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Microsoft Making More of the Windows 10 Built-In Apps Removable (arstechnica.com)

With the latest Windows 10 build 18262, Microsoft is allowing you to remove apps such as Mail, Calendar, Movies & TV, and the Groove Music app. Ars Technica reports: The ability to remove these apps doesn't really mean much in terms of disk space or convenience, as none of them are very big. The move may be of more interest to corporate deployments; an organization that has standardized on Outlook, for example, might want to remove the Mail and Calendar apps to reduce user confusion.

Elsewhere, the new build also updates Task Manager; an optional column in the Details tab will show which applications handle mixed DPI systems and what API level they use for that support. Microsoft is also planning, but has not yet enabled, a new Windows troubleshooter. This will examine diagnostic data and automatically perform any fixes or reconfigurations that appear to be necessary.

3 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Gimme the old interface! by Stormwatch · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Win10's interface is an ugly mess. Let users choose the "classic" interface from Win2k and lots of complaints will vanish.

  2. I just want an OS by nine-times · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I really really wish the pendulum would swing back to the operating system to just being an operating system. The kernel, drivers, window manager, desktop environment, etc., but basically no built-in apps, personal assistants, advertising, activation, or any other nonsense unless I want it.

    If you want to be innovative with your OS, make it run faster and more securely. Improve your APIs and frameworks to make it easier to develop applications. Make it easier to administer devices in bulk-- and don't make it "easier to administer" by creating some complex proprietary system that anticipates that you're an enterprise customer who can afford to employ a full-time expert of your expensive suite of tools. Make is actually easy. Let owners own their computers again. Let administrators administer their computers. Stop forcing updates and burdensome "security" restrictions. The OS should serve the computer's owner's needs, not the manufacturer's business interests.

    I know, I know... "Use Linux!" When someone can get hardware vendors and software developers to support it, I'll switch to it. I'd love to. I can't.

    1. Re:I just want an OS by hackertourist · · Score: 3, Interesting

      To illustrate:

      my previous laptop was built in 2008, it ran Windows 7. 8 GB RAM, 4 cores.
      CPU% when idle: 1%
      Available RAM before starting applications: >7 GB.

      Current laptop built in 2018, runs W10. 8 GB RAM, 4 cores.
      CPU when idle: 10-60%
      Available RAM before starting applications: 4-5 GB.