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Microsoft Adding More Ads To Windows 10 Start Menu (theverge.com)
Microsoft plans to double the number of promoted apps in Start menu. The change, which is scheduled to come with the upcoming Anniversary Update to Windows 10, will see the promoted apps count rise to 10. Tom Warren, writing for The Verge: Some promoted apps are pre-installed, but Microsoft notes that they can be fully uninstalled and any promoted items removed from the Start menu. Microsoft has not revealed exactly why the number of promoted apps is doubling, but it's likely that the company is using it as another method to attract developers to its Windows Store.
Where do I go to bend over?
Apps are countable, so it's number not amount.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Don't think so...looks like you are number 3, sport! Early worm gets the bird!
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
Just install Classic Shell
First penguin!
Candy Crush and Twitter already re-install themselves every time I update the OS. It's a trivial powershell script to remove them again but how many more will re-install themselves every time I update after this garbage is added. Installing apps I haven't requested ONE TIME is already too many fuck this nonsense no one is ever going to use your proprietary app store, Microsoft, give it up please.
Microsoft notes that they can be fully uninstalled and any promoted items removed from the Start menu for now
There. Fixed that for ya. If there's anything Microsoft taught us lately, is that whatever they say or promise cannot be trusted.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
With stunts like that, pushing ads and apps on people and everything, why does it still cost something to get Windows 10?
Put the damn ISO on your website, unlock the damn activation/serial/whatever thing and you'll get more users.
Microsoft isn't adding LUDDITE ads to the start menu. They're apping more APPS!
Apps!
Good thing I use Classic Start / Class Shell, which I installed from ninite.com
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
And Mozilla.
Microsoft isn't adding completely new ads, doing more of what's already there. That said, there's no good reason for tiles on the start menu to begin with. The start menu from Windows 95 to Windows 7 was great, though not inherently necessary. I don't find launching apps on OS X to be inconvenient, despite not being in a start menu; the dock is great. That said, while icons are nice for a phone, they're a pretty awful for the start menu on a desktop. I know, they're there for touch screen users, but I just don't find myself wishing my computer had a touch screen (despite the annoying Microsoft commercials about it). This is just a bad user interface. Pushing ads in other places, like the Solitaire game, is really lame, too.
You want a proprietary OS? You got it.. What you are looking at is the future of proprietary operating systems. Their purpose won't be to facilitate your work; that's only a nuisance. Their purpose will be to tag and track you, and then do whatever it takes to profit off that information.
MS finally got me to switch back from Linux from a host OS to a guess one. It was stable, secure, gorgeous, ran smooth without winrot of XP, and was a great but boring desktop OS to get work done.
As an IT professional I need to use the latest and greatest to keep my skills up and not look incompetent when an executive for example in a conference room needs help on his Windows 10 tablet etc.
Win 8 was fine except the GUI and artwork. I upgraded kicking and crying because I needed to learn Hyper-V. Windows 10 my God is just terrible. Re0imaged my system 4 times already due to bugs. If you run a sfc /scannow it will corrupt ESSENT database. Only a re-image can fix it. No DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth will make it worse! Acutally it will complain about the source files. Put on your installation cd and it will break Windows 10 as it will put outdated .dll's back. It is Vista quality.
Windows bright white windows titles ARE TERRIBLE. I enabled color in settings but I do not like how it looks. The icons on the taskbar pinned are too freaking SMALL. Oh, that is right I should have a gigantic start screen and pin down "My documents" "My downloads", etc. Under Windows 7/8.1 if you install Office 2016 it will actually put the icons there for you pinned in the taskbar. MS is forcing it's view of tiles and running cell phones on computers for familiarity hoping us old farts who hate change will want to use Windows Phones. YEAH RIGHT.
I am not an MS hater anymore. But man, Windows is bad again after it finally stopped sucking. The only good thing about MS is visual Studio and Office. I suppose I like tablet features and Netflix and Hulu apps on the road or on a 2nd monitor if I want to watch Star Trek while I work etc. But, man Windows 10 is years off.
