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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.
Microsoft would now seem to be altering that relationship.
Pray that they don't alter it any further.
"Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
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.
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
Typical post-Gates Microsoft, blame the testers rather than the recipients of the feedback. I have a feeling they're ignoring all the valid feedback as it doesn't fit their narrative and justify what they're paying their developers.
"With Windows 8 we hear your negative feedback but we don't care for it since we know what's better for you and you're going to like it. Or not use it. It's your choice."
As someone who's been beta testing and feedbacking Microsoft products since they had beta tests, I threw in the towel with Windows 8 because they ignored the feedback concerning actual bugs and typographical errors.
Screw you Microsoft, you should have listened when people cared more than you claim to.
Over the years: 1 mobo, 1 hard drive, 2 graphics cards, 1 monitor all due to betta testing NT4.0
Bettas are notoriously aggressive. Although it was probably the water that killed your hardware.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways