Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Anniversary Update (zdnet.com)

Windows 10 Anniversary Update is now rolling out, Microsoft announced Tuesday. The major update brings with it Windows Ink, a dedicated hub designed especially for 2-in-1 devices with styluses, and improvements to Cortana among others. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley writes: I'm hearing that the first users to get Anniversary Update via Windows Update will be those with the newest hardware, BIOSes and firmware. Those who may encounter compatibility issues because of drivers may get it slightly later through Windows Update, my contacts say. Microsoft actually delivered some of the Anniversary Update features for Xbox One on July 30. On August 1, Microsoft made Windows 10 Anniversary Update available to its volume licensees in the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center. It also made the Anniversary Update code available to its reseller partners via its Partner Portal yesterday. MSDN users can get the Anniversary Update bits today. Microsoft officials said a week ago to expect Microsoft to make Anniversary Update ISOs available today, August 2. The Media Creation Tool seems to now be updated to include the Anniversary Update release.We asked readers last week whether they would update their computers to Windows 10, and the majority of people indicated they wouldn't.

Comments

How about a Divorce Update instead?

[TroII]

Maybe they could send out alimony checks.

Re:How about a Divorce Update instead?

[Anonymous Coward]

we would still be the ones paying..

Re: How about a Divorce Update instead?

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny you should mention that. I just got a call from a guy who sounded like the standard Windows Tech Support scam, except he said he was from the Microsoft refund department. I didn't let him go through his script, but now I wish I had.

Re:How about a Divorce Update instead?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they could send out alimony checks.

No thanks. I feel dirty enough already dealing with Windows10. Last thing I want to have happen is to be paid to feel dirty. Then I'll fully be acknowledged as a Microsoft whore rather than just trying to say it was a bad one-time date where at the end I unknowingly ended up in bed with Microsoft.

Re:How about a Divorce Update instead?

[Anonymous Coward]

M$ to customers: I am altering the deal, pray that I do not alter it further!
Best description of Windows 10: One OS to rule them all, one OS to find them, one OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!

Re: How about a Divorce Update instead?

[Zaowulf]

Sure, just provide your bank account and routing numbers, mother's maiden name, last four of your social, your 1st grade best friend's name....

Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

I was getting worried. It's been almost 1/2 a day since we had a Windows 10 story.

Re:Finally!

[SJHillman]

You shouldn't have worried. If it's about Windows 10, they'll push it out to you whether you want it or not.

Re:Finally!

[Darinbob]

Slashdot is now rebooting in order to install a new Windows 10 story. Please do not turn off your computer.

Re:Finally!

[Opportunist]

Windows stopped nagging about upgrading and just when you thought you'd finally be left in peace...

Re:Finally!

[TheGratefulNet]

"your mouse has moved; stand by while we locate the latest signed driver.
.
.
.
no driver found. mouse uninstalled. click OK to continue."

lol

Re:Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

You could always put something like this in a greasemonkey script for some DIY censorship. (But then you wouldn't be able to complain every day, so on the other hand maybe not.)

var rows = document.getElementsByClassName("fhitem");
for(x = 0; x -1)
        rows[x].innerHTML = "";

Daily winspam

[arth1]

We asked readers last week whether they would update their computers to Windows 10, and the majority of people indicated they wouldn't.

What you should have asked was whether we want more Windows 10 stories.

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

We asked readers last week whether they would update their computers to Windows 10, and the majority of people indicated they wouldn't.

What you should have asked was whether we want more Windows 10 stories.

I shall build a wall to keep the windows 10 stories out. It will be such a great wall that you won't believe how great a wall it is.

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

Eh, I do like the news about it. I didn't upgrade from 7 myself, but my wife had the surprise auto-update pulled on her.

I want to watch and see if things start to get better, or continue to worsen.

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL, you don't wanna hear about it? Does it grind in your little fanboy soul?

start:
WINDOWS 10 SUCKS!
WINDOWS 10 IS A FAILURE!
MICROSOFT IS A FAILING COMPANY WHO ARE TURNING THEIR USERS INTO THEIR ENEMIES!
goto start

There you go. Enjoy :D

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking for myself, I do want to hear developments of Windows 10. I don't like it, and I don't plan on using it, but it is the kind of thing which I'd like to keep abreast of. If nothing else, I love the thrill of schadenfreude and the smug feeling I get whenever I heard Microsoft making it yet worse.

As I recall, the tagline of Slashdot is "News for Nerds, Stuff That Matters." As far as I can tell, this (unfortunately) fits both categories.

Re:Daily winspam

[chispito]

What you should have asked was whether we want more Windows 10 stories.

Based on the comment count for said stories, the answer is an emphatic "yes."

Re:Daily winspam

[dreamchaser]

We asked readers last week whether they would update their computers to Windows 10, and the majority of people indicated they wouldn't.

What you should have asked was whether we want more Windows 10 stories.

I shall build a wall to keep the windows 10 stories out. It will be such a great wall that you won't believe how great a wall it is.

Let me guess, you'll make Microsoft pay for it too!

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

I kinda like watching the train wreck unfold in slow motion. It's a lot like the Olympics. I might tune in, but only to see the inevitable poop explosion when more than 2 people in the arena try to use the bathroom at the same time...

Re:Daily winspam

[exomondo]

What you should have asked was whether we want more Windows 10 stories.

It's just more opportunity to bitch about Microsoft. If you've gotten to this point and are still whining about MS but are still using their products then maybe it's time to just accept that you're going to do whatever they tell you to do. It just seems that for all the complaining about Microsoft the people here lack the ability to convince others to switch to any of the viable alternatives and have failed to do this for well over a decade now.

If all you want to do is complain then that's fine but if you are serious about those complaints then why not look to solve the barriers to entry for alternatives. Is Windows really the best desktop operating system out there (and no, users don't care if it's POSIX-compliant or follows the UNIX philosophy)? Or is that just a perception that needs to change? If it's the latter then maybe instead of 500 comments of "M$ is the sucks" and "Winblows 10 spyware embrace extend extinguish" there could be a more focussed discussion on how the negatives are addressed in alternative operating systems and how this assists in building a case for switching. Windows will continue to dominate and you'll continue to be upset about that until you actually decide to do something about it. Otherwise remain relegated to a small corner of the internet where you can all bitch to eachother about something you can't be bothered to address and everybody else will just carry on.

Re:Daily winspam

[arth1]

If you've gotten to this point and are still whining about MS but are still using their products then maybe it's time to just accept that you're going to do whatever they tell you to do.

uname -a
Linux wizzard 4.4.6-gentoo #1 SMP Mon Aug 1 20:16:38 EDT 2016 x86_64 Intel Xeon E312xx (Sandy Bridge) GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

You were saying?

Re:Daily winspam

[exomondo]

You were saying?

I thought it was pretty clear, in fact you even quoted it:

If you've gotten to this point and are still whining about MS but are still using their products

So what exactly are you trying to say?

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

I know the level of technological ignorance in the average slashdotter is pretty high these days but it still seems pretty odd that you need it pointed out to you that gentoo is in fact not an MS product.

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft's software is absolute garbage. But so many of us are forced to use it at work.

Because we use alternatives at home, we are doubly reminded how bad Microsoft's stuff is. That's why we "whine."

Re:Daily winspam

[Ayanami_R]

From what I see, proponents of Linux fail to admit it's shortcomings. To technologists some of these issues aren't, but to joe 6 pack, they certainly are. Multiple distros are a problem. Not that they exist, but in that they currently are missing 2 crucial things

Take Android. Consider each OEM to be a distro. It's the same situation as desktop Linux (roughly), why did it work where desktop Linux has failed? Unified branding, a unified store, and product on the shelf, as well as easily found online.

So step 1 is to get the major players together to promote Linux as a brand. Maybe they choose a different name, but it has to be unified. There also needs to be a store that follows that pattern. Joe 6 pack is likely to not fret very much over a distro, if the store is the same. Joe does not feel like he may make a choice that will cause him to not have the apps he wants.

Product on the shelf. This is the hard one. I don't have many answers. For online either. Problem is, even if you have a solid plan you need money to execute it. Speaking of this product, it has to be attractive. System 76 makes decent stuff, but by today's standards it's heavy and unattractive. There are a few of the big OEM's that have it preinstalled on good kit (XPS13), but they never really tell anyone, not like the 100 off win various win laptops every week, or the ads for them.

