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Windows 10 Anniversary Update To Roll Out On August 2

Posted by msmash on from the affinity-for-Windows-updates dept.

Windows 10's first major update -- dubbed Anniversary Update -- will be released to users on August 2, according to a blog post published by Microsoft (Archive link). The company presumably posted the blog post ahead of the original publication plans, and as a result, quickly pulled the story. Windows 10 Anniversary Update will bring with it a number of major changes including extensions to Edge, and improvements to Cortana and Hello biometric feature. It will also mark the end of the one-year free Windows 10 update offer for Windows 7 and Windows 8.x users.

156 comments

  1. Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Appdows 10 was the appiest apperating app, but it now calls LUDDITE software "apps" in addition to actual appy apps! Vote for Appald Trump; he will make apps appy again by deporting the LUDDITES at Microsoft who did this!

    Apps!

    1. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      When ISIL detonated bombs in the Brussels airport, Slashdot posted a story within a few hours. The same thing happened in Istanbul and Slashdot still hasn't posted a story. If a white country in western or central Europe gets attacked, Slashdot is all over it. When it happens to Muslims and people of color, Slashdot doesn't care. It's damn bigoted, for sure. And to those of you who have replied to this comment on a prior story to say that Muslims committing acts of violence against other Muslims is normal, that is also bigoted. Muslims have as much right to live in peace and safety as anyone else in the world.

    2. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      If not acting as if your audience covers the whole world is bigoted, I need a team of interpreters in the bedroom to translate my wife's dirty talk in case someone in Mongolia feels they've been discriminated against for not being able to understand what she wants me to do to her. Thanks for lowering the barrier to convincing her to have a 5-way - most UN interpreters are women (hot private school educated women) and I knew I'd be able to play her multiculturalist streak against her one day.

    3. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So again it is the "white man's" fault. Every single time something happens it is the "white man's" fault. All programs were interrupted to report about the attacks. The same video's have been played over and over again until new footage came available. Many 'experts' have had their moment of glory to comment on the attack. None of the experts said anything about Islamic Fascism that is brainwashing many young Muslims through social media, satellite TV, hate preachers, community centers, charities, recruiting in jails, etc... because telling the truth could hurt the feelings of Muslims (boohoo he said that some Muslims do bad things, I'm offended and call him an islamophobe so his career as expert is over).

      All the news papers were full of the attacks. Special editions were printed and the usual left wing 'imagine' singers are calling for a march to support the victims. Some were already singing with a candle in their hand in my local (small) city center.
       
      While after the attacks in Brussels, some young Muslims were cheering in the streets. A few days earlier when one of the Paris terrorists was arrested 200-300 young Muslims where insulting and even throwing stones and bottles at the police in the hope they could help the terrorist escape who had been living among them for months.

      Now there are Muslims who kills Muslims in a Muslim country, and a lot of attention and condolence and moments of silence, ... are given and again Muslims feel victimized because the "white man" doesn't give as much attention to an attack in a "Muslim country" as to an attack in a "white man" country.

      I've heard it too on the streets and in the media today. Muslims being mad at the white man, even blaming the white man, the Americans, the Jews for the attacks. It gets so tiresome this "victimhood" and blaming the "West (including of course the Jews)" for everything that happens in Muslim world. A Turkish second generation immigrant who calls him self an expert blamed the CIA on national tax sponsored TV and he also sees a connection with the recent friendly approaches between Israel and Turkey (yep, throwing some mud on the Jews). The reporter just sat there, mouth wide open, big eyes. You could almost here him think "WTF did they put next to me in a live TV show" and he couldn't even ask questions and just went to the next topic. This was seen by some (many?) Muslims as 'white man hiding the truth', and the news show got many angry tweets of Muslims in our country, defending the expert and blaming Americans and Jews for being behind the attack.
       
      I'm getting so tired of this bullshit...

    4. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found the white man.

    5. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do people tell other people they are tired? I don't care. If you're tired, go to sleep.

    6. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found the SJW racist.

    7. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The briny, sweaty smell of SJW desperadoes is unmistakable.
      1. Why does islam deserve special exemption from critique?
      2. 'people of color' is about as divisive as it gets. Bigots define humanity in terms of skin color, sex, and whatever else.
      3. Islam IS a violent belief system. It has not had the reformation that christianity and judaism have had. Sure, there are moderate individuals, but right now, their communities operate as beachheads for the violent sort. Islam is currently not compatible with western values.
      4. I thought religion was looked upon as suspect around here, and for good reason. Of course, back then, atheism was supported as a victim caste by the left. Now islam has taken its place. How rational of them.

    8. Re: Microsoft has been taken over by LUDDITES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ZZzzzzzzz...

  2. great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    It's great that those of us normal people who have already updated to Windows 10 will receive this update. Meanwhile, the neckbeards and tinfoil hat Lunix zealots will be stuck without a secure and up to date system. Seems like a good deal to me.

    1. Re:great news by jenningsthecat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's great that those of us normal people who have already updated to Windows 10 will receive this update. Meanwhile, the neckbeards and tinfoil hat Lunix zealots will be stuck without a secure and up to date system. Seems like a good deal to me.

      Obviously you don't have much experience at trolling - that attempt was about as subtle a sledgehammer, and reeked of incompetence. Go away, and don't come back 'til you have some skillz.

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    2. Re:great news by tripleevenfall · · Score: 0, Troll

      Secure, if you don't count M$ having the ability to execute malicious code (forced updates) whenever they decide to.

    3. Re: great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've learned that it's not necessary to be subtle around here. People will bite on anything and not being subtle actually increases the amount of bites, generally speaking.

    4. Re:great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > will be stuck without a secure and up to date system

      Ho ho ho. You think Windows will ever be secure and "up to date" ? How naive of you.

      Feel free to shill on though. No one's listening.

    5. Re:great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Statistically, a "normal" Window user is on Windows 7, for which Microsoft has pledged to provide security updates until 2020.

      And, of course, while LUnix hasn't received an update since 2004, Linux users can keep their machines up-to-date without being forced to use an immature system like Windows 10 or have to rely on an update channel so openly adversarial that they categorise adware installs as "critical security updates".

    6. Re:great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Every time Micro$oft applies an update to your system, they introduce massive numbers of bugs and gaping security holes. Windows 10 by itself satisfies the very definition of "malware".

