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Microsoft To Disable Policies In Windows 10 Pro With Anniversary Update (ghacks.net)
Reader BobSwi writes: More changes in the Windows Anniversary update, due August 2nd, are being discovered. After yesterday's news about Cortana not able to be turned off in the Windows Anniversary update, certain registry entries and group policies have been found to be updated with a note stating that they only apply to Enterprise and Education editions. Win 10 Pro users will no longer be able to turn off policies such as the Microsoft Consumer Experience, Show Windows Tips, Do not display the lock screen, and Disable all apps from the Windows Store.
You see my face? I'm shocked. Really, I am.
Having no windows makes this story as relevant for me as the UAE story today. Interesting to know that the freedoms I enjoy are not something everybody enjoys, but nothing really relevant for my everyday life.
To all windows users: you are always welcome here in the linux world. There is a place free for you!
Windows is going to have so many strings attached, it'll look like a marionette.
So... now is this finally the year of the linux desktop? I think yes.
I have been on linux a long while now. After trying to help my family decide if they want the Windows 10 upgrade, I said yes (for longevity), but plan to add a new SSD with Linux Mint to each of their desktops for primary day to day use.
Clippy is back, can't be turned off, and likes watching you shower. Welcome to the future of computing.
Microsoft continues to amaze and excel as they go to new lengths to make the Windows experience even more excruciatingly intolerable to any user that has the slightest clue what they're doing with a computer. They've outdone themselves this time, but are likely already hard at work at making things even worse in the next update.
Meanwhile, I'm eminently glad that I managed to avoid the Windows 10 Update demand scheduler on my laptop, which still remains comfortably on Windows 7 (for now, at least - I'm sure they're working on that, too).
Guys, tomorrow is the last day for your free Windows 10 update. It's really important that you know that.
The consumer desktop is Microsoft's huge success story. Why degrade that experience? There are already goddamned ads in the user's start menus, plus remnants of the hated Windows 8.1 interface, plus massive privacy issues, plus strong-armed updates being forced down people's throats... I mean, what is this? It's like they're taking their productive, flagship product and doing everything they can to turn it into an annoying toy.
Microsoft is pushing Linux harder than any nerd you've ever met ever has.
Cortana - Clippy 2.0
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
What did that really mean? I for one, never fully understood where they were going with that idea.
Was it to become more Google-ish, always in "Beta", slowing adding changes ever so subtlety?
Perhaps, but I think now we are getting the clearer picture. Now that Windows is a service that you "subscribe to" the users not shelling out the big bucks (i.e. corporate site licencees and Software Assurance customers) are seeing control of their computers slowly removed.
Microsoft now seems to feel that if you do not own a "licence", you use OUR service "OUR WAY", end of story. Over. Out.
Not sure I like this.
is there a way to configure openwrt to give an ip address of 127.0.0.1 or something for the reuests that come through?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
.
Each of these pronouncements makes me even happier that I did not succumb to the Microsoft malware that tried to trick me into upgrading my Windows 7 PCs.
And, btw, my tally so far is one Windows computer has been converted to Linux. Now I'm starting to work on the next one.
I continue to be amazed by the stupidity of Microsoft. Just when you can't believe there could be a worst version of Windows, here comes Windows 10! An invasive, poorly designed and unfit for any business use at all. I never thought I would say this but maybe Windows ME had some redeeming features after all. When compared to the turd that Windows 10 is and is morphing in to. Come on Microsoft!!!! make Windows 11 an updated, business usable Windows 7 Pro lookalike! Otherwise, I don't see how business will continue down the Microsoft road.
Huh. News like this suddenly makes me want to upgrade even less.
They do the same with Office 2013 & 2016.
Anything less than the "Enterprise" branch of Office will not honor GP registry values... we learned this one the hard way. It is not well documented.
It would appear that MS is moving toward making GP only apply to products with "Enterprise" in the title.
Granted, GP is an enterprise feature for the most part, but the lack of any notice about these changes is kind of shitty...
