Five things you need to know about Microsoft's looming Windows 10 Spring Creators Update At some point next month, just in time for Spring, Microsoft will start to emit the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update to everyone's PC. Avid Reg readers will be aware of what's forthcoming for the Redmond operating system. If you're just tuning in, well, see the aforementioned link, and strap in for these highlights. When the …
Might it be that Microsoft Refused, because its more of this below?
Soon MS'll have enough data to sell to 'Cambridge-Analytica' firms:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...."Microsoft’s business models require stealing and reselling personal data"...
....."When we talk about why we're upgrading the Windows 10 install base, why is that upgrade free? MS CFO asked during a meeting with Wall Street analysts. These are all new monetization opportunities once a PC is sold. Microsoft's strategy is to go low on consumer Windows licenses, hoping that that will boost device sales, which will in turn add to the pool of potential customers for 'Advertising'".....
....."CEO Nadella has referred to the customer revenue potential as 'lifetime value' in the past -- and did so again last week during the same meeting with Wall Street -- hinting at Microsoft's strategy to make more on the back end of the PC acquisition process. The more customers, the more money those customers will bring in as they view 'Ads'".....
https://www.computerworld.com/article/2917799/microsoft-windows/microsoft-fleshes-out-windows-as-a-service-revenue-strategy.html
"Microsoft’s business models require stealing and reselling personal data"
Not correct. Microsoft do not resell personal data. They collect it, but they don't sell it.
"Microsoft's strategy is to go low on consumer Windows licenses, hoping that that will boost device sales, which will in turn add to the pool of potential customers for 'Advertising'"
Windows doesn't include adverts unless you count a static crapp or two in the start menu. The Bing website does, but visiting that is of course optional.
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"I thought Microsoft allow trusted third parties to see personal information ?. :"
Where needed to enable a third party to provide a service - such as to allow a third party to repair your Xbox - sure. They don't sell your personal info or allow it's access for unconnected purposes though.
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OK, that's the only benefit you gain from giving away all your personally identifiable data? Ads that might be more relevent?
Which is more efficient, Microsoft decide which ads to target you with, or the third party decides ?
Yeh, I'll tell you what's more efficient -
They stop capturing what applications I use, what I type into the start menu, my preferences, and god knows what else, and don't present any ads - sorry, "recommendations", on the desktop operating system which I was forced to pay for using real money when buying my computer.
>They don't sell your personal info or allow it's access for unconnected purposes though.
According to their PS (you need to click Learn More at various points) they share with third parties for a huge range of things - it's a long document split into many pieces...plenty of stuff such as:
"We also share data directly with service providers, such as Oath, AppNexus or Facebook, to permit them to provide services on our behalf or to partner with us in selecting and serving ads for our advertising partners."
"We share some de-identified search query data, including voice queries, with selected third parties for research and development purposes....we require these third parties to keep the data secure and to not use the data for other purposes."
Windows doesn't include adverts unless you count a static crapp or two in the start menu.
I do. The presence of OneDrive in my taskbar (when I have done nothing to suggest I have that service) is an ad for OneDrive, and its presence in the navigation pane of Windows Explorer is another. The existence of the "Xbox" app on the computer is an ad for Xbox. The "Get Office" popups that begin as soon as Window 10 starts for the first time are clearly ads. The notification for a sale on OneDrive storage that appeared in Windows Explorer some months ago was a blatant ad. And, of course, the thing that got many people into this mess in the first place, GWX, was a particularly nasty piece of adware.
The entirety of Windows 8 and 10 in general used to be ads for Windows Mobile, when there was such a thing. They look very obviously like what they are, which is to say a UI element designed around mobiles. Each time a user opened the start screen or menu, he'd be getting an ad for Windows mobile-- which is presumably why Microsoft only shrunk the tiles down for 10 when everyone had been demanding their removal.
The Metro and UWP elements that infect Windows 8.x and 10 are the same. They look like they belong in a mobile OS for a reason... they're there to remind you that this is, in fact, a mobile OS, so why not make your next phone a Windows phone? Even the proliferation of the word "app" in Windows is an ad for Windows mobile. On PCs, we've long called those software thingies "programs." Remember, they're installed in \Program Files, and they're uninstalled with "Programs and Features," right? So why suddenly must Windows ask me what "app" I want to use to open a program? Apps are for phones... and people associate them with phones. It's like MS wants to remind everyone (if they missed all those other reminders I mentioned) that Windows is a mobile OS!
If you think I am nitpicking, I can assure you that I am not. Megacorporations like MS don't make changes to long-standing nomenclature haphazardly. There's a reason for everything they do.
None of this mobile emphasis on desktop PCs was ever meant to benefit PC users. It was meant to sell phones, no question about it. Why they continue to forge on with their mobile-first OS when they have apparently recognized their failure in the phone market is anyone's guess, but you can bet there's a reason. It may be a dumb reason; it WILL be a cynical reason that benefits Microsoft at the expense of its users. Whatever it is, it exists. They just won't tell us what it is.
>"Mobile first, cloud first" - so where does that leave desktops/laptops?
Remember we are talking about the MS universe here, so you will be running O365 (and MS are really keen that everyone including enterprises on O365 because it is so wonderful...) then these will already have Internet access. Marketing and tech evangelists will totally overlook the problems (especially of mobile data). So expect desktops and laptops to increasingly become expensive dumb terminals dependent on an at least half-decent network connection. No Internet then expect the system to become either totally unresponsive as they wait for an Internet connection or only able to run Solitaire - one of the few applications that don't need an Internet connection - but then given this is MS and the W10 version of Solitaire et al. I expect even these will hang as they wait for an Internet connection for the adverts...
"So expect desktops and laptops to increasingly become expensive dumb terminals dependent on an at least half-decent network connection."
O365 still uses a full local version of Office so is not dependent on the internet. It's just a rental model for the licensing.
I asked our local friendly Microsoft rep about this statement, apparently 'Mobile First' refers to mobile computing, rather than phones, so currently we are talking the surface range, Surface Pro, Laptop, Book etc.
None of the big players in the IT hardware market see a big future for desktops they expect them to be relegated to niche users and enterprises/business usage.
We've (several of us) said that here in El Reg too.
Most people have no use for a proper computer of any sort. Unless they are doing office work, in which case a decent keyboard, HDD and screen are important, they just need a tablet or phone. Which is fine for sending emails, posting cat videos, revealing their secrets on Facepalm and storing their family photos. And probably safer in terms of not losing the contacts and photos when the device dies or gets pinched. Being in the cloud this is perfect for photos that will never be backed up.
But that does not mean that people's proper PCs and software can be treated like tablets with "apps".
I asked our local friendly Microsoft rep about this statement, apparently 'Mobile First' refers to mobile computing, rather than phones
I don't think so. Laptops are functionally like desktops, from an OS perspective, and that's where Microsoft has always been (on desktops and laptops). There would be no need for a "mobile first, cloud first" slogan if they were talking about what they had always been doing. Clearly, Nadella intended for that phrase to indicate the new direction of Microsoft, not the old one.
That is, of course, unless you believe that the phone UI grafted onto Windows in its last two versions means something other than what we all interpreted "mobile first" to mean. When Windows on the PC looks like a mobile phone OS and the CEO is telling us they're mobile first now, I don't think "he must be talking about laptops, like the ones I have been using since the Win2k era."
I like laptops. I have a couple of them. I'm using one now to write this. They're not my only tools, though; I have desktops too, and they each have their role within my electronic hierarchy. This laptop I'm on now is only a few months old, but I have its OS (Linux Mint) set up exactly as I do on my main desktop. Why would I need anything with the OS or the UI to be different? I'm still the same individual with the same usage patterns, preferences, and workflow.
