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Latest Windows 10 Update Breaks Windows Media Player, Win32 Apps In General (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The important data loss bug that interrupted the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, version 1809, may be fixed, but it turns out there are plenty of other weird problems with the release. As spotted by Paul Thurrott, the update also breaks the seek bar in Windows Media Player when playing "specific files." Microsoft does promise to fix the bug, but the timeframe is vaguely open-ended: it will be "in an upcoming release."
Also in the "how did that happen" category comes another bug: some Win32 programs can't be set as the default program for a given file type. So if you want certain files to always open in Notepad, for example, you're currently out of luck. A fix for this is promised by the end of the month. Setting default program associations is something that's been in Windows for 20-something years, so it's a little alarming that it should be broken. On top of this, there continue to be complaints that Windows 10 version 1809 doesn't work with iCloud, and machines with the iCloud client are currently blacklisted to prevent them from receiving the 1809 update. It's not immediately clear whose fault this one is -- it could be Microsoft's, but it's also possible that Apple is to blame.
Also in the "how did that happen" category comes another bug: some Win32 programs can't be set as the default program for a given file type. So if you want certain files to always open in Notepad, for example, you're currently out of luck. A fix for this is promised by the end of the month. Setting default program associations is something that's been in Windows for 20-something years, so it's a little alarming that it should be broken. On top of this, there continue to be complaints that Windows 10 version 1809 doesn't work with iCloud, and machines with the iCloud client are currently blacklisted to prevent them from receiving the 1809 update. It's not immediately clear whose fault this one is -- it could be Microsoft's, but it's also possible that Apple is to blame.
It is my opinion that Microsoft's mis-management and abuse is not reported sufficiently. Joking may help people adjust.
Microsoft is damaging customers and itself.
Some of the many, many stories:
Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made. "Buried in the service agreement is permission to poke through everything on your PC." (Aug. 4, 2015)
Microsoft's Intolerable Windows 10 Aggression (May 27, 2016)
Microsoft is infesting Windows 10 with annoying ads (March 17, 2017)
Microsoft, stop sabotaging Windows 10. (March 21, 2017)
It's not so much that Microsoft doesn't trust users, it's that Windows programs used to go wild and crazy with changing file associations every time they were run, so Microsoft clamped down on it and made it a privileged operation to avoid letting definitely-a-media-player-and-not-spyware.exe grab the associations for every single file extension every time the user started it. (See also, the way default browsers are now set.)
The side effect is that setting file associations is now a complicated pain in the ass that gets reverted at random because Microsoft is trying to prevent untrusted third parties from grabbing every single association. It also helps that their association UI appears to randomly break so you can select a program and it'll just forget it for no reason.
But there's at least a reason it acts like this, and it's thanks to the shitty Windows software of yesteryear.
it's MY OS, I paid for it, and I want it on MY disk, thanks.
Wrong. You paid for a license to be able to use their OS and given the EULA you agreed to, they can change anything they want at any point and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm simply pointing out the harsh reality of the situation.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.