Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Says Summer's Windows 10 Upgrade Fit For Business (computerworld.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fit-for-use dept.

Microsoft has moved Windows 10 August update to the Current Branch for Business release track, putting the "Anniversary Update" in the queue for automatic downloads and installation on enterprise PCs. From a report on ComputerWorld: The move will also set in motion a two-month countdown clock on support for the original mid-2015 version of Windows 10. "Windows 10 1607, also known as the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, has been declared as Current Branch for Business (CBB) and is ready for deployment," Michael Niehaus, a director of product marketing, said in a post to a company blog that used similar wording to the first upgrade to the CBB. In April, Microsoft moved the November 2015 upgrade to the corporate delivery track. Microsoft issued the Anniversary Update Aug. 2, even though its numerical designation of 1607 referred to July (07) of this year (16). The upgrade will be released in January through Windows Update, Windows Update for Business and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Niehaus said.

17 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Define "fit for business" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Does it involve removing the "telemetry" AKA spyware?

    1. Re:Define "fit for business" by blackomegax · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Working for a very large Fortune 500: Our requirements before deploying 10 are essentially that it must deployable with NO telemetry to MS, NO spying, and NO ads.

    2. Re:Define "fit for business" by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

      If you are using Enterprise versions then you can turn off telemetry.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    3. Re:Define "fit for business" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Too bad turning off telemetry doesn't actually stop it from spying on you. The setting is just there to trick the user, not to actually do anything.

    4. Re:Define "fit for business" by Grishnakh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Telemetry can be turned off on enterprise.
      and the only ads are a one-line text entry in the start menu that you can again turn off in the start menu settings.

      For now. There's no telling what MS will decide to do in the future. It's their OS and they can update it however they want. That could mean requiring telemetry/ads on Enterprise editions, increasing the ads and preventing them from being disabled (including on Enterprise versions), etc.

      Also, those aren't the only ads. They have live tiles with ads.

      Competent admins do the above things

      For now. Competent admins are limited by what MS allows. Competent admins do not have access to the Windows 10 source code with the ability to build their own; they're at MS's mercy.

      and that is why corporations aren't really phased by Windows 10.

      And that's why they're all sticking with Win7?

      For those that are plowing ahead, just wait until MS changes the terms and conditions and requires spyware and ads on corporate desktops. You don't think they could do that? What's to stop them? Threats of switching to Linux? Customers aren't going to do that. Personally I really hope MS tightens the screws on these companies and forces ads into Win10 Enterprise soon.

    5. Re:Define "fit for business" by Grishnakh · · Score: 2

      So even when Linux succeeds, it may eventually tarnish and such stuff as we're seeing MS succumb to would translate over.

      How so? Have you forgotten that Linux is open-source, and anyone can build it or modify it as they wish? That was what was so laughable about the "Amazon Lens" on Ubuntu: it was trivial to remove with an 'apt-get remove' command. Even if they had tried to bake it in somehow, it's not that hard to make your own distro, or use a derivative like Mint. The idea that Linux would somehow pull ratty shenanigans like this is ridiculous: there's a bunch of different distros, so if one turns ratty, it's easy to just switch over to another.

      This process of leveraging power away from consumers and into the 'service provider' is a natural consequence in the business world.

      If you're a large enough corporation, it should be pretty simple to take an existing Linux distro, modify/customize it some, and roll your own distro, thus becoming your own "service provider" instead of leaving yourself at the mercy of a vendor that does not have your best interest at heart. If a handful of volunteers at distros like Linux Mint can do it, any company with more than a few dozen employees can do it if they really want. Businesses only outsource critical functions like this because they're short-sighted which is why I don't expect to see many companies do anything like this any time soon.

