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Microsoft Gives Windows Device Makers Their 2017 Marching Orders (zdnet.com)

Microsoft officials have some fairly specific ideas about what they want their Windows-device-making partners to build in calendar 2017. From a report: Microsoft wants its OEMs and ODMs to make more Windows 10 detachables, convertibles, and ultraslims. They also are advising their partners to make devices and peripherals that highlight the "hero experiences" of Windows 10 involving Cortana, Windows Hello authentication, and Windows Ink. And another wish-list topper: Microsoft is looking for more Windows 10 PCs that can power mixed-reality peripherals and that are ready for gamers and "media fanatics."

171 comments

  1. So.... by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Microsoft is asking it's OEMs to make Surface Pro competitors?

    1. Re: So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found the Trump supporter!

    2. Re: So.... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      is full of stupid indo-chimps with phony degrees

      It's funny that they still can't sell phones despite having proper degrees. ;)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft's already been making all of the ads for "PCs" for the past 5 years or so. Take a look at ads for any Asus, Dell, or Lenovo laptop. They're all the same Microsoft-branded crap that tries to take potshots at Apple while failing to recognize how pathetic it is that the manufacturers won't make their own ads because they realize how awful Windows 10 is.

    4. Re:So.... by HideyoshiJP · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes. If I recall, the point of the Surface was to kick other manufacturers in the butt so they'll start making quality and innovative hardware. If you recall, at the time, most manufacturers were only pumping out bargain basement Windows 7 machines that were barely qualified to toss into the scrap heap.

    5. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly it. MS got frustrated that OEMs were dragging their feet and not shipping anything with the hardware necessary to showcase what Windows 8 (at the time) was capable of, and took it upon themselves to go after the top-tier. The Surface devices aren't exactly cheap, yet despite this they're selling rather well these days.

    6. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That was supposed to be Microsoft's plan all along. Surface was meant to be some sort of prototype device to encourage other manufacturers to make their own versions, but it failed.

      MS wants the thin, light devices Apple has and they want the data collection and ads that Google has.

    7. Re:So.... by Ayanami_R · · Score: 1

      That's what most people are buying, including businesses, well they have slightly better crap, but the point stands.

      Very few people are willing to pay what "quality, innovative hardware" costs nowadays.

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
    8. Re:So.... by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is asking it's OEMs to make Surface Pro competitors?

      That's what it sounds like. I wonder who gets to take the loss on the sales or how that part of the OEM agreement works. Ramping up production isn't going to create additional design.

      --
      We'll make great pets
    9. Re:So.... by PingSpike · · Score: 2

      Given that Microsoft basically abandoned most of the things they did with the Windows 8 UI it sounds more like those OEMs weren't dragging their feet but were just neglecting to hold a bag of shit MS was trying to hand them.

    10. Re: So.... by Voyager529 · · Score: 2

      That would make sense if they were were doing something positive, just not what Microsoft wanted. There weren't a whole lot of user facing hardware innovations, just a race to the cheapest clamshell available, an initial boot time of four minutes or so, and half a dozen pop-ups on the first start from all the shovelware vendors, trying to meet the $300, $400, $650 price points. HP was busy photocopying MacBook Pro stylings with terrible heat dissipation and abhorrent touchpads, Dell was flirting with Android and the tablet market but couldn't commit, Acer was making their usual plastic, Asus was half decent if you were super careful about your DC jack, and Lenovo was going through that phase where they tried selling Acer-grade laptops with ThinkPad logos, with the sole exception of the dual-monitor W700 series that was epic if you could carry the 10-pound workstation after paying its $4,000+ price tag.
      The major PC vendors were busy cutting corners while Apple was making hardware people actually wanted...so yes, MS tried something different and soon after, the PC market started to rally.

    11. Re: So.... by negRo_slim · · Score: 1

      Haa!âbr>
      L-Lumia 640 master race r-r-reporting in...

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    12. Re: So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Win10 wouls be decent if two things happened...

      1. Unify the UI, delve far enough and it looks likes Win2k or older.

      2. Make it modular (including telemetry,etc). Most would stick with default anyways but give the rest of us a sane and slim version, even if it takes a bit of effort on our part.

    13. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft is asking OEM's to make crappy imitations of their Surface Pro.

      I'll give Microsoft one point, the Surface Pro 2 was the best tablet available (due to the Wacom digitizer), all subsequent models using the nTrig technology are pale imitations of the SP2. At this point Microsoft is too invested in that tech to walk it back.

      So if any OEM wants to upstage Microsoft, that is how you do it. Use the Wacom digitizer, use otherwise the exact same parts.

      Detachables, convertibles and ultraslims are unfortunately the "expensive weak rubbish" tier of laptops. An appropriate car analogy would be a Jeep TJ (the convertable model with removable canopy/doors/etc) being used where a Ford F350 is needed to tow a RV. You simply can't make the tiny vehicle as powerful as the powerful vehicle because it physically doesn't have the space for it.

    14. Re: So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thought I smelled overflowing adult Diapers.

    15. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Whereas, what Microsoft really found is that the OEMs are commodity, not value. They don't really care about the user experience, only that it has to be good enough to ship. After all, any bad experience, the user will associate with Windows or the PC ecosystem in general, not the OEM in particular.

      PC OEMs will never step up. No point, nobody is ever going to associate "HP" with "sexy". It isn't happening, and will never happen.

      But people might associate "surface" with "sexy" because the surface / Microsoft brand is associated with quality and worth that premium.

    16. Re:So.... by mindwhip · · Score: 1

      No seems Microsoft is asking OEMs to make cheap gimmicky underpowered laptop variants with power efficient processors that also have the processing power and expandability of a top end gaming system...

      If any of them pull that off i'll be impressed

      --
      [The Universe] has gone offline.
    17. Re: So.... by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

      Point two is exactly why OEMs have a "meh" attitude towards windows these days. It used to be that they could create their own product with its own bundled (or not) services.

      In other words, their product has to be basically identical to their competitors. That's also why windows phone failed where Android wins. Microsofties call it fragmentation and then talk about how bad it is, and then wonder why nobody gives a shit about their phones or tablets.

