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New Processors Are Now Blocked From Receiving Updates On Old Windows (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the unsupported-department-name dept.

halfEvilTech writes: Last year, Microsoft announced they were planning on blocking OS updates on newer Intel CPU's, namely the 7th Generation Kaby Lake processors. Ars Technica reports: "Now, the answer appears to be 'this month.' Users of new processors running old versions of Windows are reporting that their updates are being blocked. The block means that systems using these processors are no longer receiving security updates." While Windows 7 has already ended mainstream support, the same can't be said for Windows 8.1 which is still on mainstream support until January of next year.

39 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by p51d007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Keep it up...and you'll push more and more people to either keep their current PC's, or switch to alternative processors and computers. MS wants ALL PC's running windows 10...once they figure they can't push any further, they will start their subscription service.

    1. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 3, Funny

      I had a laptop running Windows 7; Microsoft came in the dark of night and replaced it with Windows 10. Within a week it got trapped in a bootloop, but at least I had my excuse to finally ditch Windows for good. Once Steve Ballmer left, Satya Nadella turned Windows into something that doesn't resemble an OS so much as a paywalled porn site with AdBlock disabled.

    2. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Hylandr · · Score: 2

      When the subscription service starts is when it will hit home.

      When people suddenly can't use the computer they had bought and paid for then they will search for other options.

      Additionally, when you say 'free' you can't switch to 'not free' later. It would be much like installing ransom-ware on a customers computer and expecting them not to complain.

      It would seem then that MS only option would be to make money by advertising through the OS which they seem to be doing already.

      Windows 10 is already banned in my home, and I have been migrating my children to Linux now. When they leave the house, they are going to know Linux, and not care much about windows.

      Cya.

      --
      ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
    3. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

      When people suddenly can't use the computer they had bought and paid for then they will search for other options.

      Windows 10 already has mandatory updates.

      Windows 10 already has an locked bootloader (as the hardware manufacturer's option).

      All Microsoft has to do is wait while locked bootloaders become more and more prevalent, then when they do roll out the subscription the users will find their choice is to either pay up or enjoy their brick.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    4. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      Speaking of Apple. In reality if you are finding it so difficult to switch to the wide open world of choice of Linux, just spend a bit extra, well, quite a bit extra and go Apple. The Linux switch is more complicated because you do have far more choice and far more control, the easist reduction in Linux choice is to go SteamOS. Lets be honest the majority of PC power user Windows choice is gaming, so fuck M$ and make the jump. For some time there will be a reduced number of choices, but older games lacking less HP will be able to function via a compatibility layer and new games will make the switch and quite simply Windows anal probe games, well, fuck em.

      Probably Apple will come to the party and produce a machine that is more customisable (computer geeks need that) and more targeted at volume sales ie cheaper (it can be because volume sales) and make a switch in that direction much easier.

      For gamers the more that jump on Steam OS the better it will become and there is powerful incentive to do so, no console fees, run all the other Linux apps, and basically Linux out of the box that works. Steam has every possible incentive to make StreamOS work and take it from being a gaming OS to more a main stream desktop OS and still Steam can work with Apple to tag team M$, because there is a chance to gut M$ and that means more than enough for both Steam and Apple.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    5. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      Can someone recommend a Linux distro where basic stuff like the mouse wheel works properly? Now that OPAL v2 is getting proper support I really want to switch.

      I'm not a noob, I use Linux servers and embedded systems all the time, but the two desktops I tried recently (Mint Cinnamon and Ubuntu) were broken and/or generally sucked. I don't want to waste time trying them all if I can help it.

      What did you have them installed on? Pretty unusual to have a freaking mouse wheel not work. Did you try the live disk? Did you install with an internet connection?

      Hell, Ubuntu Mate works well on a Raspberry Pi, and Linux in general supports more drivers than Windows. I have old devices that work perfectly in linux, but zero windows driver support from the manufacturer. Found that out the hard way when setting up a dual boot machine. As soon after I was done setting up the Linux side, and the Windows side wouldn't work .

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re: MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      Opensuse leap

      Not broken out of the box like most others.

      Elucidate how most Linux distributions are broken out of the box. I'm calling severe bullshit. Tell me about your experience with all the other distros.

      I have had some minor quirks, but have not had issues for years. And I've had minnor quirks in Windows and MacOS as well. And if you have questions about adistro, a live disk will let you know quickly.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    7. Re: MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      I am going to guess that 'broken out of the box' means there's things you have to install because of licensing issues with jpg, mpg, etc.

