NoelC

On the subject of "Deeper Impressions", I was thinking back on what made me stop trying to "find the good in Microsoft" and become convinced that there isn't any. Seeing a recent comic about the "Internet of Ransomware Things" reminded me of it... Overall of course it hasn't been just one thing that's molded my opinion - a lot of observations and experiences have gone into my current stance where I'm convinced Microsoft is basically evil and predatory, but looking back there was ONE specific event that served as the summit of the hill. I've written about it here before, but I'd like to say it again, because clearly it was a foretelling of a predatory turn at Microsoft. At the time of Windows 8's release, since I had been a pre-release tester, they granted me, via eMail, a free upgrade to "Media Center Edition" (MCE). I filed the upgrade code away, since I did not choose to upgrade to Windows 8.0 (I stayed on 7). As far as I could see, there was no mention of an expiration date with that MCE upgrade offer. About a year later I bought a retail "Pro" license for Windows 8.1 when I finally decided to upgrade from 7. I paid a little less than $200 and got a box with a physical disc from Newegg. I did a full, clean install. Some months later, I found I wanted to be able to play DVDs on my computer - which I had been able to do with Win 7 Ultimate before - and so I decided to apply the "Media Center Edition" upgrade they had sent me more than a year prior. This involved going through Windows Features and entering the upgrade code. The OS told me all was well with the code (this was key) and I gave it the go-ahead to install the upgrade. I always have multiple full system backups I can restore in a pinch. The in-place upgrade went through smoothly. And it appeared to work afterward, giving me the DVD functionality I wanted, so all seemed well. But the system decided it was no longer activated. When I called Microsoft I spoke to someone with an Indian accent, and I explained everything. They agreed that I had valid licenses on file. In order to go further, I was required to grant them remote control of my system, then they poked around for a while (completely under my watchful eye, ready to pull the plug at any time). After doing so, and trying the obvious things that I'd already tried, they informed me that I had two choices: Restore from the full backup I'd made, which would leave me what I had before the MCE upgrade and no ability to play the DVDs I wanted to see. I'd be on my own. Pay $99 for a full-priced Win 8.1 Media Center Edition license and I'd be activated before the call was through. If I had NOT applied the "free MCE upgrade" code, the upgrade from Pro to MCE would have been $9.99 - not $99! They agreed that I had done nothing wrong, yet were absolutely unwilling to grant an activation. The (weak) explanation was that the free upgrade to MCE had expired. I was courteous and patient throughout the whole call, and I gave them every opportunity to do the right thing. In the end I chose to pay the $99 (via my credit card number on the phone) after which they immediately granted me a full Windows 8.1 MCE license and activation. Looking back, that was extortion, plain and simple, with the Windows MCE upgrade process serving as the ransomware. That was the moment at which I chose to influence as many people as I can to treat Microsoft with contempt, as well as to block the channels they have created for gathering valuable information and pushing ads. I sell software myself to feed my family, so I'm a stickler about having proper licenses for every single piece of commercial software I use, and I even donate to others who create various useful tools - yet I have not bought anything more from Microsoft since the aforementioned incident. And I won't, if I can help it, and I'll advise everyone else to avoid doing so if possible! Yes, I know that I may ultimately have to pay them again for something (presuming they make something worth having). I will likely buy from Apple when I need more hardware. I was once a Microsoft and Windows advocate. Then they chose to extort $99 from me. Now I'll do everything in my power to cost them more than that. It is NOT okay to do business their way. -Noel

My system seems to have gotten the symbols no problem... [2016-12-10 08:35:21][0x404:0xC20] Aero Glass for Win8.1+ 1.5.1.834 DEBUG x64 correctly loaded (C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll). [2016-12-10 08:35:21][0x6B4:0x6B8] C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll has been injected into dwm.exe. [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] DBGHELP: Symbol Search Path: .;SRV*C:\AeroGlass\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] Loading settings (flags = 0x3) from HKEY 0x0000000000000000 for session #1 [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] Settings reloaded [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0x408] Message 0x15, wparam = 0, lparam = 0 [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] dwmcore.dll version 10.0.14393.479 [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] DBGHELP: .\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] DBGHELP: .\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] DBGHELP: .\symbols\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] DBGHELP: dwmcore - public symbols C:\AeroGlass\symbols\dwmcore.pdb\32AEEDB2879447D094772FF522DD13F21\dwmcore.pdb [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] Symbols loaded for dwmcore.dll as 3 [2016-12-10 08:35:22][0x404:0xC30] udwm.dll version 10.0.14393.0 [2016-12-10 08:35:23][0x404:0xC30] Symbols loaded from external files: 0x1 [2016-12-10 08:35:23][0x404:0xC30] Symbols loaded from patterns: 0xFFE Disk Cleanup took over an hour though, and this system is backed by an array of SSDs. -Noel