Certainly, the laptop has has more power saving features than my desktops, but it runs the same programs as my desktop. The laptop's user input devices consist of a hardware keyboard and non-touchscreen pointing device, like on my desktop. The display is smaller on my laptop, of course, but it's still larger than an iPad, and way larger than a phone, and it doesn't need the oversize controls that work best with big fleshy fingers on a touchscreen.
In other words, I still have no need or desire for the inane phone UI even though it is a laptop. It's not a touchscreen, which was intentional on my part when I selected the unit. I don't need or want a touchscreen on a laptop! A touchscreen is necessary for handheld devices where a mouse or keyboard is impractical, but it's redundant on a laptop that already has a real keyboard and a touchpad. Most of the people I've communicated with who use convertible 2 in 1 units say they seldom or never use the touchscreen when the display is snapped to the base, and I wouldn't either. It's just too tiring to be holding my arm out to touch the laptop screen! I can use a touchpad for hours (I find the older ones with the dedicated buttons to be better, but I am adapting to the annoyances of the clickpad on my cheap new laptop), and a real mouse is even better.
Ergonomically, a touchscreen is just too hard on the old arm muscles to use for more than a short while when the screen is in a fixed upright position (as it is in a laptop or desktop). The mouse or touchpad allows you to easily hit targets of only a few pixels, enabling better user interfaces that don't have to have kludges like disappearing UI elements or hamburger menus. The separate point and click actions on a mouse or a touchpad also allow hover effects that simplify and accelerate a lot of things people tend to take for granted. They're not new or trendy, but mice and touchpads are just better for nearly everything for which people use laptops.
With that in mind, it makes little sense to throw away the UI advantages of an interface designed around the mouse and to saddle it with the same old compromises as are necessary on touchscreen devices. If laptops are what Microsoft meant by "mobile first," the UI of Windows 10 is still just as ill-suited to that use as it is on desktops.
Gee, and I just thought that they made Windows 8 & 10 look more like a phone because that is what the next generation of computer users are used to seeing, and that way they would have an advantage in customer acquisition because they could provide them with a more familiar interface.
Remember, amongst the things that corporate trainers have to teach new hires these days is now to place a call on telephone that has a dial tone and no "send" button.
"The presence of OneDrive in my taskbar (when I have done nothing to suggest I have that service) is an ad for OneDrive, and its presence in the navigation pane of Windows Explorer is another. "
No, they are preinstalled applications, not adverts. That you don't want them doesn't make them adverts.
" The notification for a sale on OneDrive storage that appeared in Windows Explorer some months ago was a blatant ad. "
Windows Explorer doesn't have any capability to display such offers. That was likely from the One Drive app. That's the first example of an actual advert you have mentioned - and even that's likely not personally targeted unless you signed into OneDrive
"Even the proliferation of the word "app" in Windows is an ad for Windows mobile."
No, no it isn't. You seem to have paranoid delusions. On Mac-OSX for instance it's also the App Store.
"The Metro and UWP elements that infect Windows 8.x and 10 are the same. They look like they belong in a mobile OS for a reason... "
No, they were designed as a touch screen OS. Not just for mobile. I find the touchscreen swipe and zoom controls on my Windows 10 laptop very handy.
"If you think I am nitpicking, I can assure you that I am not. "
No, I think you are delusional. Preinstalled applications are not adverts. A touchscreen OS in not an advert.
Preinstalled applications are not adverts.
You're a mug if you think that.
Why do you think companies paying manufacturers and Microsoft to have their "apps" pre-installed?
Windows 10 is full of adverts, from the moment you first install it.
Does Candy Crush really need an animated tile on the start menu??
Why are there tiles for Office, when it's not even installed??
Why is the onedrive client installed, nagging me to sign up??
And most importantly, why isn't there a way to remove a group of tiles in one go??
And don't get me started on the telemetry.
It's not there for anyone's benefit apart from Microsoft, and you damn well know it.
If they wanted to bundle something useful, for the benefit of their users, then they'd at least have a link to Firefox or Chrome, because that's usually the first thing people install! Oh wait, they did -- but soon got rid of it when they weren't forced.
All of Corporate America and Government sell, share, trade, market your data. We are just data, numbers, percentages and dollars to them, no such thing as customers anymore. They tell us they value our trust and privacy, but every data breach shows that they don't take the effort to patch, secure, monitor or even encrypt the data.
"When are the American people going to realize the Government (or Corporate America) doesn't give a f*** about them?" -George Carlin
Windows isn't the only file system that couldn't handle long file names, both Linux and macOS have limits - although longer than Windows. That's why you have to chose to turn the feature on, as you might start saving files that other people can't open on other platforms (including Windows 7).
If you really want to take advantage of it, just set it via GP.
OK, long file paths has caused us problems at work, BUT the problem is really caused by users writing a frikking essay when they name files and folders, and having umpteen levels of folders to boot. We have departments that try to make databases in files sructure, effectively, when we have tools like Sharepoint available.
"long file paths has caused us problems at work, BUT the problem is really caused by users writing a frikking essay when they name files and folders, and having umpteen levels of folders .... when we have tools like Sharepoint available."
Simply saving a webpage as a PDF or mht or MAAF can create a very long filename. The problems normally hit when backing up or archiving when additonal folder layers or longer folder names take some total character lengths over the limit....but that's when the fun starts, trying to get back to source and change / shorten filenames etc.
As far as Sharepoint is concerned, last time I used it a few years ago, it was even worse, there were whole project sub-sub-folders that refused to save to it. We stopped using it as a result.
As far as Sharepoint is concerned, last time I used it a few years ago, it was even worse, there were whole project sub-sub-folders that refused to save to it. We stopped using it as a result.
Oh gawd, yes. I first encountered it when writing a data recovery tool for it in the early 00s. Its menu structure was a bit convoluted (menus to the left, menus to the right, menus along the top and context menus in the corner). But the most recent incarnation is worse. Why is 'Check Out' on the 'More' menu of the context menu? And checking in involves dragging the replacement document onto the browser then choosing Yes to replace it then you have to find the check-in menu item.
Sharepoint is very configurable so it's probably just that we're using the default template but it ain't pleasant. Oh and of course it's following the modern 'fat fingered tablet user' design methodology so that all I can see on my 1900 x 1020 monitor is the main menu and two documents.
I can give an example of the stupidity of directory tree nesting to the point of absurdity.
I was using Wget to grab a copy of the English language plain text files from Project Gutenberg & it took nearly three continuous days to download ~11GiB as ~75K files across... and I'm not making this up... over Fifty Thousand subdirectories.
For example, the file 12345.txt would be saved as ..\1\2\3\4\5\12345\12345.txt. For all of nearly Seventy-Five Thousand files.
After the download was done & I could start to uncluster that particular fuck, I reorganized it down to those same ~75K files but had reduced it down to *Nine* subdirectories.
What had been ~11GiB of data as individually compressed single text files, uncompressed & then recompressed as the entire Wget scrape into a single Zip file, came to a mere 4.8GiB. As in the size of a single DVD ISO.
So ~11GiB & 75K files over 50K subdirectories, reduced to 4.8GiB & 1 file. I think the folks at PG deserve kudo's for the project itself, but whomever is in charge of their storeage design needs a serious smack upside the head. =-\
"For TWO DECADES, File Explorer has been unable to handle Long File Paths. Even paths it itself creates !"
As you were told last time you posted this rant, that's by design for backwards compatibility for Explorer. If the many applications that use Explorer were suddenly passed longer than 260 character paths it would cause buffer overflows galore.
If you want your application to use long paths then it needs to have this entry in the manifest:
<longPathAware>true</longPathAware>
As well as the relevant registry key to enable the long path feature.
This Explorer type application is long path aware: http://onecommander.com/download.html
If you want to really screw up a windows filesystem, there's a trick we used to do about 20 years ago which may still work.
Write a batch file with a loop that creates a deep nest of sub directories with single character names
mkdir A
chdir A
and run it until it reaches the maximum depth and breaks.
