Slashdot Mirror

Well Open Source software is often shitty.

You mean Tuesday November 13: https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

Depends if they're also disabling SSL2. I doubt there's much, if any, hardware out there that doesn't support recent TLS and also doesn't support very ancient SSL.

But, MS are dammed if they do, dammed if they don't. I guarentee Google are doing the same thing in Chrome, and you're not having the big outcry there.

Besides, generally Microsoft uses the term 'deprecated' correctly (i.e., they don't mean "removed", they mean "use is discouraged and/or no longer suported".) In fact, ignoring the ZDNet and going back to the actual Microsoft source: "Today, we’re announcing our intent to disable Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 and 1.1 by default in supported versions of Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11 in the first half of 2020." (emphasis mine).

BY DEFAULT.

It sounds like enabling the protocol because you have some ancient printer to configure is only a quick trip to the Internet control panel.

(Although to be honest, this makes me think for a market for a proxy server that speaks TLS1.3 at one end, and speaks whatever legacy encryption to other devices, with an explicit per-domain-name approval process.)

I think it's not long before I.E. itself is deprecated. I believe it isn't installed by default on W10 any more.

You appear to claim that building, testing, and distributing for Google Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox is no less costly than building, testing, and distributing a native application in Windows, macOS, X11/Linux, iOS, and Android editions.

As for testing: The subsets of the HTML5 platform accepted by Blink, Apple WebKit, EdgeHTML, and Gecko are more similar than (say) Cocoa, Win32, Xlib, Cocoa Touch, and Android API. Qt can cover some but not all of these differences. (I haven't used Qt myself, as my employment is in a field of programming other than native GUI applications, so I'm going by what others have told me.)

Early on, you could target Blink and Gecko and leave EdgeHTML and Apple WebKit in second-class support until you accumulate enough capital to expand your testing to browsers whose pack-in browser is non-free (namely Windows, macOS, and iOS). Both a Blink-based browser and a Gecko-based browser are available for all major platforms other than iOS, and Microsoft considers any behavior differences between EdgeHTML and Blink to be "bugs that we're interested in fixing." (Source: "Building a more interoperable Web with Microsoft Edge" by Microsoft Edge Team) But unlike for web applications, operating system publishers have not committed to any sort of interoperability with respect to native GUI applications.

Once you have developed and tested your application, the next step is distribution. You'll need a domain and web hosting whether you are publishing a web application or a native application. In the case of a web application, users access the application through this domain. In the case of a native application, users download the application's installer or are redirected to the correct platform's mobile app store listing through this domain. And either way, you'll need some sort of dynamic capability, whether to run a web application or to process payment from users buying a license to a native application. This rules out just putting a static site on Amazon S3.

But if you are developing a native application, a domain-validated TLS certificate obtained from Let's Encrypt will not be enough. You have to buy an Apple developer ID to publish on iOS at all and to keep Gatekeeper from recommending that macOS users delete your application without running it. And you have to buy an Authenticode certificate to keep SmartScreen from recommending that Windows users delete your application without running it. And you have to keep it renewed as long as you continue to maintain your application. And it's still five different SKUs you have to ship rather than one.

How can I buy Enterprise?

I have 2 Win10 computers that I used for development.

Explain to me again what the fuck I am meant to do?

Windows 10 Enterprise (and therefore LTSB) is available as a $7 Per month subscription option.

More info here:
https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

But, from the Link:
"Today, we are announcing Windows 10 Enterprise E3 in CSP. Starting this fall, businesses can get enterprise-grade security and management capabilities at just $7 a seat per month for the first time through the Cloud Solution Provider channel."

You're welcome! (On a Nick Burns tone)

Follow through to the actual Microsoft post instead of the intermediate blog, and you can see what's happened.

They've taken the tool and made it its own app,

Well of course. Now it is an APP because only a LUDDITE doesn't use an APP for everything.

Follow through to the actual Microsoft post instead of the intermediate blog, and you can see what's happened. They've taken the tool and made it its own app, so with its own software update cycles etc., showing up in alt-tab...a few things. Otherwise it's not much different, but that's fine - this does seem to be an improvement to me. I mean, it's not life changing but it does make things a bit more organised.

Yes, but this isn't just a screenshot, it's a whole new "experience"!

Today weâ(TM)re taking the first step toward converging our snipping experiences. The new modern snipping experience is here...

https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

Maybe next time do a ten second Google search before you rant. You'll look better informed (and not foolish). Because, you see, They're part of the HTML5 spec and almost every current browser or platform supports them. But hey - boo Microsoft etc.