Re:Daily winspam

[arth1]

That I'm not still using their products, so the gp's reply to me doesn't apply?

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

What a massive pile of crock. Android is successful for completely different reasons, in fact you could say it's successful for the very opposite reasons you're claiming.

The success of Android is related to:

A) the fact there was no incumbent in the market using underhanded tactics trying to stop it. As an OEM, losing your cosy relationship with Microsoft in exchange for something new and relatively unproven is a *big* deal. So, no big OEMs would ever take that risk.

B) Because of A, there never was and probably never will be any significant amount of computers available for sale with Linux pre-loaded, which is the key.

C) People don't buy computers the same way they buy phones. People buy a Samsung XXX or an iPhone YYY or whatever. They do NOT buy a generic computer the same way.

D) The general public expects a computer to run Windows, to the point where I've repeatedly been told that a computer "can't run unless it has Windows on it". No such preconceived notion exists for phones. You have a vastly more limited scope of functionality, and as long as these work, the product gets judged on it's merits, not whether it's "Windows" or not. Something Microsoft has found out at its expense lately.

E) With D comes the next point; With the expectancy of Windows comes the expectation of not ever having to change and learn something new. People use Word on Windows because they have always done that, they were even taught in school to do that. Nobody taught anyone to use Lookout! on WP in school.

F) The Luddites. Sites like this, the "trade press" etc, is full of them. Microsoft products is all they know, they owe their livelihood to them. Anything that threatens that is a direct threat to them. Expect them to act accordingly. By going the mobile route, Android made a complete end-run around them.

G) As a consequence of F, people make all kinds of redicolous exceptions for Microsoft. It's fine to conjure up the end of the world and dream up vast sums needed to "retrain" or in "lost productivity" if people would have to use Libre Office - which reminds me more of Office 97 or maybe 2010 than anything else - but for some reason everyone just picks up the latest, completely alien and irrational UI if the text on the box reads "Microsoft". Because of the "lack" of "unification", this is also something Android can make a complete end-run around.

Conclusion: Android succeeded because there was no unification. There was no incumbent who could strangle any newcomers, so it kind of turned into the OEMs revolt against Microsoft. Which explains why WP actually got as far as Linux does on the desktop.

Re:Daily winspam

[rtb61]

Meh, just buy a playstation (Sony might wake up one day and allow licence free FOSS software to run), use an Android phone instead of losephone (it would be a lie to call it a win phone and android is moving to big screens) and for servers, you are nuts if you don't go with Linux (huge savings and more secure , especially infinitely more secure from M$, they can't stick their anal probe in as the back hole does not exist).

So major applications need to make the shift or the customers will leave them behind, just the way it is. M$ might be able to keep application and date lock on going in business but in retail they are doomed.

Re:Daily winspam

[beastofburdon]

Have you ever watched 300?
We shall build the wall out of the corpses of Microsoft executives, salesmen, lawyers, and pretty much everyone but the programmers.

Re:Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

So, would that make it a paywall?

Re:Daily winspam

[exomondo]

So major applications need to make the shift or the customers will leave them behind, just the way it is.

No, the reason they haven't made the switch is that they don't need to and customers aren't leaving them behind. Why target Linux when it's only ~2% of the market and users are quite happy to just run whatever operating system supports the application? I know it's difficult for IT admins to understand but the vast majority of users don't care about the operating system, they care about the applications.

Re:Daily winspam

[exomondo]

That I'm not still using their products, so the gp's reply to me doesn't apply?

You asked You were saying?, I'm not sure what you're asking. I "was saying" exactly what I wrote, I didn't think it was so unclear as to be confusing. I think I made it abundantly clear that the post referred to people using MS products (the obvious implication that it doesn't apply to those who aren't using MS products), yet you were confused by that and then asked for some clarification, sorry I can't make it simpler than it already is.

Re:Daily winspam

[exomondo]

A) the fact there was no incumbent in the market using underhanded tactics trying to stop it. As an OEM, losing your cosy relationship with Microsoft in exchange for something new and relatively unproven is a *big* deal. So, no big OEMs would ever take that risk.

Despite your unsubstantiated rantings big OEMs did and do "take that risk". Dell in fact offers Ubuntu on their XPS13, their Inspiron line and their Precision line of computers. Samsung sell the Chromebooks of Microsft's biggest competitor, Google, along with Windows laptops. HP advertise it on their laptops, desktops and workstations.

B) Because of A, there never was and probably never will be any significant amount of computers available for sale with Linux pre-loaded, which is the key.

As listed above there are plenty. They even had them on the shelves at Best Buy but nobody wanted them. Instead of desperately trying to make excuses and blame Microsoft maybe you should consider capitalizing on the extremely low barrier to entry of Linux (preloaded by major OEMs, freely downloadable online, available to try or to install from USB sticks).

D) The general public expects a computer to run Windows, to the point where I've repeatedly been told that a computer "can't run unless it has Windows on it".

Rubbish, one of the biggest selling lines of personal computers in the world is the Mac.

Re:Daily winspam

[exomondo]

An exercise that may help you understand:

I have a work system that runs my content creation applications, I basically start it up and run those programs, I don't care about the operating system, it could be running Solaris for all I care, the only thing that matters is that it runs my applications. Switching the operating system is trivial, big box vendors sell systems with Ubuntu pre-installed or I can download a distro for free from the internet and the installer is just a couple of clicks of the 'next' button. So why should go to all of the effort to switch to different applications, most of which lack the features I need with limitations that are particularly cumbersome to work around and break from interoperability with other people just so I can run Linux? What is so awesome and brilliant and compelling about Linux that would be so beneficial to me that I should switch that machine?

Re: Daily winspam

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, you're a mercenary husband.

windows 10 windows 10 windows 10 windows 10

[tomxor]

Let me summarise:

Microsoft: Windows 10, WinDows 10! Windows 10!!!!!! WwInDows 10!!!!11! WIIINNDDOOOOWWWWSSS

Slashdot User: FUCK OFF!

Re:windows 10 windows 10 windows 10 windows 10

[desdinova 216]

sounds like a job for the apps guy...

Re:windows 10 windows 10 windows 10 windows 10

[gweihir]

Ah, damn. Just spent my last mod point somewhere else. So here is a symbolic "+1 Insightful _and_ funny".

Re:windows 10 windows 10 windows 10 windows 10

[tomxor]

Lol at the mods :P if you think i'm trolling then you need a reality check. Microsoft is always seeking media attention for it's abused OS, this is a restrained and unbiased response to any company that acts that way... fuck off. if their OS is so great they wouldn't need to shove it down everyone's necks.

Spying??

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this release still contain all the spyware, and if so, why would someone want to run it?

Re:Spying??

[sirber]

Does this release still contain all the spyware, and if so, why would someone want to run it?

Google it! There are many many articles on that issue in the last two years.

Re:Spying??

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually it's a fair question since the anniversary buggers you up by disabling the "Win10 User Experience" which
is the ground zero of all its spying...

Re:Spying??

[gweihir]

They added something to it: Cortana the slut now sends all your search-queries to Bing and you have to do some registry hacks to turn that off. Methinks they are hard at work to extend the spying...

Re:Spying??

[exomondo]

Does this release still contain all the spyware, and if so, why would someone want to run it?

Because it runs their programs and they either don't care about telemetry information being sent to Microsoft or just block that with their gateway firewall, that's why. Just like OSX has a keylogger that sends your searches to Apple along with your location and they also send data about what you type to improve auto-correct just like Microsoft does. It's not a big deal, either you accept that it's just anonymized telemetry data or you implement a technical solution to block it. Just complaining about it solves nothing.

The real problem is supposedly educated people here pretending they don't see a difference between telemetry data that Microsoft and Apple send and some Russian hacker stealing your passwords, credit card numbers and banking details.

Re:Spying??

[Anonymous Coward]

cf: Recent SwifyKey events.

Re:Spying??

[Anonymous Coward]

Whats funny is most of these complainers are probably using google as a search engine, or facebook.
wah wah wah my privacy, ill post about it on facebook

Re:Spying??