Put some important files in the deeper directories.
Then make another loop that lengthens each sub-directory name. 8 characters for example, but the longer the better. Then run that until it breaks. I can't remember whether you
chdir ..
rename A AAAAAAAA
;-)
The long path limitation is to protect older applications (and poorly written modern ones) where the developer might still be assuming that paths cannot exceed 260 characters. Such applications might not work properly or experience dangerous buffer overflows. I would imagine Explorer limits itself in order to discourage users from making directory paths that are too long for legacy applications.
Any application that is being properly written can either use the registry setting mentioned earlier or prefix all paths with the string "\\?\" when calling API methods. NTFS supports paths of more than 32,000 characters.
So it's a protection for the vast number of legacy applications and programmers that occupy the Windows ecosystem but easily worked around for those who know what they are doing.
Another amusing trick was to write a batch file that saved Alt+256 as "A.txt" then did the following loop: type a.txt>b.txt, type b.txt>a.txt, until it crashed the system due to a full hard drive. Rename the last full A or B file as "File_Id.diz", Zip compress it as small as possible, delete the A & B text files, & run the batch file again.
After about 5 or 6 loops you would wind up with a Zip file of a size that wouldn't raise suspicion, to which you could add any other Exe file to make it look legit. Once you uploaded it to a BBS & the automated system would try extracting the File_Id.diz file to use as the official description of the file & it's contents, that file would erupt into a multi gigabyte file in an age when hard drives were measured in mere megabytes.
Cue one crashed system that was essentially rendered unable to do anything until the owner deleted that File_Id.diz file to clear the space (if not the Zip file as well), & then reboot to reclaim the free space.
This trick brought to you by someone whom was challenged to "find a way to crash my (BBS) without triggering my A/V subsystem!"
It did exactly that & did it in spades, for it used his own computer doing exactly what he told it to do, to unpack a normally ~5Kb text file into the ~1GiB "empty" (Alt+256 is the ASCII code for Space) file that ate all the free space on his drive. No more BBS until he deletes the file, recovers the space, & then buys me pizza for beating his challenge.
He ended up writing a script that checked the unpacked size of every file & disallowed it if it exceeded more than a megabyte or two. Darn, foiled again! =-D
If you want your application to use long paths then it needs to have this entry in the manifest:
Or, like, you know, use the Windows file APIs correctly, in the manner described in the MSDN documentation(1). Then you can go up to more than 32000 characters in a full path.
(1) It's annoying rather than hard.
I know what I'm doing, I'm drinking the linux kool-aid and spouting my mouth off about an OS I neither use nor understand!
Linux users understand Windows alright.
It's one of the reasons we choose not to use it.
Linux users also often have to use Windows as well.
It's the main reason we chose to use Linux when we have the choice.
I have been using Windows since 3.0 in 1990, 27 years ago. I've used 3.0, 3.1, 95, 95 OSR2.1, 98SE, ME,XP, 7, 8.1, and 10. I've been using Linux as a primary OS for under a year, and part-time for under two, once I saw how "the last version of Windows ever" was, though I keep Windows in a dual-boot setup too. But yeah, I don't understand Windows 'cause I am a Linux user.
"And as YOU were told when you wrote this nonsense reply, Microsoft added a flag for this, so if you don't want your badly-written apps to crash THEN DON'T SET THE FLAG."
Microsoft added a flag for apps that want to use long paths. Explorer is not one of them. If Explorer was enabled for long paths, thousands of dependent apps would likely crash. They are not badly written - they were just written to the spec at the time. And it's not just about crashing - as it's a buffer overflow - it could also be a route for exploits. Microsoft are never likely going to enable that feature on Explorer for that reason. As I see two other people have already told you.
If you want long paths use an application that is long paths enabled.
"If you want your application to use long paths then it needs to have this entry in the manifest"
Yeah, that's *ANOTHER* irritation that Micro-$HAFT has done to change Win32 applications: they added the FORNICATING MANIFEST which you *HAVE* to use for certain things to avoid *NIGHTMARE* scenarios for 'your application', such as being confused for an installer if the name resembles something that *might* be a setup utility [whether it is or not], since Vista.
But I suspect they want to go "UWP-only" at some point, so Win32 may become a thing of the Windows 7 past...
And Micro-$HAFT could have SIMPLY added another API function (20 years ago) to fix their shell, one that respects "longer than 260 character" paths.
related, the article linked to a site that showed the appearance of the latest "new, shiny" and it had a link to a $5 "light media player" - yes you have to BUY it from "the Store". That's a floated 'trial balloon' from Micro-$haft. And the appearance of VLC in the panel above (apparently a UWP version - *shudder*) was an abomination that I pray to the gods of programming *NEVER* *APPEARS* *ON* *ANY* *OTHER* *PLATFORM* {especially Linux or BSD}.
And of course the 2D FLATSO looks JUST as ugly, perhaps even uglier than before.
Management then sets up the basic folder structure to consume about 180 characters of the permitted 240 pathname length. They leave you about 60 characters of pathname length to manage multimillion dollar projects. Then the customer send files with 120 character filenames, so we have to rename them to "A.doc" and "B.doc", and then lose track of them.
Sigh...
It's like writing a novel in APL. NotEnoughRoom.
>For TWO DECADES, File Explorer has been unable to handle Long File Paths. Even paths it itself creates !
This issue is just another indicator of just how bad things have been at MS, for circa two decades!
You only need to look at the rationale for the Windows Longhorn Project (circa 2000 to 2004) and the HCI concepts and issues it was targeting, to appreciate that Win8 & 10 with their UI makeover don't really deliver anything fundamentally different to what we had in W95. Which begs the question, where is the real innovation happening, as it most certainly isn't happening at MS because if it was we wouldn't still be using File Explorer.
"the company basically doesn't care about you"
Nothing new there. Microsoft hasn't cared about the user for ages. Windows 7 is probably the last time that Microsoft cared in any way about the user experience with Windows.
Ultimately, it's more of the same. A few very minor tweaks that are hardly worth mentioning, some secretive changes that MS won't mention, and yet more disruption as everyone's PCs spend ages updating again. Well, everyone with Windows 10 anyway...
IMHO, more Windows 2000. Windows XP added a huge amount of inefficiency, annoying activitation processes and bloat that wasn't required. Some things were improved in Windows XP, of course, but it was largely a skin and UI inefficiency upgrade to Windows 2000 and not a new version of anything.
is obviously put there for the FBI etc who can at a glance see what you have been doing without their specialists.
Also for your PHB's (who obviously have nothing better to do) so that they can overtly monitor your work and importantly non work activities. No more sneaky key loggers and the like.
What's a betting that there are already some 'rulez' being coded to stop this from being disabled in corporate environments.
MS are obviously lacking in ideas about what to do next...
Given the poll results so far (10 mins after posting of the article) the majority of El Reg readers are NOT going to be using MS software in the future... It will be interesting to see how this pans out over the working day here in the UK.
Yeah, we often don't get AAA titles from the really big publishers, but many many other things have day-one (or less technically, if you consider Early Access to be pre-release) support for Linux, and honestly there's so much I have in my Steam library that I never feel the urge to reboot into my Windows install other than to play Overwatch with my flatmate ('cause I'm too lazy to set up and configure Overwatch under Wine).
Two of the most hyped games of the moment, for instance, are Slay The Spire and Surviving Mars, and I've only played either on Linux. It doesn't really bother me that I can't play the latest EA nonsense; I wouldn't have the time and inclination to play it anyways. I'm sad that Into The Breach hasn't been ported yet, but the devs have said they intend that as a post-launch port and for I still haven't played through a full game of XCOM2, so I'm not terribly impatient about that.
majority of El Reg readers are NOT going to be using MS software in the future
I put down MacOS because that's primarily what I use on the end-user machines. All my server VMs are either linux (old Ubuntu or Devuan) or FreeBSD.