      I'll just stick with my tried and true, locked-down Windows 7.

    7. Re:great news by tepples · · Score: 1

      You point out that Windows 10 isn't secure from its update provider. But is any general-purpose PC operating system secure both from its update provider and from attackers who exploit defects in software that isn't updated?

    8. Re:great news by tripleevenfall · · Score: 0

      I point out the irony in the shill posters' claims that your PC can't be secure without the service pack, which service pack changes nothing about the fox guarding the chicken coop

    9. Re:great news by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      You point out that Windows 10 isn't secure from its update provider. But is any general-purpose PC operating system secure both from its update provider and from attackers who exploit defects in software that isn't updated?

      If you use a FOSS operating system like Linux or FreeBSD, you can audit the updates and apply them selectively. So even if you didn't trust Red Hat/SUSE/Canonical, you could still benefit from their security patches.

    10. Re:great news by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Considering the extremely high probability of more security fixes in the future, is the system truly ever secure?

    11. Re:great news by sa1lnr · · Score: 1

      http://www.flamewarriorsguide....

    12. Re:great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's great that those of us normal people who have already updated to Windows 10 will receive this update. Meanwhile, the neckbeards and tinfoil hat Lunix zealots will be stuck without a secure and up to date system. Seems like a good deal to me.

      Linux zealots don't have to bother about this, since they're already on Linux. Issue is with those primarily on Windows 7 and XP, and to a lot lesser extent, 8.x or Vista. Those are the holdouts who are stuck without the secure or up to date system. And for good reason: particularly for XP, Vista and 7, a lot of the systems just WONT RUN Windows 10, but won't be getting security updates either. Those are the ones SOL

  3. By any other name... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is a service pack.

    1. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Great! Always good to get a service pack that improves the security, stability, and performance of the system. Call it what you want but I'm excited for it!

    2. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Great! Always good to get a service pack that improves the security, stability, and performance of the system.

      LOL!! Right!!

      A year later and Windows 10 is still buggy as shit, not to mention all the horrendously bad design decisions. No matter how good an OS is 'under the hood' it's useless when you've destroyed the UI and crammed it full of pointless crap.

    3. Re: By any other name... by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1

      Please, think of the touchscreens!

    4. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're just jealous that Windows 10 users don't have to deal with Systemd and GNOME 3.

    5. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excited for more forced system changes, high probably of driver breakage and devices no longer working. Add to that many hours of trawling forums and trying work-arounds with fellow borkage victims. No thanks. If it works, leave it alone. Only kids and the IT illiterate lust after day 1 updates and meaningless version bumps.

    6. Re: By any other name... by LichtSpektren · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You're just jealous that Windows 10 users don't have to deal with Systemd and GNOME 3.

      The most serial criticisms of system and GNOME 3 are that they're too similar to Windows SCM and Metro, respectively. Thus saying that one should then use Windows to avoid them is a collapsing spiral staircase of lunacy.

    7. Re: By any other name... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

      A year later and Windows 10 is still buggy as shit, not to mention all the horrendously bad design decisions.

      You must be running at the minimum hardware specs. Windows 10 is like Windows Vista. I originally built my system for Vista in 2007, which required more hardware resources to run fine. Windows 10 runs perfectly fine on that system.

    8. Re: By any other name... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Only kids and the IT illiterate lust after day 1 updates and meaningless version bumps.

      Professional IT workers will test an update for two weeks prior to releasing into a production environment. Not every patch released by Microsoft gets approved for installation. Fortunately, most corporate environments are still Windows 7.

    9. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, I'm running a system that's pretty powerful by today's standards. Raw performance of Windows 10 is just fine. I'm talking about the bugs that still haven't been fixed after more than a year, all the bad UI design and pointless crapware, like Cortana, which if you completely delete will hose your system.

    10. Re: By any other name... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

      I'm talking about the bugs that still haven't been fixed after more than a year, all the bad UI design and pointless crapware, like Cortana, which if you completely delete will hose your system.

      Just ignore Metro and turn off Cortana, which is what I do.

    11. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Destroyed the UI? That was Win 8. The UI is fine and back to intuitive for a long time windows user.

    12. Re: By any other name... by pla · · Score: 0

      So... Wouldn't you want an update that addresses the buggyness you bemoan?

      "This sucks! Fix it!"
      "Okay, here's your fix."
      "Why would I want that? This still sucks!"
      "Umm... What? Oh, fuck it." *forces the update silently*"

    13. Re: By any other name... by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      Somewhat amusing that ads on the lock screen and in the start menu is "intuitive" to Windows users...

    14. Re: By any other name... by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Not what happens. They may provide the fix, but it's buried amongst things *they* want to foist on you.

    15. Re: By any other name... by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      "collapsing spiral staircase of lunacy" - Love it. I shall abscond with that.

    16. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're just jealous that Windows 10 users don't have to deal with Systemd and GNOME 3.

      The most serial criticisms of system and GNOME 3 are that they're too similar to Windows SCM and Metro, respectively. Thus saying that one should then use Windows to avoid them is a collapsing spiral staircase of lunacy.

      as a Gnome Shell user, I have to disagree about it being similar to Windows 8.

    17. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kinda funny that random images that Microsoft has the rights to freely distribute are now called ads.

    18. Re: By any other name... by Ravaldy · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      A year later and Windows 10 is still buggy as shit

      You either don't use it, don't know how to update your drivers or have hardware as old as Windows XP. If my grand parents, uncles and ants can install and use the OS successfully, I have to assume you either fall in the minority of users who had a bad experiences or you are less skilled with technology than the baby boomers I spoke off.

      At the end of the day I believe in numbers and the numbers are showing 350 million devices running Windows 10 and according to surveys, Windows 10 has a majority of satisfied users.

    19. Re: By any other name... by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      I don't have the ads you speak of so I honestly don't know what you're talking about.

    20. Re: By any other name... by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      See: http://www.howtogeek.com/24326... and https://slashdot.org/story/16/...

    21. Re: By any other name... by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      You're just jealous that Windows 10 users don't have to deal with Systemd and GNOME 3.