    18. Re:So.... by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      M$ is attempting to force OEM and ODM into the xbone licensing scam and make no mistake, if end users no longer own the PC once the install windows 10, what makes you think M$ will allow anyone else to own it. Licence fees for anything hooked to windows 10 including content (the promise for content providers, anyone installs content on a pc owned by M$ as a result of naive user installing windows 10, will see that content deleted at the next compulsory upgrade and FOSS of course banned outright). Make no mistake once you install windows 10, they own your computer, they choose what software to install, they choose the configuration setting, they sell your privacy and you obey and STFU, else they will shut you down, oh no, not at first but it will come (there is no law that requires them to rent you windows and you will be paying rent in the end and when that rent stops so does access to the content that you created, your own family images, your digital life, all to be held hostage to extortion payments).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    19. Re: So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The major PC vendors were busy cutting corners while Apple was making hardware people actually wanted...so yes, MS tried something different and soon after, the PC market started to rally.

      Ah, the cost of synchronization. Yeah you can pump out 8+ cores, but if the programs you run can only use 2 (maybe 4) of them at a time, you won't get much of a ROI.

      The reason they were cutting corners was because the only thing holding up the PC market was (and still is) rehashes of the OS and major programs. Turns out that once you get to a certain point, most users don't need ridiculous specs like 32 cores or 16+ GB of RAM. Granted, we have some power users, gamers, artists, and the like who will take advantage of better hardware, but Joe Sixpack got what he needed years ago. The only thing pushing him forward was the OS no longer being updated, and newer "features" that required an OS upgrade. Neither of which he knew how to fix on his own short of walking into Best Buy.

      Never mind that the current hotness is smartphones, which surprise! Give most users what they want on the go, take up little space, and cost just as much (if not less than) the PCs that they replace. It's also a platform that Microsoft doesn't have much of a presence on. (Hence the Android patent licensing debacle, it's not all because Microsoft hates Linux, it's also because they need a revenue flow from it.)

      Most people only got Windows 10 as a result of the free upgrade that was forced on them, or as the result of buying new hardware that came with it. Granted, we have a few who got it for the sake of getting it, but even with those, the numbers are no where near the numbers Microsoft wants.

      So yeah, Microsoft is desperate to get everyone producing stuff that will make Joe Sixpack want to buy another PC. Their bread and butter depends on it. Sadly, it will fade once the "ooh, shiny!" wears off and people realize it's just more gimmicks. Even more so now that Microsoft really has lost it, and has decided that OS upgrades are a thing of the past. They had best fix that mistake soon, otherwise after a cycle or two, people will be saying that the PC lacks innovation because nothing ever changes, and all that gets put out is gimmicks. That and "Wait, which one is the new one again?"

      As for Apple, it's not the hardware. People want the dumbed down mobile OS, they want the prestige of owning the newest $600.00 phone, and they love Apple's model of "It's a toaster." Seriously, when's the last time you heard Joe Sixpack geek out and talk about the specs on the newest A9 processor??? Give me a break....

    20. Re:So.... by gravewax · · Score: 1

      Microsoft have always wanted them to make surface pro competitors, right from the start they stated they wanted to show OEM's what is possible and for them to expand on the vision making devices that are better, be that by being more powerful or lighter or cooler features. Surface was supposed to show them they didn't have to just race to the bottom and could instead compete with the apple highend devices.

  2. Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can't Microsoft just offer PCs with Windows 7 once again? I don't like Windows 8, or 10.

    1. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just switch off Metro and Cortana to use Windows 10 as a desktop OS. Not that much different than Windows 7.

    2. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by JohnFen · · Score: 3, Informative

      You also have to add a few third-party applications to fix the rest of the stuff that Microsoft broke, such as the Start menu.

    3. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just installed Linux Mint, it's pretty good, and you can install WINE and run whatever software you can't find a directly Linux compatible version of. Then you don't have to be subject to Miscreant-o-soft's technological fascism and the extortionist tactics of that asshole that runs it. Or just go get a cracked copy of Windows 7, get all the updates you can still get, then turn off the Automatic Updates service for good and live with never getting updates. I'd go with Linux of one flavor or another though if I were you, at least you have support for it from the Linux community. You can even try it before you install it, the install image will run as a 'live' version

    4. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Informative

      They forced us onto Windows 10 at work, I installed Classic Explorer and that gets rid of their retarded implementation of a start menu.

    5. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      You also have to add a few third-party applications to fix the rest of the stuff that Microsoft broke, such as the Start menu.

      That's true for Windows 8. I don't have any third-party application installed to use Windows 10 as a desktop OS.

    6. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You can't uninstall Cortana though, it's embedded into the entire OS, and you can't just 'turn it off', either. The closest I've been able to come is a very brute force/nuclear option, which was to deny Windows the ability to execute anything in the subdirectory where the Cortana core files are, so there ends up being a bunch of errors in the System log because it can't start Cortana up, but it does keep it from running it. This also breaks a couple other things at the same time, but I can't say I've really been affected by that.

      You should also go through all the Task Scheduler entries, too, if you're worried about the 'phone home' problem, much of it is triggered through Task Scheduler entries, which you can go through and delete.

    7. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So Wine runs Visual Studio 2017 and Office 2016?

    8. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by David_Hart · · Score: 1

      You also have to add a few third-party applications to fix the rest of the stuff that Microsoft broke, such as the Start menu.

      I only had to do two things, install Start 10 ($5) and Spybot Anti-Beacon. There is free software out there to fix the Start menu but my personal preference was Start 10.

      Also, I'm running Windows 10 Pro which allows me to defer updates until I am ready to install them. It cost a bit more than Home, but the added control is worth it.

    9. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by spire3661 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Pro allows you to defer UPGRADES, not updates. The added control you paid for is being steadily chipped away. Pro is essentially home with a group policy editor at this point. Pro is no longer a 'business class' OS, thats reserved for Enterprise with its lovely annual licensing agreements.

      --
      Good-bye
    10. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by tepples · · Score: 1

      What features of Office 2016 does LibreOffice fail to replicate for you? Are you part of the minority who use Access and/or complex Excel macros?

      What features of Visual Studio 2017 do the available free IDEs fail to replicate for you?

    11. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by iampiti · · Score: 5, Informative

      To get something like Win 7 you'd also have to remove the following things:
      - Ads for Office and Edge built into the OS.
      - The infamous telemetry that can't be completely turned off.
      - The annoying push to use MS' services (Ms account for login, Cortana, Bing, the Store...)
      - The "bug" that resets your default applications to Ms' ones every major update.
      - The inability to reject updates.
      - The built-for-touch apps that are the defaults (and, in some cases like the Settings app, the only option) even on desktops without touchscreens.

