Microsoft: Windows 7 Does Not Meet the Demands of Modern Technology; Recommends Windows 10 (neowin.net) 503
In a blog post, Microsoft says that continued usage of Windows 7 increases maintenance and operating costs for businesses. Furthermore, time is needlessly wasted on combating malware attacks that could have been avoided by upgrading to Windows 10. A report on Neowin adds: Microsoft also says that many hardware manufacturers do not provide drivers for Windows 7 any longer, and many developers and companies refrain from releasing programs on the outdated operating system. Markus Nitschke, Head of Windows at Microsoft Germany, had the following to say about Windows 7: "Today, it [Windows 7] does not meet the requirements of modern technology, nor the high security requirements of IT departments. As early as in Windows XP, we saw that companies should take early steps to avoid future risks or costs. With Windows 10, we offer our customers the highest level of security and functionality at the cutting edge.
Options (Score:5, Insightful)
1) Use Windows 7 and maybe get infected with malware.
or
2) Use Windows 10 and definitely have malware built right in.
Re:Options (Score:5, Insightful)
Win7 doesn't have the builtin access that our modern society needs to make sure you're not guilty of independent thought.
Re:Options (Score:5, Insightful)
Privacy issues and rollout costs aside, Windows 10 doesn't have the business centric interface that works well in a work environment or sufficient compatibility with large amounts of legacy in house and third party applications that are business critical. Nor do most of the existing infrastructure and software management systems currently embedded in most medium to large companies work well with it. Most of these companies already have appropriate mitigations against malware, including desktop virus scanners, firewall controls including in-line scanning and content (executable) blocking, email scanning and filtering, backups, user access controls and active intrusion detection.
Not to mention that most businesses would need to embark on a large scale hardware upgrade program to make windows 10 usable due to the lack of support for older hardware.
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You clearly do not have much experience with IT in the workplace.
Please Google Dunning Kruger
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Windows 10 obviously doesn't have anything people think is worth paying for.
Now, drink your Victory Gin
Re:Options (Score:5, Insightful)
Many people only use their computers to browse the web and access their email. An OS that only allows that would be criticized by /. for being too locked down and not general purpose, but for the vast majority of consumers this would be perfect.
Isn't that basically Chromebooks?
Re:Options (Score:5, Informative)
The telemetry malware has been backported to 7.
--
BMO
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Which brings us to the second main advantage of Windows 7 over 10: you're not forced to install dodgy updates
Win7: 2
Win10: 0
Re:Options (Score:5, Interesting)
Windows 7 is still riddled with updates that slow things down and introduce additional dialogs to make Win10 'seem' faster.
It started not long after Windows 10 was announced.
Re:Options (Score:5, Informative)
Further Win 7 does not include any of the Win 8 UI elements. Trying to mash a touchscreen UI onto a desktop OS. As well as since you don't have the "tile" elements you are not being served ads nativly on your desktop or start menu. (They did sneak the Win 10 upgrade ad into the Systray but since there is no MS Edge for Win 7 you don't see the ads that pop up there on Win 7.)
Win 7 does offer control on how your updates are done. Not a native option for non-enterprise Win 10 users.
Finally I've yet to see any real hardware issues with Win 7 that this blog post purports. The very closest thing that I will say is that there are some new Win 8+ kernel SSD bits of functionality that you can't get with Win 7 at all. However those bits of functionality are not a dealbreaker to me, an avid SSD user, by any means.
Re:Options (Score:5, Informative)
Some of us have stopped updating Windows 7 for exactly this sort of reasons.
Microsoft spyware purge (Score:5, Informative)
If you disable the "recommended updates" you don't appear to get any of the "old" telemetry - but it may all be back in the rollups and we would never know.
The old telemetry updates could be removed with the following:
wusa /uninstall /kb:Patch# /quiet /norestart
The patches to remove are: 3065988, 3083325,3083324, 2976978, 3075853, 3065987, 3050265, 3050267, 3075851, 2902907, 3068708, 3022345, 2952664, 2990214, 3035583, 971033, 3021917, 3044374, 3046480, 3075249, 3080149.
