JorgeA

Strictly speaking, this is about Windows 7 and not 10, but now that MSFT is grafting the Win10 update model onto Win7, I have to give an illustration of the "process," such as it is. Tonight my main Win7 PC got offered a new update, KB3179573. Needless to say, before letting it install I wanted to get more information on it, so I clicked on the "More information" link in the WU applet. It led me to the following page: OK, so I jumped through the first hoop and didn't get any actual information about the update. But I noticed that the page had a hyperlink over the phrase where MSFT claimed the update includes some new "improvements and fixes." Maybe now I will learn something about this update? So I clicked on that link, which took me to the following page: Well well, still no actual information about the update, but merely a further promise that This Time Really We'll Tell You What's In The Update And What It Does. So, wearily, I clicked on yet another link taking me to yet another page, and providing the final insult: Hey 'Softies, that's not exactly the way to build trust in your intentions, or confidence in your abilities... --JorgeA

The biggest Windows news of the year: the Windows 10 update model is being ported to Windows 7 and 8.1: Win7 and 8.1 to get cumulative updates – you no longer control your Win7 or 8.1 machine Based on whose feedback, exactly? I have seen NO groundswell of people clamoring to lose the ability to decline or ignore Windows Updates that could wreak havoc on their machines. Especially in light of Microsoft's increasingly erratic performance with respect to the monthly patches, this decision is incomprehensible. The notice, as reported by Woody, is itself confusing. In one paragraph it states that there will be a monthly rollup including both security and reliability issues, and then just three paragraphs later it says that there will "also" be a "single Security-only update." So which is it -- security+reliability, or security only? A single rollup, or two "single" rollups? September may be the last month that my Windows 7 systems are allowed to get updates from Microsoft. Maybe, just maybe, my Vista and XP POSReady systems will be spared this insanity. --JorgeA

How to lock down Windows 10 Anniversary Update’s privacy settings Not much that we didn't already know in the main article, but the comments section has a number of hard-hitting observations: And then, one that I had not heard of before. It sounds like Microsoft has done away with the dedicated Windows Help pages: Finally, there is this intriguing idea for shutting Cortana down: --JorgeA

Personalization Settings Set Back to Default in Windows 10 Anniversary Update Golly gee whiz, it must be purely by coincidence that these so-called "bugs" that keep cropping up, just happen to set Windows the way Microsoft -- and not the user -- wants it. How about giving us a "bug" that brings back Aero Glass by mistake, or that unintentionally turns off all telemetry and monitoring? --JorgeA

North American businesses reluctant to adopt Windows 10 --JorgeA

--JorgeA

One highlight: --JorgeA

That's the best Windows-related news I've heard in months. Thanks for sharing it. Well, MSFT does seem to listen to at least some customers. --JorgeA

Thanks very much!! You're getting the hang of it. For a couple of years, before the forum software was updated, people started commenting on posts sometimes by typing "+1" and nothing else. Took me a while to catch on that this was a borrowing from the Like function in social media. --JorgeA

The Great Windows Phone App Exodus of 2016 Paul's website now features a paywall but the first paragraph is enough to get the idea across: And, as I keep saying, mobile is pretty much the whole reason that Microsoft wrecked the Windows UI. Which means there is no reason anymore to persist on the sorry mess that is Metro/Modern/Universal. Make" apps" for Android if you must, and then let us import their data into real applications in Windows. Preferably via a local (Ethernet/WiFi) and not a cloud connection. --JorgeA

Whoa, WD attacked the files that you were using to improve Windows 10? What programs or files got demolished? --JorgeA

I was going to be a smart-aleck and warn you that, No! You need to keep that reputation number down as low as possible!! But instead, I'll play it straight. The reputation number builds up as readers of the thread click on the green box with the white arrow inside, over on the right. Every time somebody clicks on that for a particular MSFN member's post, both the gray box with the heart and the member's reputation go up by 1. Hope that helps. --JorgeA

Developer: Microsoft Undermined Windows 10 Mobile and Our App [emphasis in original] --JorgeA

Ahhh yes, the cult of Novelty For Its Own Sake. --JorgeA

Curiously, here we are a week out from the Anniversary Update, and my Win10 test system hasn't even found (let alone downloaded) the AU bits yet. --JorgeA

I always wait for the green light (or not) from Susan Bradley at Windows Secrets. Woody Leonhard also provides good info, but Susan seems to cover each month's updates more systematically. There's now a paywall for Susan's Patch Watch column, but IMO it's well worth the $25 a year. --JorgeA

Windows 10 Anniversary Update causing big problems for many users Given the new Windows Updates model, I wonder for how long Windows Home and Pro users will put up with serving as unpaid testers for Enterprise customers. --JorgeA

More than 60 percent of Windows users would switch to Mac for more privacy It's kind of ironic that people would switch to Apple over privacy concerns, of all things, but still the point is made. --JorgeA

Yes, that makes sense... unfortunately. Looks like, unless Microsoft fixes Windows 10 or its successor, the only viable choice will be to move to another OS. And speaking of moving to another OS, see the next post... ---JorgeA

We are way OT here but... I happily used WordStar for many years until customers started sending me (and asking for) documents in Word (.DOC) format and I had to bite the bullet. --JorgeA

In my line of work, we sometimes use section breaks. They're useful if you have, say, part of a page in double-column format, sandwiched between parts that are in the standard single column. As for styles, I only remember ever using them once, to help a customer prepare a book for publication. Otherwise we simply format each title or header individually as needed: it's easier to remember a title's format than to remember to apply its specific style. But I can see how either of these features could wreak havoc if files are being passed around among a variety of people. For me, the main annoyance is the Ribbon menus. Been using Office 2007 for going on eight years, and I'm still hunting around for the commands I need. The drop-down menus in Word 2000 (and 2003) were so much easier to use. As a result, I've been considering switching to the SoftMaker office suite, which uses traditional menus and is like 99% compatible with Office files; the only trouble I've had in my tryouts is with the mathematical formula editor, an obscure feature. I'll probably stay on Office 2007 until it becomes incompatible with emerging file formats, and then switch over to the current version of SoftMaker. --JorgeA

For a while, it was said of Windows 98 that it had actually become safer to use online than more recent versions of Windows, the theory being that so few people were using it that it the bad guys didn't bother writing malware for it. Assuming that that was true, maybe the same thing will happen eventually with XP, Vista, and 7. --JorgeA

What aspect of Word do you dislike? (Not being argumentative, but genuinely curious as there are some things about Word that I don't like.) BTW it's too late to say that you only pretend to be a geek. By virtue of having found MSFN, you're already a geek. --JorgeA

Took a bit of effort, but once I figured it out... --JorgeA

Per Woody, Windows 10 goes from bad... Avoid the Windows 10 Anniversary Update for now ...to worse: I recommend that you actively block the Windows 10 Anniversary Update The case against Windows 10 Anniversary Update grows What a mess. More gory details in the full article and in the comments to Woody's blog posts. Amen. --JorgeA