      Or major bullshit. I've installed lots of Linux, lots of different computers, and perhaps a dozen distros. Only issue I've had in the last several years is a weird bluetooth issue in Ubuntu Mate. When you type the numerical reply to the setup query, it pops up a new window for each keypress. no biggie, it still connects.

      It's when I hear of the simple troubles some folks claim, I have difficulty understanding how they have the issues if they have the issues.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    8. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 2

      The Owners of the Install Base usually win.

      Microsoft doesn't own all that hardware.

    9. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2

      Both Microsoft and AMD have acknowledged some performance related issues, particularly with thread scheduling and core utilization, concerning Ryzen and Windows operating systems.

      So, the answer is simple: use a real OS and not that creaky POS from MS.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    10. Re: MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Tough+Love · · Score: 2

      The last many laptops I have installed linux on have worked perfectly, fully functional. I do a little bit of research before I buy one, but these days it's mainly a matter of form. You can expect your laptop to just boot up and work instantly, including being connected to the internet with sound functioning and 3D acceleration. There are exceptions no doubt. Read the reviews, look for Linux comments. They're pretty common these days. Google for the model number +linux. This isn't rocket science.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    11. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Highdude702 · · Score: 2

      I have been using Linux since 1997, And i have never had an issue with simple hardware like mice and keyboards not working ever, what kind of mouse do you have? ive owned tens of mice over the years(cant say ive hit 100 yet, but a lot) and have never had one not work with linux, surprisingly every wireless one ive used has worked out of the box with no modifications to configs or anything. Bluetooth can be a little harder to get working correctly depending on the chipset. but if you can use google most things are rather simple to fix. if you have experience on linux servers and want to run linux, if you dont game. take the server OS youre used to and put a desktop environment ontop of it. you will love it. you will be used to it already and the CLI portion shouldnt scare you as much.

    12. Re:MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by networkBoy · · Score: 2

      not true.
      While I was at intel we had several CPUs that had issues with older Windows (and Linuxes).
      We *mostly* papered over those issues with uCode updates in the (BIOS|UEFI)/ME firmware but sad fact is anything after ME5 had zero Win98/2.2 support and only halfway okay WinXP/2.4 support.
      Lion's share of the issues were integrated LAN and Graphics though, so as long as you used a PCIe LAN and GFX card you were okay.

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    13. Re: MS pushing more into older OS or Linux/Mac by Dagger2 · · Score: 2

      I haven't tried many distros, but this has basically been my experience too whenever I try to use Debian on a desktop. It's at the point where I expect something fundamental to be broken out of the box.

      When I tried in 2011, that was volume control (I had to edit a config file to add the ability to change the output volume) plus my multi-GPU 3-head setup, which I could only get working by sacrificing either 2D acceleration or the ability to move windows between monitors.

      When I tried last year, it was printing (my printer drivers segfault, I had to upgrade to drivers from backports), Bluetooth audio (gradually gets more and more delayed) and the mute button on my keyboard, which will happily mute but can't unmute afterwards. Per-application volume control was broken too, but that's by design so I'm not sure if it counts.

      I mean, c'mon, how many years have we had to get printing to work? It's not exactly a new tech. Neither is audio, for that matter. Some of this is understandable, some of it has been fixed by now, and all of it is more tolerable than Windows 10, but it's still not a nice experience when fairly basic, non-cutting-edge stuff doesn't work.

  2. Oh well by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

    Time to get a hypervisor running with Win 7 and OSX. Buy an AMD card for graphics passthrough and have the best of both worlds.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:Oh well by rrohbeck · · Score: 2

      In KVM you can define what type of CPU the guest sees. virt-manager can edit that nicely.

      --
      thegodmovie.com - watch it
    2. Re:Oh well by PingSpike · · Score: 2

      Nvidia drivers (guest drivers) for consumer grade cards have methods that detect if the card is installed in a VM which then disable the drivers (code 43) to prevent them from running. KVM has options to workaround these methods so you can still run the cards, but IIRC nvidia has changed the method in the past and we're on the second or third workaround so there's a worry they'll eventually change to yet another method of detection and break things intentional again. This cat and mouse game is not desirable which is the main reason a lot of people recommend AMD cards for passthrough configuration.

  3. Dupe by SeaFox · · Score: 5, Informative

    https://tech.slashdot.org/stor...
    I see even a month is too long for our memories now.

    1. Re:Dupe by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      I've never quite understood why Microsoft wants to go to a monthly subscription service for non-enterprise (Volume Licensing) end users.