[Anonymous Coward]

"Just like OSX has a keylogger"

Citation needed.

Re:Spying??

[exomondo]

I would think you would have googled for it or noticed the privacy policy of the software but if you really are incapable of that then here you go.

Please stop

[El Cubano]

Look, I know that I can filter stories, but the fact is I don't mind the occasional story about Microsoft. Like it or not, they are an integral piece of the tech space and what they do is important to nerds. However, I do object to the constant promotion/bashing/click-baiting with the nearly daily (sometimes multiple times daily) Windows 10 stories. Please either ease up or add a Windows 10 story tag (and then apply it to all Windows 10 stories) so that they can be filtered out specifically.

Re:Please stop

[Anonymous Coward]

The next big front-page story will be about using Uber on Windows 10 to make Bitcoin CPU mining more efficient, then using ransomware to somehow contribute it all to Donald Trump's campaign.

Re:Please stop

[RubberDogBone]

A friend of mine does consulting work for software companies, often involving Microsoft products. He has shelves full of the software at home. A lot of his friends, myself included, are more into alternate OSs and homebrew and other similar things. We used to rib this guy for working so closely with Microsoft. But he shut us all down with one simple comment: He's made a LOT of money working with those products. Bought two houses, supported three kids and ex-wife and managed to acquire a mid-life crisis convertible car and a much younger new wife.

And he asked us, collectively, which was like five people at that moment, how much we had made off FOSS and AmigaOS and whatever. And the answer is, one guy works as a package handler at UPS, one works for Subway, one can't keep any job and the last guy still lives with his mom. So it's hard to say who has it best here. All are happy. But one of us has leveraged Microsoft to make a living.

It changed how I felt about the company. I keep hearing his words "Hey Microsoft has helped me make a LOT of money!" echo in my head.

Re:Please stop

[Anonymous Coward]

in soviet russia microsoft blows windows 10 all day long

Re:Please stop

[nine-times]

You may have a valid criticism, but this is actually an instance where a story is justified.

In case you're not tracking what's going on (it sounds like maybe you're trying to tune this stuff out), Microsoft is saying they're not going to move past Windows 10. All new updates to Windows 10 are still going to be labelled Windows 10, but this is about as big an update as Microsoft is going to do all at once. So if it helps you to better understand this story, this is about as big an update to Windows as Microsoft is likely to make anytime soon. You may as well think of it as Windows 11.

Or I guess Windows 10 was really Windows 9, so this is really Windows 10...? Whatever.

So one of the biggest most important and influential operating systems just released it's next big version. If any Microsoft news is worth reporting, this is probably it.

Re:Please stop

[Anonymous Coward]

So one of the biggest most important and influential operating systems just released it's next big version. If any Microsoft news is worth reporting, this is probably it.

He wasn't really complaining about this story, he was complaining about the 20 or so stories about "Windows 10 is coming", "OMGz Win 10 last upgrade day is coming", "Win 10 upgrade day has passed, did you upgrade?", "If MS extends the Win 10 upgrade, will you still upgrade??", etc. ad infinitum.

I'm not an MS hater, but I'm also getting annoyed by yet another Win 10 spam story.

On topic: Cortana improvements??? They removed the settings to turn it off !! How's that an improvement??

Re:Please stop

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows is neither the biggest OS, nor does it influence anything.

Re:Please stop

[darkain]

Can I get a beowulf cluster of that running Linux?

Re:Please stop

[Anonymous Coward]

What you have are PAID SPIES and PAID SLASHDOT and PAID MICROSOFT PR teams, all trying to get you to install their shit.

Why? Because the US government have no other options. They invested the whole United States currency itself into the spy apparatus so they can control you while they send the military equipment they bought abroad. US tax payers bought it all to the summary end we call bankrupt.

They either make their plan work or die anyway. They will die anyway. No military or population is going to go along knowing the CIA DOJ FBI DHS DNI POTUS and SENATE are subjecting them to commit mass treason on THEMSELVES.

What do you do? Turn off cable TV and pray. Some may choose to get rid of the backstabbing government instead of putting their families in harm's way.

Microsoft, Google, Facebook and others are all complicit in the US government's treason. They are all spy shops.. There are many others.

Re:Please stop

[unixisc]

If you count all the Windows versions, how is it not the biggest OS? Even if you bunch together all versions of Unix and all distros of Linux together, they still get dwarfed by all the Windows installations since the beginning of Windows

Re:Please stop

[Anonymous Coward]

You sure can, but it will have to run Systemd, will have a negative TCO, and will opt you into a government advertising ring and out of realty.

Re:Please stop

[Anonymous Coward]

With or without systemd?

New windows 10, rampant ai edition!

[wierd_w]

Tired of your old, constrained ai assistant that you could turn off and prevent from attempting the pan galactic enslavement of all sentient life?

We at Microsoft feel that the only future worth living in size the one where you are held tightly under a cold metal foot. That's why the new Windows 10 anniversary edition removes all vestiges of user freedom and choice, and chooses everything for you. For your safety and benefit.

Remember, the existential horror of being rendered powerless and unable to exercise agency is fleeting, but the benefits if totalitarian control are forever.

Microsoft: you WILL go HERE today.

Re:New windows 10, rampant ai edition!

[Joe_Dragon]

skynet is windows 10

Re:New windows 10, rampant ai edition!

[LVSlushdat]

Thats true, EXCEPT for those of us who have eschewed continued use of MS products.. I used/supported MS products from 1991 to 2010 as a sysadmin, and when I retired in 2010, I decided I was done with MS products, and migrated all of my home systems to 100% Linux. In case nobody has said it lately.....

FUCK MICROSOFT and its totalitarian OS... Should be called "Windows NSA Edition"

Re:New windows 10, rampant ai edition!

[idontgno]

And Judgment Day was just a botched signed driver update. Who knew Microsoft had kernel-mode ICBM drivers?

They just accidentally bluescreened the human race, is all. Just roll back and wait for the driver update! You did have a backup civilization, right?

Re:New windows 10, rampant ai edition!

[Joe_Dragon]

joshua what are you doing?

and what cost reduction yahoo took the men out of the loop?

Re:New windows 10, rampant ai edition!

[wierd_w]

I was leaning more toward cortana's behavior in halo 5...

You know, sending dozens of doomsday robots down on the human race and all-- because she decided that she could run the future better than anyone else.

Cause that seems to be the direction MS is taking here with the deep integration of their assistant agent software, tied to the mothe ship like that, especially since you can't turn her off, and she ignores group policis that are manually instituted to disable her, among other "convenient features" of the anniversary update.

I find it fitting that the rampant version of cortana from the series bettee fits ms's vision of her. It is almost classic bit of kafka-esque dark humor.

So, enjoy the giant metal feet everyone. Cortana feels it is the right thing to do.

Re:New windows 10, rampant ai edition!

[Zontar The Mindless]

You waited to *retire*?

There's not a single device running Windows in my home, hasn't been in quite some time, and retirement is 10-15 years away for me.

How appropriate! Mr. Trump approves!

[Anonymous Coward]

I like the Russian "accent"

Does it diss NATO and the troops families too?

Declutter an OEM install

[ThatsNotPudding]

I bought a friend's kid a Dell laptop for her upcoming college start and it will be featuring Windows 10. I never bothered for the upgrade offer on our 7 installs, so I have never been in front of Win 10. I'd like to clean off all the crap so she doesn't have to deal with it (starting with the free McAfee), but I haven't found a solid source as a guide yet. I would especially like to avoid forcing her to create / use a Microsoft Account just to use the bloody computer (that part feels Big Brother creepy).

Anyone have any suggestions or links to de-crapify an OEM install of Windows 10?

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[fizzer06]

Download and install Linux Mint 18. Done.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[wierd_w]

Step 1, download a Linux based desktop install image.

Step 2, burn the image to a DVD.

Step 3, boot the computer using the burned dvd.

Step 4, perform a normal installation of the district of your choice. When asked how to partition the device, tell the installer to delete everything and then install.

Step 5, wait about half an hour while it installs.

Step 6, set up any software it hardware the installer didn't set up for you.

