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First Windows 10 RTM Candidate Appears

Mark Wilson reports that the first RTM candidate for Windows 10 has been spotted: build 10176. Leaks and sources have suggested the company intends to finalize the operating system later this week, perhaps as early as July 9th. This would give Microsoft almost three weeks to distribute it to retailers and devicemakers before the July 29th launch date. "While the RTM process has been a significant milestone for previous releases of Windows, it’s more of a minor one for Windows 10. Microsoft is moving Windows 10 to a 'Windows as a service' model that means the operating system is regularly updated."

19 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Just in time by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT.

    While Windows XP had a 64bit version the 32bit version was still popular, as PC's at the time were still mostly under 4 gigs of ram, and most were 32bit processors.
    XP lasted too long. There was too much effort in Vista, they wanted to make an ultimate OS, thus failed miserably, a system designed to take advantage of many of the next generation Ideas, that was not implemented.
    Windows 7 "the new golden age of Windows?" really took the fact that there was competition with Mac OS and Linux seriously and made one of their most Solid Consumer OS, they fixed Vista's features that were over engineered and made it work well again. Windows 7 was good enough to put an end of the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" commercials. Windows 7 is also when people started switching seriously to a 64bit OS. And actually loosing compatibility with many of the old 16bit apps.
    Windows 8 and 8.1 isn't that bad. However they tried to make a tablet and PC OS. By in turn making a system that isn't optimal for both. Granted now with the Ultrabooks with touch screens getting more popular, the interface changes are paying off a bit more, however we are missing what we need for a good workstation OS.
    Windows 10... From what I have seen so far they seem to be going back to making it more of a workstation OS, with touch capabilities. The Tablet never caught on as well as people hoped. It didn't send the Desktop/Laptop into a doom spiral. However it changed that nature of the desktop to a smaller market share. Those who need to do real computing still needed these systems. And the new Ultrabooks convertible systems have caught on.

    Now what about Linux and Macs?
    If you don't like windows, there isn't anything wrong with Linux or Macs, so even if Windows 10 is a huge success... It doesn't mean it will kill your favorite OS as I am sure they will be around for decades to come.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  2. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by ZenDragon · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wrong! Stop peddling that nonsense! Microsoft has repeatedly and specifically said you do not and will never have to pay a yearly subscription for Windows once you've purchased it. What it means is that there will be no more windows 'versions', that this will just be in place updates from this point.

  3. Missing the expletive... RTM by jkrise · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now we wait for the RTFM version so we can start screaming obscenities.

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
  4. Re:Just in time by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Tablet did take off. Just not Windows Tablets. iPad and Android tablets rule that marketplace.

    The Windows OS wasn't designed for a tablet, and the changes in Win 8.x were too late and focused on the wrong sector (desktop/laptops). The tablet interface in Win 8 does work, but people don't buy windows tablets. The Convertible Windows laptop/tablets are more expensive than a regular laptop and a separate tablet.

    Trying to be the best of both, and being good at neither is a good way to lose market-share. Which is where Windows is now. Windows is declining, and as Microsoft moves to the subscription model, will die even faster.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  5. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by pr0fessor · · Score: 2

    I imagine at work I will be staying on win 7 until we are forced to choose, but my next home build is going to be linux. I just don't see spending money on Windows, MS Office, Adobe, or any other commercial software when over the years I have adopted cross platform open source projects that do what I need. I don't require excel to make a list of parts for my next home depot project calc will work just as well and gimp is fine for cropping and resizing half a dozen photos.

  6. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by jo_ham · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whether you trust microsoft or not, the fact remains that trying to push the "you need to buy it every year" line as a fact is in direct opposition to what Microsoft is publicly stating at this point.

    Trying to claim that it is a factual statement because "Microsoft is always lying" is just weak.

    As of the time of writing Microsoft's stance on this has been repeatedly outlined. Trying to ignore it, dismiss it, or simply state that they're lying to fit your predetermined narrative that anything that comes out of Redmond is bad just makes you look like you're grasping at straws.