EdgeHTML aims for compatibility with WebKit anyway so it might as well just use WebKit.

'Microsoft has stated that "any Edge-WebKit differences are bugs that we’re interested in fixing."'

https://blogs.windows.com/msed...

Conversion rates in the checkout flow are a key measure for ecommerce sites. 46% of e-commerce shoppers abandon the checkout process during the payment phase, signaling frustration with the complexity and redundancy of re-entering form data or tracking down payment information. Even a small increase in the success rate of checkout make a direct impact on your site’s bottom line, while improving the shopping experience for customers.

From Payment Request API

Many problems related to online purchase abandonment can be traced to checkout forms, which are user-intensive, difficult to use, slow to load and refresh, and require multiple steps to complete.

Sure, this API may make things simpler for you -- the purchaser -- but it seems the focus is on benefiting the seller. Perhaps a narrow distinction, but one that may matter if/when push comes to shove and a side must be chosen by the developers.

Another thing to consider: Since this is implemented in the browser, if you use multiple browsers to shop, then you'll have to store your information in each browser rather than once on the websites on which you shop -- unless the browser vendors can cooperate on a single, shared data storage method.

They mention Blink. So it'll be bug-for-bug compatible with upstream Chromium.

This could be a cross-platform porting strategy for MS: develop a browser skin by embedding Blink and V8. Write a shim around EdgeHTML and ChakraCore to conform to the Chromium embedding API. Gradually replace the non MS code with their own. And as far as JavaScript, they've been working on Node for Chakra already.

Just so people know, this has nothing to do with regular Windows software, just Windows Store apps... which no one cares about.
https://blogs.windows.com/wind...
"Starting with the Fall Creators Update, we’re extending this experience to other device capabilities for apps you install through the Windows Store."

Yet the hardware decoding adoption for consumers for VP9 stands precisely at 0%

Intel has been shipping VP9 hardware decoding for years. By default Microsoft Edge enables VP9 when hardware decoding is present (though you can override that to enable VP9 in software). VP9 is a standard video format on Android and many Android phones have VP9 hardware decoding.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/06/28/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-16232-pc-build-15228-mobile/#XvxHhDZkxXIspVsQ.97

And also, Windows ATP...ass to pussy..mmmm

Blog spam from TheVerge... here's the Microsoft statement: https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

You realize there's a big world outside of the web browser, right?

It's not so big. More than half of YouTube views were from mobile in 2016. Regardless of whether that's mobile browser or mobile app, it's bigger than any other electronics category.

Google's WebRTC

It isn't "Google's" WebRTC. All browsers implement WebRTC, even Safari 11. Here's a blog post about Microsoft's WebRTC implementation in Edge.

HEVC is out now

VP9 is out now and has broader use than HEVC.

as well as software players like Microsoft and Apple

Microsoft supports VP9 in Edge.

VP9 has virtually zero mindshare outside the Googleplex

Netflix uses VP9. Wikipedia uses VP9. And, of course, even though it's inside the Googleplex it's difficult to ignore that YouTube uses VP9. YouTube no longer offers 4K video to Safari by default due to Safari's lack of VP9 support.

set top boxes, etc. that support VP9

Roku has VP9 support, Chromecast Ultra has VP9 support, Android phones have VP9 support, etc, etc.

AV1, on the other hand, looks very compelling... it actually has broad industry support, from big players like Microsoft, Cisco, Netflix, Google, all the way down to silicon makers like Broadcom, Xilinx, RealTek, ARM, AMD, and NVIDIA.

Right. Just like VP9. When will Apple add VP9 support?

It's disingenuous to complain that Apple isn't going to include AV1 when it isn't - and won't be - ready before High Sierra.

Show me where I complained that AV1 won't be in High Sierra. Quote me. Maybe re-read what I wrote.

In the meantime, let's acknowledge that Apple hasn't joined the Alliance for Open Media. When will Apple join?

Source: https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

Beyond the rather pointless quibbling that if the browser is on the computer, then by definition the computer is infected, there's little reason to believe that whatever "magic" MS decides to try to isolate Edge there will be a jailbreak because MS sucks at security. So does basically everyone (as Pwn2Own consistently proves, along with the number of current consoles that get hacked). At best, this will slow down or delay things. My guess is it won't do either as there's almost certainly a very long list of kernel exploits known to blackhats and the new new new (whatever depth this is) sandbox will just be a trivial matter, just like all IE, Chrome, etc.