I'd happily use linux if:
1 - It worked as well as MacOS
2 - If wasn't infested with systemd.
My first thoughts (wrt Timeline) was that MS had reintroduced the Office journal, moving it out of Outlook and making it part of the OS - which is a better and more logical place for it. I stopped using Journal in Outlook 97/98 when I discovered it didn't track all Office document accesses and neither did it track non-Office document accesses. So my second thoughts were whether this will actually be a useful tool or will it be yet another toy feature that will enable MS to tick boxes and so spoil the markets of third-parties who produce that actually do the job.
No. The point about Journal was that it worked and was useful. So they removed it. I found it really useful, years ago, in Office 2003 I think. It was the fall back when someone couldn't find a document. Search and for that matter the Start menu's search rely on knowing what the thing is called. But document ( and programme ) makers don't always choose sensible, function related, names.
My decision is a while off yet. Only built my current PC at the end of last year. I have to admit to running Windows, but its Windows 7 on here (despite MS trying to block me from doing so). In a couple of years time when Windows 7 support ends, I'll have to re-evaluate my options. One thing is for sure, it won't be Windows 10 in its current guise.
And before people suggest Linux, I do use it on a couple of my systems, but I have too much MS-only software/games for my main system to make Linux an option on here.
My next system will run on paper. Post-its on a white board probably. I'll do a scrum to start the day and invite the bills I have to pay, write stories once every two weeks and allocate times for shouting pwew, pwew into a box coloured inside with crayon while soothing music plays on the Radio Quiet.
Despite getting nothing done, I'll have way more achieved and fewer 'must do' jobs.
I care whether Microsoft will fix that botched Windows update released in mid-March 2018.
"We couldn't complete the updates. Undoing changes."
Timeline? When it comes I'll disable it. Please don't remember my activity, thank you. And Windows is not Facebook.
>It's almost as if the operating system is now more important than the programs it is there to support.
It's always been like that with Windows, although because 2003/XP was around for so long we were lulled into a false sense of security and began to treat Windows as a stable platform on which we could build applications.
The problem is that MS yearn for the limelight and as their only two significant products are Windows and Office (without Windows why would you use Azure?), they have to keep reinventing the wheel to make them seem fresh... This constant churn of newness is causing problems, as developers spend time not enhancing the value-add of their application but reworking it to work on the latest Win10 release, with some already having given up. It almost seems that MS actually wants third-party developers to abandon the Windows platform...
I care whether Microsoft will fix that botched Windows update released in mid-March 2018.
"We couldn't complete the updates. Undoing changes.
--------------------------------------------
We had this issue at work, and for us it turned out to be a McAfee issue, they released an update which fixed it.
Ahhh, is *that* why I've been unable to get the Server 2016 test VM at work to update fully? Here I was just relishing the nostalgia of it all; back in the Vista and 7 era it seemed like Windows Update got itself twisted into knots fairly often, particularly if you didn't follow the updates as they were coming out, and firing up the test VM for the first time in a few months and having it choke on the updates it had to do brought back "fond" memories.
1. Meh. If true then that's a bit less shit than the last big update I suppose.
2. Don't want, will be disabling
3. See 2
4. Whoop-de-fucking-do. Though "You can now use a two finger swipe gesture to dismiss all notifications in the Action Center." sounds entertaining, if only it was the two finger gesture I'm thinking of.
5. Oh, wait, there's only four really...
Unfortunately I finally had to cave and downgrade to W10 at work a couple of months ago. It's taken some time and a bit of googling but I've managed to get it to "bearable" now. Based on reading that ^^ list, the next update doesn't sound like it includes any actual improvements.
Don't worry, we will make sure that you get back in line with this update
{and none of those dodges will work any more AND Edge/Bing defaults will be hardcoded so no using other stuff Ok! We do love you proles...}
Yours
Microsoft.
... and is "five thinsg" really sufficient for a listicle (unless, its the Private Eye foramt where points 4 & 5 are "Ermm" and "Enough of this (Ed.)")
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the follow-ups after its relesaed to the public and read the series of "Windows user in <insert location of IP address here> are shocked by this change in latest update", "You won't believe what the windows start menu looks like now", "How to use the new windows update to check if you had PPI", etc etc etc
I do not run one OS, I use multiple at the same time. Which is:
Linux when I need to do actual work, running both as a hypervisor and also as a guest OS within libvirt/qemu/kvm stack. That's what I use for writing and debugging code. Also, my personal OS is Windows 10 (running always as a guest OS) for sake of these few actually good programs not related to work, which are not available on Linux, and also when my children want to play games.
1. Is that Microsoft minutes or normal minutes.
2. Is there going to be a privacy control for that? bet that gets uploaded to Microsoft by default.
3. Surely ground breaking oh wait Bluetooth etc.
4. Don't want to use Edge, Firefox will do for me.
5. They don't want to because it's still a buggy mess but they'll announce it on the day of release just to makes us all happy.
Yeah, I'm totally unconvinced on Windows 10.
Bear in mind that I manage whole schools on Windows, and that I'm usually seen as "ahead of the game" by other IT Managers in the same area.
So far my Windows 10 experience consists of:
- Three people who pressed the "free upgrade" of their 7/8 machines, and it totally trashed them.
- One person who did that and managed to lose every file they made (literally, gone). It looks like it did a fresh install rather than an upgrade. Maybe user error but just shouldn't be possible without dire warnings.
- One person who upgraded and then explorer crashed CONSTANTLY, as in every 3 or so seconds. The only way to "fix" it enough to log it and get her files off was to install - by RAPID bashing of the Win+R shortcut - a copy of Classic Shell. That allowed us to log on without the constant crashing and only the shell process of explorer.exe crashed, not the file-browsing ones, so she was actually able to use the computer in that state for quite a while.
- One IT guy who has a home machine on Windows 10. Since the Anniversary update, whenever you let it do automatic updates, it's guaranteed that it will remove the networking driver and replace it with a broken one that doesn't work. That stops the machine working, basically, and no amount of reinstalling the original driver will make it continue. He just has to roll-back the machine each time and deny updates. Once every few weeks he lets it happen again to "see if it's fixed yet" but it's been like that since the Anniversary update.
I honestly can't see that I'd bother with a base install of Windows again. I'd almost certainly go for VMs anyway. VMWare is about the best personal investment I've ever made. And I can't see that Windows would figure heavily at home. I surveyed my personal usage of my Windows 7 machine (the install of which is 8 years old and perfectly fine) and it's almost all Vivaldi, Eclipse, Steam (okay, I would lose some games but I can easily live without GTA V nowadays), loads of emulators, VLC, etc, Oh, and a bunch of VMs on lots of different OS.
But for a machine I *use*, day-in, day-out as a utility machine? Yeah, it wouldn't be Windows 10. As a gaming machine? Not Windows 10. As a portable machine? Not Windows 10. As a serious high-end workstation for some specialist task? Not Windows 10.
I lived without Windows at home for about 10 years. It was fine. I only got back into Windows because my shiny new laptop had it pre-installed and I could run VMWare on that and run all my old Linux stuff. It made cross-platform development easier and I could easily have done things the other way around. Those non-Windows times were the years I ran Slackware as my primary desktop. It was absolutely fine. Nowadays, the Steam/games situation has improved immensely and that was really my only gripe. I mostly play Steam/GOG games, and for Steam all the ones I have more than 100 hours on are on Linux too.
Windows 10 gives me no compelling reason to use it. They're locking in DirectX 12 or whatever to it again to try to trap people on it. But that's more than cancelled out by the Edge-trickery and all the usual old games that they like to play. I'd have to load it up with Classic Shell etc. to turn off the junk I don't like.
At work, we stuck on 8.1 precisely because of the same things. Issues galore, not insurmountable with volume licensing and network management, but enough to not bother when there is literally zero advantage to moving. There's nothing we need on 10. There's lots of things I absolutely cannot have (e.g. I'll have to GPO the heck out of Cortana, etc.). Lots of stuff just wouldn't work. We have no problems with the current setup and it's supported. As such, it's a really easy decision.