  7. Will we get up-to-date images? by Orange+Crush · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I reinstall just-infrequently-enough that I don't maintain an image w/ all the updates slipstreamed in, so it invariably takes 20mins for the initial install, and then hours and hours for all the updates to get it current.

    It'd be really nice if MS would be kind enough to provide up-to-date .ISO builds like they've been doing w/ the Win10 insider program

    1. Re:Will we get up-to-date images? by Coren22 · · Score: 2

      Or just use the tools provided by MS? WSUS does everything you just stated.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    2. Re:Will we get up-to-date images? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Or just use the tools provided by MS? WSUS does everything you just stated.

      A home user shouldn't have to run an enterprise service in order to not have some files they want to save deleted. I considered mentioning that, but I forgot I was on slashdot and thought "surely no chucklehead will suggest using WSUS just to not have some files deleted" and then bam.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by bondsbw · · Score: 3, Informative

    So in other words people will just be expected to buy their security patches and upgrades in the future after a year or so of patches.

    No, you just made that up.

    --
    All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
  9. Re:WaaS: more cons than pros by bondsbw · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's an old article and many of the cons have already been debunked.

    --
    All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
  10. Not sure about the new model by ErichTheRed · · Score: 2

    I've been doing the Insider Preview thing ever since it was available, and my feeling is that something as important as an operating system should have a fixed-version servicing model. It's great to get new features over time, but could result in headaches for IT. Microsoft has said they will introduce a "long term stable" branch, but my opinion is that mixing features and fixes in the update stream is just going to lead to a mess. If they set the LTS branch root at this RTM point, and never update anything, you can bet that people are going to pressure IT to switch them to the rolling upgrade model. Now, if they keep the LTS branch primed with Service-Packs-that-are-not-Service-Packs, then this is different. The problem is that I can't see them doing this since Service Packs have traditionally reset the extended support clock. I'm assuming Server 2016 is going to be a little more stable than Windows 10, but who knows? This Windows-as-a-Service thing is a big shift.

    I know we're all supposed to be running our workloads in The Cloud, preferably Azure, but I think Microsoft is ignoring a key part of its customer base. There are still a lot of use cases for solid on-premises OS deployments on physical, local machines. They're not mainstream anymore, but they exist, and trying to force people out of that model is just going to drive Linux/BSD adoption. Not every corner of the world has high-speed Internet connectivity available at reasonable prices!

    Also, as people have pointed out, RTM is not the milestone it once was. No one is pressing millions of installation DVDs anymore. But, RTM did mean that all the showstopper bugs were taken care of, and the concept of "ship it, we'll patch it later" just didn't work. All I do know is this -- Microsoft is toast if Grandma can't upgrade her Windows 7 box she bought at Best Buy with zero issues.

  11. Deliberately shipping unfinished software by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 2

    It is the likely change in philosophy that concerns me.

    Very often, once software has moved to on-line upgrades from static installation, or from on-line upgrades being available to routinely applying rolling updates for new versions, the quality at initial launch time drops sharply, and the quality of rolling updates is significantly lower than professional standards should dictate. There's something about the mindset that means shipping half-finished products is now somehow OK, like the "perpetual beta" junk that even some of the biggest companies in the business have inflicted on us in recent years.

    This slide towards version-less rolling updates has so often been used as an excuse to ship sub-standard products, or to actively damage previously acceptable products after the fact, that I don't want anything to do with it for anything I actually rely on. Browsers have turned to sh*t since Google started doing it with Chrome and Mozilla started copying them with Firefox. Apple have been systematically nerfing iDevices by forcing apps (which are only available through the App Store that they control) to update to match recent iOS versions, even though there are widespread reports of those newer iOS versions crippling performance on "old" (like, maybe two years old) devices to the point where they are basically useless. Adobe have alienated a substantial part of the creative/design industries with the move to Creative Cloud rentware, and I have yet to see anyone say a good word about the updates they rolled out a few days ago (complete with awful performance and blatant bugs). Even Microsoft, long the champions of doing things with professional standards of stability and backward compatibility in mind, seem to have gone full see-what-sticks in recent years, and I don't see this changing given they appointed Nadella as CEO.

