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Windows 10 Home Updates To Be Automatic and Mandatory
AmiMoJo sends a report stating that Windows 10 Home users don't seem to have any way to disable automatic updates to the operating system. Throughout the testing of the Technical Preview, users noted that this option wasn't available, but it wasn't clear whether that was intended for the full release. Now that the suspected RTM build has been distributed, only two options are available regarding update installation: update then reboot automatically, or update then reboot manually. A quote from the EULA seems to support this: "The Software periodically checks for system and app updates, and downloads and installs them for you. ... By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice."
The article notes, "This has immediately raised concerns. Today, if a Windows user finds that an update breaks something that they need, they can generally refuse that update for an extended period. ... For Windows 10 Home users, this isn't going to be an option. If a future update breaks something essential, the user is going to be out of luck." Windows 10 Pro users will be able to delay updates for some period of time, and Enterprise users will have update functionality similar to that of Windows 8.
The article notes, "This has immediately raised concerns. Today, if a Windows user finds that an update breaks something that they need, they can generally refuse that update for an extended period. ... For Windows 10 Home users, this isn't going to be an option. If a future update breaks something essential, the user is going to be out of luck." Windows 10 Pro users will be able to delay updates for some period of time, and Enterprise users will have update functionality similar to that of Windows 8.
The updates will be tested on the happy people who got the "Free Windows Upgrade" as part of their Insider Program.
It will be their PCs that blow up, not yours.
Not if alternatives to Microsoft software are impractical to procure. As of Windows 10 launch, Microsoft is allowing PC makers to lock users into Secure Boot. With this in place, and with trialware allegedly more than subsidizing the cost of a Windows license, I don't see laptop makers other than System76 and Apple caring about anything but Windows.
The NSA. They want to make sure everyone is running the same version so they only have to support one backdoor.
...how many average Windows 10 HOME users would know if a patch breaks something so badly and that they would know how not not install it? If it's that bad and ubiquitous, MS will pull the patch. Tech savvier people will be either running a higher version, or know how to work around it.
This policy is really a non-issue; it's just geared towards the lowest common denominator--of which there are LOTS.
Windows updates regularly break stuff for people who have unusual non-mainstream peripherals, like scientific devices, specialized astronomy cameras, cnc machine tools, etc. If you are a routine user I buy your argument, but simply put, not everyone is.
And, "it only breaks once every few years" is good enough for some things, but not others. When a forced update breaks something important, maybe a bank or a train system, watch the debates begin in earnest.
Security is becoming more important than getting things done. This excuse of "this security update will break something I need" has been over used to keep security holes open. In this connected world, your security hole is my problem too. It is like storing a 50 gallon drum of gasoline in your garage. You might have excellent reasons for doing so, but it is a fire hazard for the neighbors.
Except that Microsoft have recently been abusing the Windows 7 and Windows 8 update systems to spam Windows 10 to EVERY Windows user through an unremovable (without a registry hack) icon in the system tray. So if MS decides to abuse the update system again to do whatever they want to your system, you can't even stop them.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
Just don't take the "bait" and don't "upgrade" to free Windows 10. At least for desktop users there is no advantage over Windows 7 pro or ultimate. To me, Windows 10 seems like a downgrade from 7 ultimate.
FOr the record I had to update to WIndows 8.1 due to needing Hyper-V for some MCSE exams yada yada laugh all you want. I had to say goodbye to WIndows 7 which was my favorite OS from MS :-(
WIth that said WIndows 10 and even 8.1 offer: /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth where under WIndows 7 it would be a re-image. Again thanks to UEFI which is so hated for some reason here :-)
1. Much faster boot startup
2. WIth CSM bios disabled and all EFI the system loads in seconds from an SSD
3. Data and image redundancy with EFI GPT partitions (recovery partition allows you to restore image without app re-install)
4. Disk partitions more than 2 TB again EFI GPT over MBR partitions
5. Dism command for the local IT shop to fix corruption without a re-image. I fixed with dism
6. Secure boot. Yes outside of slashdot it is a feature and I do not have to worry about rootkits. FreeBSD and Ubuntu support secureboot keys. Add your own even
7.No nasty bios. You really need to disable CSM to get the benefits of the really fast bootup and less problems. Bios is from 1981 and has many limitations
8. Supperior battery life. As in a big boost as 8.0 and later use a tickless kernel and other power optimization options have been added
9. NFC printing
10. Desktop cloud synchronization. IE favorities, desktop settings, store apps, and even the add-ons like Adblockplus.
11. Tablet and mobile app support. The surface is starting to sell and it is nice to walk around my site to do network testing with a usb to ethernet adapter. WIndows 7 with no touch would be a pain
12. Future IOS and Android compatibility. 80% of phone apps code do not have to be rewriten with MS porting tools for universal apps which will support objective-C and Davilek. VS 2015 even installs Chrome and Clang
13. DirectX 12
I bought stardocks start8 and classic shell and put on aero8 and my system looks fine now.
I bought a surface for work and all my apps like netflix, kindle ebook, wallpaper, and my Onedrive files were all synced together. Grandma who has to have her grandkids wallpaper would like to have all of this on another system.
The only 2 things I give Windows 7 credit for today in 2015 is it is rock stable and has a more consistent prettier UI. On my VM lab I can tell the difference night and day between Windows 7/2008 R2 and 8.1/2012 R2 images. They boot 1/4th the time and are light. If you own a laptop you are doing a diservice to stick with WIndows 7.
http://saveie6.com/
Forced updates for home users have been known about a long time and were reported on /. weeks or possibly months ago. I don't see that as a last minute thing.