I moved 7 elderly cousins to 10 (one from Vista-7-10, 2 from 8.1) and for them it 'just works'. Did them all remotely with splendid TeamViewer (oh yes you can). Hardly any calls since then for OS glitches: maybe it's helped that with ClassicShell and anti-slurps I've made them all look just like XP. Only failure was one that didn't have HDD room for 'previous system' backup, which needed some repartitioning before it would 'downgrade' safely - give 'em credit for due caution. Only complaint has been that version upgrades take so very long on their ancient kit - but at least it says what it's doing while they're waiting, and fails gracefully if they shut down by mistake.
Hardly any calls since then for OS glitches: maybe it's helped that with ClassicShell and anti-slurps I've made them all look just like XP.
It takes more than Classic Shell (which is no longer being updated, thanks to Windows 10's update schedule). You need something else to get rid of the ribbon (I use Old New Explorer), and something else again to enable the custom themes that are needed to make it resemble XP, somewhat. And how can you get rid of all of the UWP crap that comes up and looks decidedly foreign since it blatantly ignores whatever theme you have in place and ignores all former conventions of Windows UI design? More and more of the system dialogs are being moved into UWP with each subsequent release of Windows 10. It just keeps getting worse!
"I moved 7 elderly cousins to 10 (one from Vista-7-10, 2 from 8.1) and for them it 'just works'."
well, LA-DE-FRICKING-DAH! [voice of Chris Farley]
"with ClassicShell and anti-slurps I've made them all look just like XP"
HOW can you POSSIBLY do THAT when it's STILL all "2D FLATSO"? And don't forget "Settings" vs "Control Panel" and lots of _OTHER_ sewage. Sure 'Classic Shell' makes it USABLE, but doesn't fix the REAL problem.
I moved 7 elderly cousins to 10...and for them it 'just works'. Did them all remotely with splendid TeamViewer (oh yes you can). Hardly any calls since then for OS glitches: maybe it's helped that with ClassicShell and anti-slurps I've made them all look just like XP.
Wow, terrible idea. As in the whole process. If you ever used windows with windows update (even without counting the thousands of windows forced upgraded failed complains), you should know that upgrade of any windows version is a bad idea. If you're lucky, you get everything working. If not, everything can be broken (can't boot, driver failed, missing files, bugged out windows compounds). Using Teamviewer here meant that there's a chance that you won't even be able to connect back if windows upgrade breaks Teamviewer during the upgrade.
If I were you, I'll maintain their software and give them a clean OS from the start. And depends on what software they use, I'll pick the appropriate OS for the job (software only works with windows xp? install window xp or windows 7 xp mode, etc.). Also, I would actually be on-site to swap the HDD with the old OS with the HDD with the new OS, so I know 100% there is a working backup if something on the new OS doesn't work the way they wanted to.
Also unless I am getting paid for IT support from those elders, Windows 10 will be the last in-line option. It's because Windows 10 keeps changing. You should know that the developer supporting and created ClassicShell had already discontinued development, all due to how Windows 10 constantly changing everything in each update. Unless your Windows 10 is not updated or connected online, you will soon have to have to support your way to keep Windows 10 from breaking ClassicShell and work your way to keep it continues to look just like XP.
Edit = in case you really don't know, Apple has a thing for not speaking to El Reg.
MS only talks in places where fanboys hang out, like their Insider forum after they purged all of the people who had any real criticism. Then they drink in all of the cooing and adulation, which they will later claim means they "listened to our users." They do listen to their users-- they are just very selective which ones they listen to. It's the ones that are saying the same things Microsoft is saying, in a grand circle of logic.
>There are plenty of options to control windows update reboots such as time windows and you always get a warning before a reboot with an option to postpone. There is even an option for extra warnings.
I repeat, no sensible way of PREVENTING an uncommanded reboot, note the key capitalised word which means to stop. In my opinion an OS should NEVER restart the system without specific user instruction to do so, thank goodness Windows doesn't run on pacemakers.
There are plenty of options to control windows update
I can't see the option I want:
"Accept bug fixes and security updates only, reject all the shitty bloat, crapps, changes in UI, everything to do with Cortana, Bing, Edge, crappy tracking and Timeline shite, and all the other Microsoft spew, all vestiges of the Microsoft "app store", all VR/AR twattery. Oh, and while you're at it, stop fucking with my settings."
Really seems to me that MS are intent on driving users away with this never ending flood of digital foulage.
> There are plenty of options to control windows update reboots such as time windows and you always get a warning before a reboot with an option to postpone.
My spouse begs to differ. We've tried everything suggested to wrestle updates into submission and they still invariably wind up rebooting at the worst possible moment, and or disabling things like alarms. And of course invariably break stuff.
She utterly hates Windows 10. If it were possible to install XP on her brand new touchscreen HP laptop she would do it in a flash.
Looking forward to Firefox and Google Chrome standing their ground and discontinuing their platforms on Windows 10 in protest at Microsoft's Edge's continued obsessive behaviour to take over the (hidden) browser defaults.
The Latest: the Mail App defaults to Edge in insider builds of RS5.
I think Windows would die a slow death if Firefox and Google Chrome went elsewhere (because so would their users).
Microsoft should watch their step, this isn't 1996 anymore and remember that the lack of Apps killed Windows Mobile, ultimately.
Windows 10 isn't that compelling for a lot of tasks today. Edge certainly isn't.
"Edge's continued obsessive behaviour to take over the (hidden) browser defaults."
For all in place updates I have done, the browser settings were not changed back to Edge. And the defaults are not hidden - there is a control panel option to change them.
"For all in place updates I have done, the browser settings were not changed back to Edge. And the defaults are not hidden - there is a control panel option to change them."
That's all disappearing in RS5 (Next update after the Spring Creators Update)
I attempted it long ago. not even in alpha state, unfortunately. maybe now it's better. I don't even know if it supports applications written for Windows 7. Ot was originally intended as an XP clone.
it would be nice if it gets finished into a commercial product, because people WOULD BUY IT
> Does anyone have any first-hand experience?
Not first hand, but in circa 2015 they had Office 2003 running in a "decent state" and there are reports from 2017 that indicate Office 2010 now sort of runs. I don't know how well ReactOS compares with Wine/PlayOnLinux. But it is probably getting to a point where it is worth loading up a VM and giving it a spin.
BBC BASIC is available for Windows too. The developer kept on developing so it has moved on a lot but is still BBC BASIC. See http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcwin/bbcwin.html. However you may choose not to use Windows as it is now available on most other OSes too.
Windows update.... yay :-|
So I can look forward to long hours of trying to make the machine run properly as it repellently (I tried to write 'repeatedly' but the auto-correct put in that other word and I thought it was better) tries to download and install a multi-gig patch without any warning making the whole rig run like a dog for days.
Then I get to spend a happy few hours putting all the privacy settings back and finding the new places MS has hidden them AND uninstalling all the fucking adverts for Candy Crush, Office 365 etc.
THEN I get to repeat the process on my little atom powered netbook that won't install the patch because it's not got enough fucking memory and won't let me delete all the unnecessary shite that MS forces down.
"that won't install the patch because it's not got enough fucking memory"
I assume you mean not enough disk space. That's fixable: Firstly delete the contents of C:\WINDOWS\TEMP and C:\WINDOWS\SOFTWAREDISTRIBUTION\ which should clear out a bunch of stuff that the disk space clean-up doesn't. Then open an Administrator Command Prompt and type POWERCFG -H OFF which will remove your hibernation file. Now you should be able to install the updates.
My computers are usually 12+ years before I upgrade. I just need stability, not high speed, after all there is a limit to how fast I type and the 2 MHz BBC was good enough back then - for typing, that is. So my next will be in 10 years tme I guess. At which point I hope Redox-OS will be the thing.
