Linux-loving Windows 10 May 2020 Update squeaks in with days to spare before June After a lengthy gestation in the Insider Program, the Windows 10 May 2020 Update (aka 2004, aka 20H1) has arrived, replete with a Linux kernel in the form of the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL). Squeaking in at the end of May, version 2004 is one of Microsoft's "big" Windows updates, following the jumped-up patch that was …
Nah, they’ve simply worked out a way of making money whilst accommodating Linux (services and lots of cloud plus being nice for penguin users too). And judging by their commercial performance they’re doing it right.
I have to say that I’m impressed by the way Microsoft can earn money on the most unexpected of things. Their hardware line is pretty good now. Even Bing makes a profit (which must surely puzzle Google). Azure is surprisingly popular and seemingly pretty good (which must puzzle Amazon). Buying GutHub doesn’t seem to have destroyed GitHub.
They’re touching more sectors of the market than any of the other big tech companies, and they are doing all of them fairly well.
"Those who have discovered the Virtual Desktop feature can give them names more helpful than 'Desktop 1' and 'Desktop 2'"
That's a welcome feature. Windows needed this back in the XP days. I'd like to mention that multiple desktops have been available in the Linux world since around 2006-ish (gnome 2 and KDE both had this feature as I recall) and I've been able to name them as well for some time. So "welcome to the club" Micros~1 and glad you've caught up to the X11 desktop world!
(now if you could catch up in a different way, like letting us CHANGE the appearance of our desktops to something 3D Skeuomorphic like I can do with Mate and Cinnamon, then I'd actually consider using Windows 10 for more than just testing my windows applications to make sure they run on it...)
I'd like to mention that multiple desktops have been available in the Linux world since around 2006-ish (gnome 2 and KDE both had this feature as I recall)
Why would you like to mention that?
It's not True.
CTWM (1992) - based on TWM and extended for multiple workspaces. But there are earlier implementations reaching back to the 1980's, SWM (1989), the Amiga (1985)....
I'm keen to try WSL2. I have a few systems to update so I downloaded the ISO. Most of my instances are QEMU VMs so I started with one of those. The first attempt failed and rolled back. The second attempt seems to be stuck in a blue screen + reboot loop. Good thing I made a complete backup beforehand! You'd think choosing the completely clean install option would be straightforward. I can only guess that it's having trouble with the VirtIO drivers or there's a more general QEMU problem. It wouldn't be the first time.
I did get it working on the third attempt. Booting from the ISO to start the install instead seemed to do the trick. You don't get the opportunity to install the VirtIO network driver though and Windows seemed to have a hard time believing I didn't have Internet access. It literally asked 4 times.
> Let's connect you to the Internet.
I don't have the Internet.
> Are you sure? It's really useful!
Yes, I'm sure.
*REBOOT*
> Let's connect you to the Internet.
I don't have the Internet.
> Are you sure? It's really useful!
Yes, I'm sure.
> Okay…. so how about online telemetry?
Cortana was heard replying
"I'll be back and even more intrusive. Enjoy your brief holiday while I gather my army and return!"
Personally, all of these so called 'assistants' including Alexa and Siri are more trouble than they are worth to 98% of us.
Like many things in the MS world, once MS has decided that they are a good thing lots of people spend a lot of time working out how to 'nuke' it. Isn't the 2020 version of cat and mouse wonderful eh? /s /s /s
I found Cortana less than useless. Takes up too much memory and the search feature sucks. I figured out how to kill it and keep it from starting back up...but then Microsoft made it so that the Start Menu wouldn't work unless it was running. Cortana was good for the Master Chief in the Halo game series...not good in real life. I haven't seen anything about compatibility issues with AMD hardware or ATI video drivers since I have an older ATI card (HD 5600 series). As others here have mentioned, I am quite keen to check out the new WSL2 features that are included in this update. Per my usual procedure, I'll wait 90 days before I upgrade.
Be warned - if, like many other people, you have disabled the utterly pointless Web Search in the Start Menu - it's back in v2004. This latest release completely ignores all those CortanaConsent and BingWebSearchEnabled registry keys and system policies that you carefully implemented, and with a loud "fuck you, we know best" re-enables web search. Good job Microsoft, because when I hit the Start menu and type "show icons" I'm obviously wanting to search the web for icons inspired by my favorite Broadway shows - there's no possible way I'd be looking for the specific Windows setting on my local PC to show/hide specific desktop icons... *rolls eyes*
Anyway, rant aside, the latest way to disable the benighted web search is to set HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\[DWORD]DisableSearchBoxSuggestions=1. Which also kills command history on the Win+R Run box, but I guess that's acceptable collateral damage. And so the game of whack-a-mole continues.
Microsoft, get this into your heads - many of us do not want to search the web from the Start Menu, and certainly not using your pathetic Bong search engine. That's what browsers are for. Give it up already.
I installed v2004 on my main PC yesterday. Breaking a lifetime habit - wait for other people to encounter the bugs, David, no sense rushing in, you won't gain anything...
Well, so far, not too bad. Most things still work.
On the downside, see my rant elsewhere on this page about the *&^@! Web Search feature, which just won't take a hint and die already.
Oh, and I had the Winaero "Windows 7 Games for Windows 10" pack installed, in order to get my Freecell fix. Well, Microsoft silently uninstalled that (presumably, in order to protect me?) without so much as a notification, which was so very nice of them. I was able to reinstall it and it works just fine, so I can only assume that what they were protecting me from was card games that don't have adverts in them. At least they didn't try to reset my default browser choice for once.
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