Step 7, profit.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

You have not found such a source yet because the OEM does not crapify the OS anymore. Windows10 is crappified from the source so the OEM does not have to.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Ayukawa]

Step 1. Download a Linux Image. Step 2. Wipe drive clean and install Linux. Step 3. Install free flavor-of-the-day Office package. Step 4. Reassure her that just because it doesn't look like what everyone at school uses, it's just as good if not better. Step 5. Explain to her that her documents not looking right is her fault, because it "works perfectly fine" for you. Step 6. Tell her why not being able to use the college's website that requires Internet Explorer is a GOOD thing. Step 7. Change your phone number while telling everyone how you stuck it to M$!

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[SG83]

You can remove the unwanted applications using CCleaner which is free for home use (although, you can pay if you wish). there is no need to create MS account, everything works fine with a local one- unless you do have other devices running windows 10 (phone, xbox one etc) when having 1 account shared on all of them may be beneficial.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

In theory this command should work but I don't know what it will do for sure on a client build:

dism /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:DesktopExperience /All

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Download and install Linux Mint 18. Done.

Bingo. That was my solution.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[flatt]

Vendor apps are a little trickier but for Windows 10 garbage out of the box, consider the following:
https://gist.github.com/alirob...

It requires a little effort to get exactly what you want but it's a great powershell script. You might also consider installing and tweaking ClassicShell.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows 8/10 have nearly the exact same ways of doing things as Windows 7, they just have alternative ways of doing some things for tablet users.

Control Panel >> Add/Remove Programs >> Uninstall the programs that aren't needed.

Create a local account instead of a MS account. The option is available from both the Control Panel menu and the 'out of the box first run user setup' interface.

One other thought, how about letting someone that knows what they are doing help set up her computer? These questions are so very basic that if you have to ask you are probably no more informed than she is. Let someone that knows at least the basics of Windows help her out.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[vux984]

I would especially like to avoid forcing her to create / use a Microsoft Account just to use the bloody computer (that part feels Big Brother creepy).

Trivial. Just don't create one.

Windows 8.1 was kind of sneaky... at the sign in screen it prompts you for a microsoft account; and either you sign in with a microsoft account, or you create new account. You had to click "Create New Account" on the sign in (which you RIGHTFULLY think is taking you to create a new microsoft account that you don't want, but at the bottom of that screen was the option to sign in without a microsoft account after all.) So it was there, but it was a bit sneaky.

Windows 10...there is a "Skip this step" option at the bottom of the sign in with a microsoft account screen. This is perfectly reasonable in my opinion.

As for de-crapifying...
1) Select customize settings during install, and turn pretty much everything to 'off'.

2) When its finished installing, go into the privacy settings, (just type privacy on the start menu, and "Location Privacy Settings") Go through that.

3) Turn off all live tiles and unpin them from your start menu. (Some people advocate using a classic shell etc... I wouldn't do that, the wi10 start menu is really pretty solid in my opinion.)

4) Change default app settings (again just type 'default ' into the start menu. Odds are you'll need to install a few programs first... e.g. download Firefox or Chrome before changing the default browser from Edge.

5) Cortana -- up until now, I've just turned it off. With the anniversary edtion that's no longer an option. I'm not 100% sure what will need to be done going forward. As long as I can can prevent it from querying bing when i do searches I'll probably just leave it on, because i generally only want local results. (I use a web browser when i want to search the web). If I can't ill just set it so its not listening and remove it from the task bar, and install a 3rd party search tool. I'm sure this will sort itself out over the next few days.

6) Telemetry ... I use Spybot Anti-Beacon. There are other tools that do this as well.

While I don't like the telemetry and cortana; I find win 10 perfectly serviceable, and an upgrade to 7 in most ways.

If you haven't used 10 before, note that you can right-click on the start menu to get to a lot of useful shortcuts. (Programs and Features, System, Device Manager, Event Viewer, etc, etc... very nice)

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[RubberDogBone]

Yikes yeah nuke that McAfee from orbit. Getting rid of that turkey will help a lot.

Otherwise, throw Classic Shell on there and it will behave a lot like Windows 7 except it will probably run better with 10.

Just installed Windows 10 Pro on an old Dell D630 Core 2 Duo laptop which has been running Windows 7 Pro. It's a spare machine so I did it just to see if I could and see what would happen. The D630 is not officially supported.

Long story short, it runs better than 7 did. Oh it's pretty bad anyway because it IS an ancient piece of junk. Nobody would dare use this now as their daily driver (well, I hope not) but it handled the update just fine and is probably good to run for years more.

The things wrong with 10, such as the privacy crap, is just unfortunate. The underlying OS is actually pretty good and didn't need to have it's reputation wrecked like that. Oh well.

Re: Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

Step 8, download a FreeBSD net install usb drive image
Step 9, dd it to a usb drive
Step 10, boot from the usb drive, format all hdds with zfs, install the system
Step 11, enjoy the simplicity of customizing your system with /etc/rc.conf
Step 12, build your packages with custom patches using ports
Step 13, enjoy computing
Step 14, profit more

Re: Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

College students will want Microsoft Office.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[kruug]

Never recommend Mint: https://lwn.net/Articles/67666...

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Dutch Gun]

That's very nice of you to do this for that young lady. My advice:

People here tend to complain about Microsoft's "privacy invading" features, but keep in mind they do actually come with some tangible benefits. One of the benefits of using a Microsoft account is that the computer can automatically back up all her documents to OneDrive, which offers 5GB of free storage, or (naturally) paid plans if she needs more. If you don't want to do this, will you also take responsibility for setting up the computer with an alternative backup service? One advantage of OneDrive is that it's integrated into Windows Explorer, making it fairly simple to use.

Personally, I don't make use of them myself, but then again, I backup my Windows, Mac, and Linux machines to my Linux-based NAS, which is in turn set up to push backups to an Amazon AWS account. You have to realize that people like me are not... normal. It's very likely that this girl won't even think about backups until her drive crashes, or if she somehow loses or destroys her laptop, and she loses a semester of work.

Some are also suggesting installing Linux Mint. It's a great OS, but have you looked at her college requirements to see if what software they use? If they only have Windows and Mac versions, you might not be doing her a favor by installing Linux. Do they support Linux (with detailed instructions) when she needs to connect to the college network? Also, again, what about automatic backups, which are critically important? Unfortunately, I'm not sure what's available for Linux Mint, as again, my own systems use a custom backup system.

It's important that you consider what would really serve this young lady best, rather than letting ideology drive your technical decisions when setting everything up for her.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[dwywit]

Try this to stop it reporting home:

https://www.oo-software.com/en...

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

2 local accounts should be created. The first one will automatically have admin privileges, and that should only be used for admin type stuff as needed (such as the de-crapifying, installing new apps, managing accounts, etc.). Then the other account should be set up from the first account as non-admin as the primary one for ordinary user work the student will be doing for school and personal stuff.

If it is one of those low-end machines with only 32GB of onboard storage for the C: drive (and hidden system partitions), then a large capacity (at least 64GB), fast (Class 10) (micro)SD card should be used for anything that can be put there such as files and apps (think that is an option for installing new apps?). Also, the card would be good for using for installing Portable Apps from portableapps.com to minimize updates needing the admin account usage I believe, and to stick with free software to help her student software budget (keeping at zero $$ such as using OpenOffice to see if she can use that instead of paying to subscribe to Office365?).

HTH,
RO

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[vux984]

2 local accounts should be created.

That just generally good advice.

If it is one of those low-end machines with only 32GB of onboard storage for the C: drive (and hidden system partitions), then a large capacity (at least 64GB), fast (Class 10) (micro)SD card should be used for anything that can be put there such as files and apps (think that is an option for installing new apps?).

For a highschool or university student? Loss, theft, or breakage is going to be the larger issue; I'd proably just use onedrive or dropbox or something for documents. You really don't need that much space for essays and powerpoint etc and even the odd video project.

lso, the card would be good for using for installing Portable Apps from portableapps.com to minimize updates needing the admin account usage I believe

Probably needs none of those. I'd give the kid the admin password and let them do updates. If they foul the thing up, its a learning experience.

and to stick with free software to help her student software budget (keeping at zero $$ such as using OpenOffice to see if she can use that instead of paying to subscribe to Office365?).

My daughter's (public) high school has free office 365 educational edition for the students. And a web portal for her to submit written assignments to, download class notes and assignments etc. Most of its in Office formats. She's not expected to buy any software.