      The most serial criticisms of system and GNOME 3 are that they're too similar to Windows SCM and Metro, respectively. Thus saying that one should then use Windows to avoid them is a collapsing spiral staircase of lunacy.

      as a Gnome Shell user, I have to disagree about it being similar to Windows 8.

      Well, sorry then. I have no desire to antagonize GNOME Shell fans/users. I'm just responding to the insane trolling that it's somehow bundled into the Linux kernel and therefore unavoidable.

    22. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this even modded +1? He never said anything about not being able to install it and use it. He just stated that it is buggy as hell.

    23. Re: By any other name... by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 1

      I think he is referring to the few ads from the MS store that appear when you left-click the start button. It shows some of the metro tiles and a few are kinda ads for apps like Solitaire, Minecraft, iHeart Radio, Xbox Network and the like.
      They are quite unobtrusive and if you never open the start menu that way you never see them. After all most of the important stuff comes up under a right-click in a convienient list. As I use the start menu to access a few key, but seldom used programs not pinned to the taskbar., I don't see the ads when I open it unless I scroll down.
      I hate icons on my desktop so I use pinning quite a bit more than the average user who has a metric shit-ton of icons on their desktop. (at least were using metric!).
      It actually makes a damn fine quicklaunch, with icons large enough for these old eyes to see.

      --
      Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
    24. Re:By any other name... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Right. And I'm a bit worried about the understanding of basic English by the author of the summary. The sentence "a number of major changes including extensions to Edge, and improvements to Cortana and Hello biometric feature" clearly confuses the word "major" with "yawn-inducing".

    25. Re: By any other name... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      You get that stuff from the periodic updates, not from a service pack.

    26. Re: By any other name... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      This may be the first time where I would prefer a video version of that post.

    27. Re: By any other name... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      The GP didn't say anything about it being slow, only that it's buggy with bad design decisions.

    28. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Just ignore the advertising and work around the data theft"

      lol

    29. Re: By any other name... by Nunya666 · · Score: 1

      Only kids and the IT illiterate lust after day 1 updates and meaningless version bumps.

      Professional IT workers will test an update for two weeks prior to releasing into a production environment. Not every patch released by Microsoft gets approved for installation. Fortunately, most corporate environments are still Windows 7.

      Not my employer, and we have over 4,000 users worldwide. No testing of MS updates, and many users have either Win8 or Win10. Maybe that's why our IT management has such high turnover. Now that they got rid of the idiots, I'm hoping things get better in a hurry.

    30. Re: By any other name... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Now that they got rid of the idiots, I'm hoping things get better in a hurry.

      That's the first step in developing a professional IT department.

    31. Re: By any other name... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      "Just ignore the advertising and work around the data theft"

      What advertising and what data theft? I'm using Win10 exactly like I did with Win7.

    32. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VLANs and LACP(LAGG) still won't work. Intel, Broadcom, and RealTek say Microsoft broke it, Microsoft says they broke it. Yay, MS.

    33. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like PEBKAC.

    34. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More like "fix this problem that should have never existed in the first place and shut the fuck up because I paid you money for this"

      Selling something that doesn't do what it says is fraud.

    35. Re: By any other name... by occasional_dabbler · · Score: 1

      Settings -> Start -> 'Occasionally show suggestions in Start' -> OFF.

      --
      "Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs," I said. "we have a protractor"
    36. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Just ignore the advertising and work around the data theft"

      What advertising and what data theft? I'm using Win10 exactly like I did with Win7.

      We can see that.

    37. Re: By any other name... by pla · · Score: 0

      Selling something that doesn't do what it says is fraud.

      Quite right - You should demand your money back, immediately!

      Oh, wait...

    38. Re: By any other name... by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      Ahh, the spotlight feature. I was thinking you guys were referring to something different. Although I don't get that, possibly because it's disabled by default on the pro version. If this is people biggest problems with Windows 10 they need to get a grip. This is nothing compared with paying to see a movie, waiting at an airport, browsing the web, watching video online...

    39. Re: By any other name... by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      Exactly. I think the haters will hate no matter what. This is no invasive by any means and can easily be disabled.

    40. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I doubt that they will simply issue a refund. This is Microsoft we're talking about. I would probably have to sue them and get them to settle out of court.

    41. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Whoosh!

    42. Re: By any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoosh is typically reserved as a response to something that has gone over someone's head. Clearly that isn't the case here since I paid for Windows.

      On the other hand, it would make perfect sense for me to whoosh you, since you seem to have completely missed the facts and the point, so:

      Whoosh.

  4. Black Lives Don't Matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Around blacks, never relax.

    Avoid the 'groid.

    1. Re:Black Lives Don't Matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      I was going to vote for Trump until I read this.

  5. Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Blah blah Windows 10 blah spyware blah blah malware leenux rules! Blah blah last straw blah blah XP was the best blah! Switch to leenux blah.

    1. Re:Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: 0

      Does truth become untrue if it's repeated too often?

    2. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      No, but repeating your false pro-Linux propaganda over and over won't make it true, either.

    3. Re:Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Do all of you GNU/linnux people love toe jelly?

    4. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      No, but repeating your false pro-Linux propaganda over and over won't make it true, either.

      Which part is false: the part about the spyware (which even Microsoft admits is true, albeit in an indirect way, because they've documented that you cannot turn off any of the surveillance without the Enterprise edition), the part that Windows has malware and Linux does not, or the part that it is my advocacy that people should boycott Windows and use Linux instead?

    5. Re:Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: 0

      Do all of you Microsoft shills enjoy dodging flying chairs?

    6. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, but repeating your false pro-Linux propaganda over and over won't make it true, either.

      Which part is false: the part about the spyware (which even Microsoft admits is true, albeit in an indirect way, because they've documented that you cannot turn off any of the surveillance without the Enterprise edition), the part that Windows has malware and Linux does not, or the part that it is my advocacy that people should boycott Windows and use Linux instead?

      I might be missing something but I was able to turn off all the spyware in the privacy settings and I am running the home version. ??

    7. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 0

      Describing the collection of anonymized data as spyware is dishonest and false for two reasons. First, it's anonymous so it can't be used to spy on anyone. Second, they are not hiding that they collect it; normally if you are spying on someone you don't tell them.

      Aside from that it's just an overblow worry. People who have this concern typically have no problem using a smartphone or google products. They just use it as a flimsy prop for their anti-ms bias.

