JorgeA

^^ Wow, you're right! Incredible. --JorgeA

A lot of insightful and incisive commentary over in the Win10TP Insider forum. A small selection from a handful of threads over a few days: 1. 2. 3. 4. --JorgeA

Yup, and a billion Win10 devices will all BSOD at the same time , with no one to rescue them save for the haters who cling stubbornly to their older OS or have moved on to Linux. And even then it might not be possible to boot a Linux Live Disk to repair the damage... meaning that, for all intents and purposes, the device is bricked and the Win10 user will have no choice but to go out and get a new machine. --JorgeA

That's good, I'm glad. While it's still possible to change the icons, what is NOT good is that Microsoft has made it impossible to get to that desktop icons dialog unless you already know that it's there somewhere, because Windows 10 won't show you how to get to it. --JorgeA

That was pretty funny, though. --JorgeA

One-two punch on the core concept of Windows 10: Tablets generally are a stagnant, possibly declining, market. Now there's this MSFT-specific news: Microsoft’s Phone Hardware Business may be ailing worse than thought Read further at the link for an enlightening discussion of "write-offs" vs. "write-downs." Mobile-friendly Win10 may arrive just in time to become totally irrelevant, while remaining distinctly unfriendly to PC users. --JorgeA

By hook or by crook... Microsoft: 1 billion Windows 10 devices within 2-3 years of launch --JorgeA

For those who are on 10074 but didn't get the blur feature: Windows 10 build 10074: How to enable blur (Aero) for the Start menu I have not tried this tweak (my copy did come with blur enabled), so I can't speak for the results or any risks this might entail. --JorgeA

The old (and simple) way to do it was to right-click on the Desktop, then choose Personalize in the Control Panel, then select "Change desktop icons." I used that method in a recent Win10 build to change some of my icons. But now the folks at Microsoft seem to have done away with that option. :angrym: Here's what I did. You can still change the icons by typing "Desktop Icon Settings" in Search. That will bring up the familiar interface, from where you can go to Windows/System32/imageres.dll. If you're multibooting, then you can Browse from there to the corresponding imageres.dll file in the other OS that you have installed on the same PC. There are a few other files in the System32 directory that have useful (and prettier) icons, too. Hope this helps. Enjoy your new icons while Microsoft still allows you to change them. --JorgeA

That really is funny, in light of your earlier post here about iPad sales tanking. Yeah, like Microsoft is going to make it in mobile devices where even the masters of mobile devices (Apple) can't sustain their success. Dream on, fanboys... --JorgeA

KB3061161 finally installed properly. Once again I did not get a choice to reboot right away or at some other time, it just went ahead with the reboot. Isn't there any way to modify improve this behavior?! Anyway, Start and Search are now working, but the two notifications that I can't do anything with are still showing up. I do have the translucent Start Menu, and it looks much nicer than the previous blob of solid color. However, although Microsoft claims that you can now resize the Menu, this only works on the vertical axis (i.e., you can make the menu taller or shorter, but not wider or narrower). (The double-headed arrow in the top right corner is to make the menu fullscreen.) And d*mned if the menu doesn't take up even more room on the Desktop than the previous incarnation. Here's how ridiculous the thing looks when you have no use for Metro crapps: If this is the way the Windows 10 Start Menu is going to be like, then if I ever have to make the move to Win10 I will be using Classic Shell or Tihiy's StartIsBack. --JorgeA

So far, Build 10074 has been an underwhelming experience, to say the least: The Start Menu doesn't work. I click on it and it lights up, but nothing more happens.The Search function on the Taskbar doesn't work -- clicking on it doesn't bring anything up. My Taskbar has a little magnifying glass icon; if I right-click to change it to a search bar, nothing happens.The Notifications pop-up says that I have two notifications, but when I click on them nothing happens.I have a Windows Update available (KB3061161), but it keeps failing to install. Actually I'm not even sure if it finishes downloading completely.The irony of the Start Menu not working is that I have no way to access the Insider Hub app in order to report the problem. And of course I can't even do a search for it.I think I do have translucence on the Taskbar (blur), but needless to say I can't tell what that looks like on the Start Menu.BTW, when 10074 was downloaded, I did not get a chance to decide when to install it: it simply went ahead with the installation. --JorgeA EDIT: missing word

