NoelC

Well, for the time being there's always Internet Explorer. What do you expect that you're gaining by using Spartan / Edge / Whateverthehelltheycallit? I ask because I cannot sense an advantage in what's been published so far. -Noel

Cool! New version of VMware workstation (11.1.2) out today as well, so with all the new software it's really nice to see everything working again! Theme atlas for the above: http://Noel.ProDigitalSoftware.com/ForumPosts/Win10/10074/RoundedCornersBlueActive.png -Noel

I believe they could (especially in the name of "security"), though I doubt they'd do so in a way that's easily detected. In the spirit of detecting such activity, I have carefully been documenting benchmark results going back years that show progressive slowdowns, with specific categories of slowdown tied to Windows Update installations. But it's impossible to put your finger on just how. From a usability perspective this particular workstation IS crazy fast, and WAS crazy fast, so it's hard to say there's been any degradation. But the numbers say there is. One of the things I'm noticing is that the results are no longer consistent as they were back a year+ ago. Consider these overall ongoing results... Things to note: An overall small reduction in performance after the (fresh, clean) installation of Win 8.1 in November 2013; and then a change recently around November 2014 where the results get a lot more variable: I know enough about the components of my system to eliminate failures or system problems as the cause for these issues. The system is as trim and well-tuned as it has been in the past, yet there are these odd variations - which stem mostly from file system speed variations. The file system was MUCH faster in Windows 7, hands-down. On the other hand, to augment the report at your quoted link, I have a system here running a fully-updated* Windows 7 x64 OS that boots up really, really fast (the swirly things don't even come together and boom, I'm on the desktop), and seems to run its benchmarks faster even than a Win 10 OS booted up on the same hardware. -Noel * Fully updated Win 7 system except for several updates that facilitate the upgrade to Win 10 (KB2952664, KB3021917, KB3035583, and KB3068708).

That's my favorite "Rounded Corners" look, though I've since made the - [] and X white for better visibility. DosProbie's point is a good one - but it's not my fault. I'm usually clear about what atlas works with what build (I almost always capture the WINVER window in the examples, as I did above - e.g., here for example), but Microsoft keeps changing what works and how it works - depending on the build number. It's simply hard to keep up with their pace of changes. For example, with build 10130, Aero Glass is busted entirely, except that after failing to hook DWM to make translucency, it DOES facilitate theme atlas replacement. So I developed a theme atlas that's fully opaque, and with it it's possible to have a decent look (without translucency). Click here, for example. A viable alternative to updating to Win 10 is to stay with Win 8.1 and re-theme it. I have a variation of my Rounded Corners theme atlas for that as well: Cick here. -Noel Edit: By the way, as of this afternoon, Big Muscle has Aero Glass working with build 10130 - see: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/173379-windows-10/page-30#entry1101443

Old Windows Users of America, it sounds fine.... jaclaz WHOA - Windows: Hold Off America! -Noel

[emphasis added] Add another question: On how many systems? I am an insider and have installed Windows 10 on multiple VMs and one hardware platform for testing. These were NOT upgrades to an existing OS. I don't see any language that says "on only one system" in the above quote. As for REQUIRING you to be using a Microsoft account... Well yes, we could see that coming. It's in the system requirements. The days of running a computer that's offline entirely or only partially/occasionally connected to Microsoft online are coming to an end. Whether this is a good thing... The jury is still out. Personally I hate the idea - but then I could build a data center with what I know. I'm not a good example of a run-of-the-mill PC user. I'm certainly going to be using that full year after release to "wait and see" - if not more. The price of buying an OS pales by comparison to the possibility of adopting a system that throws "can't get there from here" challenges in my path. -Noel

I can't really, because the performance damage came back in the very next set of releases. Most specifically, the Direct2D rating, as reported by Passmark PerformanceTest dropped again immediately, as seen here: I recall reading something at the time about how some part of the driver model was going to be moved to a layer higher than it was. Generally speaking, beyond the Direct2D level, my overall performance didn't really change that much, though file system performance has gone down some in recent months. I'll dig up my ongoing benchmark results and post them... Watch this space... -Noel

Having used this theme for a few days now, I can really say having the visual styles back on the buttons, scroll bar thumbs, etc. is really, REALLY a nice improvement over that stupid flat, lifeless Modern BS you get with WIndows. -Noel