    8. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      Describing the collection of anonymized data as spyware is dishonest and false for two reasons. First, it's anonymous so it can't be used to spy on anyone. Second, they are not hiding that they collect it; normally if you are spying on someone you don't tell them.

      Aside from that it's just an overblow worry. People who have this concern typically have no problem using a smartphone or google products. They just use it as a flimsy prop for their anti-ms bias.

      How do you know it's anonymized? How do you even know what information is being transmitted to Microsoft? It's encrypted. And clearly it's very valuable to Microsoft, because it conspicuously bypasses the user's hosts file and the firewall. And it's dispersed to over 100 domains, some of which you could possibly guess what it's for, but most of them in mystery.

      Although Microsoft have publicly documented that you can't turn off the surveillance, the buttons in the OS which seem to turn it off is very misleading. Hence they are, in effect, hiding it.

    9. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, but repeating your false pro-Linux propaganda over and over won't make it true, either.

      Which part is false: the part about the spyware (which even Microsoft admits is true, albeit in an indirect way, because they've documented that you cannot turn off any of the surveillance without the Enterprise edition), the part that Windows has malware and Linux does not, or the part that it is my advocacy that people should boycott Windows and use Linux instead?

      I might be missing something but I was able to turn off all the spyware in the privacy settings and I am running the home version. ??

      No, you pressed some buttons that gave the appearance of turning off the spyware. In effect, they do nothing unless you're on the "Enterprise" edition: http://www.forbes.com/sites/go...

    10. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Looks like another list that I need to add to my router based DNS poisoning/blocking update script.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    11. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      Although Microsoft have publicly documented that you can't turn off the surveillance, the buttons in the OS which seem to turn it off is very misleading. Hence they are, in effect, hiding it.

      Telemetry is fine. Forced telemetry is fine - for the free version (hey, you got it for free). Here's the problem I have with it: The paid version of Windows 10 will still have (I strongly imagine) this forced telemetry and all the other crap, like adverts and subscription Solitaire. That's unacceptable.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    12. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you even know what information is being transmitted to Microsoft? It's encrypted.

      lol.. its encrypted.. so how do _YOU_ know what it is? Maybe its nothing.

      You linux cheerleaders are funny and sad at the same time. I guess you don't really have to be rational to use Linux. You just have to be some kind of anti-ms troll.

    13. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      How do you even know what information is being transmitted to Microsoft? It's encrypted.

      lol.. its encrypted.. so how do _YOU_ know what it is? Maybe its nothing.

      You linux cheerleaders are funny and sad at the same time. I guess you don't really have to be rational to use Linux. You just have to be some kind of anti-ms troll.

      That's amazing logic there. You don't have to worry about spyware because you don't explicitly know how much of the surveillance is being reported.

      Somebody put an Internet-connected video camera in front of my toilet. I'm not worried though: I don't know what it's taping!

    14. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      There is no "free" version of Windows 10. If you've paid for Windows 7 or 8, then you can get a free "upgrade" to Windows 10, but you still paid for it indirectly.

    15. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      I should add though, it's clearly a substantial amount of data from surveillance, since it's multiple MB per day dispersed to over 100 domains. Although one should still be alarmed even if that were not the case: it only takes a few bytes and one domain to log that you're a political dissident, or to keylog your encryption password, or that you're a kayaking fan and Bing should show you related ads.

    16. Re:Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure do, it tastes great on toast....

    17. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      Dunno why I'm replying to an AC, but here goes... You *just* think you turned off the spyware... I've found thru my own testing that installing using the non-default method, and turning OFF all those cute little toggle switches do NOT turn off the spyware aspects of 10... I described what I did later in another comment later on, and its certainly convinced me that, withOUT a hardware firewall blocking these connections, Windows 10 Home/Pro are a privacy nightmare... So glad I gave up using MS products on my personal systems quite some time ago....

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    18. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good thing you have personally analyzed what they're sending. lol.. ofcource not. Trolls like you provide no actual evidence of anything.

      If data was indeed being sent, it would be trivial to detect what data is being sent. Guess you are some kind of non-technical noob. Really, its OK to admit you are incompetent at anything even vaguely technical.

      Somebody put an Internet-connected video camera in front of my toilet. I'm not worried though: I don't know what it's taping!

      You haven't even shown that it is a camera. lol.. how stupid are you? Continue digging that hole.

      I should add though, it's clearly a substantial amount of data from surveillance

      False. Yet again, you prove how stupid you are. But then again, you have to be crazy to be a troll, so no surprise there. haha

    19. Re: Let the bitchfest commence by tijgertje · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the list :) Dropped them in the company DNS server. Good luck MS sending data if you can't resolve the domains >:)

    20. Re:Let the bitchfest commence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ballmer

      On February 4, 2014, Satya Nadella succeeded Ballmer as CEO.

      You'll probably want to update your snipes.

  6. Anniversary update.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And then I have to re-turnoff Cortana, reset the switches to block MS-bound data, and in general, try
    to discover the new ways MS has made sure to F-up things so they can anal-probe my machine...

    1. Re:Anniversary update.... by rudy_wayne · · Score: 2

      And then I have to re-turnoff Cortana,

      Even if you "turn off" Cortana, it's still running in the background. Try to kill it with Task Manager and it comes right back. There is a way to kill it permanently, but my experience has been that Cortana is the new Internet Explorer -- kill it and you hose your entire system.

    2. Re:Anniversary update.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you can delete it manually (tricky, best to do it in a batch file that kills process and deletes/renames immediately after). I did it after installing w10 and there were no problems whatsoever, only artefact are error messages in log files when Microsoft spyware tries to restart cortana every couple of hours:

      Activation of app Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy!CortanaUI failed with error: Invalid value for registry See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

    3. Re:Anniversary update.... by vux984 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Even if you "turn off" Cortana, it's still running in the background.

      Yes and no. Yes, there absolutely is a process called Cortana running in the background. But its not still listening to your microphone, etc. Its providing backend services for stuff like location services.

      What's in a name?

