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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.

8 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 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.

    3. 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. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

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

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