Youtube.com is not sites (plural). So clearly we're not talking about the same thing. I'm not seeing ads anywhere I visit, not even video ads, so I'm wondering whether there are other sites that, I don't know, maybe aggregate youtube videos and add the video ads. I'm hesitant to say that my strategy just blocks video ads without actually testing. Got a link to a particular site where you see video ads? I'll try it. -Noel

Or just buy a MacBook at that price. That was my point in response to the "what to buy" subthread. Are top-end "workstation" class laptops (Dell maybe) better in tangible ways than MacBook Pros? I'm no fan of Apple, but we may have to agree to disagree that Microsoft's lack of focus on excellence is influencing the hardware makers and everyone else involved. -Noel

Of course it does. The entire Windows ecosystem now represents "cheapest possible" and not even "barely good enough". Apple's hardware just proves it's possible to do "excellent". I don't know about you but I'd prefer to pay extra for excellent. -Noel

I had a chance to talk on Skype with him yesterday on that MacBook. A1 quality audio - as though I was sitting in the room with him. Not at all what you'd expect from a microphone integrated into a laptop. I say that because by contrast I also Skyped with an friend who is an IT pro and has a Toshiba laptop running Win 10. I literally could barely understand him. -Noel

You see video ads? Are you talking about on youtube.com? -Noel

Block the ads and malware and web sites get quite a bit more efficient. -Noel

Seems like the very definition of insanity to me. -Noel

You're welcome. Glad it was something simple and controllable. -Noel

Aero Glass doesn't really change the coloration of controls. What application are you showing? How did you make it dark? Does the application offer the ability to change the color of its own UI? Do you have an alternate theme loaded? -Noel

If a designer creates a computer system that is powerful, and requires the user to gather up some knowledge and exercise some responsibility to use it, what's wrong with that? It's not like Microsoft didn't already dominate computing by providing powerful, sophisticated tools and require the users to be smart to use them. Dumbing things down is just a cop out for a company that just doesn't want to have to do difficult, intelligent things any longer. I'm imagining a conversation that started this whole downslide... "What's our biggest problem?" "I dunno, probably that we have to pay our people so much to retain the smart ones, and those are the ones that complain the most." "Yeah, if we could just get 3rd world workers to code for a few cents a day we could take home obscene paychecks with the savings. Make it so." -Noel

A search for ext:jpg under C:\Windows turns up images that match that "rocks through cave mouth" here: C:\Windows\Web\Screen\img100.jpg C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-t..nbackgrounds-client_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_0a8b2f0f10246157\img100.jpg Being under WinSxS implies that the image may be under system protection (meaning it may be changed back automatically if you change it), and Windows Defender might not let you change it to begin with. Having done that search I found a remarkable number of images having to do with Apps that I thought I had expunged from my system. Card games, pictures of people I've never met, a tent in the desert, what look like tutorials... God, what bloat! -Noel