Do not get me on the schziphrenic gui either. Now with 3 UI's which include a hamburger menu.
But MS is making it worse by forced upgrades, spyware, and now ads. I do not want 10 anywhere near my computers! But I need them for Hyper-V for my MS certifications so what choice do I have?
Windows 10 is going to be the next XP sadly after 3 short years. Sigh. I hope if we all yell enough MS will mature it and change by 2019 when Windows 7 goes EOL and we are forced to use it.
http://saveie6.com/
Oh man I feel so sorry for M$ lusers these days...
C|N>K
...or does anyone else also think that ads have NO PLACE being in the freaking operating system?
The least they could do is put them in a folder called Windows Accessories....
Don't make me replace the whole OS, Microsoft. It'll only take a moment.
The complaint is that "You're getting Windows 10 for free" - whether you like it or not. What do I do if my system needs a full system restore to Windows 8.0 (which I did ultimately pay for, incidentally) after the free upgrade has passed?
Looking at this, and at the current state of the intertubes, I'm ready for 2020 when every computery thing grinds to a halt, submerged by advertising, rapacious cookies, marketing AIs and yet-to-be-imagined commercial interest mechanisms.
User: clicks link or menu item. Computer: Waiting for ads.cloudystuff.porno, waiting for targeted.butuseless.something, ah! Popup: I see you're running a cleaner, have you cleaned your teeth today? Try xxxx.whitestuff.com -> Connection timed out please try again etc. etc.
The only way around this may be islands of 'useful' non-profit intra-tubes with sharp spikey firewalls. Everything else will be commercially saturated.
On y va, qui mal y pense!
I hate to tell you but it is NOT free. If you have to sit through adds, have things you do on your computer sent back to Microshaft so they can push more adds to you and sell everything you do on your computer to more add companies, how is this considered free? They are data mining you!
"Microsoft plans to double the number of promoted apps in Start menu."
Well if they do this just 3 or 4 more times it'll be promoted apps all the way down.
No need for pesky files or personal stuff, it'll be nothing more than a dedicated ad platform.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
That's a genuine question.
I've been a Linux user my whole life (and of many other Unix-type systems too), so I don't understand why people even bother with a closed proprietary O/S whose manufacturer is clearly obnoxious and has no respect for its users.
You're getting kicked in the teeth left, right and centre, almost with every update. One day MS will go too far and break the camel's back and you will have to leave --- it's easy to see that coming. Why not leave now instead of continuing to invest in a hateful ecosystem that treats you like worthless fodder?
Windows started out as a convenient wrapper for Dos, and now we're here. We have updates that are non-negotiable, apps that are installed by default, integration with a video game console, and an entire ecosystem of advertising built-in to the UI. Theres powershell, Linux BASH, and ssh as well as a talking assistant.
after 197 mergers or takeovers in its history its taken Microsoft just 15 years to pedal themselves to an early grave, and windows 10's schitzophrenic laundry list of things it seeks to achieve for the user is an excellent barometer of the companies 'significant changes' after Ballmer was quietly hustled out to the parking lot. There really isnt any direction, but a very obvious pattern.
1. a trend emerges, catches on, and becomes a hit.
2. Microsoft, four years later, creates its own version of the product or technology at the center of the trend.
3. The product, (zune, windows phone, market) is brutalized for three or four more years while microsoft keeps it on X-Box revenue life support.
4. MS quietly shuffles the technology under the rug four more years later, abandoning and alienating nontrivial numbers of users and sacking the entire division that once handled the product.
Hololens, minecraft, the self driving car, surface, phone, cloud -- these are all things that have existed better and cheaper in many cases than microsofts version yet still unaccountably exist as a microsoft offering seemingly just out of spite. Bing was a 7 year attempt at a hostile takeover that is entirely powered by yahoo engine patents and screen scrapes from Google and it still hands out some of the least meaningful or relevant garbage results. The walk-in microsoft store is a godless abortion of over-illuminated copy-paste from whatevers going on in an Apple store, and its performance is so dismal its being rolled into Best Buy stores as a kiosk.
