.
I love the way that so many people are going on about "Microsoft spyware" in Win10 - yet they quite happily use Google to search, Android based phones, Gmail for email, etc., etc.
A nasty revelation I've had over the past few years is that spying on people is now the backbone of how the software industry works. Websites are full of tracking and analytics code. Mobile apps and games typically link up to some kind of insights dashboard, allowing you to be profiled for "user acquisition". Hell, Google's entire core business model is based on the data they capture about you.
Let's face it - what's the number one most used bit of software by the average user these days? Their web browser. And what's the first thing most people do when trying to find something on the web? That's right - " w-w-w-dot-g-o-o-g-l-e-dot-com".
For the record, I think that this utter invasion of privacy is completely wrong - but with computers and the internet now such an integral part of the way we live, the chance to change this is long gone. Sure, the more savvy of us can find means to block this constant monitoring, but this is only a holding action - sooner or later something will change and allow these defences to be breached. The concept of privacy in the digital world has been pretty much dead and buried for years - the corporates won't change it because it enables them to sell more stuff, and the government won't change it because they can use the data for their own purposes... that plus they're pretty much in the pocket of the corporates these days.
... and once again, Microsoft are late to the party. Except this time, rather than saying "too little, too late", people are kicking off about their privacy, much of which they gave up many years ago.
About 4 months ago after the release of windows 10 I said
"Whiners whine for a long time while happy people celebrate and then move on to find something else to be happy about. I wouldnt be surprised if in december while i'm playing rise of the tomb raider, people here will still be whining over windows 10."
Guess what I was right. And with windows 10 already on more PC's than Linux can ever dream of its already a success. Give it a rest people and find something more constructive to do. It's plain and clear nobody gives a damn about your paranoia's outside of tech blogs and sites.
This is what I love. Linux fanboys will count everything including router firmware to jack up Linux numbers. Wake up and smell the coffee people every year for the last 20 years has been the "the year of Linux" but it still hasn't happened. On the other hand windows phone has only been out for 5 years and yet it is labelled a failure by these very same people. The hypocrisy is most astonishing.
> "the year of Linux" but it still hasn't happened.
It has been "the year of Linux" for several years on the most personal of computers (Android phones and tablets).
> On the other hand windows phone has only been out for 5 years
Microsoft has had phones since 'Pocket PC 2000 Phone edition' of 2001. Why do you think that WP7 had the number '7'? (Hint: it followed on from 5 and 6). In 2007 MS had 42% of the US smartphone market.
> and yet it is labelled a failure by these very same people.
Windows Phone 7 and 8 have had a decreasing market share and have not even matched that of WM 6.x. Nokia phone division made a loss in every quarter that they made WP in spite of MS giving them a $billion a year. MS has since written off another $7 billion.
In what way is this _not_ a complete failure ?
It is not just Linux people that call WP a failure. WM6.5 was killed off because MS saw it as a failure and replaced it with WP7. WP7 phones were a dead end (none could run WP8) and was completely replaced by WP8. Kin was another MS failure, it lasted 6 weeks and was dumped by MS.
> You just proved my point didn't you?
No, not at all.
> You had to add android(which is only based on the Linux kernel) to the Linux numbers to compare it to windows.
Linux _is_ the kernel, and _only_ the kernel. 'Linux distros' bundle in much other stuff, such as GNU utils, various desktop environments (Gnome, KDE, ...) and many applications, or Android GUI and (optionally) Google services. Android and ChromeOS are as much Linux distros as Red Hat is.
'Windows' is also the brand used for tablets (including RT), phones, IoT, and various embedded systems (including Wndows CE).
This post has been deleted by its author
"....It has been "the year of Linux" for several years on the most personal of computers (Android phones and tablets)....." As a Linux supporter I have to agree that Android is miles ahead in market numbers, but who is actually making any money off it? Where is the Red Hat of Android?
".....Microsoft has had phones since 'Pocket PC 2000 Phone edition' of 2001...." Arguably before that, even. The original Windows for handhelds was WinCE (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_CE) which had modem capability but not GSM. That developed into the WinMobile products where they seemed to tack on phone capability almost as an after-thought, being primarily handheld calendars and organisers. If they had put even basic GSM into the WinCE handhelds of the day then M$ would have sown up the market long before Android or iPhone even saw the light of day. Back in those days, the flamewars were between smug Psion users and "WinCErs".