    12. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What features of Office 2016 does LibreOffice fail to replicate for you?

      Probably none.

      What features of Visual Studio 2017 do the available free IDEs fail to replicate for you?

      All of them. Especially the part where VS isn't completely shit, and every other IDE pretty much is. IntelliJ is the only one even poking its head above the sad, brown sea of mediocrity.

      And before anyone tells me that I should use vi and a bunch of command line garbage, fuck you.

    13. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      I didn't really have that big of a problem with the start menu in win 10, I killed all the stupid live tiles, shrunk it down to two panes, pinned my most used programs to the right pane, the left pane has all programs in alphabetical order, then personalized which folders appeared in start menu. they are collapsed into icons on the left or click start at the top and it expands them while it hides the programs. If not for the fact that the start menu is collapsed to icon and the all programs are exposed by default and you can't change the right panel into text instead of icons it's really similar to the old start menu in function.

    14. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, I'm able to do so as well. I have 10Pro installed with Anniversary installed -- I made the policy change prior to the update. I was actually expecting to loose the ability to control updates and was pleasantly surprised when Windows Update still waits for me.

    15. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      It's true of Windows 10 as well. Microsoft did bring back a start menu -- but the one it implemented in 10 is not the one it got rid of in the first place. The new one is inadequate (for my needs) and therefore must be replaced with a third party one.

    16. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Internet Explorer and the Media Player are the only two default apps that I ever use and both have desktop or are pretty much the same as desktop version.

      The settings app is meant to be simplified touch. That's why the old Control Panel is still there. If you don't use touchscreens, don't use the touchscreen apps. Most can even be removed.

    17. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      If not for the fact that the start menu is collapsed to icon and the all programs are exposed by default and you can't change the right panel into text instead of icons it's really similar to the old start menu in function.

      True. Ignoring all the stuff they broke in the new Start menu, it's really similar to the old one.

    18. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, haleluah yes!

    19. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh you silly! The user interface? You are just thinking about 'how it looks'. Yeah that's a small hurdle, it's the other things- the real inner working things that smart & educated users are trying to escape from.

      Here's an example using your own example: Thanks to the inability to refuse patches, W10 users now can not turn off Cortana. It is this type of local loss of control and having the PC 'managed' from MS that is unnerving & proving to cause headache after headache for users. Not for MS of course, but for users.

      GET IT?!?

    20. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 2

      Oh, don't forget "The misfeature that shares all your wi-fi passwords with friends, acquaintances, and random strangers in the subway".

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    21. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by pr0fessor · · Score: 2

      I'm not sure which stuff you're referring to that the old one did and is now is broke in the new menu. It's more like missing or changed.

      In Win 7 you had two panes, pinned items an recent on the left and on the right was your regular folders and settings and it hid the pinned and recent in the left pane and displayed the all programs when you hit all programs. if you held you mouse over something in recent or pinned it would should you a list of files you recently opened with it.

      In win 10 you have two panes, the left pane shows all programs and you can add most used and recently added if you with the folders and settings collapsed into icons all programs is hidden when you expand the folders and setting by clicking start at the top. On the right pane there are pinned items. If you right click on an application it will show the documents you recently opened with it.

    22. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      GET IT?!?

      Nope. Probably because I work IT. Users are expected to bend over and demand more.

    23. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But how could MS then monetize its users and their data?

    24. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      Not to mention use the Windows 10 machine ONLY behind a hardware firewall that blocks all of the "Orwell-approved" spyware bullshit that MS keeps trying to spin as being beneficial for the user...

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    25. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by NormAtHome · · Score: 1

      Windows 8.1 is a good compromise between 7 and 10, with ClassicShell it works a lot like Windows 7 and any other objections can probably be tweaked to disable those or worked around in some manner. All three of my office computers are running it and they work pretty good.

    26. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently you spent no more than 30 seconds trying to figure this out the right way, but spent countless hours trying to break your Windows installation.

      HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search
      AllowCortana=DWORD:0x0

      This will replace the Cortana 'Orb' icon with a magnifying glass which acts as a local search tool.
      You're welcome.

    27. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VS is the one thing I miss about Windows, but not badly enough to bend over for the Win10 dick up my ass.

    28. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That only does what you stated it does- change the icon. That does not disable the bitch.

    29. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I recall that Microsoft changed its mind after an outcry and decided it was a bad idea. I don't know if they removed this feature or just turned it off by default, but they did do a change to this feature without ever quite admitting that it was fundamentally a stupid idea.

    30. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Hmm, not being able to run them may be a good thing. Office 2016 for instance is just plain awful, and Visual Studio was created as an example of how not to do an IDE.

    31. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Do they even allow you do have two editing windows open at the same time? Or three windows? I hate that gawdawful MDI interface that every single IDE thinks they have to use.

    32. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, not "much" different... if you disregard the built-in spyware. 7 had some but it was relatively benign, 10 is malignant. Sadly businesses have management who accept the steak dinner (ref: The Matrix) and sell out to the "upgrade" from 7.

    33. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      I've noticed that on windows 10 if you try to get to the screensaver settings its a popunder. It took me a few seconds to realize it had opened behind the settings window.

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    34. Re:Can't we just get PCs with Windows 7? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Exactly right. The executable files would still be running. Also I don't trust Miscreant-o-soft at all, I just assume that it's going to run anyway and continue to spy on anything said within range of a microphone. Since I'm never going to use it I'd just as soon it not use any system resources at all, therefore I prefer to prevent it from running. I haven't really seen anything broken, at least not that I care about. I can do everything I need to do and that's all I care about.

  3. Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft really should be listening to the device makers, not commanding them. Why is Microsoft still so friggin' arrogant towards its customers (a.k.a., product) and users? Hasn't the Windows 10 fiasco taught them any humility?

    1. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by thebullshitpatrol · · Score: 5, Funny

      excuse me, it's called "bravery".

    2. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Why is Microsoft still so friggin' arrogant towards its customers (a.k.a., product) and users? Hasn't the Windows 10 fiasco taught them any humility?