So the question still remains. after 15 years, where the hell do you want to go today, Microsoft? because everywhere isnt a direction.
Good people go to bed earlier.
What if you paid for an earlier version of the OS that you wish to keep, and MS forces a "new" OS on you (that you may not want, may not be compatible with your hardware/software, etc), and claims it's OK and legit because it was "FREE", but now you have additional "features" like telemetry and ads?
Sounds like an awesome deal... for them. A classic crapware / malware scheme, right there in the open.
So, if I didn't want Windows 10, and they do force/trick people into installing it, are they then liable for the costs of removing it or restoring the system to it's earlier state? Or was the EULA of Windows 7 and up Trojan-horsed into allowing this sort of unethical behavior?
Why are people so up-in-arms over the ads in Windows 10, yet, they don't even blink an eye at the ads you get on the XBOX, even with a Gold subscription? It's the same shit - if you're paying for something, there should not be ads.
Ten years ago this would have appeared to be a post from The Onion. I can't believe this is really happening.
I dumped Windows 3.1 for Mac and later Linux, and I haven't really looked back since. Sure I bump into windows now and then, but I don't feel like I've missed out on anything.
But this takes the cake. How ridiculous can you get? They must have seen the writing on the wall and decided to go out with a big hurrah.
A real Jedi uses Windows from scratch to roll their own distro.
Oh. Wait. Never mind.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
You get a Windows 10 key when you perform the upgrade. While I have not had reason to check, I am fairly certain that Microsoft keeps a database on their registration servers about which old OS key matches which new OS key. (To deal with issues like yours, and people using mass-ripped versions of 7 and trying to upgrade from there.)
Why should I need third party software to restore functionality? This is broken by design. When support for 7 ends I will probably ditch it.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
So if I buy a retail kit it will not show advertisements?
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
That is all.
one that actually understands content inside packets and rewrites them or ack's, back to the sender, that all is peachy and fine but does not forward the packet to the end host.
basically, SDN but meant to HELP people and not just fuck with them. and yes, some SDN in the industry is for evil purposes (I used to work for a company that was big into SDN...)
I have not heard of anyone having a smart(er) firewall that can reject the MS forced updates. I think there is a need for one.
guys, go make one and you'll make bank. no end user wants to HAVE to take forced updates. and clearly, this filtering now has to run off-box. to really work, it can't be on the same metal as the win10 system.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Am I reading this right? I can actually pay Microsoft to install applications on millions of PCs without the owners'... I mean "users'" permission?
Tell me again why ANYONE finds this acceptable?
I didn't need a reason to decide against upgrading from Windows 7, but "promoted apps" is a great reason to not even think about it anymore. I won't be upgrading.
There aren't enough chairs being thrown these days.
Fanboi much?
It's not free. There's a limited time free (and more or less mandatory) upgrade for users of Windows 7 and up, but anyone buying a new computer is paying for it, And while it's nice of them to offer the free upgrade to Windows 7 users, people running Windows 8 are kind of entitled to the upgrade, given how crappy and short-lived Windows 8 was (Windows 10 is more like Windows 8.2).
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
I first encountered a Windows 10 system last week cleaning up a system my inlaws bought (it wasn't a huge mess, really, but it had McAfee installed, and default to Bing, and... etc).
I opened the start menu. It exploded into some massive pile of shit. I clicked down on the stuff that was text down in the bottom left corner and completely ignored the rest of it. In order to explain what the Windows 10 start menu looks like, I'd have to Google for screenshots; I just can't remember. My working theory is that after a couple decades of exposure to web-based advertising (what little escapes my filters), my brain just treated whatever fluff they crammed into their start menu like it's a collection of banner ads and just blanked the whole thing.
You gotta wonder where they found their usability testers...
Log in or piss off.
Even though your post is hard to read (to say the least) it contains many valid and worthwhile points, especially about Microsoft not being the only one collecting information on us.