I take small exception to it being called a "prediction"... These people are spouting what's necessary to keep Microsoft's stock from tanking, no matter that they have released bogus software. So it's a well-scripted media dance, not a prediction per se. And they're doing it on multiple fronts. Not only are they trying to feed investors whatever BS is necessary, but they're trying to change the culture by inundating us with things clearly designed to numb us to what was once considered unacceptable. There’s an undertone to all this "telemetry" stuff, for example - that somehow it’s okay to send information about you and your computer usage if it’s been sanitized. Uh, no – sorry – it’s not. Even if all that is logged and stored in a server somewhere was “computer at 12.34.56.78 logged on successfully” that’s an invasion of privacy. I simply don’t care to share that information with anyone. It’s none of your d*** business, Microsoft! A classic ploy: On a scale of 1 to 10, if 1 is considered acceptable, 3 is unacceptable, and 10 is outrageous, then do something at level 10 and respond to the outcry by backing down to 3. Point out how much better 3 is, and how you’re a real hero for listening. Iterate doing the above until you get the acceptable level way up there, to suit your business goals. Boom, before you know it, society’s norms are changed. All too many people are easily influenced. There is no reason whatsoever that anyone needs to know whether or when I log into my computer. I paid for the software, hardware, and electricity, not to mention the communications link, which I would prefer to be available for MY use 100.0%. There might be those who would say that if my system doesn’t report in then Microsoft won’t be able to make the software better. Yet *I* can write up and report problems just fine, thank you. And let’s ask: Better for whom? With all the telemetry we have had to deal with lately, in just what ways are they’re making Windows better for users? There could be those who might say that if my system doesn’t inform mother Microsoft about what I’m running then they won’t be able to make everyone’s computing experience more secure. Bunk. Don’t look now, we’ve been inundated with telemetry for years, yet I’m not hearing that Windows today is more secure from ANYONE but Microsoft’s Marketeers. Has there been an observed drop in infections lately? Why can I, a mere user, set up a system that’s WAY more secure than an out-of-box Windows system? Seriously. Remember when Microsoft used telemetry to justify things like removing the Windows Backup UI? “Only 6% of people use it, according to telemetry, so we’re dropping support.” That was back in the time of Win 8. What a resounding success! Not. All food for thought. Just don’t let them warm the pot until you’re boiled alive. -Noel

We have a popular TV show ("Madam Secretary") that recently showed how a hacker targeting the Secretary of State was able to turn the lights and various other appliances on and off as a show of dominance. It's not hard to imagine a cyber attack that would shut down everyone's portable electronic devices and cell phone connectivity. I am imagining a nation of bewildered people, probably unable to sleep or function normally. It'd be like withdrawal from powerful drugs. We have already heard of certain "connected" vehicles being hacked. Yeah, just what people need, their car just suddenly going renegade while speeding down the highway. It's why I regard learning to assert and maintain control over one's technology (Windows and everything else) very important - nay, essential. What the apologists claim is tin foil is really Mylar coated Kevlar armor housing unhackable wetware. -Noel

UAC is simply ridiculous. Now, if they'd resurrect the ability to run EVERYTHING without UAC in Developer Mode, I might gain back a few percent of the respect I've lost for Microsoft (right now it would take about a 20% gain just to get back to zero). But you just KNOW what they'd do, right? They'd charge a monthly fee for the ability to enter Developer Mode. -Noel

The WinAero site is good for a lot of such info. Edit: I missed that xpclient had already provided this info, above. Sorry for the redundancy. http://winaero.com/blog/disable-logon-screen-background-image-in-windows-10-without-using-third-party-tools/ Note the prominent link on that page for Disable logon screen background image in Windows 10 Anniversary Update which describes how to remove the image only. I don't know the "why", but the implication is now that you can only remove it (I have done so and see only a blue background). One of the nice things about the WinAero Tweaker program is that it provides links to pages like those above. Why would people respect Microsoft after removing the simple ability to see the image you prefer? -Noel

I don't know how to divide up what's what at this point, since parts of Aero Glass for Win 8+ seem to be growing together, so I figured I'd start a thread for discussing all test software. On my Win 8.1 system I have stopped updating, with the released and fully working Aero Glass for Win8.1+ 1.4.5.520 x64. I don't want for anything with this version, glitches are virtually nonexistent, and it's quite efficient. When I actually tried released version 1.4.6 on this system, I saw more display glitches. I reported them in some thread or another here, but I don't recall getting any feedback. No matter, 1.4.5 is fine. I have all the latest versions, I believe, running on my Win 10 system, build 14393.447: aerohost.exe is 1.3.0.0, dated October 22, 2016, 12:48 pm. Aero Glass for Win8.1+ 1.5.1.834 DEBUG x64 correctly loaded (C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll) ModernFrame-x64-debug.dll is 1.0.0.2, dated August 24, 2016 at 12:16 pm. AeroGlassGUI.exe has no embedded version, is dated October 2, 2016, 5:08 pm. UxTSB.dll is 1.1.0.0, dated October 21, 2016, 4:19 pm. Nothing is being loaded by AppInit_DLLs. I have loaded a 3rd party theme (Aero7) which works fine. I use my own theme atlas. The Settings App title bar shows transparency. Title coloration in File Explorer windows seems OK. I haven't seen a display zone glitch in a long time. I think maybe you have most all of those fixed, Big Muscle. Observed glitches that I HAVE seen with this set of beta software: The title coloration in ribbon-enabled windows like WordPad is wrong/missing. For me it's white text without a backing "glow" when the window is current, and gray text with no backing glow when it is not. This seems like a regression from past versions, in that title text used to be handled by Aero Glass for Win 8+ on all ribbon-enabled windows. I understand that the old way of doing that was a bit ham-handed, because it could also cause text not in title bars to be affected. By contrast, these work okay... ...and... Title text coloration in Modern Apps goes from white to gray if the window becomes not current. Okay: Not okay: If there is a workaround that would keep title text white in all cases, I don't know it. In any case, it would be nice if title text was handled properly for all windows. The title bar coloration isn't quite right at the ends (though the right end problems are mostly obscured by the caption buttons). This has been true for quite a while now; it's not unique to the current betas. I don't believe this is a problem with the theme atlas setup, as I have tried it with an entirely transparent theme atlas and seen the same issue. Under some conditions it's hidden but in others it's irritatingly visible... There is an errant debug.log left in the root folder of drive C:. I encourage others to list the problems they're seeing with the current test software in this thread. -Noel