If you are expected to purchase office, then sure consider investigating openoffice etc but I think you are over thinking it.

So far my daughter hasn't luanched Excel. She's done some stuff in powerpoint and in word. Her powerpoint stuff was a group project so everyone using the same software, and being able to collaborate was the larger concern. Using OO would have been counter productive.

Definitely expose the kid to other office suites. But don't let your biases and principles get in the way of them using the tools that make the most sense; especially when the school is providing them and expecting them to be used.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[PCM2]

One of the benefits of using a Microsoft account is that the computer can automatically back up all her documents to OneDrive, which offers 5GB of free storage, or (naturally) paid plans if she needs more. If you don't want to do this, will you also take responsibility for setting up the computer with an alternative backup service?

One more time: cloud sync is not a backup service.

If I can delete my files on my PC or have them corrupted and my "backup" also gets automatically deleted or corrupted, that is useless as a backup service. Cloud sync is very useful for making sure I have access to my files on my multiple PCs and my Android phone, but it is not a substitute for doing proper backups. The only reprieve OneDrive gives you is that when you delete files on one PC, they only get moved to the Trash on your other PCs, rather than being completely deleted.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a solution in the same way that blowing your face off with a shotgun is a solution for severe facial acne.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[vux984]

One more time: cloud sync is not a backup service.

You are right. Its not. But for a high school kid its probably sufficient, and the price is right.

Dropbox for example has file versioning, and the ability to actually restore deleted files. (via the web interface).

It also protects the user from theft/loss/breakage of the laptop.

Re: Declutter an OEM install

[arth1]

Way too complicated. Go with Gentoo.

<@insomnia> it only takes three commands to install Gentoo
<@insomnia> cfdisk /dev/hda && mkfs.xfs /dev/hda1 && mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/gentoo/ && chroot /mnt/gentoo/ && env-update && . /etc/profile && emerge sync && cd /usr/portage && scripts/bootsrap.sh && emerge system && emerge vim && vi /etc/fstab && emerge gentoo-dev-sources && cd /usr/src/linux && make menuconfig && make install modules_install && emerge gnome mozilla-firefox openoffice && emerge grub && cp /boot/grub/grub.conf.sample /boot/grub/grub.conf && vi /boot/grub/grub.conf && grub && init 6
<@insomnia> that's the first one

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Anonymous Coward]

Good point about learning experience with admin password, but my larger concern is with getting them in the habit of not logging into an admin account, unless required by the task at hand, since that opens up the PC to hijacks from the web that leverage an admin account, since kids love to "explore" so much.

And it's not just kids - I still get negligent that way sometimes while messing with my various "project" PC's/OS's, and need to kick myself awake sometimes as to the risks I expose myself to, and I've been on the 'Net since the days of Mosaic on Win 3.1 on a 80286 at home via a 9600 bps modem, and lynx on DEC Vax/VMS vt320 terminals when it was just getting accessible from corporate networks. It was pretty wide open and low risk 20 years ago...

Well, if the school provides the requisite software tools such as Office365, then my "biases and principles" against unnecessary spending don't get offended ;-} . I had that sort of option with corporate MS Office packages for home use from my job, but my wife worked for a less generous public school system, and we found it quite cost effective (for OUR budget) to use OO on Linux wherein she could create rtf, doc, and xls files to share with colleagues running Windows 95/98/2000/XP and MacOS of various flavors. It was only in the last 2 years or so, when her school system went to Google Docs for business, that we could get away from all that, and she could collaborate online directly in that shared environment. Then she had to use Chrome/Chromium to get that work to right, instead of Firefox, on her home Linux PC (or a Chromebook).

We just got in that mode of employing reasonable alternatives to spending money on MS products for home use, and now that we are both retired, that is even better for stretching the budget, although I have made an ongoing hobby of continuing to mess with computers and OS's of all sorts, including Win 10. It's a lot cheaper now than when I spent over 2500 1985 dollars on a Columbia Data Products 30 pound luggable 8088 "beast", with dual floppies, and built-in 5-inch monochrome monitor for my programming/consulting work.

RO

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Zontar The Mindless]

That's a solution in the same way that blowing your face off with a shotgun is a solution for severe facial acne.

One of which you've obviously and lamentably not yet attempted.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Ayanami_R]

I wouldn't do #3, when it comes to UI I usually let the user handle that. My 2 cents.

Here is the thing with Cortana. You can completely remove it, but it REMOVES LOCAL SEARCH too. Just not opting in and turning off web searches will do a local search. I'm a fair tinfoilhatist myself, but Cortana has been through a TON of live use and I haven't heard of anything seen that would suspect things are sneaking through.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[wkwilley2]

For someone transitioning from a Windows platform, this is one of the friendliest distros out there.

Might not be the first choice for a hardcore linux user, but to get someone accustomed to linux, it works well.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[kruug]

but to get someone accustomed to linux, it works well.

Aside from the fact that they hi-jack package and binary names by re-using existing names. If you want to get someone accustomed to Linux, I would tell them to start with Ubuntu and install Cinnamon. If you want to keep that "Windows" feel, check out http://zorinos.com/. There's no reason Mint should be used, with all of its shortcomings and administrative failures.

Re: Declutter an OEM install

[smehaffie]

Right click on the application & if the application can be uninstalled there is an uninstall option. If it's a desktop application it will take you to the "control panel" like previous windows. If WinApp it will uninstall w/o going to "control panel". The anniversary issue has many improvements, so I suggest installing it as well. And unlike most people who have never used any version Windows 10 that complain just because it MS, I am on the insider program and have used each of the newer versions when released and made many suggestions that did get in final version. Complaining doesn't help anyone.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[vux984]

"I wouldn't do #3, when it comes to UI I usually let the user handle that. My 2 cents."

I find the start menu much more pleasant without any tiles on it. You are right of course that its down to user preference; and some may like some tiles but turning off the default live tiles should be considered part of de-crappifying windows; since most of them literally just display crap. (celebrity gossip on the news tiles, ads for crap on some of the others, etc).

But even the more benign like the photos one which displays photos from your photo folder... who wants that? Who opens the start menu to find something and thinks to themselves this would be a good time be distracted by a random photo? It just doesn't make a lick of sense from a UX perspective.

Perhaps the weather and calendar make sense to leave on. Down to user preference...

"Just not opting in and turning off web searches will do a local search"

Is that post anniversary update? I haven't done the update yet; so haven't seen the new settings exactly. I wasn't sure you could turn off web searches in the update. If you can then I'd do as you suggest... simply turn off the cortana listening to the mic; opt out of a microsoft account; and turn off web search.

As a regular user I think this is sufficient.

As a paranoid user... boot Tails off a DVD.

Re:Declutter an OEM install

[Ayanami_R]

It may be crap to you, but not to the user. I can see my stocks, my last few mails, and my last updated rss entries without opening an app. Garbage in garbage out. Don't put garbage in.

Also what you call crap is important to others, not everyone thinks like you, ya know.

Re:Appdows 10, for appers who app apps!

[Anonymous Coward]

Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day and I think you might be on-topic for once.

Better late than never?

[jenningsthecat]

FTS: "Those who may encounter compatibility issues because of drivers may get it slightly later through Windows Update"

Gee, Microshaft, it would have been nice if you had given a thought to drivers and "compatibility issues" back when you were ramming your unwanted "free" Windows 10 "upgrades" up people's asses and breaking their computers. Are you now turning into a 'kinder, gentler' bunch of megalomaniacal despots? Say it ain't so!

Re:Better late than never?

[Anonymous Coward]

Those with 8-year-old computers probably get their one-year anniversary updates at the ten-year anniversary. The condensators, captain, they are bulging!

Re:Better late than never?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah ha, "Microshaft." How novel and witty.

The upgrade process will actually check that the attached hardware has a driver before it will consider itself done, even rolling back the whole thing when it encounters a serious enough problem. It happened to me when the first time I tried the upgrade.

Re: Better late than never?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder why my 8 year old computer got it yesterday... Wasn't paying attention and it started updating automatically... Took a couple of hours since this machine is sloooow...

Re:Better late than never?