      What makes you say this? Have you looked at MS's financials lately? They're doing great. They're arrogant because they can be: people like you happily continue to buy their products, no matter how they treat you. So why should they change? They're doing exactly the right thing: bossing their customers and users around, and in return getting lots of money from them.

    3. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

      Microsoft is following the Apple model.

    4. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Informative

      ...What makes you say this? Have you looked at MS's financials lately? They're doing great. ...

      Microsoft's enterprise cloud business is doing great. Microsoft's Windows' business is doing far less great.

    5. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      The one time we wish Microsoft *wouldn't* copy apple...

    6. Re: Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      I'm hoping Microsoft gets brave and takes on the multiplatform developer arena properly. Right now CI in Linux is impoverished with Docker, endless complaints about Docker, Jenkins, Gradle and a veritable alphabet soup of technology that may or may not work together (take yer pick). Azure with Visual Studio can stop this madness. If they can take on the role of CI they can subsume the whole developer toolset and start to manage OSS projects - the boiler house of the tech industry.

      In reality Linux can't even choose a filesystem without have 200,000 forks of them "just in case" so it's an immensely hard problem to solve.

    7. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Microsoft really should be listening to the device makers, not commanding them. Why is Microsoft still so friggin' arrogant towards its customers (a.k.a., product) and users? Hasn't the Windows 10 fiasco taught them any humility?

      Device makers generally make "safe" devices. They'd churn out crappy ass laptops all day everyday.

      It took Intel a couple billion dollars to get OEMs and ODMs to make more than just $500 craptops and start considering making higher end laptops with nicer screens, thinner form factors etc. (This became the "ultrabook" form factor).

      But they were happy making $500 crappy laptops with crappy screens. Intel's investment let them build higher end machines that competed with Apple's machines and got people spending more money per laptop.

      Microsoft's just trying to urge manufacturers to stop making just laptops and consider other form factors, as well as add features like IR cameras (Windows Hello requires it for biometric photo ID). Sometimes the best way to get what you want is to ask manufacturers to add certain features and then offer discounts on stuff like license fees.

      Microsoft has also been encouraging PC makers to offer a "Signature Edition" not exclusive to Microsoft stores - these PCs have no crap ware installed at all and are basically Windows, necessary drivers and applications only.

    8. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by ChatHuant · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't think listening to device makers is always the best way to go. Until a couple of years ago the Windows computer hardware field was stale, with hardly any innovation. Most makers were engaged in a race to the bottom, trying to pump out the cheapest machine they could, while a few others, like Alienware, were looking at niche areas, like machines optimized for gaming. Microsoft had to jump in with the Surface line, which gave device makers quite a kick in the pants. The new line was quite successful, and it revitalized the field.

    9. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Nope.

      Microsoft has never had a clue. They desperately want to be Apple and trying to force changes instead of doing what people want.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    10. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Microsoft portable business is in the shitter. even uptake of the surface 4 is lower than expected.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    11. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Rob+Y. · · Score: 1

      The problem with considering that a problem for anyone but Microsoft is that the market for PC's has gravitated to those 'race to the bottom' cheap machines.

      Except for those niche Alienware gamers, most people treat their PC's more or less like 'Chromebooks that can run MS Office when I need it'. That's why Microsoft is developing their new 'Cloud OS' thingy that essentially does the same thing. But the high-end PC has become a niche that most people don't need. And the vast market is spending their bucks on a new $800 iPhone or Samsung device every two years.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    12. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      excuse me, it's called "bravery".

      Brave brave Sir Robin!

      --
      We'll make great pets
    13. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by loonycyborg · · Score: 2

      Race to the bottom? You say it like it's something bad. It's consequence of competitive market existing. Once computers stop being relative novelty we can expect them to become somewhat longer lasting. Any other outcome is more than unnatural. After all you don't need to replace your hammer or screwdriver every year because it became obsolete. It's just a tool and you keep it as long as it does its job, and computer is in grand scheme of things just a tool too.

    14. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol

      It took Intel a couple billion dollars to get OEMs and ODMs to make more than just $500 craptops and start considering making higher end laptops with nicer screens, thinner form factors etc. (This became the "ultrabook" form factor).

      Apple came out with the Macbook Air and cleaned up. That is when the other OEMs cloned it and Intel spun the form factor as "ultrabook".

      Microsoft's just trying to urge manufacturers to stop making just laptops and consider other form factors

      The OEMs have been doing this for years and years.

      features like IR cameras (Windows Hello requires it for biometric photo ID).

      I have this on my Surface Pro 4. It sucks. I have to move the device back and forth for several seconds before it logs me in. I could have typed in a pin 5 times on my iPad.

      Your post is revisionist and shit.

    15. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by phorm · · Score: 1

      I don't know about "device makers", but when it came to PC systems builders there have been a lot of minimum spec issues during the launch of Vista/Win-7, especially when some PC makers were shipping "Vista/Win7-ready" PC's with 1GB of RAM and a Norton Systemworks suite plus a bunch of other garbage that basically had them half a gig or more into swap on boot.

    16. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by caseih · · Score: 1

      Can you provide a citation?

    17. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple came out with the Macbook Air and cleaned up. That is when the other OEMs cloned it and Intel spun the form factor as "ultrabook".

      Revisionist nonsense.

      Intel started the compact and efficient trend with the Centrino branding in 2003. It didn't take off, and Apple stole the idea for their Macbook Air---five years later, in 2008.

      Ultrabook was a second attempt to get PC manufacturers on point, which finally worked when they saw the Air's success.

      I have this on my Surface Pro 4. It sucks. I have to move the device back and forth for several seconds before it logs me in.

      It works perfectly for me. I'm sorry you have a lumpy or otherwise misshapen face.

    18. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      Yes, this.

      While there certainly is (and should be) a market for high end, cutting edge machines, it's relatively small. For most people, the hardware (in terms of its ability to meet their computing needs) matured many years ago. Those people want computers to be commodity items, because it minimizes what they have to pay to be happy.

      And there's nothing wrong with that. It is, in fact, how it works for almost every class of products and services that exist.

    19. Re: Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They sort of do - Azure Service Fabric running on-prem or whatever else. The main issue is, will Microsoft continue to support this in three years?

      (Yes, this is fully supported as a separate download and run on your own hardware or managed as part of Azure)

    20. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Hasn't the Windows 10 fiasco taught them any humility?