But here's the problem. Yes, I can opt out of or block Windows 10 upgrades and backporting of telemetry to (in my case) Windows 8.1. I've done that. But then again, I'm a former computer professional, and I ought to be able to figure out how to do such things. (Disclaimer: at this point I very seldom boot to my Windows partition; I just don't want to deal with it on an ongoing basis.)
The average Windows user, though, is lured right in--- or maybe not even that, these things just happen to them. They don't have a clue how to deal with this and/or make it go away.
Are Microsoft's actions legal, based on EULAs and so on? I'm sure it's all legal but I certainly can't say it's ethical. Now you might respond, what company today is ethical? That's a very good question, but I think if we just let things go and don't demand ethical behavior, we're never going to get it. If we reward unethical behavior with our hard-earned dollars, what are we doing?
Yes, a lot of people are trapped and have no option but to run Windows, whether for mission critical apps, for Windows-only gaming, or just because it's hard to change your software infrastructure. Microsoft marketing has created lock-in that rivals that of public utilities and other legal monopolies. And as long as people keep buying their stuff, nothing will improve. On the contrary, they will feel more and more emboldened and empowered, as recent months have shown.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Ads don't work if you never connect it to the internet. (It's automated punishment for the crime of connecting any Windows box to the internet)
I've never actually used the start menu in Windows 10; I took one look at that thing and just said "No." Instead, I just hit the Windows key and text-search for whatever I want to run. I barely even have to look at that awful mess. It's almost as good as using the command line!
They put advertisements in the start menu?
May I never buy Microsoft again. I was going to put a product on their band - f* that. I was going to work with Azure, Cortana, and SQL server for upcoming infrastructure. f* that. Never. I need to uninstall RRO, and cancel any plans that I had with Xamarin.
There are a dozen alternatives. MS just "bought the farm" or "jumped the shark". They are dead to me.
Some stupid hand-wavey solution or "free windows" isn't going to fix this. I am done with them. If my candidate computer comes with windows installed, unless it is a $200 used system, I am not going to buy it.
I can't wait until we are all forced to watch a 30 second ad before our program will start. Want to run Microsoft Word, Skype, or even a third-party app? You must watch a commercial that you can't skip, first.
The best part of your post is that you include "Straw Man" way too many times, and then infer the parent is an "illiterate sloth".
Wow.
The worst part of your post is that you apologize for MS.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
... Because the entire Linux community could go hands off and let every distro die, or better yet, remove all the GNU protected material and go the paid route....
I would just like to point out that there is nothing in the GNU GPL that prohibits selling the software. It simply requires that the source code be provided with the ability to make changes and redistribute those changes under the conditions that original author is given credit and the redistributed software must distributed under the same license with the same rights. Nothing at all about not being able to sell your software. Despite this many companies that deal with GPLed software have adopted the business model of giving the software away but charging for support and services. Maybe people are seeing this business model and coming under the misconception that the software must be given away?
So, they don't even have full penetration of Windows 10 yet, and they're already tightening the screws.
It's bad enough that we have so many crank conspiracy theorists. Actually proving them right is only going to encourage them.
You're getting Windows 10 for free. Stop bitching that it has ads when you're not paying anything for it.
Windows 10 Home costs $99, and Windows 10 Professional costs $112.
The only other way to get Win 10 is by exchanging in your $180 Win 7 Home, $230 Win 7 Pro, or similarly priced Win 8 licenses.
None of those options are free.
Are Microsoft's actions legal, based on EULAs and so on? I'm sure it's all legal but I certainly can't say it's ethical. Now you might respond, what company today is ethical? That's a very good question, but I think if we just let things go and don't demand ethical behavior, we're never going to get it. If we reward unethical behavior with our hard-earned dollars, what are we doing?
That's a great point. Ethical != legal. If you want ethical behavior from others, you have to be willing to enforce that desire somehow. You can't force companies to behave ethically (though you can lobby for laws which implement some ethical behaviors here and there; good luck with that), so your only real choice is to withhold your business from companies which act in a blatantly unethical fashion.