Re:Options (Score:5, Informative)
http://windowsitpro.com/windows-10/how-turn-telemetry-windows-7-8-and-windows-10 [windowsitpro.com]
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Plug in your network cable.
Re:Options (Score:5, Interesting)
My experience of Windows 10 updates is that they fully qualify as malware. They break things, screw up settings and you cannot even opt out.
Windows 7 updates started trending that way a year ago - when Microsoft started trying to force Windows 10 down collective throats. People started checking every non-security update before installing it. Googling each update in turn, I learned to classify most of the leading search results as uninformed bovine faeces, but with Microsoft's description on updates as being "This will fix a Windows problem" they were pretty much the only game in town so updates only went in when I was sure they would do no damage. The bottom line there was that the Windows 7 install base fractured - Microsoft could no longer make any assumptions at all as to which updates were installed and which ones not. Their fix to the problem they created was to bundle all updates together.
Guess what, there is something in there which leads to an Install / Back Out loop on my remaining Windows 7 machine. Its patch-level is pretty much that of September. Microsoft can now say that Windows 10 would be more secure than that, but I get around it by treating it as a Windows XP installation - no emails and no browsing, just the two or three applications which were the reason I bought a Windows 7 machine in the first place.
Re:Options (Score:5, Interesting)
I think it goes further in that Microsoft is most likely intentionally sabotaging Windows 7. It seems that almost every Windows 7 computer I encounter has svchost.exe fully consuming a CPU core and consuming massive amounts of memory for no reason other than a failed update. This slows down the computer, consumes more energy, and makes it less secure because Windows Update is stuck in a perpetual loop. It isn't just one particular update causing the problem either, but several making correcting the issue tedious and often making the only solution to completely disable Windows Update.
Check for yourself, open task manager as an administrator on any Windows 7 computer and more often than not you will see svchost.exe consuming a full CPU core and 1GB+ memory. Disable the Windows Update service and BITS and the problem goes away.
I'm not at all surprised, updates to XP tended to cause problems when Vista came out. Micosoft's greatest competitor tends to be themselves.
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I've seen the same problem with Windows Update on multiple computers running Windows 8.1.
Re:Options (Score:5, Informative)
I think it goes further in that Microsoft is most likely intentionally sabotaging Windows 7. It seems that almost every Windows 7 computer I encounter has svchost.exe fully consuming a CPU core and consuming massive amounts of memory for no reason other than a failed update.
This issue is because the dependency resolution algorithm in Windows Update is NP-hard. Its not a big deal until the number of updates gets large, and the dependency graph gets reset every time MSFT releases a service pack. Recently those resets have been done by the Win8-->Win8.1 upgrade and on Win10 every ~6 months they release a new OS image (at time of writing, Win10 TH1-->Win10 TH2-->Win10 RS1, pretty soon we will have RS2, and so on.) So the new Win10 model effectively masks the problem since they will have very frequent resets of the dependency graph now. Also, the cumulative updates further help reduce the growth of that graph. That doesn't help Win7 of course. What they really should do is release a Win7 SP2, reset the dependency graph, and make everyone's life easier, but with how aggressively they are pushing the Win10 upgrade you can bet they won't do anything to make life on Win7 easier.
And Candy Crush Soda comes free! (Score:5, Informative)
Microsoft believes that our PCs belong to them [reddit.com]. They need to lose more market share.
The Windows app store is not something that we all want. It should be an optional add-on for all versions of Windows.
Some of us also like Aero. Windows 8 removed Aero simply because mobile devices could not run it well in Windows RT. We are asked to give up Aero solely because of Microsoft's mobile platform that failed in the market and was essentially discontinued.
Microsoft, we refuse.
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0) Continue to use Windows XP.
You could choose software freedom (Score:5, Informative)
All proprietary software should be suspected of being malware. Microsoft Windows before version 10 was known to not behave in the user's interest [gnu.org] and certainly not in the user's control (as per the definition of proprietary software). Microsoft tried pushing a Windows 10 "upgrade" on users by force [theregister.co.uk], for example. Other "features" in Windows 10 (such as ignoring a user's privacy settings and doing what is in Microsoft's interest) were simply more along this line. Microsoft's aggressive sales tactics pointed to in this /. story are another example. In time there will be an announcement that Windows 7 will no longer receive updates and the hard sell for Windows 10 (or some other Windows variant) will continue. The question for all Windows users is how much more treatment like this they'd like to receive. It's never been easier to switch to a fully free software OS [gnu.org] and run nothing but free software on top of that.