      Windows 10 is the second most popular desktop OS in current use. If you want to teach them humility you actually need to have a lesson for them.

    21. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Revisionist nonsense.. .Intel started the compact and efficient trend with the Centrino branding in 2003. It didn't take off, and Apple stole the idea for their Macbook Air---five years later, in 2008.

      Speak for yourself. Centrino did not mean ultra thin as in the MacBook Air. You can read for yourself in Intel's own Press Release. Centrino was about integrating wifi into laptops. Before that, wireless cards were added mostly via PCMCIA. You also seemed to ignore that Apple specifically worked with Intel in reducing chipset size so that the Air could be thinner and more battery space freed.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    22. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      I don't know about "device makers", but when it came to PC systems builders there have been a lot of minimum spec issues during the launch of Vista/Win-7,

      Which was the fault of MS more than anyone else. Originally for Vista, many Intel chipsets were not going to be compatible with Vista. Then MS lowered the spec so that "Vista Ready" was the new lowest standard. This pissed off HP as they designed their entire holiday line to use more expensive chipsets. Now their competitors could use cheaper chipsets and still call themselves "Vista" compatible.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    23. Re: Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > filesystem

      Last time we tried to choose a filesystem, the lead programmer killed his wife and buried her in a shallow grave. So you do need alternate filesystems just in case!

    24. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      It's doing fine. They're still on roughly 90% of all desktop/laptop computers, and there's no sign of them going anywhere anytime soon. No, this market is not a big growth market any more; that doesn't mean the company is in trouble, just like Comcast isn't in trouble just because the population isn't exploding to provide them more homeowners to sell their cable service to. MS is succeeding in getting people and companies to upgrade to Win10, and they're making even more money with its integrated spyware and advertising. Furthermore, Windows helps MS sell more services and products, especially to businesses, which isn't so obvious if you focus only on Windows revenues.

    25. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by Archimonde · · Score: 1

      I think "race to the bottom" meant something else in the GP's post. The market was stale and pumping out shit hardware. Very low specs, poor quality etc. For example, the display resolutions were getting lower and lower, and battery life shorter and shorter. There was no product in windows hardware that other manufacturers wanted to strive to. Consumers didn't even bother anymore, because buying $300 crap laptop was the norm. I agree that the computers are just tools, but those tools cannot be made from toilet paper, some baseline has to be made.

      So with that ultrabook/air and surface line of products the market did get products which were good (at least in theory), and buying $1000 laptops didn't sound that bad anymore because you were getting relatively good stuff.

      --
      Trolls are like broken clocks. They show the truth two times a day. The rest of the day they talk nonsense.
    26. Re:Is Microsoft really the one to give orders? by phorm · · Score: 1

      Yup. My understanding that a lot of this was done under pressure from a certain vendor whose name starts with a big "I". Many of the HP systems may have also happened to have systems running with AMD chipsets and AMD/NVidia graphics card, so it was a screw-you from both MS and the Intel.

  4. Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So what's it all about? Is it good? Or is it whack?

  5. really makes you think by thebullshitpatrol · · Score: 3, Insightful

    >microsoft is trying to force hardware manufacturers to build a cohesive apple brand image and UX for them (spread across 20 brands)

    They have TOUCH SCREENS guys, how can they not be flying off the shelves?

    1. Re:really makes you think by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      It's crap, it takes over your computer, it spys on you, it has adware embedded in it, it 'phones home' constantly with details about everything you're doing, and Miscreant-o-soft can remotely take control of your computer and do whatever they feel like to it and you have NO say in the matter unless you never connect it to the Internet. Get some version of Linux instead, I recommend Linux Mint.

  6. "Hero Experiences"?? by JohnFen · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Hero Experiences"??

    That's the best laugh I've had this week! Thanks, Microsoft!

    1. Re:"Hero Experiences"?? by freeze128 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Everyone knows that Master Chief is the Hero, not Cortana.

    2. Re:"Hero Experiences"?? by Kenshin · · Score: 1

      "Hero" is the new "Premium".

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

    3. Re:"Hero Experiences"?? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      It seems that a certain kind of heroism is necessary these days to use a Windows box.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    4. Re:"Hero Experiences"?? by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      I'd change to that "Zero Experiences"..... Somebody's gotta say it... FUCK MICROSOFT!

      Linux FTW... Been Microsoft-Free for 6 years...

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    5. Re:"Hero Experiences"?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They have been watching too much masterchef

    6. Re:"Hero Experiences"?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Pentium" did you say?

  7. I think that feature is a bug by JohnFen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These bets are familiar ones: [...] a constantly updated version of Windows [...]

    Microsoft really thinks that the constant updating of Windows is a desirable feature? I disagree -- that "feature" is one of the top three reasons why I despise Windows 10.

    1. Re:I think that feature is a bug by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

      Microsoft really thinks that the constant updating of Windows is a desirable feature?...

      I wouldn't mind constant updates if Microsoft also had said something along the lines of... "in order to improve our customers' experiences, we will be significantly upgrading our Quality Assurance capability, instead of using our consumer-products user base as beta testers."

      .

    2. Re:I think that feature is a bug by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

      If for some reason you're forced to use it, you should be able to go into This PC/Manage/Services, then Stop and Disable the Automatic Updates service. Of course that's just a stop-gap, you still don't get to pick and choose which updates you get if you turn it back on.

    3. Re:I think that feature is a bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      normal end-users have been the beta test pool for windows since the beginning, really. 'enterprise' is the only market they pay at least a little attention to. the rest of us are just the guinea pigs (now 'product').

    4. Re: I think that feature is a bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can control updates in Linux Mint/Ubuntu. In Windows 10 that's not so much the same deal like it used to be in earlier versions of Windows. Windows 7 wasn't even safe from those kinds of updates with the Windows 10 nagware that got bundled in to KB's that people had to sort through and remove only to have Microsoft put it in another KB.

    5. Re: I think that feature is a bug by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

      I don't see how a constantly updating Windows is much worse than a constantly updating Ubuntu?

      No automatic reboots. An update to a userspace library takes effect the next time you start a process that imports a particular library. Kernel and systemd updates take effect only after a reboot, but those are manual.