      In theory Microsoft should have broken the functionality into two separate modules. "Cortana Personal Assistant" and "Cortana Services". Where the former is JUST the voice-mic-UI stuff; and the latter does all the other stuff -- the search functionality, location services, and provides the hooks that other apps connect to to add their "cortana" functionality, should you ever turn Cortana back on. ... of course people like your self would still freak about "Cortana Services" running even after the "Cortana Personal Assistant" went away so instead of calling it "Cortana Services" it should be called "wcmi_support" or something suitably innocuous. Then when you looked at the process list, nothing would be *called* cortana and you'd now be happy.

      Although nothing changed at all except the name of a process.

      Sometimes I think Microsoft should rename the Task Scheduler from "Schedule" to "Clippy" and "svchost" to "systemd" just for the fireworks display.

    4. Re:Anniversary update.... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I'd be unhappy if there were services in the background of any name providing location services, indexing my files (I've always turned that off), and so forth. When I see my hard disk being constantly active when I've been sitting idle for an hour then I start getting suspicious of either malware or Microsoft bloat. Apple has an OSX update that tries to reduce CPU usage and improve power savings, whereas a Microsoft update seems to be about how to suck up even more of those cycles.

    5. Re:Anniversary update.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's assuming it even installs. I still haven't been able to get the last major update (the Fall 2015, 1151 build) to install yet. I've gone through over a dozen of the various different workaround for the issue, and no dice. If MS doesn't sort out their update process, any further updates will be purely academic from my perspective, because they won't install.

      And this is on a system that was Windows 10 from the start. I'd hate to think how bad it is for those who upgraded from an earlier version.

    6. Re:Anniversary update.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just Google :

      uninstall cortana winaero

      PROFIT!

    7. Re:Anniversary update.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The purpose of svchost is so that systemd has something to look down upon.

    8. Re: Anniversary update.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your installation is corrupted. Nothing in update process will change that.

      Check for bad hardware, fix broken files from SFC scan, etc. If all else fails, refresh.

    9. Re:Anniversary update.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is correct. When windows 10 was new I tested totally disabling cortana. The only way to prevent the process from starting is to stop the cortana service and then very quickly rename the cortana directory to something else so when the service tries to restart it can't find its files anymore. You have to do this fast, because the files and folders are write protected while the service is running.

      Note that once cortana is truly off, the start menu stops working.

      Even gpedit can't prevent the cortana process from being in the background it just disables the front end.

  7. How does the "Free" licensing work? by wardrich86 · · Score: 2

    Is it worth doing the free upgrade and then downgrading? Will I be able to upgrade to W10 indefinitely on the off chance that they (or the community) fix up all the problems and snooping? How does the licensing work?

    1. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It will work about the same as it does for illegal drugs - you get a free sample at first, but then you will have to pay through the nose or be cut off!

    2. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Exactly how would the community "fix up all the problems and snooping"? It's a closed source operating system, you are totally beholden to the manufacturer for any changes. And you have no say whatsoever in the design, implementation and quality of the product.

      The product is designed solely from the manufacturer's perspective; and that perspective is to extract as much revenue as possible from you directly or indirectly. Your wishes make not one iota of difference to them unless it means you will not be a possible revenue stream in the future, and even then that revenue would need to be of sufficient size to warrant doing so. Which is highly unlikely in this particular case given the manufacturer's stranglehold over the desktop market.

      TL;DR: You are a peon and they got you by the balls by your own volition.

    3. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You basically get a "free" upgrade-in-place to win10 (if you're quick enough). That's it. Once on win10, there's no going back. In a few days you'll have to pay if you want to move to win10. If you need your machine for work, don't risk it, but if it's just a home machine, go ahead.

    4. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They'll probably never end up charging for it. The free until august thing is more than likely a method of getting more people on board so they can show how successful it is...

    5. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by freeze128 · · Score: 2

      Nobody who has accepted the free upgrade has paid anything.

    6. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is free and perminant BUT is tied to your motherboard. If that dies, or you upgrade, you'd need to then buy Windows 10. Note: this applies even if you have the Pro version of Windows.

      So is it worth doing? Maybe but only if Windows 10 offers somthing you want/need on you currnet system.

      No if you are just trying to get Windows 10 for free in anticiaption of future upgrades.

    7. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      So, free as in punch in the balls?

      Anyway, this sort of update is one of the reasons why I haven't upgraded. Randomly changing major parts of the OS in ways I can't predict or veto. I'll stick with 8.1 for now thanks, purely for stability. The "slow ring" thing for Windows 10 is a joke, it just delays the pain but does little to mitigate it.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I beg to differ, you are being snooped on constantly. Everything you do is being watched and sent to Microshaft.

    9. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by vux984 · · Score: 2

      Is it worth doing the free upgrade and then downgrading?

      IMO Yes.

      Will I be able to upgrade to W10 indefinitely

      According to Microsoft yes. (at least on that hardware)

      on the off chance that they (or the community) fix up all the problems and snooping

      The community more or less already has, depending on your level of paranoia.

      Spybot Anti-Beacon

      And there are several other tools out there too.

      And for what its worth, unless you are disabling all updates and/or manually vetting every update to your win7/8 box the snooping is still a problem.

      For most people, whether you are on 7 or 10 you are probably best served with an anti-telemetry tool as the least hassle way of dealing with this. And since its the same issue and solution whether you are on 7 or 10 then you can choose to run 7 or 10 based on other criteria.

    10. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by dwillden · · Score: 1

      It works in that if you had win 7 or 8 and upgrade by the end date, you have a current windows license from now on. Windows is getting away from the old licensing scheme and now when you buy a new machine it will have Windows and will be updated for the life of the machine. Or you build a machine and buy a Windows license and it gets updates for the life of the machine, (which if you know what you are doing is indefinitely) Updates will be more like the cell phone market (except without carriers needlessly delaying upgrades because they have their own gui that they need to upgrade first (Samsung touchwiz)).

      --
      I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
    11. Re: How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or I downloaded the enterprise version from my MSDN account and run it free because I enjoy the ability to play games Linux does not support...

    12. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Is it worth doing the free upgrade and then downgrading? Will I be able to upgrade to W10 indefinitely on the off chance that they (or the community) fix up all the problems and snooping? How does the licensing work?

      The free upgrade is tied to your computer's Hardware ID.

      When you install Windows 10 your hardware ID is sent to Microsoft. As long as you don't make any major changes to your computer (new motherboard is the big one) you can do a clean install at any time and Windows 10 will continue to work just fine. It just checks your Hardware ID against the one Microsoft has on file and when they match everything is fine.