Better Option (Score:3)
>> Windows 7 Does Not Meet the Demands of Modern Technology; Recommending Windows 10
Windows 10 Does Not Meet the Privacy and Confidentiality
Recommending Linux.
More like... (Score:3, Insightful)
...Windows 7 does not meet the needs of NSA, and Microsoft's marketing department, and whoever else they're selling all of your Windows 10 "telemetry" to.
Re:More like... (Score:5, Insightful)
Quite. I read this:
Microsoft says that continued usage of Windows 7 increases maintenance and operating costs for businesses.
and my immediate thought -- as someone who runs a few small IT businesses and is typing this on a Windows 7 PC -- was... well, it would be impolite to write my actual immediate thought at the time, so let's paraphrase it as "No, it doesn't".
With Windows 10, we offer our customers the highest level of security and functionality at the cutting edge.
The thing about cutting edges is that if you're not careful, you get hurt. And I have little interest in helping Microsoft's security at the expense of my own businesses.
Oh, and just for completeness while we're debunking every single statement in TFS, we bought a final round of PC gear just in time to still get Windows 7 preinstalled, and so far the total number of devices or software products we wanted to use that haven't been compatible with it has been 0, and the number of malware infections we've had to deal with has also been 0. Literally the only thing we've had to do with drivers that was even slightly awkward was slipstreaming USB3 drivers in when installing because PCs tend to have all USB3 ports these days, in contrast to the numerous reports of driver compatibility problems with Windows 10. We're far more concerned about the potential security, reliability and confidentiality risks fundamentally built into Windows 10 than we are about any threats Windows 10 is supposedly better equipped to defend against than Windows 7.
Ironically, the single most annoying and time-consuming thing in setting up those new PCs was applying the latest Windows security patches, because Microsoft have made such a dog's dinner of Windows Update in recent times that you basically have to use one of the alternative channels instead of the built-in one. And they want us to move to a new OS that relies on their update infrastructure and gives even less control over when it runs or what it does? Don't make me laugh.
Upgrade refuseniks are idjits (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Upgrade refuseniks are idjits (Score:5, Insightful)
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As early as in Windows XP, we saw that companies should take early steps to avoid future risks or costs
Risks have been endemic since the early days of DOS, and they only figured that out in XP? Even though the Windows 95 install screen promised the safest, impossible-for-viruses-to-run OS ever?
There is no reason to upgrade, even if it's free (for their definition of "free").
People agree that Windows 10 has better tech (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:People agree that Windows 10 has better tech (Score:5, Insightful)
That and a mostly useless UI.
Granted it is better than Windows 8. But I don't want a tablet OS for my Workstation.
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You get half a page of tiles when you open the start menu (the other half being the actual start menu you're looking for.)
Remove all the stupid default tiles and put in the programs you like to have easy access to and its actually quite handy -- the win10 tiles are nowhere near the cumbersome and ugly mess that the win8 start "menu" was.
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I would argue with that - I've had a (serious for me and my company) Bluetooth issue that I have been first trying to convince Microsoft that exists.
It's easy to say you have better tech if you ignore the complaints about it.
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They just don't like being spied upon...
Also, anything you had to fight off for months does not leave a good long-term impression.
Between daily nags with continued NO answers, Windows 10 managed to install itself both on my mom's desktop and laptop at least once (fortunately declining the TOS successfully rolled it back).
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Microsoft id RIGHT (Score:3, Funny)
Windows 10 DOES have more security for me than windows 7.
An OS that you never load is truly the most secure.
(I'm staing on win 7 and hoping that all my games get ported to linux)
Translation: (Score:5, Informative)
"We still REALLY want to get you on Win 10. Our tricks and coercions did not work very well so anything we can do to scare you over is a good thing".
I suspect there is some truth to what they say, but the reality is that Windows 10 has had many unstable updates. Companies can turn these off or defer them, but the home user has no recourse. And for mission critical applications, Windows 10 has shown to be not reliable as you never know when an update that you can't eliminate might break your system.