Seriously, I congratulate MS for at least trying. But the spin that this is malware proof is BS. Not sure how much MS per se is saying that, but they are toting it rather heavily, focusing in part on their "industry leading virtualization technology" and how "potential threats are not only isolated from the network and system, but will be completely removed when the container is closed". Too bad we saw VM (admittedly a different one) break out in Pwn2Own. Honestly, I don't trust that most VMs are serious about security. The notion has been mostly that VMs are new and software wouldn't intentionally attack them. Now that that's changed, I can only imagine we'll see the swiss cheese all these VM solutions really are at isolation.

It appears you'll need a subscription fee of $49 to $99 per year in order to make an unlisted app on one PC and install it on a Windows 10 S laptop. And this will remain the case until Microsoft adds Visual Studio to Windows Store.

At least have an exhaustive list of what they collect

You mean something like this and this?

More details at https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/04/05/windows-10-privacy-journey-continues-more-transparency-and-controls-for-you.

Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft.

This faggot also never links to the real source in the summary. /. mods, stop wasting people's time!

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/04/21/introducing-new-experience-gmail-accounts-windows-10-mail-calendar-apps/

Yeah, hardware compatibility is the problem.

This has already been explained many times over, it really isn't that hard to understand:

Windows 7 was designed nearly 10 years ago before any x86/x64 SOCs existed. For Windows 7 to run on any modern silicon, device drivers and firmware need to emulate Windows 7’s expectations for interrupt processing, bus support, and power states- which is challenging for WiFi, graphics, security, and more. As partners make customizations to legacy device drivers, services, and firmware settings, customers are likely to see regressions with Windows 7 ongoing servicing.
https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2016/01/15/windows-10-embracing-silicon-innovation/#ZYl785vt4CGCYgvH.97

What about that do you find so difficult to understand? Linux had similar problems with running on Skylake and newer processors on kernels earlier than around 4.2, and even 4.2 through 4.5 had many issues around power management and graphics functionality not working properly. You need to update your Linux kernel to be able to run these newer processors too. Or did the Linux kernel people intentionally put those problems in there to force people to upgrade their kernel too?

Funny how those newfangled CPU thingies can still run MS-DOS though.

Not really, MS-DOS is a *very* simple operating system that only requires the most basic of functionality.

Full disclosure: I work for Microsoft as a platforms PFE. This is my own opinion, and not paid shilling. I'm pleasantly surprised to see we're talking about improvements publicly now. That's a nice change.

["What we heard back most explicitly..."] -- Only Microsoft would think that people don't want control of updates, or that unexpected reboots aren't disruptive.

I've been in IT 39 years. Only an idiot doesn't know those two things.

I think you missed the two essential points here. John Cable introduced himself with an explicit overview of the communications channels: https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

I want to say again how important all the feedback we receive from customers is to us at Microsoft. We actively listen to feedback from many different sources including the Feedback Hub application, responses customers provide to system-initiated prompts, our customer support engineers, postings to social media, and a variety of Windows forums. Our approach is to continuously listen to all the feedback and improve the experience with each future update. In fact, most of the improvements I’ll talk about next are the direct result of what we heard through these channels from our customers. On to the details!

Are you an idiot if you don't know that list of feedback channels? No, you're normal, so it makes sense for him to list it. Given the context of this introduction, of course he's going to couch his next sentence in terms of what he's heard through those channels. Doesn't make him an idiot.

He actually writes that they heard about reboots "most explicitly". Are you an idiot if you don't know that reboots tops the feedback? No. Indeed the slashdot vote would likely put telemetry at the top of the list instead.

(A diametrically opposite approach on those two counts is "We don't have a centralized place to gather feedback, and our software is open source so if the community wants their itch scratched then they can do it themselves": diametrically opposite because it doesn't have a list of feedback mechanisms and it doesn't prioritize things by how much users want them. Is it idiotic to follow this approach? No it's been wildly successful.

Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" includes Edge 14, which supports VP9. That leaves Apple as the holdout supporting only codecs that require payment of a royalty to a patent pool.

I only just recently discovered that Windows 10 has a bunch of improvements to the command line.

Most notably (at least for me) is the addition of CTRL-backspace as well as well as CTRL-C/V for copy paste. I do a lot of stuff on the command line and the added functionality looks really great.