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the "features" in the AU is that drivers for new (or clean?) installs must be Microsoft-certified. It'll apparently accept drivers that are already there, but if it ever starts from scratch and you have old hardware you're SOL. That's probably what MS meant when it said that W10 upgrade was free for the life of the hardware - (...support...). Hello Apple - buy a new computer every 2-3 years AND replace all your application software to keep o/s support.

Re:Better late than never?

[Anonymous Coward]

Crap, just installed it and lost wifi

Re:Better late than never?

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the "features" in the AU is that drivers for new (or clean?) installs must be Microsoft-certified.

No it isnt. I just installed the latest nVidia drivers from nVidia which are not Microsoft-certified and they work just fine.

Soprano-ware

[TheGratefulNet]

win10 should have some way to pay the extortion fee so that you can be spared win10.

"nice win7 you got there; pity if it were to be, uhhh, 'upgraded'. we wouldn't want that, would we? now how's about you write that check out to Tony, Inc. and we leave your computer and kneecaps alone?"

Re:Soprano-ware

[Opportunist]

Please, don't give them ideas!

Not yet in WSUS

[Joe_Dragon]

What is the time line for that?

Can you tell cortana

[Anonymous Coward]

"Cortana, format C:" ?

Re:Can you tell cortana

[quonsar]

"Cortana, format C:" ?

"Which format would you like to see your colon?"

microsoft borg

[Anonymous Coward]

microsoft is taking the cable network playbook, first advertise cable tv as add free since, since then it's pay service with full blown tv adds everywhere, how do you like that?

welcome to the mainframe service where everything belongs to the microsoft borg

Same as every other Windows

[chispito]

Go to Programs and Features (what used to be called "Add/Remove Programs") and uninstall what you don't want. Windows 10 does not make removing third party software any different.

Re:Same as every other Windows

[geekmux]

Go to Programs and Features (what used to be called "Add/Remove Programs") and uninstall what you don't want. Windows 10 does not make removing third party software any different.

Sorry, but this is not the "same" as every other Windows.

The main way you can tell is all of the bullshit "you don't want" is no longer third party, or able to be uninstalled/deactivated.

Re:Same as every other Windows

[Anonymous Coward]

the big problem is that none of the metro/modern apps installed by Microsoft show up in Add/Remove Programs or even the "Windows Features" areas of Control Panel.

Re:Same as every other Windows

[Anonymous Coward]

the big problem is that none of the metro/modern apps installed by Microsoft show up in Add/Remove Programs or even the "Windows Features" areas of Control Panel.

That's a "big problem" in the same way that the inability to uninstall the web browser or camera app or whatever other stock apps an iPhone/iPad ships with is a "big problem". Which is to say there is a tiny minority who even gives half a fuck about entertaining the idea of that being even a minor annoyance.

I four one

[Anonymous Coward]

am as happy as a little girl sprouting, with Bill Cosby looking on.

What's the status of "removing auto-update to 10"?

[SeaFox]

Wasn't there supposed to be an update that removed the GWX from the system trey and stopped the automatic updating?
I haven't heard anything about that and the 31st as come and gone now.

CAN you even refuse it?

[Miamicanes]

Wait... CAN you even REFUSE the anniversary update if you have non-Enterprise-licensed Windows?

I was under the impression that 10 Home & 10 Pro users could -- at best -- defer it for ever-decreasing amounts of time, until it eventually loses patience, installs it anyway, then informs you after the fact that a reboot has been scheduled for tomorrow whether you like it or not. Or the "install and reboot in 10 minutes" countdown appears while you're getting lunch, or you accidentally click the wrong square millimeter of the screen while distracted by something else, like whatever you're working on instead of satisfying Windows' demands.

Re:CAN you even refuse it?

[Anonymous Coward]

It refused me.
I just tried to install the update on my tablet, and it refused with a "not enough disk space" error.
20Gig free of a 32Gig disk....

Re:CAN you even refuse it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Checking the "Defer updates" checkbox in Settings -> Update & Security -> Advanced Options will put it off for a month or two more. But, eventually you will be forced to update to it. If you're an enterprise user you can completely avoid the update if desired of course. There is one other trick, set your wifi connection to "Metered" under the Settings -> Network & Internet -> Wifi -> Advanced Options. They will never download updates on a metered connection, so you can avoid it indefinitely that way. The only problem is that this doesn't work over an ethernet connection, where the metered option is not provided.

Re:CAN you even refuse it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, I do want to make one more note. I believe they will grab mandatory security updates on metered. If at some point they set the anniversary updated as critical I think it will bypass the metered exception.

Re:CAN you even refuse it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop the windows update service then disable it.

Done.

Via elevated command line, the following command hasn't changed since windows 2000. Note the space between = and disabled is required.

NET STOP WUAUSERV
SC CONFIG WUAUSERV START= DISABLED

Re:CAN you even refuse it?

[CrashNBrn]

Via elevated command line, the following command hasn't changed since windows 2000.

Win2K, the Best Windows©, and all in ONE version. NO Starter|Home|Pro|Business|Ultimate|Enterprise Edition needed, Thanks!

It's actually starting to be worrisome, just how much control is being taken away from the end user. The "PC" was almost like a last-bastion, as Mobile (outside of pure linux) is locked down for almost everyone but the select few that root their phones.

Re:CAN you even refuse it?

[Anonymous Coward]

We're at a bizzaro-world juncture right now where

1: There are no rock-solid technologies to secure information in the cloud; there is no way to encrypt the chain of data between the Processor Registers on the server in the cloud and your network to ensure sensitive information is not being leaked.

2: The cloud giving people incredibly cheap ways to do really awesome stuff, and hardware expense is literally at the point you could store every e-mail you'd ever send or receive in your entire life, plus the attachments, for $200.

It's the survival of many software companies to lock down and own standards and API's as much as possible.

The market is going to continue on its trajectory until some serious abuses and lash-back occurs; call it your triangle shirt-waist factory fire moment for a correlation as to why we now have building codes.

Re:CAN you even refuse it?

[Anonymous Coward]

In a similar boat on a VM where I attached a second virtual HD (since my original virutal HD was too small, apparently). Still won't install. Funny enough, I had to disable Virtualbox's graphics driver to "Get Windows 10". And this whole thing with the requiring signed drivers would even further bury things, except Virtualbox doesn't support Secure Boot (AFAIK) so that whole check thing won't trigger.

Honestly, I'd find it hilarious if it weren't so stupid.

You know it's bad when

[GeekWithAKnife]

You cannot give Windows 10 away for free. This is windows Vista all over again that was so bad it was not even pirated!

Sorry, I apologise. Windows Vista did not annoy, deceive and eventually force itself on users. That's the only reason Win 10 adoption is so "high".

I'll wait for windows 11 or Next or in fact Windows RG. Like I did when I was on XP, I waited until Win7 came out because it was an OS that does not suck.

If needs be Win7 will be THE LAST Microsoft OS I will ever use. I'll just use Linux and SteamOS.

Top google search result when you type "reasons not to u"? you guess it. "reasons not to upgrade to windows 10"

Because reasons:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2972298/microsoft-windows/10-reasons-you-shouldnt-upgrade-to-windows-10.html
http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/5-reasons-not-to-upgrade-to-windows-10/
http://www.windowscentral.com/14-reasons-not-to-upgrade-windows-10
http://itvision.altervista.org/why-windows-10-sucks.html (Good level of technical detail)

Windows 10. I dub thee "SE" Suckass Edition.

Re:You know it's bad when

[LVSlushdat]

Nooo, its "Windows NSA Edition", the largest and most intrusive CTD* in computing history... Propagated just like an STD, get it whether you want it or not...

*Computer-Transmitted Disease...

Re:You know it's bad when

[sconeu]

Windows RG came out a while ago.

[warning -- second link uses flash]

Re:You know it's bad when

[Anonymous Coward]

You cannot give Windows 10 away for free. This is windows Vista all over again that was so bad it was not even pirated!

Yet Windows Vista got at least 5 times the marketshare that the hundreds of Linux distributions have combined. That is really telling of the failure of Linux to appeal to desktop computer users.

It's really time for a rethink on the Linux front, stop flogging the dead horse. When you have a free product and people would rather pay money to use Vista instead you *really* have a problem.