      I haven't read up on their official positions, but there are a couple of obvious answers. Because it makes more people willing to buy their products and computers that include their products. Because it lets them get a direct revenue stream from consumers of sold machines. There are hundreds of millions of people who find it much easier to pay a small amount every month than to pay a larger amount up front, even if the up front amount is only a hundred bucks. It also probably reduces their taxes and makes their quarterly figures more reliable by normalizing their income.

      So if I get you straight, I'm going to dump my Linux and Apple machines because it's easy to pay for an operating systemI don't want?

      Sounds legit.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  4. So, no new CPU for me by gweihir · · Score: 3, Interesting

    While I have been planning to get a Ryzen 1800X, those plans are now shelved. My FX8350 is good enough. There is no way in hell I am installing Microsofts spyware (Win10) until it has either become clear how to reliably and permanently block all "telemetry" or the EU has finally managed to enforce European privacy laws against them, which, among other things, means that _all_ data collection is subject to approval and must be "off" by default.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  5. So.. now they are doing by drewsup · · Score: 2

    To pc's what they did to older windows phones?? Colour me surprised! Upgrade/ use the hardware we recommend or lose support is the new MA mantra, keep going MS, I had to toss my windows phone because of your lack of support, I've been on Mint for years, the only reason you are still relevant is your entrenched business portfolio, and even that is slipping away.

  6. Re:That's funny by frovingslosh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Background fact: All modern NICs (Network Interface Controller) used on Ethernet interfaces have an EEPROM on them. This is what allows the NIC to be mass produced but still each one can have its own unique MAC address.There is left over space is all NIC EEPROMS that I have seen, and manufacturers have used that space to let the NIC owner control configuration options.

    I haven't installed any Windows update since I bought an XP laptop with SP1 and Windows kept wanting to install an "important security update". After a month of using XP and a live Linux CD (Knoppix) with no significant problems, I finally accepted the "security update". Windows still worked as well as Windows can be expected to work, but my live Linux CD could no longer connect to the Internet! I eventually tracked the problem to the EEPROM on my notebook's NIC being changed to an unusable startup configuration. Windows knew to not use the configuration in EEPROM and just configured the NIC itself, Linux didn't know that the EEPROM had been screwed with and kept trying to use the configuration stored in EEPROM. I did fin cumbersome manual ways to work past it eventually, but it is an experience that I don't want to have again.

    Being that the only people who have ever done harm like this to my computer is the Microsoft corporation, I no longer accept security updates from the only company that I need the protection from.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  7. disruptive and belligerent by frovingslosh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft users are just being disruptive and belligerent. Microsoft has the right to kick them off their computers any time they want, and to send in the jack booted thugs if the user will not go quietly.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  8. Re:argggh! by chipschap · · Score: 2

    I put it on my grandmother's PC and she didn't even know the difference!

    Well, that's wonderful news for the grandmothers of the world who don't need or want to know anything. Unfortunately, the rest of us need to get work done and don't feel like slogging through the retarded faggotry of Windows.

    FTFY

  9. Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use case by raymorris · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "broken and/or generally sucked" isn't nearly specific enough for me to know what you didn't like and what you might like instead. I also have no indication of your use case. Are you primarily doing network and security testing (consider Kali), gaming, music and multimedia production? What I can do is point out three general concepts or guidelines.

    Different distributions have a very different balance between cutting edge new features and reliability. For example, nothing goes into Red Hat / CentOS until it has first been proven reliable on Fedora for a couple of years. Fedora has brand new stuff, which may not be as polished and reliable; CentOS has time-tested stuff that works. Fedora has frequent upgrades and doesn't maintain support for old versions. Red Hat / CentOS isn't meant to be upgraded as often, they support old versions much longer. Figure out what you want on that spectrum. That relates to the next guideline.

    You said you use Linux servers "all the time". Probably those servers are using a stable distro such as CentOS. If you are very familiar with one distro because it's on all your servers, consider using the distro you already know on your desktop too. Even if you take a couple hours getting all your specific hardware configured just how you like it, avoiding the learning curve of a new distro may be worth it.

    Someone who produces music for a living will probably prefer a very different distro or spin than someone who does network penetration testing. Consider looking at spins or distros designed for your specific use-case. Even if your use case isn't that specific, some distros are designed for newbies coming from Windows, and make easy things easy by presenting limited options. Others are designed for more advanced users who want to tinker and set their multiple mouse wheels to trigger different actions depending on context. Android and Chrome OS vs Debian are extreme examples. ChromeOS is super easy and everything just works, correctly. Of course "everything" is basically "the browser". Debian can run my custom-designed PCI-E card much easier than Chrome OS can. Figure out your use case, then research or ask in an appropriate forum.