Looks like a mountain to me, not a pyramid. But whatever gets people excited about science is probably good. -Noel

While I have to agree that it's disturbing that Comcast would set up public access using privately leased gear, I doubt they're doing it with full thought into it. Why would they open up Internet access to one's neighbors if they hope to sell the neighbors the same service? Yes, the idea is that Comcast subscribers might find other Comcast portals when they're out and about. But is any wifi connection secure? Not to mention people using up one's own bandwidth (which Comcast clearly assumes is more than you really need). There are probably black hat sites online where people share skimmed Comcast login info. It says that everyone is just getting more and more stupid. All this only loosely relates to Microsoft choosing to distribute their software using my bandwidth. But it's not a unique idea. As one who has a computer that's on 24/7, is powerful, and is utterly reliable I've already had to turn off their Skype "Supernode" functionality. One day, when Internet access is both provided by Microsoft themselves AND the terms of use are well-described AND the link is providing best-in-show performance, then I might start to consider allowing the use of my connection for things other than my own work. Until then, Microsoft can stick its cloud where the sun don't shine. Anyway, thanks for the info, Jaclaz. -Noel

Remember the justification that "skeuomorphism is bad"? Then they come out with rolling tiles (or whatever that effect is called). What I really want to know is... How does someone who's clearly not fit to design anything set the policy for an entire corporation for years? Then have the corporation march to that plan without wavering even in the face of obvious business failure? Compromising photos of the members of the board? It's pretty clear they've been working on this reduction in functionality in one way or another since Vista. Remember the removal of the "Classic" hierarchical start menu? Then the removal of the start menu entirely? Remember the removal of visual styles? Remember the removal of usability? And we're still supposed to want it? Next thing you know they'll be doing things to shorten the human lifespan so those who remember will be silenced. -Noel

But that would be so harrrrd to program. How could they ever manage it between runs of League of Legends? One employee was interviewed... His only comment: "Between?" -Noel

All seems well. Aero Glass, the theme, and all the tools I use appear to work. -Noel

Second Patch Tuesday I guess there are a few folks busy at Microsoft fixing bugs. I haven't personally had an OS bug in quite a while, but bugfixes in general seem like a good thing. See also http://www.ghacks.net/2015/06/17/microsoft-releases-batch-of-non-security-patches-for-windows-june-2015/ I vetted them all by reading the Microsoft documentation... They're mostly bugfixes, which run the gamut from a system crash due to a hardware timeout (changed to some kind of less intrusive recovery I presume) to Chinese characters not displaying correctly to certain TVs not working to something described as a general reliability improvement that has a lot of files in it and appears to be related to the Windows Store. One (KB3058168) describes an update that enables Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 KMS hosts to activate a later version of Windows, and contains a whole bunch of .manifest files. I'm wary lately of installing stuff that purports to facilitate an "upgrade" to Windows 10, but I don't think this update is going to harm Windows 8.1 operation. One (KB3064209) claims to be a microcode update for Intel processors, though they don't get very specific. Very interesting indeed. I don't remember ever seeing one of these before. I don't sense an obvious nefarious attempt to shoehorn Windows 10 (though that KMS update had me looking twice) in so I guess I'm going to install them all, even though most don't apply directly to what I do, on the general principle that hiding updates is not a good long-term strategy. Note: These require a restart. If you don't hear from me in a few days, please send a St. Bernard with a barrel. -Noel

...which (to be explicit) will select an operator within the CString class that will provide a pointer to a char. -Noel

VERRRY interesting how experienced people (even those whose hardware hasn't been damaged) are coming to the conclusion Microsoft won't be able to pull it together by RTM. But chances are good a majority of Windows users won't be aware of what's up until after the big "upgrade" hits the fan. The real question becomes: Will people stand for leaving it on their computer after having been "upgraded"? There are just enough people who are insecure and feel that they're being fashionable and siding with a winner (aka fanbois) that enough of it might stick so that Microsoft won't get the message that this pig won't fly. -Noel P.S., I liked the comment on page 2: "RTM will be the new Beta. SP1 will be the new RTM." That's basically saying it will never be acceptable.