I wonder what it does if Edge has been completely removed. I don't have a Win key on my keyboard, so I can't actually test it. I can emulate the Win key with Control-Escape, but Control-Escape-1 doesn't seem possible - it doesn't wait for the keys to be let up, so the start menu shows before I get the 1 pressed. -Noel

A costume party with a wardrobe out back for changing during the party. Few web site designers have been accused of being overqualified. -Noel

Yes, it is adding an entry, exactly as UCyborg describes, to debug.log in the root directory of C: seemingly whenever I log in. [2016-11-06 11:47:23][0xCDC:0xBA8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 11:53:23][0xCA0:0xDBC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 11:53:26][0x1174:0x1178] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 11:53:27][0x3BC:0x1194] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 11:57:02][0x1228:0x1208] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 12:23:27][0x9BC:0x4D0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 12:23:28][0x3C8:0x488] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 12:23:50][0xF6C:0xD60] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 12:50:05][0x10B0:0x10B4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-06 13:07:31][0x560:0xB94] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-07 23:52:44][0x5F8:0x5FC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-07 23:52:44][0x3D8:0xB08] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-07 23:52:51][0xD00:0xE24] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-07 23:59:12][0x1334:0x126C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-07 23:59:18][0xF1C:0x2C4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 00:01:36][0xCE8:0xFB4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 00:01:41][0xC54:0x3E8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 00:11:07][0x11E4:0x1E4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 00:11:16][0x1254:0xC18] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 00:23:01][0x1030:0x7F4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 10:58:10][0x5A0:0x5A4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 10:58:11][0x3F4:0xAF8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 10:58:16][0xD40:0xE70] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 11:10:18][0x1240:0x1238] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 11:46:29][0x708:0x70C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 11:46:29][0x444:0x8FC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 11:46:36][0xFB0:0x10CC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 11:55:02][0x1118:0x112C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 14:06:27][0x14C4:0x25C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 16:54:16][0x708:0x70C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 16:54:17][0x460:0x918] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 16:54:24][0xF88:0x10A8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 16:58:15][0xF90:0x1028] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 17:18:17][0x7AC:0x7B0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 17:18:18][0x294:0xC28] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 17:18:56][0xD7C:0x1088] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-08 17:23:57][0xB78:0xB88] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-09 10:45:51][0x6B8:0x6BC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-09 10:45:52][0x43C:0xA4C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-09 10:45:57][0xF88:0x1024] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-09 10:49:03][0x15E4:0x16F0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-09 10:50:21][0x142C:0xC14] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-09 10:56:15][0x8D8:0x1028] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-09 12:05:29][0x9AC:0x131C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-11 18:39:43][0x73C:0x740] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-11 18:39:44][0x450:0xA08] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-11 18:39:50][0xF74:0x1020] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-11 18:47:38][0x204:0xC5C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-11 18:57:59][0x78C:0x1480] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-11 18:58:04][0x1674:0xBA4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-11 19:03:56][0x11C8:0x1160] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-12 10:18:46][0x6DC:0x6E0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-12 10:18:47][0x464:0xA08] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-12 10:18:53][0xFE8:0x1104] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-12 10:40:20][0x1784:0xEA8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-12 12:08:30][0x1048:0x1268] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 14:20:11][0x7D4:0x7D8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 14:20:11][0x4C4:0x900] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 14:20:26][0xFFC:0x10F4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 14:25:55][0x1388:0x1318] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:08:51][0x1028:0x1180] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:09:32][0x1040:0x118C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:10:21][0x728:0x72C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:10:21][0x308:0x6F0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:10:28][0xFE4:0x10EC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:21:24][0x1468:0x1424] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:29:51][0x778:0x77C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:29:52][0x2EC:0x870] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:29:57][0xFE0:0x10E0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-13 15:41:20][0x1224:0xBC4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 