It's just a shame I'm too scared to upgrade to Windows 10 because of all the additional telemetry that seems like a real pain in the ass to disable! (I did see this open source tool that looks like it might be worth keeping an eye on: https://modzero.github.io/fix-... ).

From https://blogs.windows.com/wind... : "starting with Build 14942, we’ve changed this [active hour] range for PCs on Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions to 18 hours."

...notably excluding the one's they DON'T:
https://blogs.windows.com/wind...
Scroll down to "Known Issues."

Whatever happened to the concept of "testing" and "fixing" defects ("bugs") in code. Apparently, end-users are not as eager to be willing to be guinea pigs for untested code, not that they have to PAY for this kind of punishment.

Remember: If the product is claimed to be "Free," YOU are the product!

Many phones, tablets, and PCs have hardware acceleration for VP9. AMD, Nvidia, and Intel support it. By default, Microsoft Edge turns on VP9 support when hardware acceleration is available (you can override it to turn VP9 on all the time).

The "no hardware acceleration" argument is tired. Things have moved on.

The Windows blog has the official announcement about this change and you can restore the command prompt if you so desire. Here is what they posted: PowerShell in the Shell: In an effort to bring the best command line experiences to the forefront for all power users, PowerShell is now the defacto command shell from File Explorer. It replaces Command Prompt (aka, “cmd.exe”) in the WIN + X menu, in File Explorer’s File menu, and in the context menu that appears when you shift-right-click the whitespace in File Explorer. Typing “cmd” (or “powershell”) in File Explorer’s address bar will remain a quick way to launch the command shell at that location. For those who prefer to use Command Prompt, you can opt out of the WIN + X change by opening Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, and turning “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the Start button or press Windows key+X” to “Off”. The full announcement is available at https://blogs.windows.com/wind.... Fact-checking is a wonderful thing. :>)

Microsoft tweaks the OS to give the impression Edge uses the battery more efficiently and this gets translated into industry-leading efficiency? A better test would be to compare browsers on another Operating System.

Microsoft Edge now gets even more out of your battery

The Edge browser does support H265 but surprise surprise it does not support many open formats.

Edge supports VP9. By default, Edge disables VP9 if hardware accelerated decoding isn't present but you can override that behaviour in about:flags to enable it.

Windows anniversary update:

http://www.howtogeek.com/24817...

Some useful group policy options no longer function on Windows 10 Professional and require Windows 10 Enterprise or Education. These include the ability to disable the lock screen, tips, and “Microsoft consumer experience” that downloads apps like Candy Crush Saga.

https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

http://www.pcworld.com/article...

http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/...
Basically, all those things you turned off, you did through the group policy editor.

Store? Its on permanenty and you won't be able to disable it unless on enterprise.

That search bar? Its cortana and you won't be able to disable it for the same reason.

  All that tracking and ads same reason. So Aftre the 9th when all your hard work is undone and you get the real taste of 10 come back and share.

This will produce a giant boost of Linux usage on the desktop.

Do you mean "in addition to what the latest Windows 10 update has already done"?

If Windows 10 really has a 20% share of the desktop market (there are no figures on the amount of people who install other OS/versions onto machines preloaded with Windows 10), then those who installed the latest updates now have Ubuntu installed as part of Windows.... If 2016 with Windows 10 including Linux + Chrome + Linux isn't "the year of the Linux Desktop" - then next year will be.

Introducing Hyper-V Container: You can now use Docker natively on Windows 10 with Hyper-V Containers, to build, ship and run containers utilizing the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5 Nano Server container OS image. A new version of the Docker engine for Windows has also been made available that extends the support of containers while also improving the DockerFile syntax and getting started experience for users. For more details on how to get started with this check out the Windows container documentation or the Windows 10 Getting Started Guide.

source: https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

It soon becomes clear that Microsoft is going to support "proprietary codecs" at the expense of open formats while most other browsers are supporting open formats.

Sorry, but your claims are wrong.

I wonder why that is?

Keep trying I guess. Good luck, kid.

Chrome may be a bigger part of that than Linux.

I've an i5/4/128gb SP3 which is still running Windows 8.1. Recently I got annoyed at the modern IE so threw on Chrome and have been using it as the default browser for the last few weeks and have noticed a similar drop in battery life.

Granted I am by no means the only one to notice this:

https://blogs.windows.com/wind...
https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSec...

Microsoft has encouraged the rental of Windows since 2010. And businesses can lease Windows 10 through suppliers.