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
IIRC there was something posted a while back about these programs ignoring the hosts file, dunno if they always do a DNS lookup or if there is a hard coded IP/name set in the actual code.
If spoofing the DNS doesn't work, you'll need to do something in the firewall part of your router, either to deny connections to whatever IP or subnet(s) it uses or something else.
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
One benefit of waiting until the last minute is that I get to see all this come out before I clicked that accept button. Now I'll definitely stick with Windows 7 until the end.
Before I get roasted for even having Windows 7 or thinking of upgrading.. 99% of my PC use is for playing games.. I'm sure there are ways to get some of them working on Linux but I'm past that part of my life where I enjoy fiddling with computers as a hobby.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
I followed these instructions and stopped lots of the telemetry, as far as i know, by blocking all the listed I.P. addresses in my router. http://www.dslreports.com/foru... i'm happy to be corrected by someone more knowledgable!
Every anniversary they'll disable something else. Eventually you won't even be able to save files locally. And everyone will cheer because "it's now ALL in the cloud."
The concept of "your" data will become as obsolete as "your" computer.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Yes. Put it in your DNS and block port 53 outbound to other DNS servers.
Steam. I only use Windows when I am working for a client. And I do it via RDP on Linux. :)
You can demand a refund or free upgrade to Enterprise that still has those features. Sony had to buy a lot of Playstations when they pulled "Other OS."
Was thinking along the lines of getting the free upgrade.
I am in the process of reverting the two machines I had already upgraded back to Windows 7. Regrets, and hope Windows 10 spys are eliminated. In not, I can always install from media again, as both were clean licenses (not OEM crapware) I bought myself. Not much lost even if I have to format and reinstall, as the primary apps used are Word, Powerpoint, Chrome, and VMWare and I have good backups of all data as standard practice. Will actually probably move the older desktop to Linux, for that matter.
Indeed on the new machine I will probably isolate the Win7 that came with it in a VM.
I was going to upgrade, just to see what it was like. First I tried to take a clone of hard drive, but somehow, during that process, my motherboard died and so I was without my laptop while it got repaired. In the meantime I'd heard a f ewhorror stories about Windows 10 so I decided to put it off.
Now I'm glad I completely dodged the bullet. The latest thing to angry me up about Windows 10 was when I gave my colleague a shortcut on his desktop to deactive a VPN and add a route while he's in the office, so he can route the server-to-server VPN instead. All was fine until he got home. "Did you shut down the computer [before you left the office]?" I asked. He replied in the affirmative, and that he does so every time he takes the laptop to and fro. That's when I discovered that Windows 10 doesn't actually "shut down." It logs you off and hibernates instead. This leaves stopped services stopped, and leaves added routes in place.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Kept windows 10 for more than 30 days so now will have to format and reinstall. Probably better that way anyway.
I think anyone who trusts Microsoft trusts both Hillary AND Donald.
Running OpenWRT you may want to look into using dsnmasq to do the DNS blocking. From what I have seen there are a number of hosts files that can be used to populate dnsmasq so it blocks the windows spying. And hopefully this doesn't summon APK but one can setup a cron job to automatically populate block lists with various host files sources in OpenWRT which is what I do and it stops a lot of the crap on all devices. If looking for some host files to incorporate check out the source section of this page.
That however won't stop traffic to hard-coded IPs so there you would have to create some outbound firewall rules for the WAN interface that block traffic to specific IPs but that shouldn't be all that difficult
Time to offend someone
Awesome! I used to love frabs!
Making it in game purchase as well would take things to new heights though.
Did they? I thought the final outcome of that was you were eligible for a $9 voucher, or $50-something if you were willing to testify in court that you bought a PS3 to install Linux on it.