    Personally, I like my operating systems working and staying that way. That's why I no longer install anything but designated security updates on my Windows 7 systems unless I have an active reason to do so; I just ignore everything else on the assumption that it's going to break something, hurt performance, start nagging me to update to Windows 10, or otherwise make my experience worse. And so far, after following that policy for some considerable time, I'm quite happy with not having those updates and having a stable system I can actually use.

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  12. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by jones_supa · · Score: 2

    All they need to do is to ask their nerd friend.

    - Raawh! Windows subscription payment! What is this rubbish? I'm not paying anything! Joe, can you do something about this?
    - There is Ubuntu, which is free.
    - Good. Is that the Linux thingy?
    - Well, technically it is GNU/Linux. You see, Linux is only the...
    - Whatever! Does it come with Internet?
    - Sure.
    - Ok. Here's my laptop. Can you install Ubanto for me?
    - It will take only few moments.
    - Thanks, kid. I'll buy you some beer.

  13. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by Jeremi · · Score: 2

    [... 5 minutes later...]

    - Hey, how come I can't run Excel anymore?
    - Excel doesn't run under Linux, but here, you can use OpenOffice instead.
    - Screw that, I need to run Excel! Put Windows back on!

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  14. Re:I hope it's better than the last preview by Radical+Moderate · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This. Apple is bad enough at trying to shoe horn new releases into a set schedule, but for MS to pull that off, given their track record, would take a Parting-the-Red-Sea miracle. Hey MS, here's a crazy idea:
    1. Come up with a list of cool features your users and best developers want to see.
    2. Implement them.
    3. Test them.
    4. Bake them into a new OS and release it when it's ready. If it takes 14 months instead of 12, THAT'S OK!!! Really. The number of people jonesing for a new Windows release, even if it's half-baked and buggy, is incredibly close to zero.
    5. Profit!

    BTW, if any of this is too complicated I'm available to consult at very reasonable rates.

    --
    Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
  15. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by Ravaldy · · Score: 4, Informative

    and they're a huge multinational who doesn't give crap what their consumers want

    Wrong. MS has always done things with customers in mind. You would know this if you worked with them at any partner level. It's for the same reason their OS and Office suites carry so much baggage and often makes them look bad. It's because they believe in keeping legacy software compatible with future generations of OS and they generally do a good job at that.

    Look at Windows XP. They extended their support twice. They didn't have to but they did.

    I often see you flame MS so I'm not surprised by your appearance in on this subject. It's almost as if MS threatens you in some way shape or form. No offense intended.

  16. Re:"as a Service" = you have to buy it Every Year? by macs4all · · Score: 3, Insightful

    [... 5 minutes later...]

    - Hey, how come I can't run Excel anymore? - Excel doesn't run under Linux, but here, you can use OpenOffice instead. - Screw that, I need to run Excel! Put Windows back on!

    Well, there is another alternative: Get a Mac.

    That way, you can have your Excel (or Libre Office) and a secure OS. And if you want to mess around in the command-line world, well, you can do that, too.

  17. Re:Just in time by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2

    I differ ... typing this on a surface pro.

    Have you tried one? How about an ultra book? Folks this is 2015 and like the mainframe era we still ahve them and there are uses but they are a dying and not an important breed.

    Have you used a tablet, Surface, or an ultrabook? Thin and portable is in.

    Surface is fast selling now unlike a few years ago. I seem with IT geeks all the time. I can remove the keyboard and wireshark whole ethernet connections with my usb ethernet. I can re-attach my keyboard and use it like a laptop.

    WIndows 8.1 is amazing on it and I love the charms, swipes, and OneNote.

    Windows 10 is terrible on my surface compared to 8.1. There is a tablet mode but it does not do as much. As much as an anti MS site slashdot is the fact is the Surface is top selling and lennevo yoga and Dell's venue are top selling as users want portability and what better UI to use has this? Sure you are a geek adn those reading this like myself may have a quad core cpu and a big rig at home running linux or even windows for gaming but are we really the majority?

    Windows 10 maybe ready someday (no MS RTM does not mean stable as Windows ME and Vista were not ready)I may put it on my desktop. For now I need my charms and swipe functionality back and MS better STEP LISTENING TO THE HATERS