Can this really be true?? Windows 10 build 10074 ISO now available for download, Aero Glass returns! [emphasis added!] Build 10074 is downloading onto my test laptop as I write this. Anybody else seen the resuscitated Aero Glass yet? I'll be sure to vote in favor of this -- the best-looking Glass effects IMO are on windows borders. This is really a surprise. Let's hope it sticks and grows back to full Vista/7 size. Wonder how the fanboys and Neowin kids are reacting to this news? Paul Thurrott corroborates reports of the return of Aero Glass, and also reports that Win32 applications can be launced from the Start Menu again. Guess enough people called them out on it. --JorgeA EDIT: typo

^^ That's a GREAT idea: port herbalist's concept from 98 over to XP (and then ultimately to Vista and finally to 7, when their times come). Maybe a mod (hint, hint ) could create a Sticky in the XP subforum, referring readers to herbalist's method. Could be called something like, "How to keep XP secure despite the end of Windows updates and vendor support." --JorgeA

Check out this excerpt from Windows Weekly 403. Talking about Microsoft's fortunes in and plans for the smartphone market, Neowin's Brad Sams said: Sums it up pretty well, don't you think? And to think that they wrecked Windows for this. A little later, Sams explains what could be the way Microsoft sees thing developing in coming years: --JorgeA

So then, would you lean toward thinking that Win32 applications not launching from the Start Menu is something that was intended? I've been thinking about this, and it seems inconceivable to me that the internal testers would miss something so big before offering 10061 beyond company walls. Either they do intend to do away with Win32 applications, or these applications are so unimportant to Microsoft's vision of the future that they didn't even think to try opening one from the revamped Start Menu. One other question that came to mind: I'm nt sure I understand the technical reason why a link to a program in the Start Menu wouldn't work, but a link to the same program in File Explorer or the Taskbar would work. A link is a link is a link, no? --JorgeA

The discussion of Pale Moon and Firefox supporting (or not) XP, got me thinking that a more serious issue for XP, from a security standpoint, would be if browsers (and companies that provide important browser functionality such as Java and Adobe Flash) stop making versions that work at all on XP. While no doubt older versions would keep working, they would also remain with the security holes that got patched up in newer versions. All in all this might add up to more -- and more serious -- security threats than those that affect Windows itself. XP users would need to become more proactive in terms of applying supplementary protection such as that given by "anti-exploit" applications like MBAE or HitmanPro.Alert Thoughts? --JorgeA

Can't open Win32 apps from the Start Menu in Windows 10 build 10061? Here's why And now for the money quote: [emphasis added] Hah -- how much you wanna bet that this is no accident, but rather a deliberate trial to see how much public outcry there would be (1) if the Start Menu were rendered useless, and/or (2) if Windows stopped supporting Win32 applications? Wonder how long it'll be before this "bug" is turned into a "feature" of Windows 10. --JorgeA

This information may be relevant/useful for anybody who might be concerned about their XP system's security: Removing admin rights would ease 97 percent of critical Microsoft flaws Considering that AV testing labs say that standard security suites protect against 95-99 percent of threats (unless you use Microsoft Security Essentials ), this one step of switching to a standard or "limited" account may provide a degree of protection comparable to using AV software. In combination with the use of such software and other protective measures, I suspect that XP fans will have little to worry about for years to come. --JorgeA

Thanks @vinifera, @MagicAndre, and @NoelC for filling me in on Pivot in Longhorn, I understand it now. --JorgeA

I'm in the slow track and still on 10041, have I missed any new builds that should have come my way? --JorgeA

Thanks, NoelC. That would be an incentive to learn about this aspect of computing, assuming that in Windows 10 Enterprise you can indeed still pick and choose the updates you want to install or ignore. --JorgeA

The last couple of Windows Updates have automatically rebooted my Win10 test laptop, without asking first. Now it's true that I don't stay at that computer all the time, but tonight I happened to be in my office when the little jingle announcing availability of an update sounded. It was a "Synaptics driver update for Synaptics SMBus TouchPad." I have Win10 set to tell me when an update is available and to let me decide when to download and install it. So I told it to proceed. It must have been an enormous file, as the progress bar was moving very slowly. (Thanks to Microsoft's infinite wisdom, I was not told just how large the download is.) About a half-hour later, next thing I know the laptop has rebooted! There was no offer to do it now or to wait any amount of time; it just went ahead without my participation, permission, or even knowledge. There was no warning or indication anywhere that a reboot might be needed, let alone immediately. What a PITA. But more than that: what a POS. --JorgeA

I tried to look that up on the Web, but without success. What was the "Pivot" in Longhorn? --JorgeA

This company is plain predatory now. Way worse than the 90s "monopoly"-MS. I'm taking odds on whether the effect of this Internet Explorer update is a bug, or a deliberate decision. --JorgeA