13:41:17][0x78C:0x790] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 13:41:17][0x470:0xA04] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 13:41:23][0xAE8:0x1124] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 13:45:49][0x17BC:0x370] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 16:15:43][0x71C:0x720] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 16:15:44][0x40C:0x838] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 16:15:51][0x334:0x114C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-14 16:40:46][0x15E0:0x208] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-15 11:05:26][0x73C:0x740] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-15 11:05:27][0x450:0x89C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-15 11:05:34][0xFCC:0x10E8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-15 11:12:06][0x1608:0x1618] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 11:59:40][0x708:0x70C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 11:59:41][0x45C:0x8FC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 11:59:47][0xFF4:0x1114] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:01:07][0x1580:0x1584] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:11:33][0x1404:0xC50] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:11:37][0x648:0x133C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:18:51][0x174C:0x161C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:30:22][0x1190:0xEF4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:30:28][0x1680:0xE38] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:31:06][0x80C:0x16B4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:31:10][0x167C:0x1178] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:31:50][0x12B4:0xFDC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:32:21][0x14A4:0xC0C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:32:28][0xC70:0x11A0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:38:30][0x72C:0x730] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:38:30][0x344:0x6F0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:38:36][0xFF4:0x1104] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:39:34][0x1600:0x1604] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:52:56][0x774:0x778] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:52:56][0x2F8:0x884] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:53:02][0xD68:0x110C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:57:11][0xAB8:0x8F4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:57:49][0x73C:0x740] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:57:50][0x344:0x86C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 12:57:56][0xFF0:0x10F8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 13:02:20][0x770:0x57C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-16 14:13:40][0x1068:0x9E8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-19 09:19:13][0x6E8:0x6EC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-19 09:19:14][0x42C:0x894] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-19 09:19:21][0xF84:0x1098] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-19 09:36:01][0x1380:0xEB0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-21 16:03:45][0x600:0x604] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-21 16:03:46][0x480:0xA80] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-21 16:04:00][0xFF4:0x1060] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-11-21 16:09:25][0xDF4:0xBFC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 04:12:43][0x7D8:0x7DC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 04:12:44][0x4BC:0x844] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 04:12:56][0xF9C:0x10C8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 04:37:33][0xA20:0xC4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 11:33:11][0x720:0x724] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 11:33:12][0x448:0x844] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 11:33:20][0xF64:0x1090] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-01 11:37:45][0xE40:0x440] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 07:07:17][0x6D0:0x6D4] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 07:07:17][0x43C:0x8C8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 07:07:24][0xFB0:0x10BC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 07:15:54][0xA5C:0x4C8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:00:45][0x3A0:0x4BC] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:01:50][0x584:0x1010] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:02:37][0xF24:0x127C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:03:03][0x8A0:0xA8C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:03:24][0xFB0:0x1008] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:04:19][0xE90:0x1228] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:04:48][0x1384:0x1190] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:05:18][0x4B8:0xE38] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:06:06][0xF0C:0x1324] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:06:21][0x103C:0xE5C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:09:46][0x1054:0x11C8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:10:40][0x724:0x728] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:10:40][0x2F4:0x810] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:10:47][0xFE4:0x10F0] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:11:38][0x764:0x1330] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:11:42][0x113C:0x338] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:13:27][0xD48:0x12D8] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:13:32][0xEA8:0x115C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll.[2016-12-02 12:17:55][0xEE4:0xF8C] Loaded in C:\AeroGlass\DWMGlass.dll. Then it appends the other typical entries to the debug.log in C:\AeroGlass. -Noel