    6. Re:I think that feature is a bug by iampiti · · Score: 2

      Agree. An OS should be stable, not something updated every few days/weeks.
      Also, every update should be well tested not like current Win 10 updates where each one adds 3 new things, fixes 2 bugs and adds 5 more.
      That development model might be ok for an unimportant mobile app, an OS is what makes your PC run it must be stable.

    7. Re: I think that feature is a bug by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      I don't see how a constantly updating Windows is much worse than a constantly updating Ubuntu?

      I don't use Ubuntu, so can't speak to that. But none of my Linux boxen require me to constantly update anything whatsoever.

    8. Re: I think that feature is a bug by bigmadwolf · · Score: 1

      I don't see how a constantly updating Windows is much worse than a constantly updating Ubuntu?

      With a decent internet connection a Ubuntu update completes in under a minute in most cases. Then that's it. If a kernel upgrade was applied a polite reminder to reboot your computer pops up, but no rude forced reboot. Also there is no 10+ minutes of updates being installed "do not turn off computer" BS once you try to shut down the PC.

      I don't use Ubuntu, so can't speak to that. But none of my Linux boxen require me to constantly update anything whatsoever.

  8. It's fascinating to watch the PC transformation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gamers, roundly mocked as pathetic nerds, turn out to be the economic and creative engine driving most computer sales beyond commodity devices. Windows 10's "Game Mode" could not be a more naked attempt for Microsoft to beg people to play games on the OS.

    1. Re:It's fascinating to watch the PC transformation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry but I want my computer to be mine and with the newest one from microsoft its not mine so I have to be an idiot to actually upgrade. End of story.

  9. I had my Microsoft "hero experience" for the year. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Our $CORP is "on" Office 365, aka Teh Cloud. Including mailboxes.

    Last day I got a mail from (Microsoft) Clutter: "Hi, this is clutterr and I am cleaning up your inbox. Please give us feedback".

    Foaming at the mouth, I *gave* them feedback: they may, if they wish, stick their fingers up their collective asses. BUT KEEP THEM OUT OF MY INBOX.

    I learnt something: hoover up all mail and archive locally.

    How desperate are they that they have to prey like this on captive corporate audience?

    Fuck Microsoft.

  10. Not sure, but ... by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    I would definitely buy what they smoked.

    1. Re:Not sure, but ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MS kush?

      Naw, don't think I'd buy that either...probably full of bugs :O

  11. No No No NO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sad state of affairs that the best way to use an MS product, or most things developed in the last few year, is to turn off the great new features.

  12. Sorry Microsoft. Your "hero experiences" ... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

    ... generally make me want to "an hero".

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  13. Between the lines by ilsaloving · · Score: 1

    "We need you to flood the market with gimmicks to distract people from the fact that we want to abuse the fuck out of them and profit off of them like the cattle they are."

  14. Dear Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hi Microsoft,

    Thanks for all the features you're working on. I can tell you're trying and that's great. It's just that all I really want from windows 10 is windows 10. I know this is hard to understand, but when I read things like 'windows ink', I already know I don't want it despite not knowing what it is. To be clear, this means I want no cortana, ms account, hello, tiles, ads, edge, forced updates or telemetry. The OS I just described is win 10 enterprise LTSB, but you won't sell it to me (I've really tried to buy it too - your volume licensers won't even quote me for one license)

    Windows 10 base OS is a GREAT OS. I want to buy it. You won't sell it to me. So my new Skylake build is running Windows 7.

    I hope this feedback helps.

    Regards

    Anonymous Coward

    1. Re:Dear Microsoft by justthinkit · · Score: 1

      Why don't slashdotters form an enterprise?

      I'd pay a hundred bucks for a copy of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB.

      --
      I come here for the love
    2. Re:Dear Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A Windows version for Lesbian, Transgender, Straight and Bisexual? Why were the gays left out?

    3. Re:Dear Microsoft by Ayanami_R · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, despite what you read, you are in a super minority with this. Linux is that way >, I suggest just giving up, the masses have spoken.

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
    4. Re:Dear Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      OP Here. My laptop runs linux. The skylake box is for gaming. Linux still isn't comparable to a high end windows box for the new titles.

    5. Re:Dear Microsoft by jxander · · Score: 1

      Agreed

      To me, the options are either purchase a copy of Win10 Enterprise LTSB, or stick with Windows 7 until the wheels fall off.

      The only question that remains is whether or now MS is willing to sell the version I want (on a non-enterprise scale)

      --
      This signature is false.
    6. Re:Dear Microsoft by jxander · · Score: 1

      The super minority still provides money.

      My options are: buying win10 Ent. LTSB, or buying nothing (sticking with Win7). It seems like MS should be willing to sell, even if only 1% of 1% of MS users agree with me, that's a lot of sales they're missing out on.

      It's not a wholly new version of windows, it doesn't take any new coding or testing (beyond a slight change to the licensing scheme). They can just take what they already have, sell it to me, and make that money. Or don't.

      --
      This signature is false.
    7. Re:Dear Microsoft by justthinkit · · Score: 1

      Back when Microsoft Office 2000 was selling for four or five hundred dollars, I got an email offer from them...for $100.

      MS, if you're listening, my email is above. Send me such an offer on WXELTSB and you've got yourself a happier techie.

      Yes, I can be bought, or at least muzzled.

      --
      I come here for the love
    8. Re:Dear Microsoft by Ayanami_R · · Score: 1

      That's a lot of extra support as well. They have to have ANOTHER fork that has to be maintained, tested, etc. Another fork of the insider program as well. What do they get in return? laypeople stopped listening to the tech savvy years ago so that's not really good for them. Those users with this crippled version aren't going to be buying apps in the store either, or any media, etc. It's a market no one wants because those types of people tend to be cheap or pirates anyway. I am one so I would know.

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
    9. Re:Dear Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Check this :

      http://www.howtogeek.com/273824/windows-10-without-the-cruft-windows-10-ltsb-explained/

    10. Re:Dear Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They don't actually care about sales. They gave that shit away for free. Your data is their payment which is where they'll make their money. If they give you a license, then I'll want one, and then he'll want one, and she'll want one and the next thing ya know, no one is using the base version that has all the telemetry. Go pirate a version. They work fine and come pre-stripped.

    11. Re:Dear Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good old BTO vulnerability, where pirated is Better Than Original.