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Re:Better translation (Score:4, Informative)
They weren't late, they were one of the first, but got caught with the NSAKey debacle.
After that they had to regain trust (of those paying attention).
Win10 malware (Score:3)
Furthermore, time is needlessly wasted on combating malware attacks that could have been avoided by upgrading to Windows 10.
I assume that they mean all the time and effort people put into preventing Win10 from installing by hook or by crook.
Not news (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, their incredible insistence in people upgrading to 10 makes it clear they learnt with Windows XP that people don't rush to upgrade to a new OS if they're happy with what they have. Also that they had a plan to make a lot of money off Win 10 even if people upgraded for free (increased used of MS' services (bing, hotmail, their cloud service), data gathering, people buying from the Windows Store
And pretty obvious that "Windows 7 increases maintenance and operating costs for businesses" actually means "we'll make less money if you don't upgrade".
Maybe if you gave people what they want people would willingly update to your latest OS instead of rejecting it even when given away for free.
Make a Windows 7 with the internals of 10 and I'll upgrade.
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in other news i recommend users of any version of microsoft windows to make the switch to Linux for increased security and better privacy
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Does it obey the settings that say "do not send any data to Microsoft whatsoever"?
Have they fixed Windows Updates yet? (Score:5, Interesting)
Or does it still open 400+ connections to pull multi-gigabyte files every time, taking up all available bandwidth, and shutting down everything else on the network?
Windows 10 is literally not usable without an update server to let you control this, since they have apparently removed all controls for who much bandwidth it uses to pull updates. And it makes your entire network unusable, as well.
Re:Have they fixed Windows Updates yet? (Score:4, Interesting)
Delta updates are suppose to be coming [winaero.com], maybe in March...
Re:Have they fixed Windows Updates yet? (Score:5, Interesting)
If you bother to do your research, you will find that Windows 10 does not, in fact, use BITS. BITS is still there, with the various registry controls (including a default limit of 4 simultaneous connections), but Windows Updates no longer uses it, and the new, half-baked replacement, has no limit on simultaneous connections, and so far as I can tell, no way to implement one.
Large organization have domain controllers, and use their own update servers, and always have to control bandwidth usage, because local network bandwidth is generally orders of magnitude faster than the internet pipe. My experience with Windows 10 is that a single computer will shut down the entire local network by using all available bandwidth, for considerable amounts of time, pulling multi-gig updates. But as soon as I block access to Windows Updates at the firewall, everything is back to normal. There's no question whatsoever what's going on.
This is hardly a new issue. It's been covered by technical media before. So far as I can tell, there's still no solution, and little reason to believe there ever will be. Microsoft clearly doesn't care if their products are usable or not.
Re: (Score:3)
Yes, I can. If Microsoft gave a damn about whether or not their products were actually usable, I wouldn't have to. The old system worked just fine. So they broke it.
Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
You mean I can't type out a Word document, read my email or visit a web site using Windows 7 because it's so insecure?
Well now, whose fault is that?
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Funny)
At this point, Windows 3.0 offers users more privacy and security than Windows 10.
Sigh (Score:2)
I received Windows 10 updates on my laptop again yesterday. Took me 48 minutes to get my machine back. Booted into Blank screen that would not display anything. The cursor was gone. I finally figured out it was defaulting to a page off screen somewhere. Had to google for a fix on another computer.
Simple (Score:5, Insightful)
It is actually quite simple. From a technical perspective, Windows 10 *IS* more secure than Windows 7 in one very major regard. Edge (Win10 bundled browser) is far superior in both functionality and security compared to Internet Explorer (Win7 bundled browser)
BUT NOBODY FUCKING USES EITHER BROWSER, SO IT IS A MOOT POINT!
So yes, TECHNICALLY speaking, Windows 10 is "more secure", but nobody is using the insecure parts of Windows 7. Simple as that.
Re:Simple (Score:5, Interesting)
Right, but IE is still embedded in WIN10 - installed alongside Edge.
So you get all the problems of IE, along with a new potential vector of Edge.
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There's lots more than just the browser that is insecure about Windows 7, but since they still didn't fix that stuff in 10 either, then I have to agree with you.
