Microsoft announces Windows 10 Anniversary Update coming this summer Microsoft has announced an "anniversary update" to Windows 10, set for release this summer. The first release appeared in July 2015. Windows boss Terry Myerson, presenting the update at Microsoft's Build event in San Francisco, said that it is not only for PCs and tablets, but also for phones, Xbox, HoloLens (for which …
They have little choice. Everything around them is on fire, or already burnt to the ground. They have been in a throw everything at the wall see what stick phase for years.
Xbox one is a disaster, windows 10 is universally as unloved as windows 8 was, office is obsolete, their browser still sucks balls, but not as much as their search engine, and their uwp universal app format isn't as universal or as fully featured as they like to pretend (might as well write JavaScript, it's not far off in capabilities)
I'd take issue with you saying W10 is universally unloved - I for one think it's fantastic but I also wasn't an XP fanboy would wouldn't move to Windows 7 when it came out. I realise this is el'reg where anything MS is bashed but outside of the privacy issues I've found W10 to be a serious upgrade to W8 and frankly more user friendly than Windows 7 - which I use every day at work.
The only reason we're not moving to W10 at work right now is me putting my oar in about potentially moving to opensource (linux) instead, however my own IT department don't want to as they've spent half their lives training in MS products..
I've no doubt you'll recieve plenty of thumbs up for bashing MS, but I still think you are fully of it by generalising about how universally dislikes W10 is, that's simply bullshit.
Quite honestly I've been wanting to like Windows 10. I have genuinely tried. Ever since the first public beta (or "insider preview," if you prefer) I have installed every single major milestone build of Windows 10 all the way up to RTM. I've even given the OS a try a good number of times post-release.
I have said it before and I will say it again; Windows 10 is not without merit. I admire the aspects of Windows 10 which are well executed. I admire its stability and its ability to perform on hardware which would otherwise be destined for the scrapyard. I even like its user interface.
What I do not admire are some of the costs associated with running Windows 10. Forced driver updates are a big no-no for me. The last couple of NVidia WHQL drivers serve as an example that newest doesn't always equate to best. Unless the update positively improves stability or security, leave it alone.
I am even willing to suck up to Microsoft's telemetry. But the last thing I'm willing to tolerate is to have to troubleshoot yet more IT related issues at home after having just left the office spending the day troubleshooting IT related issues just because Microsoft won't let me control my own PC.
I also do not appreciate how privacy settings and file associations seem to reset to default without warning (this has happened on my test system twice to date). I am all for forced security updates. But forced feature updates and treating me as a beta tester for business users goes one step too far.
If all of Microsoft's telemetry is truly anonymous (which I don't doubt) I have no issue with my system helping Microsoft improve their product as long as it is not at the expense of my productivity (which is pretty much the case when Microsoft rams new features or BSOD-inducing drivers I do not want down my throat).
Above all I DEFINITELY do not approve of Microsoft's methods in trying to force Windows 10 down everyone's throats via Windows Update on prior versions of Windows. I've spent too much time to count helping small business revert to Windows 7 because speciality applications failed to launch post-upgrade.
"What I do not admire are some of the costs associated with running Windows 10. Forced driver updates are a big no-no for me. The last couple of NVidia WHQL drivers serve as an example that newest doesn't always equate to best. Unless the update positively improves stability or security, leave it alone."
You do know that this "feature" can be turned off?
Navigate to System and Security > System > Advanced system settings. Click the Hardware tab, click Device Installation Settings, and select the “No, let me choose what to do option. Select “Never install driver software from Windows Update
Oh, and with regards to my comment on Microsoft ramming Windows 10 down everyone's throat with no end in sight... this just in today:
The following 4 new updates have been synchronized to <WSUS Server> since Thursday, March 31, 2016 5:11 PM (GMT).
Update for Windows 7 (KB2952664)
Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2977759)
Update for Windows 7 (KB2977759)
Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2952664)
Really. How many more times are they going to re-publish this crap?
I'd almost be willing to bet that on the last day of this shindig, they announce that "everyone is now updating to Windows10 via forced* update" with "no manual intervention required". It will be April 1st after all.
*Forced = no choice.. you're getting whether you want it or not.