Bravo for asking that question. I've asked it too - many times. Questioning oneself is a sign of scientific, objective thinking. I questioned myself and my point of view most recently just this past weekend, when I saw what my son (who's working on a PhD) had set up on his new MacBook Pro (OSX desktop, then swipe left via VMware Fusion and whoosh, Windows 10 desktop). And yes, I've got a gray beard and thinning hair - but I'll wager I'm pretty much still as mentally flexible as anyone w/regard to high tech. Being incurably interested in it and excited by it does that. I really like jaclaz's post above, and I feel the same. Hey, to type this I'm using - and love - Windows 8.1 (suitably tweaked and augmented with productivity enhancements) on my main workstation! How stuck in the mud could I be? No, I'm more about getting things to WORK, and I actually like finding new ways to do that. For a while I ran Office 365. Then I chose to get a new old stock license for Office 2010. Guess what? Office 365 was not better! I'm running Win 10 in a virtual machine. Why? So that I can know by first-hand experience by setting it up for serious use as best I can what it is all about. So I'm not just dabbling or speculating, I'm USING these things to do engineering work, business management, etc. I have a vested interest in the future of Windows, as it's the market I sell software into. And guess what? I keep answering my own question with facts and experience. Windows 10 just isn't better. It's not because I am an old dinosaur, set in my ways. It really is because it's not better. And EVEN THAT might be okay except that Microsoft causes it to revert the tweaks every few months! That makes it simply unacceptable. -Noel

Version 8 (8.1.15.0 specifically), which is the first to offer name-base firewall configuration setup and maintenance, has just been released. http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html I can't stress enough how much managing the configuration by name both simplifies the setup and greatly reduces ongoing maintenance. I am a control afficionado and have what some would call quite a pedantic setup, where EVERYTHING is controlled to the finest point, and yet I have literally not had to make any changes to my Sphinx firewall configuration on my Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 systems for weeks at a time. It really is possible to develop a practically "set it and forget it" configuration that lets you do normal things without exposing you to new threats. Seeing what Windows tries to contact in the Events pane of this software gives a warm feeling of knowing what's happening on your system at all times. Logging can be managed by application - meaning you can, for example, log everything your services do online but suppress logging of sites you visit with your browser. It offers complex-enough configuration capabilities to set up most of the system to run in a deny-by-default mode, yet some parts (e.g., your browser) can be set to allow-by-default - with exceptions to both. So, for example, no newly installed program will be allowed to contact online servers until you add a rule to allow it, yet your browser can be set to contact previously unseen websites without extra effort from you, and still be blocked from contacting certain ones (I have, for example, disallowed various telemetry reception servers, bing.com, and some others). New / unexpected attempts to make network connections are blocked with a pop-up that has a kind of unique "horror movie" violin sound effect, at which point you can choose to either allow future such attempts or continue to deny them. Thus ongoing maintenance is mostly reactionary. In this day and age, knowing communications you haven't specifically allowed ahead of time will NOT succeed is comforting. A configuration change to allow or disallow Windows Updates is trivial for me. I just change the zone assigned to the Host Process for Windows Services (svchost) and it's done. This software manages the Windows Filtering Platform / Base Filtering Engine to do the "dirty work" of actually blocking or allowing connections. The WFP is a very mature, working system component that's been around for a while now, and is what is used by the (normally allow-by-default) Microsoft-provided Windows Advanced Firewall. The Sphinx Firewall Control package actually can work alongside the Windows Advanced Firewall setup software, though I don't know why you'd want to do that. I found it is best to completely shut off the Windows Advanced Firewall and manage firewall operations entirely with the Sphinx software. That way no matter what rules software installers might try to add, you're still in complete control of what is being allowed or denied by the Sphinx Firewall Control software. I have been working closely with the author all through the beta testing period of the name-based software, and I have run the package through all kinds of harsh tests. He's a smart, careful engineer who has been very responsive to my feedback. The software really works. I've been running late 8.x betas now literally for months on end without any problems. Note: For reference, I have NO commercial ties with this product whatsoever. It does exactly what I need from a firewall control package and I would like nothing more than to see people who have developed truly good products succeed. -Noel

Makes sense, Dave, if you use Apps. And the timing isn't bad; Win 10 version 1607 (build 14393) is about the most stable it has been. I'm particularly impressed that you have found Apps that are actually useful / desirable. Best of luck taming the new system. -Noel

My son not long ago bought himself a MacBook Pro. Since he plays games as well as continues his studies (PhD candidate) he bought a VMware Fusion license and now he can swipe right and have OS X, swipe left and have Win 10 - all running at the same time. He's got it surprisingly well integrated. Some of the WEI readings in the Win 10 VM are 9.9 and the rest are not far behind. The hardware is truly powerful, and in practice it's hard to want more than to have both systems running quite well at one's fingertips. The battery lasts a loooong time too. -Noel