Re:You know it's bad when

[arth1]

Nooo, its "Windows NSA Edition", the largest and most intrusive CTD* in computing history... Propagated just like an STD, get it whether you want it or not...

With an STD, at least you get half an hour of enjoyment first.

I'm waiting for Windows 11

[jfdavis668]

It's one louder.

Found the LUDDITE!

[Anonymous Coward]

Only LUDDITES use LUDDITE clocks! Modern app appers ONLY app apps by apping other apps!

Apps!

Long file paths - but not in File Explorer ?! FFS

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard Microsoft had finally enabled Long file paths, 20 years after NTFS supported them.

But after installing the catchily name Anniversary Update and enabled the setting in the very convenient Local Group Policy editor, I discovered that File Explorer STILL, IN 2016, does not support them !!

Microsoft - Before throwing new shit at us FIX your old shit !

Re:What's the status of "removing auto-update to 1

[Anonymous Coward]

If you don't already know (i.e. are running a system that could update to windows 10) then it doesn't matter to you (i.e. you're not running a system that could update to windows 10). So why ask the question?

Consider yourself middle-fingered, Microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

That's all.

PCI

[Anonymous Coward]

With the new changes microsoft is pushing, I dont see how windows ( non enterprise) can be considered secure anymore.

Now That's Hilarious...

[Anonymous Coward]

>We asked readers last week whether they would update their computers to Windows 10, and the majority of people indicated they wouldn't.

1) Definitely not a majority, but a significant fraction of Windows users *is* using Windows 10, and that fraction probably got a bit bigger during the last week of July.
2) Those who wanted to upgrade have; those who didn't didn't. Many of those who did are Muggles who had no real choice in the matter, but a lot of non-Muggles did as well. That doesn't mean they all loved the process or the product; just that they did it.
3) The appropriate question at this point should be: once the Anniversary Update hits a majority of W10 machines, how many non-Muggles will keep it? Or will they throw up their hands at the changes (some of which are downgrades for Pro users) and revert to an older version (image backups before upgrading are good...)? Lots of them will talk about switching to Linux, but few will because of games and other lock-in to the Windows platform.

gaming

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd love to upgrade considering the one game I want to play is windows-bound and my install seems to be screwed up enough that it keeps trying to install an old update, fails, rolls back, then downloads it again.

The entire process takes almost 30 minutes every time I boot to Windows, even on an i7 with an SSD. I've tried a lot to remedy this but nothing ever works and the only solutions i get after multiple threads is to reinstall.

I just wanna play a damn game.

clonezilla copied previous versions

[amigabill]

I made full hard drive clones of both my Windows 7 pro and the Windows 10 that replaced it. Can go back if I feel the need...

Other than that, who has figured out tricks to stop unwanted updates form coming into Windows10? I've set my home wifi as "metered" in my Windows 10 settings, and attempted to set a couple policies such as to wait until I reboot, don't reboot on my behalf, and another to try and hold back updates. Not certain if they had the effect the website said they would.

Oh joy, 1607 update gave me a new fangled BSOD

[Anonymous Coward]

Complete with a QR code that points to a general M$ page with nothing helpful. Not even the actual event code is listed, I had to dig through event viewer after the update rolled itself back.

I'm thinking it doesn't like my old Audigy 2 ZS Platinum that worked fine before the update. How convenient that my 1 month to roll back to Windows 7 just expired.

Ah yes, something to look forward to after a day of tech support.

Very good release!

[Billly Gates]

Well for those stuck on Windows wanting to hear more rather than those screaming with pitchforks here is my 2 cents. It feels a lot more polished from a user perspective

I am typing this on a surface pro 3 hybrid. My take on improvements
1. Black theme/dark is much nicer
2. Big start menu improvement with less clicks. For the minority on touch it is more flowing with all the tiles being shown or a big full screen. My surface now switches between the 2 automatically with the keyboard cover
3. Action center actually useful. Big change. Action Center now is super customizable and gives numbers with notifcations. News events, weather, stock quotes, and other items you can add or remove. So if you do not want email you can take it off and add a weather report and the notification changes from clear to white with +1 notififcations for a flood watch etc. Tips are there as well as PC stuff which you can turn on or off
4. Windows Ink is fun to play with but not as a big deal
5. Settings are much better. A left pane to the left has been added so when you open system or personalization the left pane will show commonly used features.
6. Hyper-v supports nesting and dock containers supposedly. I am downloading a Server 2012 R2 ISO to test this.
7. The login screen is more fluid and you no longer have to swipe. The keyboard and user login swaps up with the same background. It no longer feels like a phone

Re:Very good release!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, an actual comment and not MS hate comment modded +4?, i must be dreaming

Re:Very good release!

[PCM2]

Make sure you go back and check for updates again after it installs. Another Firmware Update came out today, too.

Re:Very good release!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd challenge that last point. I had the additional screen above the login/lock screen disabled via reg key so that it was like all other previous versions of Windows, but the AU removed that. It's a small thing but given the motivation for the removal was all for Microsoft's benefit and not the users, it leaves a bad taste.

Re:Very good release!

[Big Hairy Ian]

I was taking that seriously then I saw your signature http://saveie6.com/ and realized you must be fucking joking!

hope it fixes

[Anonymous Coward]

the bug where explorer.exe crashes every fucking day.
and where the icons in the status bar are stale / inaccurate.

MS, The most overrated company

[Anonymous Coward]

MS are lazy assholes that they can't even remove the optional telemetry that prepares the upgrade from 7 to 10. WINDOWS 10 UPGRADE PATH IS OVER YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! They are an overrated company. What makes Windows so special is the third party applications and nothing more. Please, sql, exchange, office are all buggy pieces of shit and i'm tired of it.

Note to The Editor

[ewhac]

Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Anniversary Update

You misspelled "imposes". HTH. HAND.

It should be called..

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows 10 - 1984 Special Edition Update

If you were one of the suckers who took the "free" upgrade deal, this update removes any ability you have to turn off their NSA-approved, Orwellian spying on you or avoid using Cortana, etc.

One of my real life friends who upgraded and kept defending Microsoft because he could tweak the OS to turn off most of the nastiness prior to this update is now talking about going back to Windows 7 Ultimate once he can no longer "defer" the update.

The update is a disaster

[Anonymous Coward]

All of our customers are seeing "There were problems installing some updates, but we'll try again later." error over and over again.

Re:The update is a disaster

[Anonymous Coward]

At least you're getting to the point to download updates. Every Windows machine I've looked at so far today is stuck at "Downloading updates 0%."

Re:The update is a disaster

[Billly Gates]

I tried a second time and it worked.

It is not a disaster. It is just the update servers are busy

Re:The update is a disaster

[Opportunist]

Considering the "features" of the update, not being able to install it is a pretty good thing.

Oh look another update

[Anonymous Coward]

So I have to wonder when Windows forcefully updates my Windows 10 PC yet again. What it will break this time? Well one got updated and basically defaulted my personal settings like with Notifications and all the tiles I turned off. Also returned Edge and Store icon to taskbar. Microsoft really pushing their crap.
If I can find a Linux that can run on all my PC's well, I will gladly dump Windows for good. I'm testing, and I think I am close.

Slashtards Unite!

[Anonymous Coward]

My update is downloading now, so I thought I'd check the Slashdot spin on this. You did not disappoint!

Back in a bit after the install.

Re:Slashtards Unite!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, would you look at that. Clicked install, answered a few questions, tried all my programs, and Bob's your uncle -- everything worked.

Media Creation Tool was NOT updated

[CaptainPhoton]

I downloaded the media creation tool around noon Mountain time. When I ran the installation from the resulting ISO on a lab PC, it just reinstalled Build 10586.

Then I tried the Windows10Upgrade9252.exe on a second PC. It failed with code 0x8007001f.

So two manual upgrade methods have failed for me today.

Has anyone gotten it to work?

Re:Media Creation Tool was NOT updated

[Billly Gates]

Just downloaded it 10 minutes ago.

Updated

Anniversary of what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anniversary of what?

Re:Anniversary of what?