Replacing a paid-for OS with freeware against my will sounds like something that'd get them a class action. I'm sure they'll just keep applying more artificial limitations to Windows 8.1 and earlier to "gently encourage" the move.
That said, any word about when the "free" upgrade is going away? Personally I expect they'll extend it indefinitely and cite "high demand" for it...
Wonder as well. The original plan said the next big update would be in May or June - in time for those who didn't upgrade to W10 to do so with the new release.
But if this is an "anniversary edition", wouldn't it fall on the anniversary of the W10 release [one day before W10 upgrade isn't free]?
I don't see why anyone would not upgrade from Windows 8/8.1 to 10, after all their underlying philosophy is them same, but Windows 7?
I have upgraded to Windows 10 on my personal and family machines but by dedicated development PC is staying on 7 thank you very much.
"One of the key new features is the delivery of Project Centennial, which Myerson called a "desktop app converter." It will wrap desktop applications for delivery through the Windows Store. A version of the Sage accounting system will be an early example."
Fantastic! That will certainly help fulfill Microsoft's promise (to itself) that it will exert more control over and, more importantly, take a cut of every bit of software running on Windows.
But even with good features being added, it must be remembered that with automatic updates and the idea of a 'free' OS, what Microsoft giveth, Microsoft can taketh away. One day you will have feature X, the next day it may be replaced with feature Y or gone altogether. Of course, it's likely that features removed will be made available through more dependence on 'cloud' - whether warranted or not.
Microsoft's no.1 hate is PCs that are offline and static and all their efforts, no matter how they are presented, are aimed at getting as many people as possible connected to and reliant on Microsoft's online systems, as often as possible.
The question is not one of features or usability but of control.
"Fantastic! That will certainly help fulfill Microsoft's promise (to itself) that it will exert more control over and, more importantly, take a cut of every bit of software running on Windows.
But even with good features being added, it must be remembered that with automatic updates and the idea of a 'free' OS, what Microsoft giveth, Microsoft can taketh away. One day you will have feature X, the next day it may be replaced with feature Y or gone altogether. Of course, it's likely that features removed will be made available through more dependence on 'cloud' - whether warranted or not."
Microsoft is now calling programs "applications" and "apps", just like a tablet and phone OS does. I believe they are doing this so you will start to think programs should be purchased through their app store. I believe one of the goals of Win10 is to convert a large one-time license purchase into the pay-to-play model that works on phones and tablets. It is a slow process.
One of the great things about Windows is that it is easy to install any program you want. But it is a double-edge sword because it also means it is easier to get junk programs and malware. I can envision a future where the only programs you can install on Windows must go through the app store. It will probably be told that it is for extra security. While controlling which programs can and cannot be installed does provide extra security, the real reason for forcing people to buy through an app store is to make money. "Security" is thrown in to placate you. Microsoft has already partially succeeded: many people are now calling computer programs "apps".
Another problem of forcing people to buy their programs through an app store is that it could also means even legitimate programs are locked out. LibreOffice competes with Microsoft Office -- DENIED! Google Chrome competes with Microsoft Edge -- DENIED! Do not think it cannot happen. Can you download a browser on the Apple app store that does not use the Safari rendering engine? It can and will happen.
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I tried to read the article you posted, I really did. I wanted to parse all the relevant information before forming an educated conclusion.
Sorry but the guy from Eurogamer is a fucking muppet.
1, He blames windows because he didn't bother his arse to check if he had enough diskspace.
2, He blames windows because he let his pc reboot in the middle of an installation and complains that it borked his install.
Well... boo hoo, he may have made some relevant points after that but tbh I stopped reading because it felt too much like watching Russian dashboard cams on youtube. When you let a moron lose on their own recognizance, then you simply have to expect that things will not end well for the moron.
His point is that cloud game-delivery systems should be able to cope with an automatic system restart. All the alternatives, such as Steam, do. It's not as if he pulled the plug - Windows initiated the restart and the Windows App Store was installing the game. This will happen (a lot).
As for disk space - all installers should check for disk space before running. App stores should be even more user-friendly.
This isn't the early 90s. Expecting meaningful feedback and for installers to just work is a reasonable expectation, especially when using an app store.
