Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

As Windows Becomes a Service, Microsoft Needs To Be Transparent About Issues With That Service To Customers. In Recent Weeks, It Has Failed Miserably at That. (zdnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the deserved-criticism dept.

Veteran technology columnist Ed Bott writes: "Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015, when Microsoft released Windows 10. But after a terrible October, Microsoft's Windows 10 problems continued in November. Yesterday, an unknown number of devices running Windows 10 suddenly lost their activation status; the owners of those devices were told that they no longer had a valid digital license and were running a "non-genuine copy of Windows." Those activation problems are now apparently resolved, but Microsoft hasn't offered an explanation or an apology. A company spokesperson declined to provide any additional details.

[...] In the Windows-as-a-service era, it's perfectly understandable that problems will occasionally crop up. But customers have a right to expect prompt, accurate notification when those problems occur, and Microsoft is failing badly in that responsibility. For its enterprise customers, Microsoft long ago realized the need for timely and accurate status updates. If your organization is experiencing a problem with Office 365, there's a Service Status dashboard where you can find out what's wrong. Microsoft Azure customers have a similar Azure status dashboard and can even check the resolution of previous problems on the Azure status history page. Windows 10 customers have no similar resources.

11 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. They Don't Care by Kunedog · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If they did, they'd fix it. The whole point of this move is greater control over end users, with less accountability for themselves.

    "Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015,

    No it didn't.

    1. Re:They Don't Care by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This. Pure and simple.

      A shitty idea which has borne shitty results.

    2. Re:They Don't Care by gweihir · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not on the MS business side. They are still shoveling in the cash with a very large excavator. When the buyer is terminally stupid, crappy quality can dominate the market.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  2. "sounded like a good idea in 2015"?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    '"Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015'

    Um... no. It was a horrible, retarded idea then and it is now. Also, 2015 is considered in the past now? I've barely accepted year 2005 yet...

  3. It was NEVER a good idea! by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015

    Oh, HELL NO, this was never a good idea, and it will never BE a 'good idea', it's BULLSHIT. You buy a piece of software (I don't care if it's an OS or an application) it's yours and that's the way it should be.

    The more shit like this that Microsoft does, the better I feel about moving away from Windows and onto Linux instead. Fuck Microsoft and their pay, pay, PAY FOREVER bullshit 'business model'.

    1. Re:It was NEVER a good idea! by jaa101 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You buy a piece of software (I don't care if it's an OS or an application) it's yours and that's the way it should be.

      The problem with this model is that it gives software vendors no money to maintain software and fix bugs. They’re forced to add new features constantly to entice people to buy new versions to maintain their cash flow. Even if they fix the last version’s bugs, they introduce new bugs with the new features. And because the new features are profit-driven they’re often pointless bling that are of minimal utility to anyone.

      A subscription model at least gives the vendor a chance to maintain their products’ security and quality in the long term. I’m not saying that Microsoft is taking that chance.

  4. They have no reason to care by kalpol · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Windows 10 doesn't give them much revenue. Office 365 and Azure is where it's at for them, the Windows install base at this point is a massive inconvenience to getting people on subscriptions.

    --
    12:50 - press return.
  5. Windows as a service... by blahplusplus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... is proof our species is a race of idiots.

  6. Windows 10 as a disservice by WaffleMonster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Windows 10 is like a window company that doesn't sell but only rents windows to home owners.

    A window company that embeds non-removable cameras in the frames to monitor the window and what's inside.

  7. Re:Something doesn't make sense, follow the money by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hanlon's Razor
    Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

  8. Hmm by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The article is unclear on what it means by "Windows as a service", and also on how the problems described would relate to that.

    Are Windows 10 home users paying via subscription or something? That's what I would think of as "Windows as a service".

    There have always been Windows activation issues, auto-update issues, etc.

    So - yes, Windows bad, etc. But because "Windows as a service"? If anything, the article itself sort of implies that business customers (who often/usually are effectively "Windows as a service") have it better (comparatively, anyway) than Windows home users.