If you're not willing to stop doing business with such companies, then exactly what incentive do they have to change? None. And that really makes it your fault that you're suffering with these unethical actions. That company is offering a product, and if it doesn't meet your ethical standards yet you purchase it anyway, then you're rewarding that behavior and you have no right to complain about their unethical customer treatment, since you've willingly signed up for that very treatment.
You can always rely on Microsoft to do something obnoxious. I guess it is in the genes of all those who work for this criminal company.
"Candy Crush and Twitter already re-install themselves every time I update the OS."
Two questions about solving problems caused by Microsoft's apparent attempts to take complete control:
1) The average Windows user is not able to prevent Microsoft from having more and more control. But corporate customers don't want to spend the time to learn a new user interface. They like what is now known as Classic Shell.
Microsoft is, and has always been, sloppy with updates, often introducting new vulnerabilities. Also, the control that Microsoft calls "Telemetry" and the updates with hidden purposes are not acceptable to many people and corporations. So, it seems that Windows should not be installed on computers that have internet connections.
Would it be possible to give corporate users 2 computers? Windows 10 to run corporate software, with no internet connection, and Linux for checking email and using a browser? How would the 2 separate networks communicate in a secure way? Unfortunately, no one has provided a Classic Shell interface for Linux, and many programs used in corporations won't run under Linux.
The managers of Microsoft (like Monkey Boy, for example) have such limited social ability that they are not able to avoid being self-destructive. They don't see that taking control of everyone's computer will eventually have a very bad result.
Also, there have been reports that secret agencies of the U.S. government buy vulnerabilities. Are Microsoft and Adobe deliberately including vulnerabilities and selling them?
Apparently Microsoft is trying to imitate Facebook and Google because of the sharp drop in sales of PC computers. But Windows 10 is the Bing or Zune of operating systems.
2) Autopatcher has not begun supporting Windows 10. We need independent control over Windows operating system updates. How can we achieve that?
"Thanks satan."
The managers of Hell are deeply offended by that remark! Don't compare them to incompetent Microsoft managers!
It'd be nice if Microsoft took a stand on this, but why when everybody else is doing it and too few people will even notice (the Slashdot crowd isn't enough) Look at the number of pre-installed applications on most mobile phones. All the software installed by OEMs on top of Windows. Apple moving more and more to the App Store for OS/X. The vast majority of these new devices have ad-driven software on them, but everybody is just used to it. A few more pre installed apps won't even get noticed.
As for businesses, it seems pretty clear that MS wants to move people towards Enterprise just for the chance to get away from most of this stuff. Personally, I've given up on this not getting worse. Google this huge wave of applications that were "free" as long as you agreed to ads, to demographic information gathering, and now, all the major players want in. I can only hope that when the free upgrade window ends, more users start yelling and if we are lucky, Windows 10 Professional turns back into what it should be, a OS with all the controls to opt out and just let me do my job present.
I enjoy all these new decisions by Microsoft; they accelerate the user migration away from Windows. It doesn't matter to me if users migrate to IOS or some other version of Linux; the sooner the Windows base erodes, the sooner we will have viable alternatives.
You can't be wrong by attracting more developers, and that's the first step to have an attractive app store!
Too bad their strategy also involve driving customers away. Pretty sure corporate computers can't use the store (or at least not without getting the wrath of IT) and so called "power" user are slowly moving out of the way. What's left, the "average" user, who is perfectly happy as long as facebook works.
I know the picture is more complex than that, but I was under the impression that business was a large part of MS revenues, and they are doing their best to piss the m off.
You don't want to upgrade? Fucking don't, that;s your choice.
That one's the killer here. We're not the one trying our hardest to update these old Win7/Win8 installs here. Too bad the post is hard to read, I'm sure it's all at least that funny.
I will tell you. Every time I see the people telling we should move to another OS... Well tell us first where there is an OS where steam is with all the most recent games without exception. Even steamsOS at the moment is not there.