      Don't mess around with upgrading/downgrading. Use a backup program to save a copy of your current Windows installation. I like Acronis True Image, but there are others. Then, if you don't like Windows 10, it's easy to go back to whatever you were running before.

      Upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 without going through the complete upgrade process:

      Download Windows 10 ISO and extract file called "gatherosstate.exe" in the "sources" directory and run it on your current version of Windows. It will generate a file called GenuineTicket.xml -- save this to an external drive.

      Do a clean install of Windows 10, skip entering license key during setup procedure.

      Disable Internet connection. Reboot.

      Copy GenuineTicket.xml to "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSVC\GenuineTicket\ "

      Reboot. Re-enable Internet connection.

      After a few minutes Windows 10 will be activated and you're ready to go.

    13. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      Exactly how would the community "fix up all the problems and snooping"? It's a closed source operating system, you are totally beholden to the manufacturer for any changes. And you have no say whatsoever in the design, implementation and quality of the product.

      You're right, this can't be readily changed by the community at the OS level. However, Windows still (at least for the moment) gives users root access. I got sick of Cortana's executable starting up, so I went to the folder and did a 'deny all everyone' file permissions change; not even the system user can access it. O&O ShutUp 10 and Spybot AntiBeacon both reduce telemetry and set policies that disable many of the snooping/syncing features. It's possible to configure Windows Firewall to block system applications and - at least for the moment - the firewall isn't smart enough to ignore those rules if configured.

      The community can't change the OS...but there are measures that can be taken to reduce the telemetry. If the community wants to conjure up an open source "Windows 10 Privacy Suite", there's nothing stopping them from writing it, and nothing stopping users from installing it.

    14. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The free Windows 10 upgrade is only tied to your motherboard if the version of Windows you were upgrading from was tied to your motherboard (otherwise known as an OEM license).

      If you upgrade from a Retail Windows 7 or 8 license you get a retail Windows 10 license that can be transferred to another PC as many times as you like.

      Part of the confusion comes from the fact that Microsoft historically hasn't enforced the OEM licensing rules nearly as strictly as they are now; so in the past people were able to move OEM licenses to other PCs and convince Microsoft to activate them via phone or online activation. Even though doing so was technically a violation of the license agreement (that is a big part of why an OEM license is significantly cheaper than a full retail license as well).

    15. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the windows 10 upgrade sends a bunch of identifying data about your system to microsoft after it anal probes both you and the machine. provided that your system does not change -- at all, you can use and reinstall windows 10 on that machine even to a new empty hard drive, as often as you want. as soon as your system hardware changes enough to require reactivation, you're fucked. your windows 10 'free' upgrade is lost. there is no key code, microsoft will not provide a key code, microsoft will not manually force a successful reactivation. if you change the hardware, it is gone. change the motherboard? fucked. change the motherboard to a same exact part number? still fucked (they have your system and motherboard serial numbers, among other things). change the network card? probably fucked, change the ram? maybe ok. change the video? maybe ok. change the hard drive? probably ok. do more than one of these 'ok' things? fucked.

      you CAN upgrade to 10, ensure it is activated, and then revert back within 30 days. you have your windows 10 "reserved" and you still have your old windows (maybe, if the upgrade or revert didn't totally fuck shit up.. which it sometimes does). the BETTER process is to do something like this...

        a) make your factory recovery disks for existing 7 or 8 (if it is a major oem system with original install).

      note: the goal is to make sure you have a way to reinstall existing windows, just in case something really blows up on you. back up important data too.

        b) image the entire drive to a new empty drive of same or similar size.

      note: true image 2015 or newer works for me and supports uefi/gpt that may exist on your system. if you change bios settings to boot to the image software.. do NOT boot your existing windows on the existing hard drive without changing those settings back first.

        c) remove the original drive. connect the new copied hard drive to the same controller and cable.

        d) boot to it.. it will be your existing windows. upgrade to 10.

      note: recommend NOT using windows update or 'gwx' app. instead go to microsoft's site get the real installer and make usb (you can make this before you start messing around with actually upgrading or 'reserving'). RUN the setup off the usb while your original windows is running. disallow updating during install (goes faster).

        e) reboot after upgraded. VERIFY it is activated.
        f) remove the 'copy' of the drive. replace with the original drive with the original windows. (revert any bios setting changes made during (b) before actually booting to it)

      you can KEEP that hard drive copy if you want.. or wipe it so it can be reused..

      for funzies, before you put the old original drive back in (f).. revert the upgrade so you can fill in a 'custom' reason why you're reverting.. and be creative! such as: "a relaxing bath in a tub filled with fire ants is preferable to the windows 10 spyware experience"

      buying a new PC? want the most flexibility? right now, look for one preloaded with a downgrade to 7 from an included windows 8. you'll get windows 8 media, usually a way to make recovery disks for the 7 (or make an image of the out of box state), AND have the upgrade offer to 10 (image and upgrade like above to 'reserve' before it isnt 'free' anymore).. best and worst of all worlds. pick and choose which of the three versions you want to use and when.

    16. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, the BEST thing to do is 1) Raise Middle Finger towards Redmond, 2) Insert DVD/USB of any Linux distro, 3) Be forEVER free of the idiocy that is MS....

    17. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      In my opinion the ONLY way Windows 10 is going to EVER be tolerably safe to use is if you block the telemetry sites in a hardware firewall.. Home users are kinda out of luck unless they're clueful and use something like pfsense or other *real* firewall.. Just for fun, I did some testing a while back, took two laptops with Windows10 on them, one with a default-install, meaning all of the telemetry/spyware enabled, an MS account login, and a second laptop with a "castrated" install, local login account only, and Spybot Antibeacon. I loaded a remote packet capture daemon (rpcapd) on my router, and pointed a copy of Wireshark at the packet capture tool. Took 2 hours worth of packets on each individual system, and compared them.. Funny thing.. the alledgedly castrated system was blabbing endlessly at about 50% of the total number of the listed URLs as the un-castrated default-install system... Conclusion is, Windows 10 cannot be safely defanged without blocking at an external firewall....