Re:Simple (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Simple (Score:5, Interesting)
Win 7 don't need a game mode to game (Score:2)
Translated.. (Score:2)
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Agreed but they should pick the one that works best. Which isn't Windows 10.
They're right (Score:2)
Such a primitive OS.
Win 10 OK (Score:2)
What is this 'Windows' thing? (Score:2)
Two Things, maybe Three (Score:2)
Just two simple things will encourage me to upgrade to Windows 10
1) Allow us to disable all your telemetry features without having to air-gap the system.
2) Allow all users ( not just enterprise ) to disable your automatic-updates
Remedy those two issues and I'll move on past Windows 7 for my internet connected systems.
or !
I'll even entertain a third option.
That being Microsoft assumes full financial responsibility for any and all productivity loss due to the release of one of their " forced " updates.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh and one other thing. . . . . .
If the telemetry data you're collecting isn't personal or identifiable data ( as is always the claim ), then you have no reason to hide it behind encryption and we should be able to both see AND approve the release of any telemetry related information before it is transmitted.
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What a bunch of whining ninnies! (Score:2)
"My" Computer, The Real Meaning (Score:2)
For twenty years we thought "My Computer" meant *my* computer. Now we know it was Bill Gates (and Ballmer, Nadella, et al) claiming *your* computer as *theirs*. (Your computer is my computer!)
Suddenly it all makes sense.
Fixed That For You! (Score:2)
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Microsoft says that continued usage of Windows 78, 8.1 and 10 increases maintenance and operating costs for businesses. Furthermore, time is needlessly wasted on combating malware attacks that could have been avoided by upgrading to macOS. Businesses like IBM save money with each of the 100,000 Macs [apple.com] that they have Deployed this year.
Damn! Windows 78. Slashdot, let us EDIT a Comment!
Yeah well... (Score:2)
FUCK Micro$oft.
Inflammatory Headline (Score:2)
Microsoft, I propose a new headline: "Windows 10 doesn't meet the demands for customer usability".
Re: (Score:3)
It depends. Software is technology, too. From that end, Windows 10 actually has some pretty awesome features.
A while back, I installed Gitlab on a server with 1GB RAM. That server immediately went 700MB into swap and... proceeded to behave as if nothing had happened. 40MB of reclaimable memory, but no problem. That was a Linux server with 1GB of zram allowed to use up to 50% of memory, compressing its load to less than 1/3 its original size--about 700MB open RAM, and 300MB housing 700MB of compresse
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I'll give you that multi monitor features are vastly improved (win10 on presentation laptops is a must), however win7 is still speedier, more responsive and less crash prone than windows 10 on the same hardware. I dont care how much more efficiently my memory is managed when i have t
Self-serving, Much? (Score:2)
Microsoft has lost all credibility with me, and I'll give up on Windows 7 when I need some third-party software that won't run on Windows 7. I don't expect that to be very soon. Microsoft's greed knows no bounds: I buy my computer...and they want to have sole authority over how I am allowed to use it with their software. I buy my own products, but M$ deems it essential that I be a data source for their sale of information about me, collected without my permission from my computer. They have removed all
Are they counting in the cost of windows updates? (Score:5, Interesting)
When counting the cost are they counting in all the breakage that windows updates have caused for win 10?
That is a huge number for most people.
I co-own a small IT services company and one part of the business is basic IT support. In that we have just over 500 customer computers under management and during 2016 the on average 147 windows 10 computers have had an average of 3.4 problem tickets each. The on average 304 windows 7 computers have had an average 0.8 problem tickets each. That is a factor of more than 4!! (The numbers do not contain planned maintenance, new software installation/version upgrade, hardware installation or similar events, just the "something is broken fix it!" classified things.)
Re:Are they counting in the cost of windows update (Score:4, Interesting)
I quickly browsed 100 tickets for win 10 in the software category and 43 had a windows update noted as cause or probable cause for the problem. It is of course fully unscientific, but if it is the same for the full range of tickets then that is almost 1.5 problems on average with windows update/computer/year.
(all titles below are approximate translations to English)
Several mentions of things like:
"Computer goes into loop on start after it had restarted itself for windows update" at least 4 of these
"Program X stops working" with a further comment that it had happened after windows update or version update. at least 5 of these with 2 being local file database corruption in some older program.
