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Slashdot Asks: Free Upgrade To Windows 10 Ends Today: What's Your Thought On This?
Exactly one year ago, Microsoft released Windows 10 to the general public. The latest version of company's desktop operating system brought with it Cortana, and Windows Hello among other features. While users have lauded Windows 10 for performance improvements, the Redmond-based company's aggressive upgrade tactics have spoiled the experience for many. Whether it was installing Windows 10 on computers without users' consent, or eating up tons of bandwidth for users who couldn't afford it, or whether it was deceptive dialog boxes, Microsoft definitely deserves a lot of blame -- and rightfully, a bunch of lawsuits. But many of these things, hopefully, will end today -- July 29, 2016 (or to be exact, Saturday morning 5:59am EDT / 2:59am PDT) Today is officially the last day when eligible Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers could be upgraded to Windows 10 for free of charge. After this, an upgrade to Windows 10 will set you back by at least $119.
We asked you a couple of weeks ago whether or not would you recommend someone to update their computer to Windows 10, and the vast majority of you insisted against it. What's your thought on this now? Those who opt out of updating to Windows 10 will also miss the Anniversary Update -- and its features -- which Microsoft plans to release on August 2 for free of charge.
We asked you a couple of weeks ago whether or not would you recommend someone to update their computer to Windows 10, and the vast majority of you insisted against it. What's your thought on this now? Those who opt out of updating to Windows 10 will also miss the Anniversary Update -- and its features -- which Microsoft plans to release on August 2 for free of charge.
Oh thank god, another Windows 10 story!
I was getting worried we might go a day without one.
BSD: Free as in speech
Linux: Free as in beer
Windows 10: Free as in herpes
Thanks! Your check is in the mail! Oh, just a heads up: our typing records say your password for hotmidgetongoataction.com is pretty weak. I think you should add another exclamation mark to the end of it.
Thanks again,
Microsoft
Yea, hurry up and get the free forced updates, free advertising in your start menu and in the notification center, free removal of policy options, free violation of the hosts file for Microsoft/NSA privacy invading domains, etc. You could get all that and more and pay absolutely nothing! I liked Win10 when it was still pre-release. I despise what Microsoft is doing with it now. I regret updating my personal machines to it. My work machine may become Linux just because of the forced updates with reboots. It's one thing if it keeps me from gaming for a bit, it's another if it prevents me from getting work done. Yea, fine.. Enterprise may be safe from a lot of that for now, emphasis on "for now". They switched Lync over to Skype for Business and what a pile of crap that is.
...Those who have a pathological hate for MS will never switch, those who believe the haters and refuse to switch to Windows 10 get what they deserve, and those on the fence about switching to Windows 10 better move quick or risk paying for what they could have had for free....
What about those, such as myself, who actually had liked Windows in the past, and upgraded multiple licenses with every release (except Vista and Windows 8), starting at Windows NT?
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I've stated here in the past that I would be willing to continue to upgrade my Windows licenses, even paying for the privilege of doing so, if I could turn off the egregiously excessive data harvesting that Windows 10 performs.
However now, that I've already moved one computer from Windows to Linux, I'll add one more condition for me to stay with Windows... I'm still willing to pay for the upgrade license, but in addition to being able to turn off the egregiously excessive data harvesting, I would also want my computer not to become just another screen that advertisers (including Microsoft) can use to show me advertisements.
My thoughts are similar: The OS is nice, it's as usable an OS as Microsoft has made. But there's a reason Microsoft made it propagate like a zombie outbreak. People don't want it. MS has to know there are serious issues with the direction decision makers are taking the company when one of their more tolerable new friendly operating system releases is given away for free and older versions of their product are still preferable. Trying to monetize your customers is not working, M$. Learn from that.
19% market share for an OS that has been free for a year is fucking pathetic.
"Prediction: within 10 years, Windows will be a Linux distribution." Me, 7-6-2016
No, I think that's forever ruined.
They can't install Windows 10, but they can add all sorts of spyware to what you have via system updates, and they have already tried.
So from now of you will need to have automatic updates off and actually check up on each update before installing.
I have about a half-dozen I'm preventing from installing now because one of them causes my Firefox to crash all the time. Not sure which one, most of them are security-related regarding graphics drivers or something like that. All I know is, Firefox stayed running before I installed them and once it started crashing uninstalling them fixed it.
I might say something to Microsoft, but their response it either going to be blaming Firefox or saying I have to update to Windows 10 to fix it.
Forced updates is the deal breaker for me. Given the stuff MS does these days (see the /. article on the "anniversary" update), I can't trust them not to undo whatever I've fixed, delete stuff, make stuff run that I don't want, etc. I have 8.1 on a separate (seldom booted) partition and even though it's crap, I haven't lost control over it, at least not yet.
It's not just the veneral disease outbreak aspect of Windows 10 that is bad. Though the itching is pretty annoying. But there were so many gawdawful design decisions. Decisions made that benefit Microsoft while hurting customers, like an automaker who uses corrugated tin for the seats because it's cheaper and keeps the drivers more alert than with cushioned seats (because it felt like the right time for an automobile analogy).
The default settings for Windows 10 were just plain awful. Their use of a torrent-like method to share Windows 10 with others that was made an opt-out feature. Their extremely bizarre feature to share wifi passwords if your friends already have them (later removed when MS sobered up). Their spyware, and their methods of bypassing the hosts file to make sure it's hard to block this. Their repeat of the IE mistake by making Cortana integrated and supposedly unable to be removed (just the name Cortana is a stupid idea, it's from a lousy xbox game that the majority of enterprise users will never have heard of). And the biggest hugest fuckup of them all, the inability to skip updates, even the pointless updates unrelated to security, the automatic reboot of your machine by default in the middle of doing your work or playing your game just because Microsoft thought it was a good time for an update.
I missed it! How did I not get a notification or something? Was it a feature you had to enable?
OMG facts!