"....Windows Phone 7 and 8 have had a decreasing market share and have not even matched that of WM 6.x...." True. I had (still have in a drawer somewhere) an hp WinMob 2003 phone which was my main work phone, but I skipped every version after that for Blackberry devices. The BBs were simply better work options as they had excellent email and document support. With the decline of BB I decided to try the alternatives (I am in the position to choose our work phones) - Android on Samsung and HTC, which I was already using for my personal phone; iPhone because Sales wanted a pretty toy to play with; and Win8 on Nokias. Surprisingly, it was the latter that won because it's tie-in to our existing Exchange/Windows environment was so good and it was simply cheaper than the other options to by and maintain. Android was my second choice but had too much tinkering involved (echoing my experience of trying to push the Linux desktop into enterprises), and the iPhone was not much short of a disaster. As a business device, I still think a Windows phone has a chance.
".....Windows Mobile 6.x and Windows Phone 7 were WinCE based and had GSM. They didn't sew up the market." Because they put it in too late. I'm not sure if it was M$ to blame or the organizer vendors, but if they had had phone capability in generation one rather than waiting for generation 6 or 7 then they would have sown up the market. Interestingly enough, I only got interested in HTC devices because they did WinMobile (arguably the World's first Windows smartphone in 2002) long before they did Android (in 2009).
> Because they put it in too late
"""Pocket PC 2002, originally codenamed "Merlin",[12] was released in October 2001. Like Pocket PC 2000, it was powered by Windows CE 3.0. Although targeted mainly for 240 × 320 (QVGA) Pocket PC devices, Pocket PC 2002 was also used for Pocket PC phones, and for the first time, Smartphones.[14] These Pocket PC 2002 Smartphones were mainly GSM devices."""
So Microsoft had WinCE smartphones _with_ GSM since 2001 and your claim is that "they put it in too late".
"""Windows Mobile 6, formerly codenamed "Crossbow",[12] was released on February 12, 2007"""
That was 4 months _before_ the iPhone and you say it was "too late".
> if they had had phone capability in generation one rather than ...
> they did WinMobile (arguably the World's first Windows smartphone in 2002)
So they _did_ have "phone capability in generation one".
"......So they _did_ have "phone capability in generation one"." Generation one WinCE devices were organisers such as the hp Jornada and did not have phone capability. WinCE 1.0 was released in 1996, not 2002 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_CE), and the first phone-capable offshoot was PocketPC in 2000. WinMobile was actually the most popular smartphone OS in use in the US by 2007 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobile) but M$ and the was too busy looking at it as a palm-held PC with phone capability bolted on rather than primarily as a smartphone, leaving the door open to Android and the iPhone.
> rather than primarily as a smartphone, leaving the door open to Android and the iPhone.
You can't even keep your arguments straight. Previously you had stated:
"""> they did WinMobile (arguably the World's first Windows smartphone in 2002)"""
So, you claimed they had smartphones since 2002 (and WM6 before iPhone and Android), yet somehow this was too _late_ to compete with stuff that wouldn't be around for another 5 years.
> too busy looking at it as a palm-held PC with phone capability bolted on
That is what smartphones _are_.
Yes, I know it is a waste of time discussing things with you because you always claim to be right even when you contradict yourself.
".....You can't even keep your arguments straight....." Please go look at the organizers of the late 90s, they were clamshell "mini-laptops", not candybar phones. Where M$ (and the organizer vendors) went wrong was in trying to pursue the commercial organizer idea rather than the consumer smartphone idea. Even cross-overs such as the original iPAQ PDA phones were business-orientated organizers first, unlike the original HTC smartphones which were primarily consumer phones (and thus not as good at being organizers). Go look at an hp Jornada 680 (or the Psion 5 for a non-WinCE organizer) and try and pretend it looks anything like an iPhone or a Nexus One (actually an HTC device) - that is what the first generation WinCE devices I mentioned actually looked like. They have wide-and-short screens and keyboards. I can't help it if you're not old enough to have experienced them firsthand.