    The corollary to the above is that any answers to "what's the best Linux distribution" are probably wrong, for your needs. Cent OS meets MY needs quite well, but my needs may be totally different from your needs. I don't give a damn about nifty eye candy like translucent windows and window animations. I turn that shit off anyway for better performance and memory usage. Maybe you are an artsy, visual type of person and you love window animations.

  10. Re:argggh! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What do they have a monopoly on? Windows Operating System Machines??

    Most systems running today are running some variant of Linux/Unix/BSD, not Windows. Hell, my primary "machine" is my phone, which is more powerful than my "windows" machine from 15 years ago by a long shot.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  11. Re:That's funny by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 2

    It's ok - I have access to your machine and will fix all your security problems for you.

  12. Re:That's funny by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've been using WSUS Offline Update to build update ISOs and never touching the Windows Update site directly for years now. Just recently a Windows Update (or some other mechanism) made my Windows screen display 'This copy of Windows is not genuine'. Since it happened in the last several months, it's time to reinstall and use the Windows 7 update ISO that I created a few months ago. I'm glad I date and keep the ISO images.

    I don't know which recent update from Microsoft tagged my copy of Windows 7 as 'non-genuine' but if I stop doing updates and freeze things at a recent point where they snuck in whatever WGA crap they've done, I am probably okay.

    Does anybody know when they crept in the new WGA malware update? It was apparently something in the last three or four months.

  13. Ubuntu: The leading operating system .. by najajomo · · Score: 2

    Ubuntu: The leading operating system for PCs, tablets, phones, IoT ...

  14. Headline is the wrong way round by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    New Processors Are Now Blocked From Receiving Updates On Old Windows

    Shouldn't that be:

    Old Windows is now blocked from receiving updates [when running] on new processors

    ?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  15. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

    *puts on flameproof suit*

    And that crazy flow-chart of decisions that need to be worked through before it's even worth investing time into a given distro enough to learn it well enough that you know why it's not actually going to work for you after all and you need to start the whole asinine process over again...

    No flame unless you tell me of the crazy flow chart of decisions that you have to make.

    when I install say Mint, I plug in the thumb drive or use a liveCD for an older computer, Boot, and click on install, or a couple more clicks if I'm doing dual boot. If there is a question regarding the particular computer I let the thing boot to desktop off the thumb drive. Then I sit back and let it roll until it gets to setup.

    When was the last time you installed Linux, and what version was it? Your description does not jibe with my experience in the last 7+ years.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  16. Re:That's funny by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

    Being that the only people who have ever done harm like this to my computer is the Microsoft corporation, I no longer accept security updates from the only company that I need the protection from.

    Preach it Brother! I've spent actual months over the years fixing computers screwed up by Microsoft, and precious little time repairing screwups by anyone else.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  17. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

    Choice is good, so more choice must always be better, right? Nope, that's a fallacy. Instead, too much choice becomes a confusopoly and that isn't good. And accidentally creating a confusopoly without even having a profit motive, but instead just out of sheer "not invented here" syndrome, is even worse!

    Don't get me wrong: having too much choice is still way better than having too little. But we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that making every new Linux user choose between dozens or hundreds of distros can't have negative practical consequences just because choice is theoretically good.

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  18. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Insightful

    when I install say Mint

    Which Mint? Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce, KDE, LDME Cinnamon, or LDME MATE?

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  19. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

    when I install say Mint

    Which Mint? Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce, KDE, LDME Cinnamon, or LDME MATE?

    I've done Cinnamon, Mate Xfce and KDE. I'm most familiar with Cinnamon.

    The major difference is some of the windows and other minutiae. The core is Minty fresh. Cinnamon Mint for the wife on her touch screen laptop. She won't let me experiment on that computer.

    Lately I've been installing and using Ubuntu Mate for myself, mainly because I can use it across a wide range of my computers, and it works pretty well and fast too.

    I have an HP Envy I want to install dual boot when I get the time. It's both touch screen and tablet operation, so that will be a good experiment.

    I've been trying without much success to get others to collaborate with me on why they have issues but I don't. Without luck.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  20. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

    I think you might have missed my point.

    Zenin was complaining about the "crazy flow-chart of decisions" you have to go through when deciding to use Linux. You replied, essentially, "just use Mint." But my point is that even that relatively-simple advice implies deciding between six different options before you even get to run the installer!

    (Note that I'm not even counting the decisions that are "easy" because they're not opinion-based, such as deciding between 32- or 64-bit and whether to use the .torrent or pick one of the 99 (I counted) mirrors. And that's for an "easy" distro -- heaven help you if you're a n00b who got told "just use Debian" instead! "'s390x-netinst?' WTF is this shit?")

