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Windows 8 To Include Built-in Reset, Refresh
MrSeb writes "Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, will provide push-button Reset and Refresh in Windows 8. Reset will restore a Windows 8 PC to its stock, fresh-from-the-factory state; Refresh will reinstall Windows 8, but keep your documents and installed Metro apps in tact. For the power users, Windows 8 will include a new tool called recimg.exe, which allows you to create a hard drive image that Refresh will use (you can install all of your Desktop apps, tweak all your settings, run recimg.exe... and then, when you Refresh, you'll be handed a clean, ready-to-go computer). Reset and Refresh are obviously tablety features that Windows 8 will need to compete against iOS and Android — but considering Windows' malware magnetism and the number of times I've had to schlep over to my mother's house with a Windows CD... these features should be very welcome on the desktop, too."
Next step is to have Windows 8.5 just auto-refresh every few months since Microsoft seems to assume you'll be doing it any how.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
How long until viruses inject themselves into this recovery image and get "refreshed" onto the new install?
Geeks don't grock information, they grep it.
Once malware developers get their hands on this, they'll be sure to find a way to infect the process such that their stuff gets "reset" and "refreshed" along with everything else.
I doubt it will be that useful to evade the really nasty malware, but at least it will provide an easy way for someone to "go back to step 1" with their computer after they ruined it all by themselves... or even someone who wishes to give it to a friend/family member/goodwill for recycling.
I suspect one of the main reason people throw away computers after they buy a new one, rather than recycle it, is because they're afraid someone else will see all their porn and/or "sensitive documents" that might still be hidden on the machine.
...about the innate instability of an OS, that they need buttons to reset everything back to bare metal
I have an idea. It's a little complicated, so stay with me now: if you use GRUB, don't hit the fucking button.
...with one line of bash script. On my XP machine, there are three partitions: for Windows, software, and documents (Think /bin, /usr, /home) The Linux side has a zip archive of the windows partition. When I want to restore WIndows, I boot into Linux and run unzip and just overwrite the whole partition.
Well, you can say that about any backup. With all due respect, your post is a bit of a karma whore...
"Sufferin' succotash."
Sounds useful, as I currently keep them in old mayonnaise jars.
What I'd like to see is OS on a chip.
Two stages - Core OS chip so is need to absolutely 100% load a factory image, that is it. No ability to write to this chip at all.
Secondary chip - More like a bios chip. Can be modified to load patches kernels etc. So if you've "updated" windows, it flashes it with the updates which load ontop of the core chip. Still could be very fast.
Then your hard drive loads all third party software / addons / documents.
I think it'd be exceptionally fast, not perfect but a much more secure setup (As you can flash the modded update chip or reset it to factor using the core chip)
and a marvel in technology.
... when you design your OS to require frequent re-installation.
After all, the only reason people buy a new PC these days is when the old one runs so slow from bloatware, adware, and crapware the user usually installs?
You might argue that Microsoft is set to destroy the entire tech industry if people won't buy new PC's.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Then its subject to corruption/infection. Also when your drive dies, you are still up the creek without recovery disks.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Everything that would be in "Home/" for a normal *nix install is in "Documents and Settings" or "Users" folder, depending on Windows version.
Except all the crap in the registry and in 'Program Files' and in... well, every other weird place Windows apps stuff their data.
'Cause I hate it when my Metro apps get out of tact.
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
The registry, outside of hives hiding in the folders I mentioned, are system settings, and the equivalent of what you find in the '/etc/' and '/usr/local/etc' directories, and therefore would also not be preserved with a *nix method of preserving "home"
Uh, no. The registry is full of user-crap, and it's thoroughly filled with app-crap which will require you to reinstall all the apps after reinstalling the OS... and unlike Linux that's not a simple matter of running apt-get, it probably involves finding CDs or downloaded installers and CD keys and activation keys and...
Likewise with "Program Files", the parallel to that stuff typically goes to */bin, */sbin, */lib, etc.
Steam puts most of my user configuration in Program Files. Pretty much any old game puts a ton of user config in Program Files. Heck, most pre-XP apps put all their config in either Windows or Program Files.
So, sorry, your argument really doesn't work.
So long as you live in a fantasy world where no-one runs old or poorly-written apps.
Sounds exactly like what he was just saying about general purpose computing ....
Can't there be a viable middle-ground though? Why is it always framed as a free and open "general purpose" system, vs. a walled-garden model?
All many of us desire is a full-blown mainstream OS that's hardened enough against malware and virus threats so things like "clicking the wrong ad banner" on some website aren't enough to take the system down.
If users flock to walled gardens with locked down boot-loaders, it's not really the fault of the "computer-savvy user" who cast blame on them, so much as it's a failure of the developers of said mainstream OS's to succeed in meeting these requirements.