".....Yes, I know it is a waste of time discussing things with you because you always claim to be right even when you contradict yourself." Your constant denial of obvious facts is not contradiction, just your denial. I have pointed out the organizer roots of WinCE, and corrected your assertion that there were first generation WinCE phones, and explained the actual history of when WinCE (in the form of PocketPC and WinMob) did get phone capability but why the leading WinCE vendors were more focused on organizers/PDAs than real smartphones. Please go back and actually read the thread before your next attempt.
> Where M$ (and the organizer vendors) went wrong was in trying to pursue the commercial organizer idea rather than the consumer smartphone idea.
"""In the late 1990s, many mobile phone users carried a separate dedicated PDA device, running early versions of operating systems such as Palm OS, BlackBerry OS or Windows CE/Pocket PC.[1] These operating systems would later evolve into mobile operating systems."""
It was actually the OEMs that were designing and building the phones - not Microsoft. The OEMs did what others were doing too - because that is what people were buying. 'On screen keyboards' were not viable so PDA format - clamshell with keyboard or sliders - was the only viable way to use a small smart device. PDA programs was what was required - because that was what people were used to and purchased.
You seem to be arguing that Microsoft (rather than the OEMs) should have 'invented' the iPhone several years before high resolution (more than, say, 320x240) pocket sized fingerable touch screens could be manufactured.
> did get phone capability but why the leading WinCE vendors were more focused on organizers/PDAs than real smartphones.
You may note that WinCE had 42% of the US smartphone market in 2006. It seems that PDA/organizer format was what people _wanted_ at that time (and was able to be manufactured).
I have two devices here. One has a larger screen and the other has 'phone capability' bolted on. Otherwise they function almost identically: run the same programs, have the same UI. That is what most smartphones were like a dozen or more years ago: phone capability bolted onto a popular small computer-like device. The format only changed when hi-res touch screens became available that allowed usable (by fingers) on-screen keyboards on pocket sized devices.
"....You seem to be arguing that Microsoft (rather than the OEMs) should have 'invented' the iPhone several years before high resolution (more than, say, 320x240) pocket sized fingerable touch screens could be manufactured....." Not suggesting, stating. I was at the launch for the original HP Jornada 680, which was pocketable (in a big pocket) and had a touchscreen more than good enough for a virtual keyboard. The first thing I asked them was if they could slap a GSM card into it, which for some reason puzzled both the MS and HP people present. They had thought of network cards but the idea of GSM in a small PDA just stumped them. "Why?" they asked, to which I replied that I could then dump my work mobile (a GSM-only Nokia 3110, IIRC) and just carry around a PDA rather than a PDA and a mobile. They were still stumped, so I pointed to the menu navigation key on the Nokia - "This is where the market is going, a phone with PDA capability, and when the phones get smart enough then I will stop buying a PDA." I don't think they got it even then, though maybe they were just complacent because they knew phone capability was on the WinCE/PcoketPC/WinMob roadmap.
"....You may note that WinCE had 42% of the US smartphone market in 2006. It seems that PDA/organizer format was what people _wanted_ at that time (and was able to be manufactured)....." Yes, WinCE organizers grew into phones, but they were undercut in the consumer market by phones that grew into being simple PDAs, such as the Nokia candybars. The iPhone and Android phones "won" because the consumer market grew to massively dwarf the commercial market.
The Nokia candybars did last a few more generations with gradually better PDA features like calendar, email, etc., but always suffering from a small screen and a restricted keypad. Sony-Ericsson tried to keep the candybar alive with smarter phones like the K600i, but the writing was already on the wall back in 1999. BlackBerry intro'd their first email pager then (IIRC), added phone capability in the 7000 series in 2001 (I bought a 7100 as a personal phone and ended up using it for work as well), and rolled up the corporate market. A real and proper WinCE-based smartphone didn't arrive until 2003, and a measure of how vendors like HP were still clinging to the PDA-first idea can be seen in that the five WinMob-based HP iPAQs released for WinMob2003 that year, only one had cellular built in. IIRC, the Dell Axim at the time didn't have a cellular version, and didn't until WinMob 5!
And BlackBerry did it without touchscreens, instead using the navigation wheel on the side of the device. If BlackBerry erred in one area it was that they didn't introduce a touchscreen until the Curve (2011?), years after other smartphone manufacturers had largely dumped trackpads and keypads.
The ironic bit is that way back in 1998 at that HP launch I was not the only one asking exactly the same question - "why no phone?"