"Windows update never ends" At at least 3 of these
"Program X no longer works after new windows release" at least 3 of these.
"Printer settings lost after windows 10 version upgrade" at least 6 of these. All of these in the fall update.
(I say at least as I started counting when I noticed the same type of issue reoccur and it was a fairly quick scan so might have missed some of the same)
and the most fun one: :)
"Windows 10 constantly restarts the computer for updates every 10 minutes even if you tell it not to"
FTFY (Score:3)
MANY developers! So many developers! (Score:3)
many developers and companies refrain from releasing programs on the outdated operating system
That's some very nice weasel wording they have there. I'm sure it's so many that they can't even count. Talk about FUD.
Meanwhile, back here in reality, the project I'm on has been around since Windows 3.1. We only just incremented the minimum supported OS from XP to 7 about 1.5 years ago, and that was only after a significant amount of coaxing on our part to get the client to allow it. But to go beyond 7? As if. We're certainly not coaxing them to bump it up to 8, 8.1, or 10, especially so since none of us use anything above 7 for our own development work (we can, since we have licenses for it, but none of us actually do). The developers are using 7, the clients are using 7, and the clients' clients are using 7. Not a chance we're dropping support anytime soon.
In fact, only one piece of software I use or have looked into (1Password) has dropped support for Windows 7...except that it hasn't. They're concurrently supporting two versions of their app on Windows: their old one that still works just fine and is still getting updates, and their complete rewrite for Windows 10 that's been in beta for quite awhile. It has some shiny new features, but not enough to get me to jump to 10. If that's the only example I can think of, Microsoft will be hard-pressed to convince me to update by using this tactic.
(EDIT: Right as I was about to click submit, I fact-checked myself and discovered that the 1Password devs have back-ported their beta to Windows 7 in the last few months. Now I don't have any examples of apps that have dropped support! Time for Microsoft to take a new tack.)
With file scans and private data transmissions (Score:3)
IT Departments? (Score:5, Insightful)
Really, Microsoft? You're preaching about IT security when you have completely taken some Windows 10 security decisions *OUT* of the hands of IT departments? We can no longer disable the Windows App Store in Windows 10 Pro, thanks to you. But if we still want that feature we have to update our licenses from Pro to Enterprise.....because SECURITY. Right? It's not about money, right?
Go fuck yourselves.
Microsoft bashes Microsoft. (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft: "Windows 7? why are you still running that pile."
Users: "Well, you said it was the fastest and most secure operating system ever. Besides Windows 10 doesn't really offer any new functionality and I don't really like the UI."
Microsoft: "No no that was old Microsoft. He was a dick. You need to scrap that gnarled bag of bolts and install Windows 10. Its the fastest and most secure operating system ever!"
The interpretation (Score:3)
...had the following to say about Windows 7: "Today, it [Windows 7] does not meet the requirements of modern technology, nor the high security requirements of IT departments [such as ours]. As early as in Windows XP, we saw that companies [such as Microsoft] should take early steps to avoid future risks or costs [such as our customers fleeing us in droves]. With Windows 10, we offer our customers [the real ones - Microsoft executives and shareholders] the highest level of security [an ongoing revenue stream] and functionality at the cutting edge.
In other news (Score:5, Insightful)
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Disagree that it's more secure than Windows 7. Windows 7 has more of its bugs ironed out, and the bugs that ARE there are usually included in Win 10 as well! Microsoft may have designed more security FEATURES into Windows 10, but it takes years of track record to refine those. Windows 10 is much less mature. And then there's the much greater telemetry going back to Microsoft, so that is negative security.
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Re:Expected /. response (Score:5, Insightful)
When Windows updates routinely override existing settings and break existing setups, they fit my definition of malware. Windows 10 qualifies fully and I wish I had never applied the update on one machine last summer. I know several people who applied the update and only one of them is happy with it (as of a few months ago, it is not topic number one).
Microsoft seem to think we bought our PCs so we could run Windows Update and glory in its magnificence. No, I bought mine to perform certain functions and installing Windows 10 has broken more than it alleviated. It is not the security features which annoy me, even the telemetry is a lesser irritant. What really annoys me is when an update leaves something utterly broken, and the knowledge that the next update is going to repeat the experience.