Sure, Linux isn't too shabby but cruft is always aggregating (decades of talk and strfry is still with us). It seems less and less likely that they will ever declare a flag day on old deprecated features. Redox-OS is the opportunity to start afresh with old experiences and a fresh view.
My laptop seems to be running a version of Windows 10 where I seem unable to prevent these updates from installing. Last time it happened it completely fucked my WiFi adapter and/or drivers and I've not been able to find a fix to that issue as of yet.
My next O/S will not be Windows. I may have to bite the bullet and get back to a secure Linux derivative. I'll have a look on Distrowatch but if anyone can recommend one that is designed with security and to help prevent this sort data tracking and leakage then I'd appreciate the advice.
Thanks.
Four years ago, as an experiment, I paid £175 for a Chromebook to see if I could use it as alternative to my Windows laptop for travel, this means a full day in London without a charger etc.
After four years there have been about 5 occasions where I've needed to use "real" MS Office (presenting embedded video in a PPT) other than that it works fine and has travelled all over the world with me.
It has the added advantage that getting internet connectivity on the move is a simple case of simply plugging my Android (4G+ Internet - often better than my home fibre broadband) into it and it simply works.
Thus I've just upgraded to a new Chromebook ultra slim, with full HD screen, metal case, 11 hrs on a charge AND it supports android apps, thus MS Office 365.
Cost of this new beast £220.....
Can't see myself ever needing to lug my Windows laptop again!
mirrors my experience too.
I have a windows laptop for work. the lastr household windows computer that died was replaced by a chromebook.
We have one application installed on my work laptop, the chromebook can't run the vinyl / sticker cutter thing the wife has. That's it. The wife has managed exclusively on the chromebook otherwise.
I suspect most households don't have their own vinyl cutter jobby - I certainly
have no idea why we do.
and think of all that lovely data you are sending to Google each and every day.
After the recent FB scandal, I would have hoped that people would really think long and hard about what they do in the internet... but it seems not. Sigh.
I deleted my FB and Google accounts on Tuesday. I decided that their slurping of me was done forever.
Rebuilt my Laptop (fresh CentOS install) after changing the MAC addresss of the WiFi device, called it a different name and use a totally different username.
and think of all that lovely data you are sending to Google each and every day.
That is the price tag, yes. But at least Chrome OS works almost flawlessly on any halfway decent device, which start from less than £200.
The problem with Windows is that it is now even more complex than it ever was, barely more reliable, often requires technical intervention, its self maintenance and security are shit, it appears to bleed as much data as Chrome OS, and I have to pay for this privilege.
So all things considered, the Googleprice is not relevant for Chrome versus Windows. If you're contemplating a full fat Linux machine, then yes, the Googleprice is an additional cost, but equally you may need to be a bit of a geek to get everything set up and configured.
That is the price tag, yes. But at least Chrome OS works almost flawlessly on any halfway decent device, which start from less than £200.
I bought a low-end Windows laptop just after Christmas for $180 US, and immediately cleansed it of its Windows 10 infection. It's running Mint now, and it's pretty close to your description of "almost flawlessly" (almost because nothing ever is really flawless. It never crashes, everything works, it's fast enough to be used by a reasonable person who does not have the patience of Job, etc). Also, no slurping, and I don't have to use Chrome. It's kind of like a Chromebook where I get to use Waterfox with all of my addons and without telemetry!
It's not the fastest laptop... it's not even MY fastest laptop (and my other one is a 9 year old C2D). The new one does, though, have long battery life, and it was cheap-- the two things I was going for. Really, this thing should not have ever been sold as a Windows unit, as its onboard storage is definitely Chromebook-spec at 32GB (too small to even install Win 10 1709, by some accounts), but the good part of that is that it has a regular PC UEFI and not the Chromebook specialty firmware, which makes it really easy to install whatever I want.
As for the MS tax... it must have been offset by the crapware that came on it, as it is definitely priced in the range of similar-spec Chromebooks.
and think of all that lovely data you are sending to Google each and every day.
If you're doing the same thing using Windows, the same data will be sent.
However, with Windows you're also sending data to Microsoft, about what you're actually doing on your "personal" computer.
Not to mention you've got 1 core devoted to anti-malware, data-plan destroying updates that present themselves at the most awkward times making your computer unusable, and whatever else you need to tweak, remove, or download to get the computer in an as usable state as you can.
No brainer.
Yep.
We saved almost a thousand pounds and our data goes to google not MS.
What was your point again? The choices are either not use computers, or have your data go *somewhere*. I suspect an air-gapped linux PC of some sort wouldn't really fit most peoples' requirement for a computer.
Otherwise it would have been a windows 10 machine so google *and* MS would have got "our data".
We went with a 299 quid gamble (because it was the touchscreen one with the slightly better screen) that paid off considering the laptops we were looking at were in the 700-1200 quid range.
As per Ledswinger, that is the price for their free services, Android, and additional for ChromeOS. I've been with them since their beginning, so they know most of what I do. However, Google is a very jelous guardian of their data. What they do share are a code for particular advertising targeting. Takes about an hour online, or five seconds looking around my room, and you can come to the conclusion that I'm into computer hardware. Hell, just searching the web from that beginning will turn that up. I predate that by a couple of decades too. [I did quite a bit of work developing those monstrous web pages for CompuServe back in the '90's. Not proud of it, they are atrocious. It was by direction.]
I hardly use my Windows laptop here and it's about to get switched to BSD in a few days. I've two Android tablets, one of which is my portable machine. Most all of my work online is done on a Fusion5 tablet connected to a gaming keyboard and mouse and a 30" WQXGA display. Works a treat.
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"Our advice? Hold off as long as possible until the initial bugs are ironed out, and the exact feature list is cemented in forever." *
There you go.
Fixed it for you.
Cheers.
* Can't believe that after all that has happened in the past few years (~ 20+), using Windows whatever is still something to be discussed and/or talked about.
A couple of years being since 2003.
Pah. Newbie.
(My first linux box used pre-v1 slackware. Doing dial-on-demand to Demon Internet[1] over the blazing speed of a 14.4k modem)
[1] Picked because they had lots of FAQs about how to set up sendmail[2] and fetchnews as well as how to slip/ppp and dial-on-demand. Dropped many years later because the techie nature of the place had utterly disappeared after their borging by Thus.
[2] Quickly superceded by qmail/exmlm-idx. Which required a different mindset but Just Worked. As opposed to sendmail which Only Just Worked..
Ah memories, another Demon user back in the early days of squawking modems & little choice of ISP, and if you had a technical issue you could quite likely have Cliff talking you through it.
I too ditched them as they went downhill with takeover, removing key (to me) functionality & reliability plummeting
On parent's PC as (surprise, surprise) it was getting continually bricked by failed updates.
..Bricked as in totally unusable
So now they can do basic email / web / "video" watching / printing / scanning / basic document, photo / image edits, activities (about all they use a PC for) on an OS that just chugs along without randomly breaking on updates.
As per chrome book mentions (& others using tablets) - for "basic" stuff any device / OS will do the job.
Thus the "I must have windows only" market shrinks to need for certian software be it games, CAD, accounts or whatever.
I use a mixture of OS - won't be stopping using Windows any time soon, although I'm rather irritated that one home install has managed to trash itself and insist my graphics cards are broken (they are not).
Timeline (aka 'recent documents') sounds like a decent idea, but I'm not fond of the rolling upgrades or the loss of control Windows 10 involves. 8 and prior versions on the other hand, just keep on trucking.
My main system is a combination of Xen, FreeBSD, and Windows. However it currently needs a bit of attention, so a lot of the time I'm booting up my OpenBSD systems. To be honest it does 95% of what I want (web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, some development), and there are consoles and retro PCs for gaming, etc. The modern system is needed for VR, high end virtualisation, and recent PC games though..