It seems to me that Microsoft needs to rename their windows editions to properly reflect the changes in feature sets:
Windows 10 Home => Windows 10 Games and Web-browsing Only Edition
Windows 10 Pro => Gimped But Still Somewhat Usable Edition
Windows 10 Enterprise => We Rape Your Wallet If You Want The Same Control You Used To Enjoy with Previous Professional Editions Edition
this great little piece of hardware is the only reason i keep a windows 7 on a laptop, somebody needs to either build a Linux app for it and i can abandon windows again, CubicSDR worked for a little while but not since i built it recently with the latest alpha, the SDRPlay RSP is an awesome little radio for under 150 bucks USD,
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
I don't have a fancy guide, but what I did with openwrt is I installed dnsmasq as the dns server -- you can tell it where to go for records it doesn't know about, and provide custom entries.
My /etc/dnsmasq.conf looks something like this: http://pastebin.com/34HS7j0X (posted to Pastebin to avoid Slashdot's lameness filter. Which itself is rather lame.)
In my case, I actually redirect them to a locally running dummy webserver so that they immediately get a 404 response. I tail the dns log to see all the requests going through and block anything that doesn't look legit.
Be careful of the log file growing larger than you have space for, particularly if it's going to ram drive.
Jacks: $0.99
Queens: $1.99
Kings: $4.99
** ACE Card Special: 50% off regular price - only $9.99 for 24 hours! **
Those people are probably wondering why they don't actually run together on the same ticket.
"Vote Corrupt/Insane 2016. It's not like you ever had a choice anyway!"
They have the bigger lawyers. They'll sue you under CFAA if you try to bypass the new settings on their computer.
You need to buy 500 Windows Enterprise licenses at minimum, so what legal way are you supposed to get these spliced-out features back without owning a corporation?
In what other industry can you get away with this?
Imagine if you bought a car with power steering, and one day you go out for a drive to find it's been disabled; you have to upgrade to a premium car to get it back, and you can only do that if you buy 499 other cars at the same time.
And what will you do if Microsoft decides to remove BitLocker, Hyper-V, and Feedback at a future date?
I have a couple of ThinkPads that I use, one of which (T510) I upgraded to Windows 10 as my less-used guinea pig system. Very obvious post-install: the hardware Mute button (with its LED indicator) no longer worked under Windows 10.
That's not creepy at all, now is it? At least I can sticker over the cameras except if I'm doing a videoconference.
fencepost
just a little off
Having no windows makes this story as relevant for me as the UAE story today.
Indeed. I "disabled" Windows a few years ago. Being an old foggie, I went for RHEL, but it works for me.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
is there a way to configure openwrt to give an ip address of 127.0.0.1 or something for the reuests that come through?
IIRC there was something posted a while back about these programs ignoring the hosts file... you'll need to do something in the firewall part of your router, either to deny connections to whatever IP or subnet(s) it uses or something else.
Congratulations! You failed to read the post you were replying to.
I installed Mint on my wife's ancient Dell laptop for her and it does everything she needs (luckily we're not PC gamers.) If push comes to shove, I'll go with a personal Mac (like my work machine).
After two decades, I can finally and honestly tell myself I never need to run a Windows PC again. Windows 7 is the end of the line for me, and just in time considering MS's new business philosophies about privacy.
But I came here for an argument!
Apple hardware is very slow to be updated and they don't do specs bumps / price cuts. Also there push to be thin goes to far. Yes it's nice for laptops but not for all systems even more so for desktops. also the cutting of ports only to force people to buy $20-$30 adapters mainly to be thin is something that is just not done on pc systems.
They used to have an server mini with quad core cpu's and dual hdd's gone. Replaced with 1 hdd max with slower dual core cpus.
The mac pro replacement missed the mark and lot's of people just up gradating the older ones with new video cards / pci-e sdd's and better CPU's.
The TB bus is a good idea but pci-e X4 max - overhead and video data is limiting.
The new mac pro even with a new cpu does not have the pci-e lanes to drive TB 3.0 with out changes.
low caps and shit isp hurt the cloud also some force you to use there hardware.
You must watch a 30 second ad before logging into your computer
Unless purchasing enterprise edition you will not be able to run more than 4 programs at a time.
For your safety all software not signed and approved by Microsoft will no longer execute.
For your safety UWP sideloading is no longer offered. You agree all side loaded software and associated data will be automatically deleted.
