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Microsoft Will Now Pester Windows 7 Users To Upgrade To Windows 10 With Pop-ups (betanews.com)
Mark Wilson writes: Anyone who is still using Windows 7 doesn't have much longer until the operating system is no longer supported by Microsoft. Come January 14, 2020 only those enterprise customers who are willing to pay for Extended Security Updates will receive any kind of support. Microsoft has already done a lot to encourage Windows 7 diehards to make the move to Windows 10, and now it is stepping things up a gear. Throughout 2019, the company will show pop-up notifications in Windows 7 about making the switch to the latest version of Windows.
Because I turned off updates years ago.
Maybe not in America, but pretty sure this will be considered illegal in the E.U.
"His name was James Damore."
Release another good windows.
Worked wonders with windows XP.
Has Windows Media Center, with CableCard support, been added back to Win10? No? Then eff off.
>In a blog post, Microsoft's corporate vice president, Matt Barlow, explains that the end of support for Windows 7 means there will be no more updates issued to most people, and this is why it is important to upgrade to "the most secure Windows ever".
Perhaps if people switch to Windows 10, all their files and documents won't get deleted after the odd small update. /s
So, at least some of us try to train folks not to click on popups that they don't understand or expect, as often that enables permissions for malware.
Now, MS is going to make an eminently spoofable popup as part of their release?
What could possibly go wrong?
Check your premises.
I'm a Mac user since 1987 and a PC user as well since about 1998. Also a Unix user since 1993 (Linux from about 1997).
For decades Mac was miles ahead of Windows in usability, ease-of-use, and "just working". Sadly, this is no longer the case and now I will have to upgrade to Win10 kicking and screaming. Windows 7 is a quite nice system. I know how to use it by now and it doesn't have any terrible problems.
I don't want to go to Win 10 and deal with the telemetry and the ads and so on (or have to waste my time learning to defeat them). I wish I could go all in with MacOS but for the last 5 years or so it goes downhill with each release. It is bloated, getting slow, starting to crash, and always asking for my iCloud credentials.
It's frustrating. I don't really have a good solution at this point. Linux is out, because of specific software packages I use that do not support Linux. I use Linux at work but it isn't appropriate for my home use.
Oh well. Guess I'll learn to deal with Windows 10.
China still has 10% market share for Windows XP. There will still be substantial Windows 7 usage in the 2030s. Businesses wih critical workloads that can’t be rebooted all he time for “updates” means that 7 isn’t going anywhere.
...if I don't allow the update that makes it do this?
Hmmmmm.
Clearly, MS does not have the maturity to responsibly decide what to install and what not.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I'm happy with Windows 7.
NOTHING in Windows 10 is an improvement. Do not need, did not ask for, do not want.
Just charge Windows 7 users an ongoing annual maintenance license and keep patching it. And otherwise leave us alone until our hardware dies in it's own good time.
w0ho shit out a new OS every couple of months and wipe their hands of it. Leaving end users to flail about desperately trying to figure out what to do.
You just described Windows 10. At least twice a year you get to experience the joy of getting fucked by a new mandatory update.
Also, "SJW freetards"? Really? No wonder you posted as an anonymous coward, you must be a real blast at parties.
This is where the party ends / I can't stand here listening / to you and your racist friend...
Microsoft doesn't respect your time, space, or money. Fuck 'em.
The community needs to send a letter to MS:
... the thing is a drm ridden piece of spying garbage. The fucking "service agreement" gives them absolute authority to invade your computer. A giant wtf. Anyone with any clue of the great evil of windows 10 wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
To think it only took the stupid and ignorant masses getting internet to allow corporations to steal software and force drm on the planet and the entire world bent over and forked over their money. A Fucking dystopia brought to by the average citizien moron who can't make rational purchasing decisions.
I bought it.
I own it.
I drive it as I like, traffic laws permitting.
How can the factory decide where it will drive?
MacOS need better hardware NOT super thin hardware.
Also an real pro system with PCI-E slots not just pci-e X4 TB.
For the common man, phones and tablets are going to take over.
Once programming enters the high school curriculum of "the common man", how will this be practical on "phones and tablets"? Will students who own only a phone have to buy a tablet and a keyboard?
Really? The last time I tried upgrading a version of Ubuntu, it totally hosed my laptop. The install got so screwed up that couldn't even boot into the GUI after the upgrade.
We have software that doesn't work on Windows 10, works great in Windows 7, and as I just discovered works on ReactOS. Anyone else in this situation may want to take a look at https://www.reactos.org/
I do not belong to the church of the lowercase 'i'
Many of my complaints about Windows 10 are absent in the enterprise branch and long-term servicing branch of Windows 10. The problem is that the cost of obtaining legal copies of those branches for personal use is ridiculously high. So I continue to use Windows 7 Ultimate, even if it means sticking with my aging PC and having to resort to tricks to keep the updates coming (remember the point-of-sales trick for XP?).