"If you're in IT and you choose to use Windows as your personal OS, you have no one to blame for your troubles." blame the victim ? We have NO CHOICE. 3D vendor have only crappy or closed driver which don't work well on linux. If I want to play , say, doom with the best acceleration then I have only windows. Point.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Well, technically I got Win7 from MSDNAA (or whatever it's called nowadays), so it's slightly more free, not taking into account tuition fees. Still feel like a ripoff in the end though.
Now Microsoft is serving you ads. Get on your knees, and bow to your new OS overlord.
MS's view: tough crap, suck it up and stay with win10.
Now if they will actually invalidate license keys... who knows. But it's possible.
So much added value from Microsoft, if one considers ads added value.
Let me be clear, I think pushing ads into the OS is pretty nearly the definition of dystopian and frankly obscene.
It is easy to block however:
http://bgr.com/2015/11/20/wind...
As CNET helpfully explained this week, you only need to follow a few steps to turn off ads:
Open the âSettingsâ(TM) menu
Click on âPersonalizationâ(TM)
Click on âStartâ(TM) at the bottom of the left-hand column
Find a heading labeled âoeOccasionally show suggestions in Startâ and turn the switch to the âOffâ(TM) position
BTW: take the opportunity while you're in settings to turn off ALL THE OTHER SHIT THAT'S ON BY DEFAULT in WIN10.
-Styopa
I better hurry and upgrade my computer hardware and reinstall Windows 7 then. Sounds like Windows 10 is going down hill.
I see that Windows is still the lead paint of operating systems.
No thanks.
Would it be possible to give corporate users 2 computers? Windows 10 to run corporate software, with no internet connection, and Linux for checking email and using a browser? How would the 2 separate networks communicate in a secure way?
That's what VMs are for. You could have the main OS be Linux, then they can run Windows in a VM, the Windows VM could be allowed access to a shared folder on the computer for sharing files with the host OS, but no internet access. Alternatively, instead of running VMs on the user's computer, you could run them on servers and have the user remote desktop into them.
Unfortunately, no one has provided a Classic Shell interface for Linux...
I'm not sure what you mean by this, are you looking for a Linux interface that imitates one of the better Windows versions? In which case there have been several attempts at this, I'm not sure its necessary though. Otherwise I haven't got a clue what you're looking for here.
The managers of Microsoft (like Monkey Boy, for example) have such limited social ability that they are not able to avoid being self-destructive. They don't see that taking control of everyone's computer will eventually have a very bad result.
How are they being self-destructive? Their stock price is way up in the last few years. Screwing over their customers is a sound strategy, because their customers will not abandon them no matter how much abuse they dish out. They were actually stupid to not take more advantage of this earlier under Ballmer.
Apparently Microsoft is trying to imitate Facebook and Google because of the sharp drop in sales of PC computers.
Yes, and it's a great strategy. They're not going to sell as many units, so they need to get more recurring revenue from existing customers. Ads are a good way to do that.
But Windows 10 is the Bing or Zune of operating systems.
Totally wrong. Bing and Zune were both me-too competitors to existing, market-dominating products (Google and iPod, respectively), so it's little wonder that Bing hasn't done that well and Zune failed entirely: trying to unseat a huge, successful, and popular competitor that dominates its market is rarely successful. Windows isn't a me-too, it *is* the huge, successful competitor that dominates its market, and Win10 is just the latest update to that. Moreover, because of various factors (like software lock-in), its customers refuse to explore alternatives, so it makes perfect sense for MS to exploit this position for greater profit. It's not going to hurt them, because as we can already tell (even from comments here), its customers will not abandon them, no matter how badly they're treated.
We need independent control over Windows operating system updates. How can we achieve that?
You can't. It's a closed-source, proprietary OS. You have no control over how it works internally, unless you resort to reverse engineering (which is very difficult, and basically pointless because anything you find is liable to be changed in the next update, and not using official updates is exposing yourself to security weaknesses so few customers will choose this--if you're going to do this, you might as well just stick with Win7).