To help improve customer experience your screen and key presses will be mirrored to Microsoft.
Windows requires Internet access for real-time exfiltration of telemetry to Microsoft and any government or intelligence agency willing to pay. Windows will no longer function without Internet access. If Internet access is interrupted windows will be suspended until access is restored.
Unless you have purchased Enterprise edition all Network data transfers are limited to the lower of 10mbit/s or 5 concurrent TCP session.
Unless you purchase Enterprise edition desktop resolution is reduced by 1/3rd. Full screen applications no longer function. The non desktop area is used to display personalized ads 24x7 based on analysis of screen mirroring to Microsoft.
Windows calculator now displays 5 second ads after every addition or subtraction operation, 10 second ads after multiplication or division and 15 second ads when any trigonometric or exponential function is used.
Registry editor, disk manager, device manager, group policy, firewall and certificate manager are no longer available for use.
It is no longer possible to login with a local user account. All accounts must be created and managed from Microsoft service.
All local storage will now be automatically wiped, all your data and software uploaded to Microsoft and drives repurposes as encrypted data caches which you will not have access to. You agree all your data is now owned by Microsoft and you grant an irrevocable license to monetize it however they want. If you don't agree you will no longer be able to login to your computer or access your data.
To login to Windows for your safety and security your web cam and microphone must be enabled and pointed at you at all times when using computer. If web cam is switched off or blocked your computer will no longer function for your safety.
All network communications even local communications with other computers on your network will now be routed thru Microsoft servers and analyzed for targeted advertising. Copies will auctioned off to anyone willing to pay for it. If you do not agree to these terms networking will be disabled. When networking is disabled windows will no longer have Internet connection and therefore it too will be disabled. All local disk storage is encrypted with a key you don't have and therefore you will permanently lose all access to everything until such time as you agree to our new terms.
Windows now requires monthly payments to use Microsoft services. If you do not agree to pay monthly fee you will not be able to access Microsoft services. This means you won't be able to login to your computer and access any of your data until such time as you agree to pay.
You recall incorrectly. There's no evidence of any telemetry / cortana related stuff ignoring the hosts file. There's evidence and documentation showing that windows update does, but nothing beyond that.
Can you block the anniversary update?
Looking better with every headline.
And people thought 2012 was bad... Obama and Romney were both far superior to either candidate this year.
The sad part is that a lot of people here would STILL take a dump on Mitt Romney's head if he had entered the 2016 race. (He'll forever be the "what could've been president" - especially when Chinese historians look back on our failed democratic experiment.)
My first gen Macbook retina died last week.
I am a road warrior and need a high end laptop for personal use while in a hotel somewhere.
Since Apple is supposed to update in Q4, I really do not want to buy a new maxed out macbook. So I opted for a surfacebook. First windoze machine in years
Nightmare, sleep of death - fixed, 2 hour battery life and crazy sleep fixed - come one microsoft a corrupted install image?.
Now that I have the machine stable, I was going to keep it until all of the bugs are worked out of the new macs.
Now that I am reading more on how the update is going to give me a migraine.. screw that, I am going to return it and trade it in for the appropriate macbook retina..... this sucks
I thought you could get them through an Open License agreement, which is up to 250 clients. It's still bullshit, though, that they're locking these features behind an edition that not only no individual can purchase, but will also be a pain in the ass for a small business.
The proper asshole move of M$ would be to bake the Windows licensing check into Cortana - with explaining warnings that an internet connection is required It could check every day, but then go into limp-mode if it can't phone home within 30 days of being offline or some such. Oh, and if you tell M$ that you need a true offline stand-alone air gapped PC, they would happily tell you to go Linux. Truly, with the massive amounts of re-occuring revenue from a subscription model, your usage scenario isn't worth their fucking time.
Life is not for the lazy.
Yeah, I paid extra for 'Pro' to give me control over this shit.
Free upgrade to Enterprise or comically Education heading my way I believe.
Linux is good at link teaming put windows in a VM if you want to make it a server.