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    18. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      Other than starting a "Whack-A-Mole" between the authors of this "Windows 10 Privacy Suite" and MS.. Sure this "Privacy Suite" might stop the spyware aspects of Windows10 *today* but if more and more people began to use said tool, and MS/NSA's data-collection started dropping off, you can bet there would be changes that would bypass/change things and re-enable the spyware aspects and then the devs of the privacy tool would counter those changes, Rise and Repeat, ad infinitum... OR the MS legal dept would just sue the developers of the tool to death... Both scenarios are perfectly in character for MS...

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    19. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      It might be possible. However it's a bit risky. You get all the pain from upgrading combined with all the pain of doing a rollback, and the chance that one of those steps will go wrong. To do a rollback would mean you need an in-place upgrade that leaves lots of junk leftover on the system rather than doing a clean installation. If it did work you'd have to keep that authorization code stored away and then re-apply it in the future.

      Things don't work the same way the used to. For instance, you can not just go and get your Windows 10 authentication code without actually upgrading. They'll probably have to change that when it's no longer free (my bet is that they keep extending the deadline in perpetuity, at least for Home version).

    20. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      The OEM-ness is inherited too I think. Ie, my PC came with Windows 7 pre-installed, then I upgraded to Windows 8 Pro and paid money for it ($15). But this special offer only applies to those who had purchased a new PC within a few weeks of Windows 8 release (normally a ridiculous $199 price). Then that could be upgraded (for free) to Windows 10 Pro. But it's probably still tainted by originally coming from an OEM.

    21. Re:How does the "Free" licensing work? by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      Nobody who has accepted the free upgrade has paid anything yet.

      FTFY

  8. Hope they fixed 2 bugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1- where the apps on the taskbar are incorrect
    2- where explorer.exe crashes every couple days

    1. Re:Hope they fixed 2 bugs by stackOVFL · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Don't forget the fuzzy fonts issue. That one drives me nuts.

  9. question... by Kierthos · · Score: 1

    With the end of the "Free update", does this mean the end of the festering nag screen of "Don't you want to update to Windows 10?" as well as any chance of it "accidentally" updating to Windows 10?

    --
    Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    1. Re:question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      No. It will still upgrade to Windows 10 but then encrypt the hard disk until you pay for the upgrade.

    2. Re:question... by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

      Microsoft says they will stop trying to push Windows 10 on you after July 29. That's what they say. Whether or not they are lying remains to be seen.

    3. Re:question... by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      hehe It'd be just like them to continue to push it on everybody, but after its downloaded, it pops up a box asking for a credit card, and if you refuse, it soft-bricks your computer... Frankly I wouldn't put it past them.....

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    4. Re:question... by Nunya666 · · Score: 1

      No. It will still upgrade to Windows 10 but then encrypt the hard disk until you pay for the upgrade.

      Funny as hell!

      Crap, I can't mod up once I've replied to a story.

      I hate silly, pointless rules that exist just for the sake of having rules.

    5. Re:question... by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      but after its downloaded, it pops up a box asking for a credit card, and if you refuse, it soft-bricks your computer...

      If you refuse, it just checks all cached web sites for any credit card details and runs it automatically, "for your convenience".

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
  10. Meh by EndlessNameless · · Score: 2

    Given its penetration, the Edge extensions hardly matter.

    Most of the other features are niche, invasive, or useless. Seriously, does anyone release malware that can't evade Windows Defender out of the box?

    Cortana will remain relatively useless until it can integrate with smartphones, which means Microsoft will have to put more effort into its Android and iOS apps, helping to make them first-class platforms.

    Anything that makes the Windows Store better sounds good. That's the only thing of real value I see, and even then it's more for the future than the present.

    --

    ---
    According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    1. Re:Meh by jader3rd · · Score: 1

      does anyone release malware that can't evade Windows Defender out of the box?

      Given Window Defenders wide spread usage, it would kind of be pointless to do so. Evading Windows Defender would be the minimum requirement for any new piece of malware.

    2. Re:Meh by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

      does anyone release malware that can't evade Windows Defender out of the box?

      Given Window Defenders wide spread usage, it would kind of be pointless to do so. Evading Windows Defender would be the minimum requirement for any new piece of malware.

      No antivirus is capable of defending against zero-days, so it's a moot point to begin with. The Windows security model is fundamentally broken--probably on purpose, to fuel sales for the AV vendors.

    3. Re:Meh by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      I am excited to get a fully functional bash (Ubuntu) in Windows! You cannot deny that is pretty awesome... The year of desktop Linux indeed!

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    4. Re:Meh by umafuckit · · Score: 1

      Is this the one that includes Bash?

      --
      soylentnews.org
    5. Re:Meh by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Seriously, does anyone release malware that can't evade Windows Defender out of the box?

      This is about the only thing I can find fault with in your post. Yes. Windows Defender catches plenty of things. It's about as good as any anti-virus which is significant because you can get rid of those bullshit programs which ironically slow down your system more than the alternative Microsoft offer.

      Past studies I've seen show Windows Defender on par or better than various products. Mind you the better then ones seem to use somewhat questionable methodology, but ultimately if you're relying on Anti-virus to keep you safe you may as well set fire to your computer and walk away, as anything capable of defeating Defender will be just as capable at defeating any other program out there.

      It's not perfect, but it protects me really well from Symantec and Norton.

    6. Re:Meh by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      MEH, for sure!!
      If I want a bash shell, I *know* where to find it.. hint: It ISNT on an MS product!! I suppose for those poor schlubs who MUST use Windows (at work, or have to run pgms that Wine/Crossover won't do) it may be of *some* use, but jeeeebus, running a bash shell on Windows, is like towing a beat-up UHaul trailer behind a Ferrarri...

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    7. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am excited to get a fully functional bash (Cygwin) in Windows!

      FTFY

  11. Long File Paths ! Finally ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It must have been very embarassing for Microsoft that Long File Path weren't in Windows 10.

    Very glad they finally fixed that.

    Now it feels like it's 2016 !

    Captcha: History

  12. What about LTSB? by sirber · · Score: 1

    Will there be an upgrade to LTSB release? The only version useable...

    --
    Be or ben't
  13. In other news: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ISIL's offer of a free upgrade of Palmyra's architecture to the 21st century is coming to an end as well.

  14. On The Fence re: Win10? by tsqr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I performed this procedure on an old Win7 netbook, and it worked out fine. Good way to take an objective look at Win10 without endangering your Win7 installation with a possibly irreversible update process.