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  21. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

    I think you might have missed my point.

    Zenin was complaining about the "crazy flow-chart of decisions" you have to go through when deciding to use Linux. You replied, essentially, "just use Mint." But my point is that even that relatively-simple advice implies deciding between six different options before you even get to run the installer!

    (Note that I'm not even counting the decisions that are "easy" because they're not opinion-based, such as deciding between 32- or 64-bit and whether to use the .torrent or pick one of the 99 (I counted) mirrors. And that's for an "easy" distro -- heaven help you if you're a n00b who got told "just use Debian" instead! "'s390x-netinst?' WTF is this shit?")

    I know exactly what you meant. However, considering the different sub-versions of Mint as somehow a bridge too far to decide upon is the sort of concept that makes a two mouse click an unsufferable crime upon humanity. Mint Cinnamon will work essentially the same as any of the others. And if you look closely many of the distros are designed for certain purposes. like video, or sound.If that's too much trouble you can install the same software later.

    It's odd that by this time, people don't understand that people using linux often fork or just make minor changes. My experience has shown me that the biggest reason to use one version over another is the horsepower of th ecomputer it is installed on.

    And if you are too inconvenienced to take a little time to figure that out, if you cannot be bothered to find out that there are versions of Linux that will run on your old computer, then my post was too long for you to read. And it's not Linux's fault, it is just laziness. there is not one of your Linux Show stoppers that you won't find on Windows. Basic, Home Home Premium, Pro? Enterprise? What a gauntlet!

    I wonder, do you only use all defaults on your Windows machine? Is troubleshooting a problem on Windows out of the question? You buy a new computer when the machine won't boot after an update?

    I support Windows, MacOS and now Linux.

    The OS that requires the most upkeep and investigation for fixing OS problems is Windows by far.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  22. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by mrchaotica · · Score: 3, Insightful

    However, considering the different sub-versions of Mint as somehow a bridge too far to decide upon is the sort of concept that makes a two mouse click an unsufferable crime upon humanity.

    Maybe so, but there are plenty of people -- like my baby-boomer parents -- who can barely even handle one button! Should we doom them to Windows spyware and exploitation just because they don't meet your condescending, elitist expectation of tech-savviness?

    More to the point, even technical users shouldn't have to deal with every tiny detail, all the time. I'm a goddamn professional software engineer and even I don't want to deal with it! I got most of that shit out of my system running Gentoo in college.

    Fundamentally, it's an issue of human interface design and cognitive load. A good user interface helps the user focus on things that he cares about and not waste effort on the things he doesn't. In the vast majority of cases, forcing the user to make a decision without suggesting a default choice means the designer was failing to do his damn job. Take the Linux Mint download page, for instance: would it have killed them to just pick one of the editions -- it doesn't even matter which, despite the desktop environment Holy Wars -- and put it in a larger font or add an arrow or something to denote "if you don't know what the difference is between these, pick this one?" Just one little note on the page would make all the difference.

    This article explains the issue better.

    I wonder, do you only use all defaults on your Windows machine?

    Mostly yes, actually. You know why? Because -- aside from laziness -- having a consistent experience, where I can walk up to any other random Windows machine (at least of the same version) and know that it will work the same as my usual one instead of getting pissed off that my custom keyboard shortcuts don't work, is more important than wringing out that last 0.5% of optimization. Here's a quote from Joel Spolsky (also referenced in the link above) about it:

    Most advanced users use several computers regularly; they upgrade their computer every couple of years, they reinstall their operating system every three weeks. It's true that the first time they realized you could completely remap the keyboard in Word, they changed everything around to be more to their liking, but as soon as they upgraded to Windows 95 those settings got lost, and they weren't the same at work, and eventually they just stopped reconfiguring things. I've asked a lot of my "power user" friends about this; hardly any of them do any customization other than the bare minimum necessary to make their system behave reasonably.

    (I do change the important settings, of course, such as disabling Microsoft's attempts to shanghai the system with forced "upgrades" and telemetry.)

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  23. Re:Cutting edge new features vs reliability, use c by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually I would say this XKCD fits Linux better as I'd say that is 90% of the distros out there, just reinventing the wheel and making just enough changes to make them incompatible with each other and break shit.

    The really sad part? If you could get all those devs to quit wasting their energy making yet another minor variation of the same OS and instead were to pour all their energy into one distro? You'd have an OS that would curbstomp anything out there in just a couple of years...but it will never happen, instead they will just keep cranking out distros until all the OEMs quietly adopt secureboot and all that is left to run Linux on is high priced workstations and cheapo ARM maker boards.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.