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Microsoft Unhappy With Beta Testers, Demands Answers (computerworld.com)
Freshly Exhumed writes: Microsoft has mandated that the feedback functionality built into Windows Insider Preview beta be switched on -- a change from earlier when testers could block questions from the company about what users thought of specific features. Starting with Build 14271 and newer, the frequency in which Windows 10 will ask for your feedback will be locked to 'Automatically (Recommended)' in the Settings app. This would seem to disrupt what has traditionally been seen as a tacit understanding between corporations and their beta testers/sandboxers in that the latter would volunteer their time, effort, CPU cycles, possible hardware failures/breakage, and more as part of a bargain to receive feedback or to test fly the beta OS with internal software environments in private. Microsoft would now seem to be altering that relationship.
Oh good grief! If you don't want Microsoft to gather information from your beta testing of Microsoft products, don't become a beta tester. I mean, is that what beta testers do, use the product and give feed back as requested? The simple solution if you don't like this policy is to not sign up to beta test Microsoft products if you don't really want to be hassled with feedback, "telemetry", and so forth.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Less altering the relationship I think than enforcing it. Too many beta testers were, it sounds like, treating the beta test as a sneak preview or early-access program and taking advantage of the offering without providing the feedback that's their part of the agreement. All Microsoft's doing is taking out the switch that lets them avoid being bugged for the feedback they agreed to give. It'll annoy people who were giving feedback but aren't having problems with those particular areas, but they're heavily outnumbered by the people who weren't giving feedback at all. Yet another case of the greedy breaking things for everybody, I suppose.
I actually was a Windows Insider and loved it but then I started getting dinged with prompts for feedback every time I opened a new program or used a new feature they added. It isn't that bad, but when you're in the middle of trying to do something it is annoying as hell so I don't answer them. Over time this actually changes my habits and made me stop answering any of them all together. I was giving them feedback. They asked for more and I started giving them none.
How about, "But I like my Windows machine."
Seriously. I know linux, and use it on servers. ChromeOS seems to me like a bad idea, just trading one giant corporation for another. Apple drives me crazy enough on my iOS toys, and I'd rather not pay their premium.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
I'm a fan of Linux but have to say:
1. There are plenty of people who have over 500 Steam titles, so that's not necessarily a good trade-off (losing over half my library?). Also graphics drivers are still pretty hit-and-miss on Linux unless you're lucky to have specific hardware.
2./3. Libreoffice is great for personal use, but if your whole company/job doesn't use it then you might be stuck with whatever they use for formatting and compatibility reasons. Hopefully it's Google Docs/Sheets/etc. or you're stuck back on Office for Mac or PC. In general the alternatives, to OS-specific software, are always going to be lacking one or more features the original program has even if they have a bunch of other great features added.
4. There is an efficiency involved in using the tools you're experienced with, especially for those who are using a tool on Windows or Mac OSX that doesn't play nice with other operating systems.
"#1 point" Really not sure where that's heading, but you could say the same about Mac OSX and Chrome OS, as well as Ubuntu or the GNOME interface. Pretty much every modern operating system except perhaps some more advanced variations of Linux and BSD will "insult your intelligence" by making assumptions that are meant to improve work-flow.
The privacy stuff going on with Windows 8+ is probably the same as what already happens with the Google Chrome OS, but still worrying.
1. But I use windows for gaming! Steam has more than 200 titles that run just fine in Linux
It does. But like 90% of everything, most of them suck. There's a handful that are good. Games aren't fungible - it may be that just a single, specific title not being available on Linux is enough to keep certain people on windows.
Personally, I run a linux machine and a windows machine, with a kvm switch. I game on windows, and do everything else on linux. Works for me.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Interesting points, and I fully agree with you when it comes to tech people like us.
But if you think that your comments are scalable, then you probably have not dealt with non technical people, who are just trying to get work done(tm)
For instance:
- girlfriend works in some marketing/accounting/business unit and needs to finish some documentation at home during the weekend because of a late request
- grandma wants to see her grandchildren photos, which are embedded in that powerpoint. Background music is important.
- Non-Tech father needs to rework some documents done in the universal tool of all Lords, namely Excel, which office people bastardize via macros and whatever to serve a schizophrenic life of being spreadsheet, text editor, database, time planner, bug tracker, and version control tool all at once.
- Friend want to install password manager, tax program, adobe lightroom/Picasa, iTunes, pick non-web-based program, etc. and doesn't feel like learning anything about wine unless he/she is going to drink it.
So if you truly believe what you wrote, then you are either too young, or you work in a small technical company, or are a freelancer, or are one of those people expecting the world to change and learn to think and behave like us.
My heart is with you. I even use Linux (Xubuntu) as my daily driver at home, and I used to think like you trying to change the world. But as you have said yourself, times have changed and I have learned the reality. And even I need to dual boot to Windows every once in a while.
However, what irritates me and most here is MS fired it's QA last year. Literally not a single QA person and this is why it has telemtry and demands feedback. We are the beta testers.
posting A/c to preserve modding. But this comment needed responding too as it is utter BULLSHIT. Microsoft has a shit ton of QA people across all product lines (though it might not seem like it sometimes), last year they got rid of redundant/overlapping areas. If you have information that says they fired them all then I think a citation is in order.