I do like OpenBSD, but I'm not blind to its shortcomings. Binary compatibility doesn't exist. Emulation is less than wonderful (Linux subsystem dropped, no WINE, no Virtualbox or accelerated qemu). Graphics card support is dated and there's no manufacturer driver (closed source) support. No bluetooth, firewire, 802.11ac (802.11n is just about getting there). Such a lovely, integrated, easy and quick to install, and well documented system though.
True, buy a decent machine from the right place and you won't get third party crap.
With W10 however, even Pro, you will still get a whole bunch of unnecessary bloatware, including shit like Candy Crush, installed automatically in the background. Most of it can be removed easily enough, but that's not the point, it shouldn't be there in the first place.
Then there's the crap that you can't uninstall easily, but have to resort to Powershell or cmd to get rid of.
Same with mine. The fan blows when idle, and the drive led constantly flashing.
Just not worth the hassle anymore - I turn it on, wait for some fucking update to complete, and by then I've picked up my phone or tablet and done what I was going to do in the first place.
The only app probably I use is Windows Update - with the telemetry that microsoft receive, they must think I love the fucking thing!
That really depends on the what I need to get hold of next time round. I use, Windows, Mac and Linux. For me, it's not really an either or choice. I use all three, like using all three and will continue to use all three. Don't make me choose just one, because I simply cannot do so.
Windows - good for gaming, photoshop, programming and tech support type things.
MacOS - good for video/audio capture editing and stuff like that.
Linux - great for server stuff, infrastructure, Media servers, pratting about with (read Raspberry PI)
For me, the OS is simply a tool to use, it does not define anything. So, I'd want to vote for all three for my next computer, as it could be ANY of the three.
10% of installs will be in MS run data centres and will complete within 2 minutes with correct flags set
20% will be on new OEM devices and will complete within 5 minutes
40% will be on desktop estates and take between 5 and 35 minutes to complete
You! You in the corner with the 3 year old laptop! Your install will take long enough to give that average.
Yup, but the only spec that really matters is storage speed. My mom's old Ivy Bridge I3 Thinkpad went from a 1.5 hour Windows 10 install time to a 30 minute Windows 10 install time just from replacing the massively slow hard drive with a Samsung 850 EVO.
Oi. Survey people. My next desktop OS, like my current one and my last one will be Linux. Not GNU/Linux, because that's pandering to the inflated self-importance of a man who has spent thirty years failing to produce an operating system and is clinging on to the coattails of someone who has succeeded.
That's particularly unfair. I'm not by any means a fan of Stallman, but they've contributed a lot of essential software (except Emacs, that can die :P ).
Stallman's point is that Linux is just a kernel - it's a very successful kernel, with many features, but it doesn't include a userland.
BSD, on the other hand, is an integrated whole. Each of the BSDs ships with a userland integrated into the operating system, and the concept of distributions largely does not exist.
Also, whilst I strongly disagree with Stallman's idea of software freedom, I do agree with their position on open standards. It's not a position that tends to work perfectly in the real world of closed source hardware and software, but the efforts of Stallman, Theo, and others has helped to make computing more open than it would otherwise be.
The fact Hurd hasn't succeeded isn't really that important - people obviously don't care. The Linux kernel is a good enough option for people that want an operating system that forces sharing of code, and a wide choice of distributions. For a different take on free software there are the BSDs, and for closed source there's Windows and OS X (plus a number of minority OSses with varying licences and capabilities).
Obviously all these above operating system choices meet the vast majority of requirements, so Hurd does not need to succeed.
Not GNU/Linux, because that's pandering to the inflated self-importance
Oh, good grief. GNU/Linux is a bit of a mouthful and a bugger to type - but Linux is merely the kernel, and like GNU never quite managing to finish the Hurd, the Fin-ish may never have managed a complete userland for his kernel.
'Linux is not quite merely just kernel+GNU anymore either, but I think none of us want to get into a rest-a-ur-aunt vs. rest-z-ur-great-great-uncle-on-yur-mothers-side - sorry another Mr Don & Mr George joke.
Oh yes, my next OS will probably be Windows. That's normally what's pre-installed.
I'll boot it up, next, next, next, bypass the "create a microsoft account", next, next, next
Leave it to update & reboot, check the device manager that the everything appears to be ok, download Linux mint, write it to usb, then reboot
I've no idea what to get next.
I hate windows 10.
I have tried Linux - everything is a tiring battle requiring internet searches.
I hate Apple (iTunes borked my PC music library), and it's an overpriced walled garden.
Tablet (Hudl) - hated limited screen and keyboard options (like to have more than one thing open at once, and easy drag/drop functionality. Plus USB OtG was flaky
ChromeOS - maybe, but the devices are low powered.
Something else? Maybe I don't need a computer? Except the NAS interface is browser based :-/
Most of what i do is send emails and copy pictures from my camera to NAS.
I will nurse Windows 7 as long as possible, and see whats available in a couple of years.
I would love a shiny new laptop - but every review I read makes me shudder when I get to the OS bit.
Genuinely not enthused by any of the poor options currently available.
Yeah, I don't see why a Chromebook wouldn't work for you. Pretty much any of the Unixes would work too.
Surely you're not uploading all your pictures using a browser?
You need to list all your requirements as 'most of what I do' obviously also includes music. Too many times people say their requirements are simple then add '..and play the latest PC games' on to the end.
Yeah probably a Chrome book.
Music - not so much. I rip CDs to my library on the NAS, and then sync them with winamp to the ipod
So everything I have done on my PC in the last 6 months:
1) Produced (and printed) party invitations in word
2) Produced and printed graphics for charity events (Word NOT Office 360)
3) Written emails (Gmail) (used to be chrome, but now Firefox)
4) browsed the web (chrome/firefox)
5) opened keypass
6) ripped CDs (and listened to music while doing so)
7) logged into work with Citrix
8) produced simple excel spreadsheets (Not Office 360)
9) Downloaded gopro footage
10) Copy photos to NAS & USB, and made minor edits (Photoshop - NOT CC)
11) managed NAS./firewall / router (browser based)
What I have not done is gaming!
When you look at that list, a chrome book will be more than adequate.
@Bert 1
"I hate Apple (iTunes borked my PC music library), and it's an overpriced walled garden."
Only IOS is walled, you can install any old crap in MacOS the same as you can with other OSes (if you can find what you need). Agreed that Macs are over priced - I doubt I'll be able to afford to replace mine if it ever breaks - and you'll be pleased to know that ITunes is just as bad on a Mac as it is on a PC.
well I have windows update broke to stop that software distribution folder causing MS installer going mental every update, super fetch is disabled to stop it running my drives at 80% when idle, I ripped all sorts of stupidity out through power shell like the Xbox nonsense, because MS think things like windowed 60htz is better than FS 144htz.
It is get more like Linux every update , as in I'm spending more of my my time in a shell after an update trying to get things working as good as they where before .
The OS is dead a OS Sir!!! and taping it to the perch does not count
I cannot stand W10 anymore. I am running the Insider builds in a VM and it's awful. Gimme Windows 7 with extended security patches, I'll trash W10. Even 8.1 is less bloated, more streamlined and overall faster. Just put Classic Shell and it's almost like 7.
There semi-annual update schedule feels like they're denying Windows has reached peak OS utility with XP, and UI with 7.
...and he imagines God has ordered him to build Windows to carry everything to safety ......or something. Since he originally designed his 'ark' the superstructure has grown exponentially while the hull has long since lost the ability to sustain it as demonstrated by the many capsizing the 'design' has experienced.
Giant bowls of spaghetti make for poor foundations.
The third, is it? Is this deliberate confusion on their part to lull users into the mindset of "Oh just another 4GB to fail to download a few times" and just accept that caned broadband and uncertainty of forward compatibility is the price to pay for being assured even of security updates - according to recent reports?