  15. Re:I had my Microsoft "hero experience" for the ye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    look at the folder tree in outlook idiot, your email is still there

  16. Re: It's fascinating to watch the PC transformatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gamers push the edges of software and hardware. They always have. The "Gamer PC" rig has been a thing since as long as I can remember and you still can't get a games console with a TitanXP in it.

    In a perverse inversion Wintel has become WinVidia. There's nothing out there right now that can touch nVidia beyond Vega 10 and 1080Ti is but weeks away. The GPU *is* the modern PC, and they're built for gamers. Oh, and they also serve the HPC industry. Nvidia has it real good right now.

  17. Re: False flag by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    Your saying otherwise won't fool anyone into not believing that this is the false flag operation, you two anti-Trump people.

  18. "Given their marching orders"??? by Harold+Halloway · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Giving someone their 'marching orders' basically means firing them. Therefore whoever wrote the headline has given a misleading spin to the story. As I read it, the headline says that Microsoft have sacked all their device makers. This is clearly not the case.

    1. Re:"Given their marching orders"??? by garryknight · · Score: 1

      This ^^^

      --
      Garry Knight
    2. Re:"Given their marching orders"??? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      In this context, it should have probably been "MS are giving device makers 'an offer they can't refuse'". It would be a shame if something were to happen to their OEM deals.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    3. Re:"Given their marching orders"??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, "marching orders" is when you tell someone what to do and give them no choice in the matter. Much like in the military, when a commanding officer gives infantry an order to march.

      Just because some dipshit has used it incorrectly to mean "fired somebody" in the past doesn't mean that it actually means that to anyone else.

    4. Re:"Given their marching orders"??? by Baleet · · Score: 1

      Instructions, basically, though I can see why you would think that.

    5. Re:"Given their marching orders"??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is clearly the case is that you are very close but mistaken. It's understandable though, because there are two phrases that are very similar.
      - Giving someone their 'Walking Papers' is a dismissal.
        -Giving someone their 'Marching Orders' is the exact opposite. It is a to-do list from on high and they better do it if they want to stay employed.

      The headline is not a spin, Microsoft has expressed their dominant position by telling others what to do if they want to stay in MS's good graces.

      _

    6. Re:"Given their marching orders"??? by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      Giving someone their 'marching orders' basically means firing them.

      That's one common meaning, but not the only one. I hear it quite regularly in the sense of "being assigned a task".

    7. Re:"Given their marching orders"??? by gravewax · · Score: 1

      even that far more obscure usage is incorrect in the context of the article. What they have done is expressed their desires and doing it in such a way as this is where they see the best sales potential.

  19. Media fanatics don't need Media Center? by postmortem · · Score: 1

    Are they going to use Bing videos instead?

  20. Tax day by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

    Windows is like the tax software used to save time filing taxes only to have it take longer once you factor in brain-damaged UX interspersed with advertisements, repeated attempts to upsell forcing users to carefully navigate minefield to avoid being tricked into agreeing to additional services or "sharing" your information with god knows who for god knows why.

    At the end of the experience you wish you had just filled out the damn form yourself and mailed it to the IRS.

  21. Laptops that work well with Linux Mint by tepples · · Score: 1

    Get some version of Linux instead, I recommend Linux Mint.

    Google linux mint laptop leads to Linux Mint's partnership with ThinkPenguin. But there isn't a wide selection of laptops: nothing bigger or smaller than 14 inches. What company that isn't a Linux Mint partner makes laptops that work well with Linux Mint?

    1. Re:Laptops that work well with Linux Mint by chipschap · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Linux Mint installs on a very wide range of laptops. Those few that it won't install on (I can't even think of one offhand) are definite exceptions. Linux Mint surely installs on more devices than Windows 10 (such as legacy PCs and laptops).

      Is your point that it isn't easy to buy a machine with Mint preinstalled? That is certainly the case, but installing it yourself, or finding a friend to install it for you, isn't so hard.

      It was a great feeling (at least for me personally) to buy a new Asus laptop, wipe the SSD of all vestiges of Windows, and install Mint ... and that took maybe an hour to do and a few more hours to get things customized the way I wanted.

    2. Re:Laptops that work well with Linux Mint by Windowser · · Score: 2

      What company that isn't a Linux Mint partner makes laptops that work well with Linux Mint?

      System76

      --
      Avoid the MS tax, always buy I.B.M. PC's (I Built-it Myself)
    3. Re:Laptops that work well with Linux Mint by tepples · · Score: 1

      [thinkpenguin.com]: nothing bigger or smaller than 14 inches. What company that isn't a Linux Mint partner makes laptops that work well with Linux Mint?

      System76

      On System76.com, I see 14", 15", and 17". You have a point on the bigger side but not on the smaller side.

      Last time I checked, Dell sold a 13 inch XPS that runs Linux, but I've read elsewhere that Dell requires buyers to provide a valid company name.

    4. Re:Laptops that work well with Linux Mint by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Lenovo make an effort to ensure that there are linux drivers for their stuff. I think ASUS do as well but don't take my word for it, my information could be out of date.

  22. Orders to move on by tepples · · Score: 1

    I looked it up, and "marching orders" more generally means "orders to move on". Microsoft wants laptop makers to move on from excessive focus on feature-poor laptops toward making PCs that take advantage of new features in Windows 10.Anniversary.

    1. Re:Orders to move on by martinX · · Score: 1

      The great Googly Moogly says this:
      -----
      marching orders
      noun
      plural noun: marching orders
      orders for troops to depart.
      "soldiers got their marching orders for 24 hours at the weekend"
      informal
      a dismissal or sending-off.
      "the ref called me over and gave me my marching orders"
      -----
      Since MS isn't the army, I took it as meaning #2. I have only ever heard it in the context of someone being sacked.

      --
      When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
  23. Hero Experiences? by Fieryphoenix · · Score: 1

    What are Hero Exp... OHHHHH! They're removing the headphone jacks!

  24. And for those of us who don't want toys... by John+Allsup · · Score: 1

    When are they gonna produce straightforward machines that run Windows software well, don't get in the friggin way, have an app launcher that doesn't have ten tons of stupid AI in it, where a simple user-configurable menu (with a simple search facility) suffices, and so on. Like Apple, they are chasing the smartphone shiny consumer market and near-abandoning everybody else.

    --
    John_Chalisque
    1. Re:And for those of us who don't want toys... by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      Approximately never.