All the hardware has been compromised right alongside Microsoft Windows. It doesn't matter now if you're using windows, or linux, or osx. All now have remote network exploits built into the lowest level system management firmware, even beyond what microcode and SMI mode allowed previously. And it is all signed and mandatory or your system won't boot/continue to run (see 30 second shutoff on Intel systems.)
The only options a mainstream consumer knows about are: Wintel, OSX, Android, ChromeOS, and RaspberryPi. All of which are or couple be easily compromised for corporate or government spying. Even if you move out of that immediate ecosystem, try and find price competitive non-x86/arm hardware that supports at least one mini-PCIe x1 slot, actual desktop slots, or sufficient/expandable memory to run a desktop grade operating system with multitasked applications on. (Hint: RPi you are lucky to run 1-2 apps on without running out of memory today.)
I kept hoping to see RISC-V or the SuperH cloned J-series chips come out in either an SBC akin to the Pi, or better yet, an ITX->ATX sized board with a PCIe bus for desktop expansion boards. But both are instead targetting the deeply embedded market and losing the opportunity at gaining desktop marketshare while it would still be possible to counteract the potential if not actual compromises taking place as a result of the past 4-7 years of 2nd class user controlled systems.
The opportunities are dwindling, and all that needs to happen to shut the door completely is for the government to mandate the use of signed firmware on all computer hardware. We are almost there. Routers and Desktops are migrating to that capability. Once the door is shut, every electronic device around you could be spying on you at any time. And while it might not affect the plebs in their daily life, those who might work to change the system will find it a chilling effect indeed.
Just the other day I decided to let Windows 10 onto one of my unimportant machines (a refurbished ThinkPad that came with Windows 7 Pro). Well, looks like it's going back to Windows 7 tonight. It's clear that Microsoft has absolutely no respect whatsoever for its userbase.
Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
Job description: create a fair open commerce operating system to replace Microsoft.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
Im so glad im keeping windows 7. Its just getting worse and worse.
Windows 10 pro is now Windows 10 "public is stupid" edition.
Reality check:
TL;DR: Older geek, former windows guy struggling to GAF. Moved on.
I'm on a plane, using a Chromebook to browse the web and post here, because chromebooks get free GoGo service on a dozen flights a year. Gotta pay $15 to use Windows. If I flip the keyboard back, people mistake it for an iPad, kinda sexy looking, fun to use, not Windows. I get 14hrs per charge from a device that literally cost less than a Windows license by itself. Win10 provides an ok switchable touch-or-type experience, but it's not as mature. (The distinctive principles behind recent MS Office UI seem to be "waste space on your small screen" and "guess if this is clickable". Jerks.)
In another couple tabs, I have my work's Office365 open -- outlook, calendar, a word doc, and I can see edits in onenote as one of my guys updates it a continent away. It's clunky compared to Google Apps at my last company, but it totally eliminates any compatibility issues re MSOffice files. Work just gave me a mac, and to be honest its just a different way to launch a browser, so I left it home as well. (Hmm. Onenote is nicer than Keep, but it's basically a direct copy of Lotus Organizer... 20 years ago...20!!. Funny. ) I kinda miss Visio.
In my bag is a nice ultrabook running Mint 18, which is super stable and runs shockingly faster than Win10 on the same system.This weekend's project is scanning a couple thousand pages of family documents, and I can't bring a Windows laptop with me because the windows software for the hi-end scanner is an unstable clusterf*ck on WIn7/8 and Win10 simply doesn't recognize the device at all. Tried diff hw; it's the OS. I don't have hours to waste making this crap work on WIndows when it just works on Linux (Simplescan and XSane both worked perfectly with no jiggery-pokery at all). Same for numerous storage, wireless, input, a/v and other devices; I end up trying to fix Windows Update's wrong or borked drivers, when stuff just works on Linux. I find the reversal over the past decade pretty funny-not-funny.
I have backups at home on external systems, some with NTFS and some with EXT4. The kids asked me to buy a consumer media server a while back, and then we pulled the drives when the p/s died. Surprise, surprise, EXT3. Why would I screw around with Windows when it can't read half of my media drives and most of the IOT devices out there?