If you want an OS that gives you independent control over its inner workings, you have to us an open-source OS.
2nd mouse gets the cheese!
I really have not used much other than Windows but Windows 10 has certainly given me some reasons to consider installing something else. I guess it's the price you pay for getting a free upgrade from Microsoft. The king of ads Google doesn't nag you so bad with ads on Chrome OS as Windows 10.
Sadly Microsoft is dumping ads into all their software products. Outlook.com, probably Office 365 although I don't use it so can't say.
But I don't blame anyone for jumping ship for Linux or OS X or something else. I'd go back to Windows 7 but I am sure the nagging would ensue to upgrade.
It's not free. There's a limited time free (and more or less mandatory) upgrade for users of Windows 7 and up, but anyone buying a new computer is paying for it, And while it's nice of them to offer the free upgrade to Windows 7 users, people running Windows 8 are kind of entitled to the upgrade, given how crappy and short-lived Windows 8 was (Windows 10 is more like Windows 8.2).
I kind of like Windows 8.1 more once a start menu replacement is on. It is stable now and predictable since MS is not touching it except for security updates.
http://saveie6.com/
You make some interesting points.
You said: "[For Microsoft,] Screwing over their customers is a sound strategy, because their customers will not abandon them no matter how much abuse they dish out."
And: "[Microsoft's] customers will not abandon [Windows], no matter how badly they're treated."
Over a long time, the extreme abuse will cause people to move away from Windows, however. It would be sensible for the United Nations to support ReactOS.
"... they need to get more recurring revenue from existing customers. Ads are a good way to do that."
If I see an ad delivered by an operating system, I would have 2 reactions: 1) I would remember never to buy anything from the company that advertised. 2) If I am very offended, I would write to the board of directors and suggest that the CEO be replaced.
Independent control: Autopatcher has been wonderful for us. After extensive studies are done, only the useful patches are accepted. Of course, Microsoft has been making that far more difficult.
Basically, it seems sensible to develop a system in which Windows is NEVER allowed to connect to the internet. Then Microsoft's patches with sometimes hidden purposes would not be needed.
Calling BS. Have it running a 4 systems and no programs re-install. Unless you are doing a reset after every update.
"That's what VMs are for."
I understand that there are sometimes vulnerabilities that allow an OS to break out of the VM.
"... are you looking for a Linux interface that imitates one of the better Windows versions?"
Yes, one that imitates Classic Shell, or Windows 7.
I have been thinking of selling Windows to a non-profit foundation for a while now.
I understand that there are sometimes vulnerabilities that allow an OS to break out of the VM.
These are very rare and valuable. Much more so than a run-of-the-mill Linux privilege escalation exploit. You don't need a bank vault door on a house with glass windows.
The normal thing malware does when it detects a VM is immediately stop, or sometimes unhook itself, as a way to foil some malware detection engines and generally make life harder for security researchers.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
it would be the year of another desktop.
Microsoft does not care about you or me, it has shareholders who have a stake in the business and how it is run. If the company sees a way to make a shit ton more money that requires overstepping ethical grounds to get it and doesn't break any laws? well, fuck ethics. That's business as usual in a capitalists world. Don't hate the player...
I have W10 on a laptop and, without Classic Shell, don't have any obvious ads. My start menu is arranged the way I want it, without most of the MS apps (including Cortana) because I don't need them. I mostly use open source or, at least, freeware stuff, though there are a couple of commercial things (non-MS) that I do use. How difficult is it?
Disk quotas have existed as long as NT has. In some corporate environments, they have been used. Very few, afaik, and I've never seen them turned on in a non-enterprise situation. If for some reason they are on, log in as admin and turn them off. Simple.
I prefer more tightly controlled backup arrangements to cloud services that depend on a slow (yes, I have AT&T) internet connection and which probably won't be available if/when I need them. Cloud services (aka time-sharing, really, remember Compuserve?) are useful where something needs to be available anywhere or to a large number of people and it makes more sense to rent the server than to buy and run it.