Though Win 10 is less "discoverable" than prior versions, I managed it... 1. Unpin every tile. 2. Click and drag the right edge of the remaining open space to the left -Noel

Hi Big Muscle, does the UxThemeSignatureBypass DLL set and the 1.3.1 or beta 1.3.2 Aero Glass combo still have the above listed limitation? And if so, can symsrv.dll be in another place in the path or is it required to be in System32? Thanks. -Noel

Ribbon-enabled windows (such as Explorer and Wordpad) are handled differently by the system and don't get the normal composition. But there is a solution available: Install the UxThemeSignatureBypass tools Big Muscle has published. They facilitate the proper coloring as specified using the Aero Glass GUI application. You can find some discussion in this thread: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/170945-uxtheme-signature-bypass/ -Noel

Not an Outlook.com user myself, but everything about the page in the image you posted except the bar across the top has what I would consider a flat, lifeless, colorless appearance - which to me seems to embody the recent changes away from visual styles and toward "the Metro look". Are you saying there was a nicer version of "flat, lifeless, and colorless" at one point? -Noel

Aero Glass nicely augments the Aero7 theme on Win 8.1, returning rounded corners and visual styles to controls... See this thread for more details... http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/173976-craving-an-updated-ui-experience-re-skin-windows-81/ -Noel

Thanks, I didn't know that even with symbols your current beta version would not work. What you say Microsoft is doing under the covers is a bit disturbing (though not at all surprising). It indicates they're continuing to chip away at their theming subsystem, which (unfortunately) in the long term will condemn users of Windows 10 to "have any color they want as long as it's white". I applaud your efforts to keep up with their changes - and I certainly don't want to have to use a Windows without a nice, elegant desktop - but with their published policy of releasing new Windows versions quite often in the future I can imagine how they could end up wearing you down. I don't imagine you have 10,000 programmers on staff to counter their efforts in real time. I can only encourage you to keep up the good work. It is very much appreciated. -Noel

Who knows? There are half a dozen or more KBs that mention "easing the upgrade to Windows 10" or some such BS. I haven't hidden every last one in the "how to prevent..." thread, myself, and I don't get the notice. These are the specific ones I've hidden: KB2952664 KB3021917 KB3035583 KB3068708 Plus KB2483139 (a whole bunch of Windows 7 language packs I don't need) KB2876229 (Skype, which I do not need on my Win 7 system) There could be some interaction... For example, having installed the "GWX" update, KB3035583, it might install other stuff. I wonder whether installing the update, then running and removing the update undoes everything it has infected affected. -Noel

Aero Glass doesn't work with build 10130 yet. Maybe it will if Microsoft puts the debug symbols online, but as of earlier today they hadn't done so. -Noel

I agree, things always seem to change for the better. But don't forget that Microsoft is making that harder than ever (continuous rollouts don't a stable working environment or easily modified system make). Frankly I didn't complain about XP. It came out right at a time when I needed all of what it offered and then some. I don't know who you found complaining, but XP was serious right out of the box. One had to reconfigure only a few choice things. I had a few files in which I kept notes about doing this. I complained about Win 7 some - just the features that were being broken and the things Microsoft didn't bother to fix (and for which workarounds were later invented by 3rd party developers). Some things were later fixed, and yes, workarounds and tweaks were developed. So many things had to be addressed I wrote a whole book on doing it. I complained about Win 8 more - because nothing useful was being added, just this toy interface. I also pointed out the things they newly broke and still didn't fix. I skipped Win 8.0 because it wasn't tolerable and just stayed on 7. By Win 8.1 Microsoft hadn't really improved it too much, but by then 3rd party developers like Ivo Beltchev and our own Big Muscle here had created quite usable workarounds for the real problems. The book got 30% thicker just to make Win 8.1 into something as useful or better than a well-tuned Win 7. Here we have Win 10. Much more of the same backsliding that plagued Win 8, with virtually nothing of substance being added, save for the intangible benefit of "keeping current". So far, I've got a LOT of book additions, and a few unfortunate deletions for tweaks that don't yet work. But I agree, after the dust settles on the RTM, assuming they get enough geeks to upgrade (which is probably inevitable since they're advancing gaming with the system), there will be plenty of tweaks discovered, 3rd party tools written, and we may well look back and say, "it was a shaky start, but it's better now". -Noel