NoelC

Two things: 10586 has had the longest Win 10 run yet, right? 10240 was released in July 2015, and 10586 released in November - 4 months. Now it's been 6 months we've had 10586, so at 6 months you could say it's become the most mature Win 10 ever - and it shows. It works decently, once you get past the fact that it's not really even as feature-rich as its predecessors. While we don't know the next in-place upgrade release date, the rumblings aren't terribly loud, so I doubt it's going to be really soon. We now know pretty well how to control Windows 10 Updates. One could, if one were feeling conservative about wanting to keep current - but not TOO current - conceivably keep the next in-place upgrade at bay for a while. We already know there's a several month delay you can invoke with settings, but even beyond that, just having an update available doesn't mean it HAS to go in. We have learned how to control updates again, even using Microsoft's own tools (WUShowHide) to do it. My plan has been and still is - tentatively - to stick with Windows 8.1 while continuing to stay up to date with what Microsoft is doing via virtual machine test environments, but I continue to evaluate the lay of the land. Things are always changing. Right now I do have a running Win 10 setup in a virtual machine that does what I want and could support my business goals - within my abilities to test it (but of course, there's no test like actually trying to RELY on something). I even have a script developed that I can use to help ease the pain of the next in-place upgrade, if and when I would decide to accept it. The question right now seems really not to be one of "where is the best value" but rather "where is the least pain". The biggest difficulty is that an unprecedented amount of future predicting needs to be done. -Noel

It seems many folks who have some sense have chosen an older version of Windows to stick with. "For now". But current systems will fail. Even if you're capable of maintaining a working Windows system for years, at least some of the hardware will ultimately fail. When it just won't wake up one day what will you do? Is the plan to visit eBay and try to pick up a system just like the one you have now? What if such a system just isn't available? Replacement hardware will at least need a backup restored, then a plea to allow activation (which Microsoft has no obligation to grant), and at worst the new hardware won't even be able to run that comfortable older operating system we chose to stay with. Who is actually accumulating legacy hardware to allow them to continue using their current systems for more than a few more years? Even stodgy, conservative businesses buy new computers. What then? The future of people who need computing is now more a mystery than ever, yet we're driving headlong into it at breakneck speed. The difficult question we each need to ask ourselves - especially as the time for locking in a free upgrade approaches - is whether trying to make do with a Win 10 installation could possibly be more prudent, more workable, less expensive, less painful than trying to make do with an older one. Right now, today, since build 10586 has gotten to be somewhat mature the choice is harder than ever. The decision might actually become easier when the next major release comes out. Will Microsoft make that happen before or after the end of July? In a way, being insulated from their "update continuously" policy for the longest Windows 10 run ever will be a great incentive for more conservative folks. And there is now gray area... For example, if one were to choose to stay on 10586 even after "redstone 1" releases - and that IS technically possible - then what happens? Does it ultimately expire? Does it just keep working, but get NO updates? Can we choose to skip new major releases or at best delay them many months? -Noel

Some people's definition of "works" is pretty flawed. It hasn't worked since 10586. Given that Microsoft is actively breaking Aero Glass for Win 8+ with each new release, hoping for it to work again might be a bit of a stretch. I wouldn't blame Big Muscle if he were to just give up the project. It's fine software, and I hope he doesn't give it up - I sure wouldn't want to use Win 10 build 10586 without it - but for him I imagine the joy of discovery must be fading some as the fatigue of having to redo his good work over and over again sets in. It's been a good run of a great product. All this time making Windows 8.1 usable, and even a full year of making Windows 10 somewhat usable again. But it's not what Mother Microsoft wants. -Noel

Some of us DO see it. Others, well, must be more like the general public in the Emperor's New Clothes story. For every one who says, "what the ???" there seem to be one who says "tablets and apps are the future, you're a dinosaur". Trouble is, it will ultimately bring down all of modern society. One day just not enough stuff will work, and no one will be able to fix it. When people can't actually get enough to eat the folks who have kept their feet firmly on the Earth and their heads out of their ... clouds will be sought out once again. -Noel

Jaclaz, I would have thought such a discussion (on the merits of accepting more or fewer slashes) would interest you. But yes, I agree, the end of the high-tech world IS in fact near. IMO it's mostly because humans seem to think it's okay to strive for something less than perfection in a digital environment. But beyond that... OMG! The internet is fraught with peril! Or so may think less technical folks. Just yesterday I accidentally entered www. youtube .com .com (without the blanks) and was informed by a devious site via multimedia and a persistent Javascript pop-up that I had been infected with a virus (which of course I had not). Don't go there unless you feel ultimately comfortable with your security setup, don't mind rubbing up against a seedy web publisher, and you know what process to terminate to close your browser down forcibly. For me it was just another site to be added to my blacklist: Now *.com.com is redirected to 0.0.0.0 and my household is more secure for it. I suspect that if allowed, Edge would display the exact same BS from that "site". I really have no intention of enabling Apps just to try it out. -Noel

>Wow, that's quite a find, Noel I didn't "find" it so much as observe it happening while monitoring my DNS server name resolutions while browsing a Microsoft forum. Not everyone has the software or capability to do such monitoring, but watching what servers are being contacted online is quite a good way to learn what your system is doing (or trying to do) online. As for what it means... It could mean that some Microsoft employees have not turned altogether to the dark side, and use an uneasy sense of humor to get through each day, in pursuit of that all-important paycheck. Unfortunately - and sadly - accomplished tech Jedi though I may be, I no longer "feel the good" in Microsoft. Such hints as seen above are all too infrequent. -Noel P.S., an example of another thing I learned from the session above was that with all the protections in place my system - up to yesterday - was still allowing contact with a tracking service (noting the qualtrics.com domain names in the above capture). That gave rise to another wildcard rule in my DNS server config. It's amazing how much more efficient web browsing becomes when most of the activity involves just retrieving the information YOU want. My tinfoil hat is hardened Transparent Aluminum. And I do remember where we parked.

