JorgeA

The last two lines basically answer the first one. IMO, Cortana is one Windows 10 feature that could grow up to become a truly useful assistant, reminding me of appointments and the like -- but only if the information that I gave it were to remain strictly in my possession. That is, nothing going out to Microsoft (or anybody else's) servers. I could see Cortana working then as a glorified Outlook calendar keeper. I could even see the mobile/synching benefits of having stuff go back and forth between my PC and my phone... but again, puly in the context of a home- (or office-) based cloud service that never went to anybody else's server. No Bing searches, no appointments or travel arrangements recorded by anyone or anything but me and my own equipment. Ain't nobody's business but my own. Let Cortana, if necessary, contact the airline via StartPage or DuckDuckGo. Otherwise, Cortana is of no interest to me. --JorgeA

--JorgeA

Une possible solution : https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wT#fr/en/Peut-être on peut essayer le Google Translate%3F --JorgeA

I did not realize that WindowBlinds could be used to create a glass effect on window borders. ...BTW, je vous remercie de l'information mais no me parece que haya muchos más socios de este foro que puedan comprender los diez últimos comentarios. En anglais, s'il vous plaît! --JorgeA

Details are starting to come in on the new $7/month Windows 10 Enterprise version: Microsoft's plan to move more small-business users to Windows 10 Enterprise [emphasis added] My first thought was that this was going to be Microsoft's (sneaky) way of steering users into a subscription model: the idea (in my mind) was that some people would gladly pay $7 a month for the option to decline the "feature updates" Microsoft sends down the pipeline. But if this report is true, then there's not even that benefit to the $7/month subscription. So, you can put off for a few months the new features that Microsoft's pushing -- big f#$%ing deal. --JorgeA

Woody weighs in on the Win10 Anniversary Update: 10 reasons you shouldn't upgrade to Windows 10 --JorgeA

Thanks, den. Reason I asked is that I just made the switch to IE11 from IE9 on my main Windows 7 machine a few weeks ago, as I got tired of websites not working. (And the reason for using IE is that I visit a number of news sites and they have this annoying "feature" of automatically refreshing themselves, and IE is the only browser that I know can "freeze" a website so that I can read the whole thing without it refreshing and interrupting my reading.) FWIW, I don't seem to have that KB3146449 installed, unless it's bundled in a later IE cumulative security update. But if so, then (to quote from the KB article) I have not come across any new "functionality to Internet Explorer 11 on some computers that lets users learn about Windows 10 or start an upgrade to Windows 10." Maybe my Win7 PC doesn't make the cut to be included among those "some computers." --JorgeA

Out of curiosity, what do you like about IE10 that you don't like about IE11? Neat solution BTW. --JorgeA

That's the NuMicrosoft for you, where Windows is being turned into an ad-supported OS and you and I are being changed from the customer into the product. As the product, our convenience and our preferences take a back seat to Microsoft's convenience and preferences. --JorgeA

I dunno, this sounds to me like a classic case of projecting current trends into the far future, as if people would not respond accordingly. We're supposed to have run out of energy, what -- two or three times already? I remember attending a college lecture in 1979-80 by some supposed energy expert who confidently predicted that we'd run out of petroleum before the year 2000. He had the stats and the charts to prove it. But people (markets, companies, individuals, even governments) do respond to changing conditions and they devise solutions that today's experts cannot even conceive of. Who knows, maybe by 2040 we will even have overcome this "Internet of Things" urge to put a chip on every freakin' thing that sits in our homes, and the issue will be irrelevant. --JorgeA

Microsoft rewards Windows Insiders with exclusive wallpapers, reveals more stats as well Among those stats, this one stood out for me: This is strange. I wonder (and the Neowin piece doesn't specify) over what period of time those 443 million hours were spent on Win10. "63 hours by each user"? Heck, I spend that -- and more -- at my Vista machine in a single week. --JorgeA

Here are a few of the many words that that image is worth : Turns out there was no real last-minute rush to upgrade to Windows 10 for free Now that the GWX campaign is (supposedly) over, it will be interesting, going forward to see what the "natural" rate of Win10 growth is. --JorgeA

Great, thanks! --JorgeA

Hey, maybe I'll blow that up and get it printed!! --JorgeA

Stupid board software. Were we still on the previous version, the full context of the conversation would be easily and immediately understood. As it is, we have to jump back and forth and in the process lose the thread (so to speak). Lacking that useful embedded-quotes feature, let's see if we can sort this out. You'd commented on an article that I'd linked to about more advertising creeping into Windows. Since the context was about ads showing up in Windows, I asked if what you meant was that ads might now be making their way into Windows Updates and Event Viewer. (NoelC had the right follow-up question in the original version of his post just above.) So, just to make sure -- by "those links," you mean not ads in WU and EV, but the standard sort of stuff that we've been seeing there since Vista and Win7, is that right? I can't say for Event Viewer because I only go in there occasionally, but for KB pages linked to WU, it's totally the case that the quality of the information has dropped dramatically. Been complaining about it to Microsoft in the KB pages' feedback section for a couple of years now. For all the good that's done. --JorgeA

All right boys and girls, here's a critical area where Microsoft is eager to listen to you: Dona Sarkar opens up voting for official Microsoft Windows Insider t-shirt design Whoo-hoo, I am so excited that I get to have a say in picking a t-shirt design!!! --JorgeA

Wait a minute -- do you mean to say that Windows Updates (presumably the UI for them) and Event Viewer may be getting ads?? --JorgeA

Now that the GWX campaign is (supposedly) over, Paul Thurrott does some math on its success: The "average" Windows user is frequently maligned and looked down upon by more expert users, but the fact that so many of those non-techie users managed to avoid getting Win10 despite Microsoft's aggressive and even deceptive efforts is a tribute to those users' actual level of technical ability. People are more knowledgeable (and are more keenly aware of what they want) than we often give them credit for. One humorous bit in Paul's analysis: --JorgeA

Microsoft: More details on the end of 'Get Windows 10' and what's next Hallelujah!! --JorgeA

Mark another victory (not!) for the "mobile Windows" model (ugly UI, UWP walled garden). Logic would suggest desisting from force-feeding a failed phone UI onto desktop users, but then this is Microsoft we're talking about. Arrogance and stubbornness more than compensate for whatever scores their IQ tests might show. --JorgeA

More details about the crippling of Group Policy in the Win10 Pro edition: More forced advertising creeps into Windows 10 Pro --JorgeA

Thanks @xpclient and @dencorso for the tips. I'll look into the alternatives you suggested. --JorgeA

Yup. They've been one of the biggest contributors to the surveillance state. Not only are they busy entangling their customers in "telemetry" and tracking, but they also helped New York City create its camera network. --JorgeA

Anybody know of an alternative to Start Menu Search that looks for search terms within files? The utility that the writer mentions there searches only for the names of files and folders. Of course, one can always resort to Classic Shell. For as long as Microsoft allows it, anyway. --JorgeA

What Microsoft is taking away from Windows 10 in the Anniversary Update Few of the things listed there will be missed. --JorgeA