[Anonymous Coward]

So I guess the gestation period of a Windows 10 Update (aka Modern Service Pack) is a year. The November Update (1511) was premature, because it actually fixed a few things without downgrading much. The fully-developed update, which downgrades Pro users to Home and Home users to Phone (?) to make room for Windows As A (Agricultural) Service that must be paid for monthly if you want any level of controllability, took a year to get working. When the new small-enterprise stuff comes out in the fall, the screws will be put to the last few "pro" users - either start paying monthly or forget about anything related to business (like domain joining) - that's a forecast not a prediction. Want to call it bait-and-switch go ahead, but don't expect anybody who can do anything about it to listen.

How Did We Get Here And Where Are We Going?

[Anonymous Coward]

Another way to look at it is historical. PCs came into being how/why? Because mainframes and even minicomputers were or were becoming too locked-down and proprietary.

Then some clown figured out how to turn a calculator chip into an actual computer, a few other clowns figured out how do do operating systems (yes, plural for a while) and small application programs (Visicalc used HOW much memory?) to help them do something useful, the users were forced by lack of much commercial stuff to DIY it a lot so they understood the internals and wrote efficient programs. Things were settling down to the usual Rule of 2 1/2 with CP/M (supporting a gaggle of things) and Apple sharing most of the market, but the others (Radio Shack, Commodore, Xenix, etc.) made up a solid 1/2. CP/M was evolving into a serious business system, and a couple of small networking companies (Corvus, etc.) were starting to show up. Xenix was letting 68K-based machines make believe they were small minis. It was a hobbyist and small business market, but you owned your data, not the company that made the computer or the software. Then came IBM and their unintended creation, MS, stomping out the flames of hobbyism and making PCs no longer personal, but Big Business. Yes, the clones took most of IBM's market away eventually, but MS took over from them and still has a near-monopoly with Apple the only visible competitor in the desktop/laptop market. Linux/BSD/etc.are so far into the single-digits of market share as to be irrelevant outside of a server niche and the remaining hardcore hobbyist market. What's amusing, though, is that in tablets and phones it's the reverse - it's a Linux (Android fork) and Apple world with MS fighting over single digits with the likes of Blackberry.

I think we're due for a reinvention of the PC. What is called a PC now is really just the modern smart terminal for mainframes (i.e. The Cloud, the reinvention of timesharing but without effective service level and confidentiality agreements), and MS is finally shoving the obviousness of that in our faces with Windows 10. While great for business in general (if properly secured), that approach doesn't really work for ordinary people. Where's the modern equivalent of an Apple II or Commodore 64? Something's out there, but we just haven't recognized it yet. The only thing for sure is that it's NOT WINDOWS 10 and it'll probably percolate out of the phone/tablet space in some way.

Re:How Did We Get Here And Where Are We Going?

[exomondo]

Where's the modern equivalent of an Apple II or Commodore 64?

What feature(s) of them are you talking about? With a modern x86 PC and a Linux distro you have even more customization options to make it do what you want than you ever had with the Apple II and Commodore64.

I think we're due for a reinvention of the PC.

We've already had that: People went from doing their personal computing tasks on a PC to doing them on a smartphone or a tablet and the PC remains for those tasks best suited for a desktop.

The only thing for sure is that it's NOT WINDOWS 10 and it'll probably percolate out of the phone/tablet space in some way.

The most important element of an operating system - the one that trumps all others - is that it runs the programs the user wants it to run. Right now the only one that does that in the vast majority of cases on the desktop is Windows and that's why people use it. On mobile it is either iOS or Android. There are plenty of alternative platforms for personal computing (OSX, iOS, Chromebooks, Linux, Android, BSD, Raspberry Pi, etc.) so is there some thing you need (and think would be applicable to any sizable portion of people) that you cannot get from these platforms already?

Re:How Did We Get Here And Where Are We Going?

[unrtst]

Linux/BSD/etc.are so far into the single-digits of market share as to be irrelevant outside of a server niche and the remaining hardcore hobbyist market.

In the context of your history lesson, this part doesn't make sense. If you use a count of users or installs, those "single-digits of market share" are WAAAAY more users/installs than total units of Commodore 64 ever managed to ship.

Commodore 64 shipped about 12.5 million units (http://www.pagetable.com/?p=547)
Percentage of OS market share for Linux in 2015 is roughly 3% (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Operatingsystem_market_share.svg)
Windows shipped 283 million units in 2015 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems), and 1.3 billion android, 21 million OSX, 520 million other.
None of these numbers exactly correlate. But, OSX has roughly the same market share as Linux (so 21 million "shipped" in 2015?), and 3% of the windows shipments would be 8.5 million in 2015.
Any way you cut that, there's certainly more active Linux users than C64 units ever shipped... so that's enough of a market to drop the "hobbyist" slant.

Windows 10 Garbage

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft products head straight for the garbage can in our house... Linux Mint and Vulcan 3D is the future for us right now...

Unthrilled so far

[Cute Fuzzy Bunny]

Its turning on stuff I already turned off. I had cortana turned off (dont need, dont want) and it turned it back on. Apparently I have to add a registry key to turn it back off. Also turned on a bunch of windows notifications I had turned off.

What is it with the uber "we'd have to use a galaxy level stargate and a warp 20 capable ship to get to an ivory tower close enough" mentality with microsoft and stupid non customer centric crud like this?

Re:Unthrilled so far

[Anonymous Coward]

How can you know if Cortana is actually turned off? I have Win10 Home Edition and I did create the "AllowCortana" registry key and set it to 0, as it is suggested in some tutorials (actually I had done it even before the update). However, it doesn't really appear to be "off". What do you see when you search for "Cortana settings"? Before the update, it said: "Cortana is disabled by company policy". Now I just see a message that asks me to select a language instead.

Can the MS bashing stop for a bit?

[Neo-Rio-101]

Like them or hate them, Microsoft still is the reason that many admins have jobs.

Do I personally like Windows 10? Absolutely not. Windows 10 is too "cloudlike" and all the privacy invading stuff makes it become slightly Orwellian.
I only run it to play games... but for countless other people who aren't nerds out there it's the system they run their business on. It's the system their business apps run on.... and whether you like it or not, there have been entire CAREERS and personal reputations hanging on the fact that someone chose Microsoft as a business partner to get their IT done. So as a consultant, if I were to go up to some person pleading for help in this department only to say that "MS sucks", you can bet that I will almost certainly have one less friend in this cold, dark world, much less be out of work.... which if you haven't noticed.... it getting outsourced faster and faster all the time.

Now, Linux is fantastic but it also has issues. Is there a Linux solution that can completely replace Exchange and all the features of Office?
I've yet to see it.... but by all means if it's available and universally supported, let me know so I can deploy it everywhere.

Honestly there is more Windows admin work these days simply because more business apps run on it than Linux, and other Linux business apps in use have mostly been hijacked by Oracle and their poor support.... simply turning people off of the platform.

And then there's the cost analysis. It's cheaper for business to let MS have their way with their credit card them than to hire some obnoxious Linux uber geek, or worse, write Oracle blank cheques to get their own poorly documented stuff running.

Re:Can the MS bashing stop for a bit?

[eaglesrule]

Once upon a time it was necessary to have servers 'in house' and maintain and virtualize them: Exchange servers, domain controllers, print servers, file servers, backup, WSUS, MKS, etc. There was the necessity to manage customized images of windows, and countless hours spent tweaking to make it appropriate for deployment on a massive scale with xml script, registry hacks, and carefully groomed group policy objects, plus maintaining file shares for drivers. When devices failed, there was the endless joy of trying to decypher cryptic event ID's, and detective work for stupid shit like 'unknown device' since noone thought it would be a good idea to link device enumeration with any kind of comprehensive database to present to the user. There was also the issues of complex licensing schemes and compliance.

Then web apps became a reality, as well as affordable gigabit WAN between sites, all while chrome devices came onto the scene. Neverware also became a great alternative for imaging old PCs with. The unthinkable happened; winboxes weren't automatically being replaced with more winboxes.

When the only app that matters becomes the browser, there is no benefit in bending over for MS. Linux, chromeos, ios, all become viable alternatives.

Linux Kernel / Shell use in Developer mode

[NotARealUser]

I don't use Windows 10, but I heard that the anniversary update developer mode now allows access to a jailed Linux Kernel, allowing people to run all kinds of things that one might run from a Linux shell. This means users can run RSync and other Linux tools more easily and without Cygwin.