I prefer aluminum. Consider this server name carefully: -Noel

I *thought* I saw the text get darker, then not as dark, then darker again. There is a Very Good Chance that it was a perceptive difference on my part. At various times I work with dark images or a code editor which is (blessedly) set to use light text on a dark background: Even though I have well calibrated monitors, set to a much lower level than default brightness, I am NOT a fan of dark text on a white background. But when I must deal with it, I prefer it to light text on a white background. -Noel

NOBODY follows those rules, Jaclaz. Most "designers" do whatever the hell they want. The GOOD ones act on the most recent feedback ("waahhh, I don't like that"). The EXCELLENT ones... Well, there aren't any. Anyone who could actually do good web design is doing honest work, for more pay. Note: In no way is this intended to reflect on xper's attempts to make this forum better. We thank you kindly for any and all such efforts, xper. -Noel

>That is a horrible graph. It's a WONDERFUL graph depending on your intent. In this case the obvious intent, by detractors, is to show how utterly poorly Edge is doing. Hey, why should the Windows 10 promoters be the only ones allowed to use deceptive techniques to show how Windows 10 is doing? But no matter, we KNOW how utterly, ridiculously, boneheadedly NOT better than prior releases it is. -Noel P.S., I don't know how many times I tried to use the forum's quote facility on your actual post - and got Jorge's instead. But no matter, I can still copy and paste... I have the impression that somehow MSFN is now more closely associated with Microsoft, given the degradation in performance and usability here. Is that the case?

The concept that to get people to use something you actually need to make it better is SO last century... -Noel

OTOH, IE - the browser no one is recommending for use any more - seems to deal with the editor just fine. Has the color been changed back? Now it doesn't seem as readable. But the light in my office is different so it could be me. I should have done a screen grab. -Noel

Imagine that. Windows 10 updates cleanly and quickly, while on Windows 7 the Windows Update process still remains irritatingly broken for months now, so that the Windows Update Service just chews up CPU time for at least half an hour or more before showing what updates are available. Must be just a crazy coincidence, right? -Noel

Something about this has gotten easier to read. If you have made the text darker, it's a good change. -Noel

Right, but they are contacted nonetheless. Hence the block by entries in the hosts file. # Unwanted Microsoft site contacts from IE 0.0.0.0 iecvlist.microsoft.com # Compatibility view list, contacted even though deconfigured 0.0.0.0 r20swj13mr.microsoft.com # Unknown why this is contacted by IE -Noel

I've had a long tough day, but man, the misspellings are really getting to me for some reason... Not being critical in any way, but these things sullied some otherwise clear and (very) pertinent messages... "d*mned Windows 10 installer" "The beatings will continue until morale improves" I really blame Microsoft for my level of frustration. I've been fighting all day with Visual Studio in an attempt to get it to generate very efficient machine code for some key operations, then I come here and learn that the greatest goodness of the latest pre-releases is that they're abandoning "features" that were stupid anyway. -Noel

I don't see much translucency there. Have you run Big Muscle's configuration tool (shown in the screen grab above)? There are settings for modifying translucency, colors, and corner radiusing that may help you find the same balance I've found. -Noel

Thanks. I've blocked it similarly, with no apparent downside. -Noel

Hi, Recently on one of my Win 8.1 systems I spotted Internet Explorer contacting two Microsoft servers I didn't expect it to be communicating with: iecvlist.microsoft.com (even though "use compatibility list" is disabled) r20swj13mr.microsoft.com The former is Microsoft's "compatibility view list" server, and apparently IE sends data to it even though this is set. Why am I not surprised at yet another breach of privacy? Anyone know what r20swj13mr.microsoft.com is used for? I've blocked it and so far I see no downside. -Noel

From Is Windows 10 Going to Reach 1 Billion Devices on Time? >Those last four set of daily installs/active users come out to a total of 3,437,750 and when divided by four equals >859,000 daily active users being added on Windows 10. Does anyone really believe nearly 1 million NEW people each day are installing this turkey or buying a device with it already on there? Or that anything like such a figure could be sustained for another two years? All without adding any significant value to an OS that otherwise restricts users more than ever before? Seriously? -Noel

Perhaps the loss of "GWX updates" will lead to "Trash existing Windows 7 and 8" updates. -Noel

Right on point. What I just don't understand is what could possibly be SO attractive about a "forced user experience" that Microsoft would just take away the ability for small business users (or serious enthusiasts) to actually PAY for an operating system version. -Noel

I imagine the Microsoft programmers (can't really call them engineers) looking for hidden options the system already has and evaluating whether they could enable them and call it all "new and improved!" The whole Windows 10 development smacks of underfunded, undertalented work that attempts to get a little something for nothing and do a whole lot of marketing. One wonders what could have been accomplished if they'd only routed the marketing money into doing real engineering. How many good engineers could they employ for a year just by not running one TV commercial? By not paying people who lie and cheat for a living? -Noel

No, I don't know the specifics. I imagine as you do - hence my mentioning it here in light of the discussion on tracking. -Noel

What if the engineers at Microsoft, and especially the managers in charge, weren't even as smart or careful as those of us communicating here... What if this was all a big game to them. Food for thought. -Noel