  25. There's a market demand for AR by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Low-cost, wearable hardware to enable 3D-waifu/life assistant A.I.

    Gatebox seems like a neat first step, but it's trapped inside a box and it's not even a real hologram, just a flat display.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  26. Result: Pissed off OEMs by melting_clock · · Score: 1

    MS is just likely to piss off OEMs with these demands. Windows has been a failure on mobile devices and OEMs cannot afford to build devices that will not turn a profit. Windows is only hanging on the the desktop/laptop market because everyone just sees it as the default OS, even when they hate it. If MS can convince OEMs that there is a market, by backing up the targets with tangible market research, there is a chance that they will get their way. Bullying OEMs that are already selling products with alternative operating systems is unlikely to work.

    HP, ASUS, Dell, Acer and other MS OEMs have released chromebooks that are much lower priced than Windows laptops but still capable of meeting the needs of many consumers. Business customers are less likely to give up Windows and turn to a chromebooks but it does show OEMs are keeping their options open. I would not expect these OEMs to entirely abandon Windows but would expect them to only release windows with product lines that they know has a profitable market. A miscalculation in MS demands could easily result in fewer devices shipping with Windows.

  27. Nice incendiary headline. by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

    Guess "Microsoft issues design guidance to device makers" wouldn't get enough clicks.

    1. Re:Nice incendiary headline. by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      Nor would it give me another opportunity to shout my frustration about what's become of Windows and my powerlessness to do anything about it.

  28. Re: False flag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The fact that everyone believes Trump supporters are racist is the exact reason you're here calling racist comments a "false flag operation".

    I'd say there's about a 90% chance you're racist and too cowardly to admit it.

  29. Re:I had my Microsoft "hero experience" for the ye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > look at the folder tree in outlook idiot, your email is still there

    I don't care. It's HANDS OFF MY INBOX unless explicitly authorized. Basic politeness, I'd say.

    Ah, and idiot yourself. Or microslave?

  30. Cortana is a hero experience? by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    I think that must be a typo. Surely they mean zero, since the first thing that anyone concerned about security or performance should do when the get Windows 10 is disable Cortana.

  31. Why not... by rcharbon · · Score: 1

    ...listen to customers?

  32. Win10 logo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No one seems to mention the idiotic "sideways" win10 logo. It resembles a speaker icon.

  33. That's great an' all.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's great and all but what about those of us that use computers for WORK. You know, businesses, your bread and butter? People who just need solid reliable machines instead of gimmicky bullshit?

  34. Stop with the crappy computers by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has to do something, because the OEMs typically flood the market with cheap desktop/laptop/all-in-one machines.
    The end result is a cheap machine that barely functions, thrown onto the market, and bought by someone thinking that these computers are even fit-for-purpose.

    Case in point: Anything with an AMD-E1 processor.
    Those machines are barely usable and it makes Windows 10 look and run terrible, hurting OEM and Microsoft alike.

    I've seen too many people buy them because of their price, and then realize that they wasted their money because the thing can only run application at a time, and trying to run two drags the whole computer to a crawl.

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
    1. Re:Stop with the crappy computers by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Those things will run MS Win7 tolerably, the only problem here is that MS will not sell it to the OEMs.
      The "netbook" type machines basically had to jump directly from MS WinXP (up until only a couple of years ago!) to a resource hungry MS Win10 that they cannot cope with.

      Before the fanboys jump in about how MS Win10 is not resource hungry I suggest you think of the context - machines not much more than 1GHz in speed on boards with not much memory installed. It's not a criticism of MS Win10 just pointing out that this is not a niche that MS Win10 was designed to fill and I do not blame MS for it. You have to go back to the early days of MS Win7 before things that slow were common enough to design for.

  35. This will hurt Microsoft (and Intel) revenues by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1

    Consumers buy 2 el-cheapo machines @ $500 each. MS gets 2 Windows licences worth of revenue, and Intel sells 2 sets of chips. OEM gets very little profit.

    Consumer buys 1 "ultrabook" @ $1000. MS gets 1 Windows licence worth of revenue, and Intel sells 1 set of chips. OEM gets a higher profit margin.

    The OEMs may be better off, but MS sells fewer licences, and Intel sells fewer chipsets. WTF would Microsoft deliberately hurt their bottom line???

    --

    I'm not repeating myself
    I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
  36. Start me up by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Think back to when MS used "Start me up" from the Rolling Stones in their ad campaigns. The line from that song they didn't use "it makes a grown man cry" sums up what happens with frustrating OS problems.
    With all the shit and malware you have to go through to keep MS stuff going I suppose you could play it as "Hero Experiences" despite it being utterly trivial in comparison to the world around us. All the frustration of heroic acts without any actual danger (or achievement).

  37. "hero experience" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    more like digital heroin

  38. manufacturers , NOT makers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i'm sorry but the term "maker" is associated with people making things in the IoT arena , lone hackers that MAKE amazing things with arduino , raspberry pi , pine54 , not corporations that churn cheap gadgets for microsoft mobile (wet) dreams , coming from a dumb fuck user i would excuse the error , but from a /.'er ....please dont do the same mistake as with "hacker"

  39. Re: False flag by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    No, people are all over the map on what they believe, but the most sensible people still have a wait and see attitude towards Trump. As for Trump supporters being racist, the ones that are are generally white supremacists who promote their superiority over all other people. It is the Left that singles out groups for special treatment.

  40. This is like... by SirKron · · Score: 1

    This is like car companies demanding states to build more curvy roads to drive on to highlight the headlight turning feature of their cars.

  41. older units with OUR choice by eionmac · · Score: 1

    Some of my friends are buying second hand (Windows 7 era) devices and making them into Linux boxes to retain the right to use what they want. Second hand prices going up, MS devices dependent on locked OEMs. This may effect OEM box makers.

    --
    Regards Eion MacDonald
  42. Welll, I want.... by martinfb · · Score: 1

    Well, what about what hardware I want?!

    I want hardware that gives me flexibility to use with any other relevant software I choose!

    --


    Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
  43. "Hero Experience" ??? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

    "hero experiences" of Windows 10 involving Cortana, Windows Hello authentication, and Windows Ink.

    I think I've seen Windows 10. Horrible thing - last drive I had with it on I pulled and replaced with a blank as soon as I got the machine home.

    All the rest - I've literally never heard of.

    --
    Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"