Also, Microsoft has said that Windows 10 is the last one you'll ever buy. So what happens when it ends mainstream support in 2020 and extended support in 2025? You really believe they're just going to fold up their tent instead of pushing everything to a lease in the cloud model?

After august yes windows 10 will run linux. https://blogs.windows.com/buil...

It comes down to DRM.

https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

Browsers should defer to the OS for non web data. Put shit in and let the browser call upon the OS to DO SOMETHING with the media

Not every operating system ships with support for every codec known to man. For example, OS X ships without the WebM codec stack (Matroska container, VP8 and VP9 video codecs, and Vorbis and Opus audio codecs), instead relying on the patented, royalty-bearing MPEG-4 stack. So does Windows prior to Windows 10.* Your suggestion would bring us back to the days of having to install OS-level "codec packs", as well as the trojans that masquerade as codec packs. These trojans used to be fake antivirus; nowadays, they're more often straight-up file-encrypting ransomware.

* Edge for Windows 10 adds WebM support as of version 14291.

Despite Windows having been a "Unicode OS" since the NT days the commandline find and findstr tools still don't support UTF8 and UCS2 encoded files.

This is due to backwards compatibility. PowerShell and select-string supports Unicode fine, but it is the console window itself that is the limiting factor. If you run the PowerShell ISE then it displays the Unicode correctly, but under the console (prior to Windows 10) it just shows question marks. They have reimplemented the console in Windows 10 and PowerShell now displays the Unicode characters correctly.

The command prompt and findstr still don't work, but I suspect that this is considered to be legacy code so I doubt that they will fix this. There is a new shell in town!

If Microsoft hates the Raspberry Pi so much, why did they make a special Windows 10 build for it? It's the main supported hardware for their IoT platform https://dev.windows.com/en-us/...

Hi there, It's a shame everyone is just telling you not to use it, instead of being somewhat helpful. I am but a simple sysadmin and am too much of a burnout to do any development work, but have you checked out Microsoft's online resources? It looks like the Microsoft Virtual Academy at least has some info on the subject: MSVA The SDK is available on Windows Dev Center -- I don't know what you've looked through yet, but I don't think there's going to be a silver bullet for this one. Try to hobble along with MS Virtual Academy and the Devel blogs until someone releases a book/guide with everything you need.

https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

âGoing forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon. For example, Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intelâ(TM)s upcoming âoeKaby Lakeâ silicon, Qualcommâ(TM)s upcoming âoe8996â silicon, and AMDâ(TM)s upcoming âoeBristol Ridgeâ silicon. âThrough July 17, 2017, Skylake devices on the supported list will also be supported with Windows 7 and 8.1. During the 18-month support period, these systems should be upgraded to Windows 10 to continue receiving support after the period ends. After July 2017, the most critical Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 security updates will be addressed for these configurations, and will be released if the update does not risk the reliability or compatibility of the Windows 7/8.1 platform on other devices.

This is from the Windows Experience Blog. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2016/01/15/windows-10-embracing-silicon-innovation/

A VM helps for testing on Edge and Internet Explorer 11, for which Microsoft provides virtual machine images.

But it doesn't help as much for testing on Safari, whose Software License Agreement forbids use in a VM on anything but a Mac. To avoid contract-after-sale particularities, let's for the sake of argument assume that the box of OS X has a conspicuous warning: "By purchasing this product, you agree to the Software License Agreement at http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/OSX1011.pdf. This agreement forbids copying this program into the RAM of any non-Apple computer." Use in a VM on your Windows or Linux PC would then be a breach of contract, making you liable for damages as specified in the agreement. And because some kext files in OS X are encrypted, decrypting the installer without Apple's permission might expose you to criminal penalties pursuant to 17 USC 1201 and foreign counterparts.

That's a fantastic excuse for a horrible model.

And if you were at all familiar with the restrictions mobile operators place on device manufacturers, you'd understand that's it's a factual one, as well. Even Microsoft recognizes that.

We work closely with our carrier partners, and encourage them to test our software as swiftly as possible. But it’s still their network, and the reality is that some carriers require more time than others. By the way, this carrier testing is a common industry practice that all of our competitors must also undergo. No exceptions.

That said, this only applies to devices which the carrier has customized in some way. As far as Nexus devices go, that only includes the T-Mobile Nexus 6 and, even then, the customization was done by Google and T-Mobile allows them to push updates directly and without approval. Every other Android device sold, by literally any carrier, is customized with carrier apps and features and requires the carrier's approval for updates.