" Linux fanboys will count everything including router firmware to jack up Linux numbers."
My personal favourite is the way that for years their whole point was based on the fact that Linux is FOSS and much more ethical than Windows thanks to Microsoft's practices...
... and then they claim that Linux now runs on more devices, thanks to Android - which is to all intents and purposes controlled by Google.
It's sad how people will abandon their principles for a quick win...
I'm just surprised no body said UNIX runs on more devices than windows because if you start off with UNIX as your base not only can you include Linux and android but you can also bring in everything by apple cause both Mac OSX and iOS are based on BSD which in turn is based on UNIX.
> ... and then they claim that Linux now runs on more devices, thanks to Android - which is to all intents and purposes controlled by Google.
Linux, the kernel, is not "controlled by Google" at all. Android is open source. Anyone can build a device from that source: CyangenMod, Amazon, B&N, Nokia (now Microsoft) and many others have done so with _no_ "control by Google" (except they can't use the trademark).
If you want to build Google services into a device that you make or sell then you must agree to Google's terms and conditions, just like every other service on the planet.
> It's sad how people will abandon their principles for a quick win...
It is so sad that such gross misrepresentations are used.
But it is not just Android (and ChromeOS) that has many millions of devices, many small embedded devices are based on Linux: GPS, SetTop boxes, PVRs, cars, airline entertainment systems, TVs, ... Many of these used Windows CE in the past.
When Microsoft said that it would have a billion Windows 10 devices by Christmas (or some such) it included phones and IoT in that number. Why should Linux not also do that (and come up with several billion now)?
> Linux fanboys will count everything including router firmware to jack up Linux numbers.
And why not? Slurp is surely counting every 'win10 install failed, fall back to win7' as another 'happy win10 user somewhere'. Who knows, they may even count the fucking forced download of said crap as a 'win10 install'.
Enjoy 'tombraider' those of us with other uses are still bothered by Microsofts recent tactics and 'feature' inclusions, enough to have either switched long ago or switch recently. Yet are often still expected to support the 'thing' as a day job.
The tech issue conscious with issues whine, 'happy people' must be on some medication or have had a lobotomy, with their thinking now done by Microsoft 'as a service'.
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After lurking on this site and reading about the Windows 10 upgrade 'issues' over the last few months, I disconnected my Win7 Home HDDs, bought some SSDs and a week later I have a PC and laptop running Linux Mint 17.2 that work beautifully for what I need (data-science). And at a fraction of Apple's prices. MSFT have lost me as a customer. A small story, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. Tossers.
I like Vista, myself. I think it's the high-water mark of Microsoft's aesthetic design, what with aero, and the start button poking out of the taskbar, with its symmetry in the Office 2007 button/ribbon. Not for me these flat icons, fingerpaint UI. Good old mouse-and-keyboard UI for me, thanks. Hang tough Dan. . . I got your back!
2015 was the worst year ever for Windows updating. In a long row of automatic COMPULSORY borked updates, yesterday one system anounced me that it needs to restart in finish some update. After restart all I got was black screen with a moving mouse cursor, nothing else, no reaction at ctrl+alt+del, no way to fix anything. After 2015 whoever is responsible for qa and windows updating should be fired. It looks that the year of the Linux is one year closer. Newer thought Windows will fall this low.
Maybe. You forget one thing, however.
Microsoft HATES being wrong about anything. Especially when that thing is a high profile thing like Windows, the very thing that gave it its original dominance of the desktop market in the first place (well that and crushing alternative systems with various tactics, some of which could be called highly dubious on close inspection).
It's especially the case here since they stand to profit hugely if they can only get people to believe that Windows 10 and all it entails is for their own good rather than something that could conceivably be a way to fleece their customers, first through the apps and the advertising, later possibly through subscriptions (Windows as a Service - will that service be a one-off payment like previous Windows versions? I doubt it).
To be honest, I'll be interested to see what happens when W7 goes EoL. It could well be that it will live on well past that date, much as WXP did, only more so.
Why does the calculator run as a TSR? Why is it that if you close it with the Task Manager that when you open it back up that it won't run unless you run it twice? The first time launches the TSR, the second launches the app, why? I'm not normally a conspiracy-theory kind of guy but why is the calculator a TSR under windows 10? I mean how long could it take to launch a 100k file? Why does it need MBs of ram to run now?