    1. Re:On The Fence re: Win10? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      It's still an upgrade in-place rather than a clean install. That is, it will try to migrate all your settings, applications, and so forth. Which is ok, but it will leave around a lot of junk and you never really get back to that new computer smell.

      I had a problem once where I screwed up the install by not exporting my files to a backup, so after wiping the primary partition and installing from scratch it ended up saying that all the files on the second partition were owned by an unknown user and couldn't be modified (a major hassle).

    2. Re:On The Fence re: Win10? by tsqr · · Score: 1

      It's still an upgrade in-place rather than a clean install. That is, it will try to migrate all your settings, applications, and so forth. Which is ok, but it will leave around a lot of junk and you never really get back to that new computer smell.

      No, it's a clean install, but it has to start with a working instance of Win7. In my case, I copied gatherosstate.exe from the install DVD to the Win7 desktop, executed it, and copied the resulting GenuineTicket.xml to a thumb drive. I then installed a new hard drive in the computer, did a clean install from the DVD (skipping the license key entry by selecting "I don't have a license key" -- at least I think that's what it said. Something like that, anyway), then copied GenuineTicket.xml to the appropriate location on the hard drive. So, when I was done I had a hard drive with the original Win7, and a new (installed) hard drive with Win10.

    3. Re: On The Fence re: Win10? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same as just entering your Win7 key to activate win10.

  15. "Free?" by davesays · · Score: 1

    "It will also mark the end of the one-year free Windows 10 update offer" So, now they'll bill you after forcing the upgrade?

  16. wrong title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is the 2nd major update since RTM. Not the first. Anyone remember the 1511 Fall Update that perma f'd up fixing apps via powershell.

  17. Well played. by TylerJWhit · · Score: 1

    As a Linux user, I applaud you. Good jab. LOL

  18. Digital entitlement by tepples · · Score: 1

    I get the impression from "Activation in Windows 10" that when you upgrade to Windows 10 or install Windows 10 with a Windows 7 product key during this offer, your digital entitlement is stored with Microsoft. So if you upgrade before the end of July, go back to Windows 7, and then reinstall Windows 10, it will access the same digital entitlement.

  19. Thank GOD... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I switched to a Mac, and these periodic releases of malware disguised as an Operating System don't concern me, only MisroShit Windsucks lusers.

    Hahahahahah!

    Written on a machine not crippled by MisroShit malware.

  20. Only one way to make the windows store better! by HannethCom · · Score: 1

    The Windows Store is a complete cash grab. It offers no value. They don't even properly filter out malware. Also you may see your purchase disappear, because reasons. Microsoft has done it in the past, on and is still doing it!

    Taking these things into consideration, the only way to improve it, it to delete it off your system. It is a useless pile of garbage that has some fundamental design flaws. The biggest of which is that it is run by Microsoft and the biggest flaws in it Microsoft has no interest in preventing.

    --
    Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
    1. Re:Only one way to make the windows store better! by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      I love how the MS Store is a cash grab... ok, I suppose you are right, but then so is Google Play store and Apple store...

      Anyway, the value I see in the store is universal Windows apps and games. Buy a game once on the app store and you can then play it on all Win10 platforms, including the xbox... that is certainly less cash grabby than forcing you to buy multiple copies...

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    2. Re:Only one way to make the windows store better! by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Yes those are cash grabs too. That's the major flaw in Windows 10, in that it tries downgrade itself to being merely a smart phone OS. So lots and lots of apps available, but after browsing them it turns out there are only 2 or 3 apps worth ever getting for free and 0 apps worth paying for.

  21. Good Riddance by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

    It will also mark the end of the one-year free Windows 10 update offer for Windows 7 and Windows 8.x users.

    All I can say is "Good Riddance"... I lost count of the number of machines I've had to mess with because either the client DIDN'T WANT Windows 10 for one reason or another, OR the "malware" that *is* Windows 10, or "Windows NSA Edition" or my fav, Windows, the CTD (Computer-Transmitted Disease) managed to get installed, user was on the ball enough to initiate the "roll-back" to their previous version and 10 decided to shit the floor with their machine/data... I was soooo glad to hear of the lady who sued MS and got ten grand from them.. Hope theres a flood more of these suits... Couldn't happen to a more deserving company... Soooo glad I gave up using MS products on *my* systems quite some time ago...

    --
    THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
  22. If the udate to 10 is free by sa1lnr · · Score: 1

    Does that mean I can sell my six retail wiindows 7?

    The question is kind of rhetorical as I suspect not.

  23. Staying with 7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Long before Windows 10 came out, I was excited to finally upgrade. When it was revealed how intrusive it is, how it sends a ton of data to Microsoft, can screw with your applications and settings at a whim, forces you to update without even the option to choose the ones you want, among all of its "downgrades", I figured public outcry would push them to bring back the options that I need as a professional user. I held off from upgrading on day one because of this, as well as the obnoxious taskbar icon and pop-up menu asking me to reserve my upgrade, which seemed fishy from the start. And now, after a year, I only have more reasons to prefer Windows 7 (with several updates blocked) or some flavour of Linux over Windows 10.
    I find it sad that Microsoft has chosen to go the way of social networks and smartphone operating systems with this pseudo user-friendly, restrictive and hand-holding platform. I understand that these changes may be positive for regular users who are not comfortable with computers, but the fact that the only way to "fix" Windows 10 is to download third-party applications, and pirate the Enterprise version (since it's out of reach for individuals) in order to get back some basic features and settings is pathetic. More importantly, there is no telling what kind of intrusive update Microsoft may push to Windows 10 in the future. Considering the trend that Microsoft has been following, relying on Windows 10 for my needs is a risk I cannot afford to take. In the offline VM, it goes.

  24. Oh, crap... by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    Only this week I replaced my laptop's 5400rpm hard drive (Windows 10) with an SSD running Debian.

    Sorry MS.

    Do you support booting off a USB2 drive yet, cos come August I couldn't be arsed getting the screwdriver out again.

  25. No more annoyment then ? by tofleplof · · Score: 1

    So does that mean that after 08/02 windows will stop buggering me to upgrade to W10 ? If so, this is good news -- especially when you're running some *nix system !