If people could install Windows 10 and have it look and act somewhat similar to Windows 7 without having to resort to exotic editions, registry hacks, or third-party tools, I think a lot of people would finally jump ship, even if they had to pay extra for those features. I sure would.
I say this as someone who just this week had to roll their own installation DVD in order to install Windows 7 on a new NVMe SSD. So I am set for a while longer.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
My understanding: Microsoft is an EXTREMELY poorly-managed company. I think much more attention should be given to that.
Microsoft trash talks Windows 10 LTSC -- again (Dec. 5, 2018)
Microsoft scrambles to limit PR damage over abusive AI bot Tay. (Nov. 30, 2017)
Guess what country sued Microsoft over abusive user data collection! -- Brazil (Apr. 28, 2018) Bad adjective: "beloved" Windows 10.
Apparently the present worsening management began with Ballmer-osis: Microsoft Is Filled With Abusive Managers And Overworked Employees, Says Tell-All Book (May 23, 2012)
But Microsoft was always abusive, apparently: 'Crush Them': An Oral History of the Lawsuit That Upended Silicon Valley. (May 18, 2018)
Bill Gates still runs Microsoft: Two years ago, during a Jan. 17, 2017 discussion with Charlie Rose, Bill Gates said he spends "15 percent" of his time managing Microsoft. I interpreted that to mean that Gates is still extremely involved and very influential. Did Gates want the mess that is Windows 10?
From the transcript at that Charlie Rose web page:
08:42
"Bill Gates: I'm there about 15 percent of the time. And I get to work just on the R and D part, brainstorming with people, thinking, OK, how are we going to take this artificial intelligence and make it understand, help you use your time better. It's a very exciting time in software. There's five companies that are, you know, in a really strong position. Microsoft is leading in some really cool stuff so --"
It seems obvious that Bill Gates still has a huge amount of overall influence on the management of Microsoft, even if he mostly focuses on other subjects.
Lately, Windows users are not allowed to know what Windows updates actually do. In the past, for example, users were pushed to Windows 10, without giving their permission. So, now Windows 7 customers will be paying for updates that may be abusive.
Some of the many stories about Windows 10 indicate deliberate abuse of customers:
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)
Most of us left are downloading security only updates at best and carefully monitoring what W7 is doing. After GWX everyone is super wary of this behavior. Businesses are going to have their own update servers and/or pay the extension.
The only way 7 is going to obsolete is vendors dropping support in their software. After that we move to windows 8.1 for 4 more years. That leaves at least 5 years for microsoft to unscrew itself or equivalent software to finally release on linux. For the common man, phones and tablets are going to take over.
A good strategy, but I'd like to make a suggestion. Having gone through the Windows 7 -> Windows 8.1 process, and the Windows 7 -> Windows 10 process, I'd really suggest the latter. Windows 8.1 is pants, and the less you touch it, the more you'll be happy.
The reason we didn't go from 8.1 -> 10, is that we had so much trouble with 8.1 that we ended up doing recovery installs back to 7. A couple years later, when 10 became stable, we did some testing and realized that it was less of a risk to go directly to 10 and completely bypass 8.
Your mileage may vary, but those were our conclusions.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Will they ever learn that nagware will just get people to turn off updates?
Lawyers must be foaming at the mouth with excitement. Why haven't we seen any big lawsuits about the forced loss of privacy and no options to buy a private non-spyware version?
Suddenly you will find yourself on a Windows 10 machine.
Not sure why the USB driver comment. I have Win 7 and it handles USBs with no problem.
I tried upgrading my mother's PC to Windows 10.
It could only operate the display in hideously eye-hurting unreadable "not the right resolution for the LCD monitor" mode, because Microsoft did not support the on-motherboard graphics and there was no driver update. So I rolled it back to 7.
She's gone over to the iFruit side now, she is happily using her iPad while sitting in her easy chair, and has no interest in the PC any more, so it'll probably remain at 7 forever.
Why will Win 7 be dead soon? If you don't do any updates to it, it will continue running as is. Now, some new software may not support it but all your current software will continue to do so.
If someone hasn't updated to Windows 10 by now, they will never upgrade. Hell, even I have a few Windows 7 holdbacks I have no intention of upgrading, ever.
Just stop. There is absolutely no point in turning Windows 7 into nagware.
The laptop I'm using right now is running Windows 7, but is unsupported by Windows 10 as NVidia don't provide a driver for the GeForce Go 7400 GPU it contains.