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But I'd still rather the telemetry data than other malware
The problem is simple: telemetry is guaranteed, other malware is not.
Would you choose to be sick with a cold every single day of your life, if it meant never getting the flu?
Sure, the flu is a lot worse than a cold, but you can take steps to prevent it, and even if you do get hit with the flu, it's temporary.
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Perhaps people don't freak out because you are wrong?
I can't comment on systems using apt, but for yum: my CentOS installations use either a local repository or they connect to a mirror. No "central server".
Also, I don't think that the
Re:Expected /. response (Score:5, Insightful)
The simple problem is that telemetry has been overstated and overblown.
No, the simple problem is that the telemetry is mandatory. Microsoft could have provided a way to turn it all off, but did not. How much or little about me that is exposed by the telemetry is beside the point.
Re:Expected /. response (Score:4, Informative)
It can be turned back down to near the old level simply by setting it to "Basic."
The old telemetry system was opt-in. The new one isn't even opt-out. Setting it to "Basic" only reduces the amount of data being sent, it does not stop it.
Re:Expected /. response (Score:5, Informative)
You forgot "Microsoft can access your machine and pull anything they want from it at any point in time without your knowledge and/or consent".
You also have zero control of updates. Unless you have a WSUS server, your machine WILL get updates on the schedule Microsoft forces upon you, and if those updates happen to hose your system, then too bad so sad.
I have a small pilot of Windows 10 machines at our company, and the last Anniv. update hosed *all* of them. Some were able to get up and running again by reverting to the previous version. One couldn't even revert, requiring us to re-image the machine.
The problem is that Microsoft wants all the control of your computer, but none of the responsibility. Maybe that's all well and good for home users, since the average home user wouldn't know what to do anyway, but for professional users and administrators who (for whatever reason) don't have the benefit of WSUS, that is *absolutely* unacceptable.
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Many small businesses buy VL SKUs in small or even single quantities. AFAIK there is no lower quantity limit to VL SKUs, you just have to buy them through a MS Gold or higher partner, of which there are quite a few.
I used to work for a small 3 person (including me) company. We were a Gold level partner. At least at the time, the bar was set at having 2 MS certified technicians and 1 MS certified sales person along with some revenue requirement. So the bar was not high at all.
We would regularly buy single qu
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Obvious, but possibly naive. Small businesses in first world economies typically make more money, employ more people, and basically do and contribute more as a group than large businesses. And as the saying goes, every successful large business was once a successful small business. Also, small IT businesses, independent professionals, and "prosumer" geeks are disproportionately influential when it comes to IT decisions. Playing to the huge enterprise customers at the expense of the little guys may be a succ
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YotLD is still on schedule for 2018, 2019 if video drivers slip.
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Haven't seen any blue rings of death, but under Windows 10 I have seen Firefox and several other apps regularly not exactly die, but just lock up and never come back, like resource starvation or something.
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Now on to some bashing, we'll start with force updates that everyone complains the most about. Sorry, but this is a necessary evil,
Sorry, but you have no right to force people to update. It's their choice. More importantly normalizing constant updates provides extremely perverse incentives to software vendors. It signals they can get away with crappy QA using customers as beta testers and endless streams of security vulnerabilities at no cost to them.
leaving them vulnerable and they just don't give a flying f. The only way to address this needless insecurity is to force updates.
Most consumer desktop users are behind a stealth mode firewall where their external exposure is mediated by the security of their browsers and other network connected software. From pu
Re:Bashing Windows 10 (Score:4, Insightful)
Whoa right there cowboy. If the updates were - I don't know - tested and vetted, maybe the forced updates wouldn't be a problem. Since they aren't and they break countless machines, many of which are owned by the clueless "idiots" you reference, we have plenty of people with broken computers who have no idea how to fix these problems. When you wake up only to find all networking is now broken, or your printers are all missing, or your data partition is inaccessible, or you have a blue screen that won't resolve with rebooting, the forced updates are a deal breaker for the great unwashed masses, period.
For the people who have a clue, the telemetry is the deal breaker.