We hacked 'em for all we were worth, mad with power over our 300 baud connections.
And then it kind of faded out over the years.
But now, thanks to the marvelous impetus of Win10, we're all returning to our basements with a gleam in our eyes, hatchets in our hands, and malice toward Microsoft in our hearts.
I'm keyslapping here on my Win10 test box, having a grand old time of it, butchering the OS for all I'm worth, blowing it clear to hell, reinstalling it (no Nancy VM for me, I lay things down directly on the platter as god and Charles Babbage intended) with DAZzling aplomb, and pressing diligently onward armed with Unlocker, Regedit, and an experienced eye for Nasty Things that lurk beneath the surface.
This incarnation of things that I'm using right now seems to have settled down into a quite stable mode, and the butcherments which it has endured do not seem to have interfered with what I think an OS should be doing for me in the slightest.
Threw every last one of the goddamned switches to Fuck You mode, and still Cortana glared at me from the task manager. Open File Location: SystemApps\Cortanablubblubblub\SearchUI.exe
Attacked the machine with W10Privacy.exe http://www.winprivacy.de/english-home/ (really good program, recommend it highly), including the bit of arcana invoking PsExec.exe to show and murder all "system apps" (along with everything else I could kill, and of that there was more than plenty) and on the reboot, Cortana's running process smiled sweetly at me and kept right on humming along in the task manager.
Next up DWS_Lite.exe ver. 1.6.716.0 https://github.com/Nummer/Destroy-Windows-10-Spying/releases/tag/1.6.716 (another two thumbs up on this one), same deal, murder everything in sight, reboot, and still SarchUI.exe rolled onward.
Ok, fine. How 'bout a nice rinse with Toggle Tweaker.bat, hmm? http://www.tenforums.com/customization/15753-cool-windows-10-toggle-tweaker-v1-0-official-thread.html (yet another excellent toolkit but this time you'll need to log in with an active account to get the download link), and there's yards and yards of switches to throw, and throw them I did, and yet when all was done and the dawning of the reboot came, SearchUI.exe did there remain.
Pshit.
Ok, fine. I know where this crap lives (Windows\SystemApps...) so mayhaps we might want to pay that little area a visit. Lotsa fun things in there. The Unlocker (mind where you download it from and mind how you install it, 'cause the guy has associated himself with some quite unsavory types in his quest to continue putting food on his plate) will sort things out, won't it?
It will.
One at a time.
What remains is as follows, all else having been extirpated:
Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.AccountsControl_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.BioEnrollment_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.LockApp_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.Windows.AssignedAccessLockApp_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.Windows.SecondaryTileExperience_cw5n1h2txyewy
ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy
I'm sure a few of these survivors would tolerate a good bayoneting, but I'm feeling benevolent, for the nonce, anyway, and so they remain. Provisionally, of course.
That not being enough to slake my bloodthirst, I then went farther with things.
Time to break out the heavy artillery with SuperCMD.exe https://github.com/Raymai97/SuperCMD (this one is worth its weight in gold and then some, and I do hope that at least a few of you will flip a few coins in Raymai97's direction), and run regedit with SYSTEM privileges. Muahahahaha!!
Regedit run in this mode brooks no backtalk, and destroys all in its path.
And so, feeling a bit vindictive, I went after KEYS ONLY, leaving Values and Data alone for the most part (owing to laziness, as opposed to charitable feelings in my heart), attacking first Cortana, thence to Edge, thonce to Onedrive, and yonder to Clouddrive, just for good measure. My vorpal blade went snickersnack, and although I certainly was not perfectly thorough, it would appear as if I was sufficiently thorough, and that's good enough for me.
SearchUI.exe would appear to be gone for good (with a lot of other disreputable company, too), and numerous updatings and reboots can't seem to bring it back.
The only thing different is that the logoff/restart background color for the string of pearls went from light blue to light green. Have no idea whatsoever what, if anything, might be behind that one.
But I really don't care.
Glee has returned to my heart, and fun is at hand, every time I sit down at this thing, and I give it all away to you for exactly what it cost me, which is nothing at all.
Keep it up Microsoft, our blades are growing ever-sharper hewing through your bones and sinew, and some of us like it far more than you might imagine.
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