Bing? Oh please, I worked in Redmond for years, and tried hard to like them, but Microsoft simply can't get its collective shit together regarding search quality. Duckduckgo gives better results without the stalking behavior and implied-consent analysis. Win10 sending filesystem hashes back to the mothership without consent (or an ability to turn it off now) is creepy and rude. Even my kids were creeped out by the Xbox1 camera kerfuffle, and said they would rather have steam accounts and a badass theater projector+sound setup. So the old Xbox360 went to Goodwill. Want a cheap xbox and kinect?-- head over to the thrift store.
Cortana? Not as good as Android voice search. Doesn't work on my phone. Doesn't work on my recent stupid-toy-smartwatch. Doesn't remotely replace a voicerec program like Dragon, which I still used occasionally until recently. But then the goog rolled out voicerec on Chrome, which gives me an excellent voice input into Docs and decent nav experience on this here Chromebook. Super convenient, just works.
I'm struggling to find any reason why I care about Windows at all. Except I kinda miss Visio. And now they want to prevent me from turning off the WIndows App Store and the "Consumer Experience" that sends oodles of inappropriate data back to them? I just don't care anymore, but they're like the loudest guy at a party -- just waiting for him to leave.
I think not...(*poof*)
I ditched Microsoft software and solutions over a decade ago when an update they sent me wouldn't apply because the installer detected a OS/2 and Linux partition on my hard drive (which at the time I was a consultant needing to program solutions for all three platforms). Wait, what? I paid for your product and you won't update it because I make a living supporting alternate products? Go fuck yourself.
This is Sea Change moment for Linux. In the early 90's I watched IBM going from 80 percent market share down to 20/30 share. People stopped buying IBM and Microsoft was the winner of IBM's loss. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/20/business/ibm-posts-5.46-billion-loss-for-4th-quarter-1992-s-deficit-biggest-us-business.html This was due to IBM pushing MCA/PS2 etc. on a open market to reel in more profits. Yes, I was in a meeting for a fortune 500 company where the comptroller said, fuck IBM, were going Microsoft.
The Linux foundation along with RedHat, SuSE, Ubuntu need to get together (pool resources) and fix the minor issues still inhibiting total Linux adoption. Grandmothers want to easily show slideshows of the grand kids on their screen savers. Accountants want to use Quickbooks. Graphic designers want to use PhotoShop etc.
We haven't had hardware issues for years (in my experience). It's the little things that will prevent Linux adoption.
It's just the normal noises in here.
ChaletOS (based on Linux Kernel 4.4, Debian 8, Ubuntu LTS) https://sites.google.com/site/...
It was $55 and $9, and 22 million for the lawyers...
It's not just Pro users. Some of the settings were also available to Home users via the registry (I turned off the lock screen this way, whyTH do I need one on a PC?).
I guess they basically want users to upgrade to enterprise, or be monetized, annoyed and used as guinea pigs. Microsoft wins either way (unless a significant part of the user base quits using W10).
I have considered it, but it's a lot of effort to just get faster backups.
I'd stick in an infiniband card if I could, since the other server already has a free port, but there's only one model of card I could confirm works for Windows 10, and it's an expensive one.
...for the inevitable third-party plug-ins that'll disable all of these new policy disables (if that makes sense). Just like all of the telemetry shit they brought out initially. Thank the gods for ethical hackers.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. ~~ Hunter S. Thompson
MS wants to own us all. Why aren't more IT managers speaking up like the French government did? Migrate to WIN10 and MS will have access to all your data and know more about you and your company than the NSA. Hmmmm.... or is MS in the NSA's pocket? Read the EULA... its scary. I'm goin' to Mint. Loved MS for years now I hate-em.
Would this qualify as bait and switch. I,m reading most people got pro because it allows them control. MS just took that control away for why? and Win 10 Pro isn't free right?
Jack of all trades,master of none
I have blocked the Microsoft download and update sites in my router. M$ is now more dangerous than the "hackers".
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor...
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law