In addition, HP, the "makers" of this machine, have chosen to hide the links to all the drivers they host, so I'm boned if I need to reinstall... unless I can remember all the SP numbers for the audio drivers, etc and pull them direct from their site.
Over the years, it's had an SSD to replace the old HDD, a new WiFi card to get 5GHz and "n" (and a patched BIOS to circumvent the stupid "whitelist"), and the RAM is maxed out
Do I now want to spend a chunk of money on a new laptop when this one works, and does everything I need it to do, just because MS and/or HP have decided it's time I did, to support their bottom line?
No, especially as everything "affordable" nowadays appears to have cheap-and-nasty calculator keys, not a *real* keyboard.
Get off my lawn.
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and I agree with this - although the new mini is a welcome step in the right direction, the pro desktop is missing.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
...but I give it no more than a day before the information is out on how to disable them, which update to remove or which registry key to alter.
Palaces, barricades, threats, meet promises
I remember back then they were like: "Do it now or lose your chance to upgrade!"
Now it's just: "DO IT NOW"
How about a decent, usable, PCI-compliant point of sale system?
I don't respond to AC's.
Oh yeah. And there's that bit about Microsoft, er I mean the Overlords actually being the devil.
Have gnu, will travel.
that is not the point also end users don't really want to deal with having to redo Hackintosh stuff for each mac os update.
Apple is missing the market. People will buy $1,499 apple desktop with stuff that non apple price is $1000-$1100. they may even sell a few $1899 gamer systems.
Also missing is the $2500+ workstation systems.
USB 3 support?
Some of us remember the jaw-dropping arrogance and hubris Micros~1 demonstrated with their Get Windows 10 (GWX) initiative:
So I guess my question to Micros~1 is: What in your brain-worm-infested minds do you imagine has induced us to change our opinions on this matter? You are every bit as incompetent and every bit as untrustworthy as you were five years ago, ten years ago, 20 years ago...
Windows exists in my house solely to play games. If you feel you can't handle that duty any longer without completely fscking over my machine, then I guess I'll have to learn to live with just NetHack.
TL;DR: The Answer Is No.
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Sure glad I'm using Ubuntu. :-)
I thought most anyone not wanting 10 stopped updating windows 7 after the change from individual KBs to rollups.
A few more people will stop using IE, as the big blue E icon that they call "Internet" will now launch a fairly modern Edge browser.
Too late, I ditched Win7 for Linux Mint a while ago and I'm never going back.
I liked Win7- it was everything I needed and not much else. But the shaky updates and the constant push to upgrade upgrade upgrade upgrade were wearing on me.
The final straw was an 'update' that blasted me off the net and nothing I could do would fix it. I finally had to roll back to a save point, and that was that- no more updates.
So yeah, MS finally pissed me off enough to bail. Linux Mint is good, fairly well done and perfectly usable. Finding replacement programs took a little work, and transferring my data was a bit more, but it was worth it in the end.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
In 9 months. Should be fun to watch.
May I ask which ones? I ask because that was what I thought until the end of 2017, when out of sheer frustration with the idea of having to move to Windows 10 in the foreseeable future I just gave Linux a try. The plan was to resort to Wine and/or a Windows 7 VM for those Windows applications I really cannot do without yet. I wasn't too optimistic, I saw a less-than-fifty-percent chance for it working out well. But it did. A few weeks later, all machines in the household (the other inhabitant had been very sympathetic to the plan, too) had been converted to Linux as the only or primary OS, and we have never looked back. There's just one thing I've been asking myself once or twice – why did I wait that long?
Let's be real for a second. I have no doubts that there are software packages that people use that are not supported on Linux. Some may have viable alternatives, but some might not. And if there are alternatives - they may not be good enough or similar enough to make people want to switch. That is just life!
I am not in the camp that says Linux is better than Windows (or Mac) for everything. It's just not that simple. There is no need to be so completely polarized, where one thing has to be completely right, and one thing has to be completely wrong.
And full disclosure: I have been Linux only at home since 1999. My wife and kids run Win7. It all mostly works out fine. My wife uses Quicken to manage our budget. My kids play many games that are Windows-only. They could switch, but why? Win7 is fine. I run Linux because it fits my brain, and the way I do things. I run the media server on my machine, I have scripts that do all kinds of things, from downloading and chopping up podcasts to listen to on my commute, to photo editing, to general bash scripting. I use fetchmail to consolidate my email and alpine to read it for crying out loud! I use Windows at work, but I also run lots of open-source and Linuxy stuff (gitbash, msys64) to get some things done much more efficiently.
As in life, it doesn't have to be us vs. them all the time. Do what works for you, and if it gets to the point where it's not working, try something else.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Since we use CentOS as opposed to RHEL, I can only comment on my experiences with the OS I actually use.