There's no limit to the number of local accounts on a Windows computer, that I've ever seen. If there is one, it's sufficiently high as to be meaningless. Go ahead and create all the local accounts you want. Just don't use the default of signing on with your Microsoft Account to an admin account (dumb!!!).
There is no OS that "respects the user" but some (mostly Linux-based) don't actively and deliberately make life difficult for knowledgeable users. Windows could be worse, and the tinfoil hat types here have come up with some wonderful suggestions along that line. Do you all work for MS marketing or are you just trying to get a job there?
FTC, FCC, or one of those agencies that is supposed to protect consumers. Looks like Microsoft needs another smack down from the government. If the U.S. won't do it, the EU definitely will.
It's not free. There's a limited time free (and more or less mandatory) upgrade for users of Windows 7 and up, but anyone buying a new computer is paying for it
Indeed, the Windows license is now somewhere between 10% and 25% of the cost of a typical PC.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
The blind fanatics keep excusing microcrap for this type if abuse.
Yet canonical got all kinds of hate for adding a damn Amazon search that could be turned off.
"...but Microsoft notes that they can be fully uninstalled and any promoted items removed from the Start menu."
True. But when I do that I find the app is there the next day. I've fully uninstalled Skype & xbox, among others, repeatedly and the next day, they're back, on the Start menu.
Windows 10 will be a free upgrade forever, despite what Microsoft says.
Also, this is how Microsoft will make Windows 10 a subscription service. Yes, technically nobody is paying a subscription fee. But at the end of the day, same diff.
Hate to tell you but Office is not 100% compatible with Office. Especially between new and old versions, but even sometimes the same version on different computers have troubles.
I find that Libreoffice Writer is actually more compatible with Word documents than Word most of the time.
It is true Calc is not as good with Excel... Unless you start talking about 2003 and before. Microsoft with Excel 2007 decided to break compatibility majorly with older versions, so Calc seem to open pre-Excel 2007 documents better than Excel.
Impress... *sigh* Impress... Powerpoint is still far superior.
All this being said, Microsoft many times have recommended people install Libreoffice to open documents that have gotten damaged because Office will refuse to open them at all.
For the record at work I use Microsoft Office and it is a steaming pile of crap compared to Libreoffice! I am on a Mac with Office 2011, 2016 has been released, but it is right now in the testing phase at our business. I understand Mac Office 2016 is supposed to be feature par with Windows Office 2016, but Mac Office 2011 definitely is not.
Comparing Window Office to Libreoffice, I still find Libreoffice for the most part is better, though you get things like headers and footers in Microsoft that are done better.
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
Oh goodie more crap to clutter up my computing experience.
Impress... *sigh* Impress... Powerpoint is still far superior.
Where I work, use of Powerpoint is restricted to the Marketing&Sales and Financial divisions. There were just too many crappy PP documents being made. As one VP put it, "You can can put all kinds of poop in those - and too many people do."
I use Dia, exporting in PDF or Visio format. The people I work with tell me they think my diagrams are very good.
Don't try to out wierd me, three-eyes. I get stranger things than you, free with my breakfast cereal. --Zaphod Beeblebr
Impress... *sigh* Impress... Powerpoint is still far superior.
But isn't Keynote better than both?
It's not all that bad if you customize it. It's a reasonably good way of launching the software you use most when your hand's already on the mouse.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
I am forced to use Windows for the time being, but I refuse to upgrade to Windows 10. Today, as I was on a business call, it went ahead and updated without permission. The machine was tied up for hours as it upgraded, then downgraded when I refused to accept the terms of service. I was furious.
I'm going to start spending some of my free time helping to ween users from Windows so they can enjoy Linux without all that MS-BS. To Hell with those bastards.
I have been a loyal follower of the windows OS since 3.0.
NT 4.0 was great, so was 2000, XP and 7.
If you wrote your programs carefully, on old NT4 program will still run on 7.
No I have had it !
next winter I will move everything over LinuxMint and run a Virtual W7 instance for the few apps I need but are not available under Linux.
Wow, what a dick!