There is absolutely nothing to suggest that they'll do a forced update. What you're describing as "beta testing" is called a staggered roll-out. This is what Android does with their OS updates, because you're right, if it starts failing, they don't want everyone's device to fail at the same time. It's a good strategy to prevent a potential catastrophe, it doesn't mean you're not in control.
You're a beta tester on every product now, that's not specific to MS. It's the never ending rush to market followed by the inevitable need to "rebuild our image". They're not forcing you to upgrade either. If they wanted to do that, they'd shove Win 10 down the update mechanism, not a notification applet.
As for the update not stating what it does, that's a valid criticism of most of MS's updates. There used to be a time when each update had a good description of what it did. They haven't done that in a long time now. There are a lot of updates with very sparse information. Again, I think that's part of the rush to market. If anything breaks or too many people complain, we'll do something then.
Something that should be concerning is the Home edition of Win 10. It looks like they'll be forcing updates on them. You need the premium or whatever the branding is to be able to control the updates. That's some bad news, but probably understandable considering those users aren't the techie types that will make an effort to keep their stuff up to date and secure.
I don't get the hate on that one. They're offering it as a free upgrade for one year going as far back as Win 7. If they didn't have the notification on those systems, the year would go by and then everyone would whine about not knowing about the free upgrade. They've also made a point of telling people what won't be available in Win10, such as Media Center. There's no evil involved, they're doing a good thing.
Ooo, sorry, that software is part of TPM and SecureBoot. You can remove it, but your computer won't work afterwards. But why would you want to remove it? Our consumer surveys all show that the test groups loved it!
If they put even half as much money into the actual products instead of advertising, they wouldn't have to rely so much on advertising to trick people into buying them.
I think I'm more disturbed by the school admins than by this guy, unless there's something else missing from the very short news articles about it. Sounds like the cops made up something so they could take him in.
So what that it's an elementary school? Maybe he wanted to entertain the kids. I don't know. We're a pretty sick society if you instantly read something nefarious into that. Let it be know, by the decree of a bunch of elected hacks, there shall be no fun had within the borders of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
That trumps the law you cited. Next thing you know, someone will be arrested on their own property because some jerks less than a thousand feet away home school their kids.
Besides which.. he still didn't have a firearm. He can't violate the gun free school anti-Constitution zone if he didn't actually have a gun.
Meanwhile in New Hampshire, just north of the Commie-wealth.. we had an incident a few years ago where a hunter had an actual firearm and was within hundreds of feet of the grounds of a middle school, the school called police. The police showed up, found nothing wrong, and merely made a suggestion that the guy think about purchasing a case for it instead of carrying it open.
I waited for the OTA from the carrier, but during that time I saw many discussions where the update won't happen even with the SIM removed unless the device was reset. It's remembering something about the cell network it was on. It would be a non-issue if not for the reset.
It's a new "feature" for Android. My Nexus 6 was purchased from Google's Play Store. Same thing happened to people thought bought directly from Motorola. Yes, you can take the SIM out and get the update over wifi, but you have to be willing to reset your phone to do it. I assume it's reading something off the SIM or on the network, or the carriers are intercepting the "is their a new update" query.
Nexus 6 owners got different versions of the same update depending on which major carrier they were on.
US Carriers can now hold up the over-the-air updates for Nexus. I'm on StraightTalk, an MVNO over AT&T, and AT&T managed to keep my Nexus 6 from getting 5.1 for months. You can pull the SIM and reset or sideload the updates at least, but it's lame that they were given the ability to override the OTA updates. I'm not even AT&T's customer, so I don't see how it's even legal.
Angry bro because it's a pay service and their customers would be paying for ads they're forced to watch and do not want. Just because advertising has infected other mediums, doesn't mean that advertisers are entitled to infect everything.
How is it any different from the autonomous car contest that DARPA has been doing for years now? Seems like the only difference is who will get the patents. Uber vs a corporation disguised as academia. Whether Uber folds or not, the science will still exist.
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Wrong question. The better question is why do we need any government agency "in charge" of this?
There is absolutely nothing to suggest that they'll do a forced update. What you're describing as "beta testing" is called a staggered roll-out. This is what Android does with their OS updates, because you're right, if it starts failing, they don't want everyone's device to fail at the same time. It's a good strategy to prevent a potential catastrophe, it doesn't mean you're not in control.
Devil's advocate.. A lot of people close unexpected notifications as a reflex. How would they get back to it if they did that?