Cut and paste the following text into a wordpad, notepad session and save as a .cmd file. Call it anything you like, like "turn_shitty_updates_on_off.cmd".
@echo off
title Disable/Enable Windows 10 Automatic Updates
color 1f
:Begin UAC check and Auto-Elevate Permissions
:-------------------------------------
REM --> Check for permissions
>nul 2>&1 "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\cacls.exe" "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config\system"
REM --> If error flag set, we do not have admin.
if '%errorlevel%' NEQ '0' (
echo:
echo Requesting Administrative Privileges...
echo Press YES in UAC Prompt to Continue
echo:
goto UACPrompt
) else ( goto gotAdmin )
:UACPrompt
echo Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
echo UAC.ShellExecute "%~s0", "", "", "runas", 1 >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
"%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
exit /B
:gotAdmin
if exist "%temp%\getadmin.vbs" ( del "%temp%\getadmin.vbs" )
pushd "%CD%"
CD /D "%~dp0"
:--------------------------------------
:Check Windows Version
wmic os get version | find /i "10.">nul 2>nul
if %errorlevel% neq 0 GOTO :Not10
:Check the key:
(reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v "NoAutoUpdate"|find /i "0x1")>NUL 2>NUL
if %errorlevel% neq 0 GOTO :KEYOFF
:KEYON
echo ============================================================
echo Automatic Updates are currently disabled.
echo Would you like to re-enable them? (Y/N)
echo ============================================================
echo.
choice /c yn /n
If %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 1 GOTO :QUIT
echo Attempting to shut down the Windows Update service if it's running
net stop wuauserv>NUL 2>NUL
echo.
Echo Changing Registry key
REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v "NoAutoUpdate" /D 0 /T REG_DWORD /F>NUL 2>NUL
IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO :ERROR
Echo.
Echo Automatic Updates have been enabled
Echo.
goto :QUIT
:KEYOFF
echo ============================================================
echo Automatic Updates are currently enabled.
echo Would you like to disable them? (Y/N)
echo ============================================================
echo.
choice /c yn /n
If %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 1 GOTO :QUIT
echo Attempting to shut down the Windows Update service if it's running
net stop wuauserv>NUL 2>NUL
echo.
Echo Changing Registry key
REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v "NoAutoUpdate" /D 1 /T REG_DWORD /F>NUL 2>NUL
IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO :ERROR
Echo.
Echo Automatic Updates have been disabled
Echo.
goto :QUIT
:QUIT
echo ============================================================
echo Press any key to exit...
echo ============================================================
pause>NUL
goto :EOF
:ERROR
echo ============================================================
echo The script ran into an unexpected error setting reg key.
echo Press any key to exit...
echo ============================================================
pause>NUL
goto :EOF
:Not10
echo ============================================================
echo This script is only designed for Windows 10...
echo Press any key to exit...
echo ============================================================
pause>NUL
goto :EOF
There will be a test at the end of the week...............
Enjoy!
1) Thirty-minute install: Heard this one before. It's still fiction.
2) Timeline: We already have this. It's called 'Recent'. Combined with all the nifty "telemetry" (read: spyware) features, the notion is terrifying.
3) Nearby Share: Given the way Microsoft manages security, this too is terrifying.
4a) Things look "nicer"? This too is an old policy, i.e. to release the same old crap with lipstick on it.
4b) Edge? Just say "No."
5) Refused to divulge the details? Not surprising. I'm still removing "telemetry" from my Win7 box, and have had to repeatedly, and for years. Yet it's *never mentioned* in the patch notes.
Microsoft is a constant in an ever-changing world. But not a comforting one.
It would be nice if one of these updates gave me something of actual use to me. For years MS gave you the ability to change the look of the start menu so that it could appear like the previous Windows versions but since Windows 8 was launched they took this ability away to push a touch screen style interface full of ads on everyone whether they wanted it or not. Give us back our old Windows XP or 7 start menu without having to rely on 3rd party software!
I'm really pissed with Windows 10. Since the last update, I can't see my NAS any more and none of the guides on the net have brought it back. Booting Linux on the same machine shows it fine.
The only things I use Windows for now are games, my photography software and the programming software for my two way radios. Every new major Win 10 update forces more privacy invading features on me that I often can't disable. I can't wait to seen the back of it.
I'm even starting to feel happy about work's declared plan to switch us all over to Macs.
I use Windows 7, Gentoo, Android and Amiga OS (with Directory Opus Magellan II in WB replacement mode).
So not a one-system fanboi. Basically, whatever works for my needs.
I was initially going to say that my next OS will be Windows 10, not because I like it (Goat knows it's hideous spyware), but simply because it will inevitably become a requirement (and in some instances already is) for triple-A gaming.
But then I reminded myself about current GPU and DDR4 prices, and realised that by the time I can actually afford a next-gen gaming rig, Windows might easily be up to version 27, by which time it's entirely possible that some other OS will have taken over as the most popular gaming platform.
So, being realistic, my next OS will most likely be ... none. Or, put another way, my next OS will be, like my next PC, the same one I'm using now. Probably forever, by the looks of things.
Apparently all those potential Microsoft Windows 10 acquirers do not want to work around what Microsoft doesn't want them to work around, as Win 10 License won't allow it.
....and as Microsoft designed and manufactured their operating system that way they did, it can be assumed they the devisors of their devices intended all the shit/stuff in Win 10 (every bit of it bugs and all), therefore it is unworkaround-able.
And that means you shouldn't even disable a system object, unless told to by Support.Microsoft.
Just shamble along now
I'm running a high-DPI laptop. Remote Desktop is unusable due to extremely small text and icons. Searching, I came across a fix (use Remote Desktop Connection Manager) but that only partially improves things - the mouse cursor is smaller than a fruit fly. Can't Microsoft fix their own products?
Another issue is long path names. They are supported, but only under special circumstances. If I move a directory tree with long path names into a subdirectory, I frequently run into the name-too-long issue. It's about time that long path names were solidly supported in Explorer, don't you think?
It says a lot about how unoptimized and mired in the past many of the core aspects of Windows are, including the installer, that it's reducing the average install time down to . . . 30 minutes. Not to be "that guy" but I can't really remember the last time a Linux desktop install took more than about 10.
edited the registry to disable windows updates. I wait until the dust has settled before I allow mugsoft to screw my computer....in the meantime I am experimenting with a Linux (Mint 18.3) machine for internet use and a stand-alone unconnected windows 10 pro machine solely for those windows programmes that will not run on anything else.....
You really think delaying updates until they've been properly tested (by other end users) and fixed means that his computer must be a malware-ridden disaster? That's absurd.
99% of avoiding malware is not doing something stupid. Most people with malware on their systems installed it themselves. While drive-by malware infections exist, they're not the norm, and the individual never said anything about running an out of date browser.
I'd lay odds on a system that's unpatched being clean if it is used by someone who understands the threat vectors than I would on a completely up to date system that is used by a regular user who has little understanding of anything tech. If a person falls for some fake virus warning somewhere on the web and is tricked into installing the malware himself, there's not much a patched OS can do to stop it if the user willingly hands the intruder the keys to the kingdom. Even if the user is prompted with an antimalware program warning, he's liable to click whatever it takes to get the warning off the screen, because that's what people who don't understand (or care) about malware do.
An experienced user with an unpatched system isn't even in the same league in terms of risk. He recognizes the fake antimalware and browser update warnings for what they are; he rejects email with suspicious attachments or with suspicious links. He has security countermeasures in his browser, often times, like NoScript. When he wants to download a program, he verifies that the publisher is legit and that the URL he's getting it from is as well. He checks the hash of the downloaded file against the published data (hopefully that from another site than the one from which he downloaded, in case it has been breached). He checks the signature on the file before running it.
I know which of the two I would feel better about giving my full (non guest isolated) wifi password to.
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