Microsoft Cognitive Services, the production version of codename Project Oxford. Described as "Intelligence APIs," Cognitive Services performs tasks such as parsing images to detect faces, emotions and activities; speech recognition; search; and text analytics
Give it a few releases, and calling them The Borg will simply be true..
Sure, it's just a registry hack, but it's lots of work to trawl through the gobbledygook.
Never10 doesn't even install itself; it just fixes the registry for you, rather than making you start a fire by rubbing twigs together.
And I don't think Steve Gibson is a crackpot at the moment - he has some weird ideas, but this isn't one of them.
Does this mean it's going to start insulting me and spewing racist filth all over my files?
I'll maybe believe that MS is capable of some limited form of artificial intelligence when they demonstrate some real human intelligence and design a completely coherent OS that works entirely in the interests of the users, and is not some cack-handed attempt to emulate the success of the Apple App Store on the PC platform, which should be open and free, not some bloody walled garden.
Plus, if you want telemetry data, pay for some user testing and get the data that way, not by helping yourselves to my precious bandwidth.
Unfortunately for sight impaired users each version of Windows gets less friendly to assistive software. Back on NT/Win2K/XP screen readers could hook in to every application at a low level, and find out what it was writing to the screen, allowing a full picture of text and graphics to be built up, and to improve navigation for keyboard only users. Unfortunately each step in improving security in the later OS's, has had the effective of preventing the screen reader gathering the information, and aiding in navigation. There are assitive APIs in the OS, but they fall far short of what is required to give the best experience.
With a good screen reader an experienced user can drive applications as complex as Office and Visual Studio with no difficulties - with the monitor switched off! If it wasn't for the clicking of the braille display and slight sound from the speech synthsiser through the headphones, you wouldn't know the person on the other side of the partition was visually impaired.
Actually you would, from the sheer speed which they can pull up information, being unhindered by the visual ambiguity of most applications, particular the new flat colourless Windows 10 apps, and employing far better honed memory skills to be able to go straight to the right place without having to look for it!
The majority don't and are being herded (as in with a stick) to adopt it. I've used Linux for Ohhh.. 13 years or so now. It all started when a M$ W2K update borked my PC. I bought a Linux Magazine with Mandrake 10 on the front cover, Windows was working, so it became a dual boot machine for awhile, the rest is history.
Something a Windows user must suffer through is Activation, not that activation itself is so inherently difficult, but that you need to do it at all is the problem. Windows activates by imprinting on specific hardware, like a baby bird imprints on it's mother. Trouble is if that hardware changes too much you have to reinstall and reactivate. Painful.
Contrasting this with the speed with which a Linux machine can get back into productive use should hardware (like the Motherboard) decide to pack it in, is truly astonishing. It happened to me just this past Tuesday.
An ASUS MB decided it would post and pass all RAM checks, but never boot. Chilling some chips down got it to ALMOST boot, but something has decided to pack it in so it's toast.
The system had to get back into service quickly. To this end;
- Swap out the motherboard for one that works
- Power it up
- X failed to start; it couldn't find a graphics card at the old PCI address. (DOH!)
- Use lspci to get the new address of the graphics card
- Edit Xorg config & change the graphics card address.
- Type "startx" at the command prompt aaaaand.... everything works.
Total time spent working on the system?, Two hours (including sourcing another MB).
- No activation
- No software re-installation
- No loss of functionality, in fact the new CPU is a bit faster.
Do THAT with a Windows PC!
1. rampant Dotnet 3.5 install failures which require you to create separate install media and then kick-start the component install from DISM? See http://www.kunal-chowdhury.com/2015/08/windows-10-dotnet-framework.html#o0pfJ6hR4l46Rrdm.97
2. Bizarre subnet priority bugs which make any large-scale enterprise deployment unthinkable (even when reg hacks are used)? https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/itmanagement/en-US/d24f06e8-51e0-4812-a605-4a0da038d580/dns-subnet-prioritization-does-not-work-on-windows-10?forum=win10itpronetworking
There's a lot of cool stuff in 10, and the telemetry and suchlike doesn't much bother me (that's why the Gods gave us firewalls and hosts files) but when basic msi deployment and dns commands are no longer functional I honestly can't see how anyone can risk rolling out Win 10 in a serious commercial environment.
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