You're a beta tester on every product now, that's not specific to MS. It's the never ending rush to market followed by the inevitable need to "rebuild our image". They're not forcing you to upgrade either. If they wanted to do that, they'd shove Win 10 down the update mechanism, not a notification applet.
As for the update not stating what it does, that's a valid criticism of most of MS's updates. There used to be a time when each update had a good description of what it did. They haven't done that in a long time now. There are a lot of updates with very sparse information. Again, I think that's part of the rush to market. If anything breaks or too many people complain, we'll do something then.
Something that should be concerning is the Home edition of Win 10. It looks like they'll be forcing updates on them. You need the premium or whatever the branding is to be able to control the updates. That's some bad news, but probably understandable considering those users aren't the techie types that will make an effort to keep their stuff up to date and secure.
I don't get the hate on that one. They're offering it as a free upgrade for one year going as far back as Win 7. If they didn't have the notification on those systems, the year would go by and then everyone would whine about not knowing about the free upgrade. They've also made a point of telling people what won't be available in Win10, such as Media Center. There's no evil involved, they're doing a good thing.
Ooo, sorry, that software is part of TPM and SecureBoot. You can remove it, but your computer won't work afterwards. But why would you want to remove it? Our consumer surveys all show that the test groups loved it!
If they put even half as much money into the actual products instead of advertising, they wouldn't have to rely so much on advertising to trick people into buying them.
Apparently it does, look what happened to their former CEO Eich.
Have you seen our cops lately?
I think I'm more disturbed by the school admins than by this guy, unless there's something else missing from the very short news articles about it. Sounds like the cops made up something so they could take him in.
So what that it's an elementary school? Maybe he wanted to entertain the kids. I don't know. We're a pretty sick society if you instantly read something nefarious into that. Let it be know, by the decree of a bunch of elected hacks, there shall be no fun had within the borders of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Well fine, I'll play the gun nut then..
"Shall not be infringed"
That trumps the law you cited. Next thing you know, someone will be arrested on their own property because some jerks less than a thousand feet away home school their kids.
Besides which.. he still didn't have a firearm. He can't violate the gun free school anti-Constitution zone if he didn't actually have a gun.
Ahh, he was impersonating a cop then.. I'm sure MA can get him on that too.
Meanwhile in New Hampshire, just north of the Commie-wealth.. we had an incident a few years ago where a hunter had an actual firearm and was within hundreds of feet of the grounds of a middle school, the school called police. The police showed up, found nothing wrong, and merely made a suggestion that the guy think about purchasing a case for it instead of carrying it open.
"in any building or on the grounds of any elementary or secondary school, college or university"
The short article says he was walking around the neighborhood which doesn't sound like he was on school grounds.
I must have missed the part where he had an actual firearm. No firearm, no grounds for arrest.
Can I go Godwin on this one?
Factory reset.
I waited for the OTA from the carrier, but during that time I saw many discussions where the update won't happen even with the SIM removed unless the device was reset. It's remembering something about the cell network it was on. It would be a non-issue if not for the reset.
In a few weeks it will become a fabricated issue. Then our next President will ask, "what difference does it make now anyway?"
Same shit, different day.
That's what happens when you buy all your competitors.
It's a new "feature" for Android. My Nexus 6 was purchased from Google's Play Store. Same thing happened to people thought bought directly from Motorola. Yes, you can take the SIM out and get the update over wifi, but you have to be willing to reset your phone to do it. I assume it's reading something off the SIM or on the network, or the carriers are intercepting the "is their a new update" query.
Nexus 6 owners got different versions of the same update depending on which major carrier they were on.
US Carriers can now hold up the over-the-air updates for Nexus. I'm on StraightTalk, an MVNO over AT&T, and AT&T managed to keep my Nexus 6 from getting 5.1 for months. You can pull the SIM and reset or sideload the updates at least, but it's lame that they were given the ability to override the OTA updates. I'm not even AT&T's customer, so I don't see how it's even legal.
Except that Netflix doesn't have a regional monopoly. They'll lose customers to some other video on demand service. Dumb move on their part.
Angry bro because it's a pay service and their customers would be paying for ads they're forced to watch and do not want. Just because advertising has infected other mediums, doesn't mean that advertisers are entitled to infect everything.
How is it any different from the autonomous car contest that DARPA has been doing for years now? Seems like the only difference is who will get the patents. Uber vs a corporation disguised as academia. Whether Uber folds or not, the science will still exist.