    6. Re:Define "fit for business" by Grishnakh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      History for MS wouldn't suggest that they'd add ads and spyware to their OS, but they've done exactly that. History for MS would suggest a bunch of things based on how they acted with Gates and Ballmer in charge. Those guys are gone now, and Nadella is in charge now, and they're doing things that 10 years ago people wouldn't have dreamed. MS is fundamentally an amoral corporation, and it's going to do whatever it wants to maximize profit. So far, they've decided to do that by adding spyware and advertising to consumer desktops and forcing people to upgrade to Win10 against their will. There's nothing stopping them from going well beyond this.

      As for living in fear, it's just plain good sense to retain as much control over your own destiny as feasible, instead of happily handing it over to some amoral entity that only cares about extracting as much profit from you as they can. You can only feasibly go so far with this, but at least with application software, it's generally not that hard to switch from one to another if you have a big problem, as long as there's some competition in that market, and an application only has so much power over you. An OS is entirely different. And with OSes, we already have better alternatives that respect your privacy.

  2. I made the mistake of installing it. by Snake98 · · Score: 2

    Just search for wsus server update windows 1607. After updating to 1607, it won't connect to the wsus server until you manually apply patches to the machine. I made that mistake of installing, but luckily I did a test run of only 10 computers.

    --
    Freedom of Speech only include discussion that are approved by the RIAA, MPAA and DMCA.
  3. This should be entertaining by ilsaloving · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We were trialing a handful of Lenovo laptops running Windows 10 Enterprise. When the Anniversary update came, almost all of them got hosed. Most were recoverable after wasting a couple hours fiddling. One was so hosed that I gave up, reformatted the drive, and installed Windows 7 Pro.

    It was that event that solidified my loathing for Windows 10. Microsoft cares more about siphoning your personal data now than putting out even a minimally viable product.

    1. Re:This should be entertaining by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      Like I said, it's was a limited experiment. We actually use Windows 7 Pro generally, but since Microsoft has decided to take away fundamental controls from every edition lower than Windows 10 Enterprise, I refused to experiment with anything lower.

      But even if we had been using WSUS, what would that have helped? The Aniv Update would have still hosed the machines, no?

    2. Re:This should be entertaining by chispito · · Score: 2

      At least Microsoft allowed you to upgrade to 10. Our main investor is a former Microsoft SVP so we are required to use their garbage software, and one product until a few months ago wouldn't allow you to use any newer version of Windows than Vista. I don't understand their decision on that, but that means every single desktop and laptop in the entire company is running Vista, and Microsoft decided to screw their users by not allowing an upgrade 10. I don't know what we're going to do. Reimaging nearly a thousand machines with a single IT person is just going to be a disaster. I just don't get why they refuse to allow us to upgrade.

      Your company chose to use software that only runs on a 10-year-old operating system. Your company apparently feels like one technician to 1000 machines is a good ratio. How is either of those Microsoft's fault? How does this add up to Microsoft not allowing you to upgrade?

      --
      The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
  4. Ready? by zuxun · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Anniversary Update deleted the grub bootloader of my debian desktop when it was released a few months ago for desktop computers. I don't know if they fixed it since then.

    1. Re:Ready? by sexconker · · Score: 2, Informative

      Every major update to Windows 10 is essentially performed via a dirty reinstall.
      They call this progress.

  5. Re:Nope by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    The network guys at my job put in a rule at the gateway to prevent the Window 10 upgrade message from popping up in the first place. Not that any of the users have admin rights to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 if they did click on the link.

  6. It's only NOW fit? by SeaFox · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So... the Windows versions before the one that isn't even coming out for half a year are not fit for business then?
    That will be such a comfort for all the SMB's who were forced onto the current version, regardless of their wishes.

  7. Re:Nope by NotAPK · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why would anyone upgrade a single day before the long term extended support period ends in 2020?

  8. Hyper-V??? on a desktop os? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    Hyper-V??? on a desktop os?

    Server 2016 is same base OS but with less UI and other stuff running. Now 2016 may have a newer Hyper-V core then windows 10.