Windows 10 - Deeper Impressions

[NoelC]

By the way, in the vein of posting discussion-evoking links...  Look particularly at the massive collection of negative user sentiment in the comments under this article (to which Jorge posted a link before):

https://www.askwoody.com/2016/win7-and-8-1-to-get-cumulative-updates/

Is it because AskWoody.com has attracted people who don't like where Microsoft is going, or is it because Microsoft is simply doing such wrong things that even plankton don't like it?

-Noel

Edited August 17, 2016 by NoelC

[cc333]

1 hour ago, NoelC said:

Me, I'd put Win 8.1 on it, then tweak the daylights out of it to turn it into a nice system, update it to take most updates up through July or so then set it to take no more updates.

That's probably what I'll do with my 2009 Mac Pro (which will soon be upgraded to dual Xeon X5680s @ 3.33 GHz, so it'll be a close match to your system (I have 32 GB of RAM and an ATI Radeon HD 5770 GPU. How much RAM and what GPU do you have?) It ought to handle just about anything I can throw at it without breaking a sweat...

I fully intend to keep XP and 7 on the side, though (I triple-boot OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows XP USP4 now, with a spare drive set aside for another OS (I was going to put OS X 10.11 El Capitan on it, but I think I'll put Windows 8.1 on it instead). I think I may try getting Windows 2000 on here too, just to see if it'll work).

c

[NoelC]

I have dual X5690s, 48GB, Radeon HD 7850.

Lots of cores is good for keeping a system from bogging down.

-Noel

[cc333]

Hmm, OK. Your system is better

Hmm, I decided to do a quick search, and I came across this page, which compares the 5770 and the 7850. Despite the extra GB of VRAM in the 7850, it appears to be quite similar in overall performance to the 5770.

c

Edited August 17, 2016 by cc333

[NoelC]

I like the PassMark site for what-if and comparison exercises...  http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

See:  http://www.passmark.com/baselines/V8/display.php?id=671342726

For what it's worth, I had to stay back on the Catalyst 15.11.1 driver suite released by AMD back in December.  The ATI driver writers have been systematically removing features I actually need (e.g., per-channel calibration and preset management).  Typical modern software development; it is the era of feature shrinkage.

-Noel

Edited August 18, 2016 by NoelC

[Tripredacus]

10 hours ago, NoelC said:

No keyboard in sight.  Conclusion:  This person does no real work.

For some reason your post reminds me of this guy:

What is funny is that while it may be possible to do all sorts of things in a motion/voice based system (and surely more in the future) you can be assured that whoever made that environment spent hours on a keyboard!

[JorgeA]

With Windows 10, Microsoft Blatantly Disregards User Choice and Privacy: A Deep Dive

The EFF weighs in on Win10 and Microsoft's campaign to push it on users of earlier versions of Windows. One angle that's totally new (to me, at least):

Quote

Microsoft has tried to explain this lack of choice by saying that Windows Update won’t function properly on copies of the operating system with telemetry reporting turned to its lowest level. In other words, Microsoft is claiming that giving ordinary users more privacy by letting them turn telemetry reporting down to its lowest level would risk their security since they would no longer get security updates. (Notably, this is not something many articles about Windows 10 have touched on.)

[emphasis added]

Quote

But this is a false choice that is entirely of Microsoft’s own creation. There’s no good reason why the types of data Microsoft collects at each telemetry level couldn’t be adjusted so that even at the lowest level of telemetry collection, users could still benefit from Windows Update and secure their machines from vulnerabilities, without having to send back things like app usage data or unique IDs like an IMEI number.

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Yep, but it's the usual propaganda article/opinion piece, by the EFF (their goal/ideas are good, BTW, but it is not like they are nor will be any time soon of any real, practical use) they also write:
 

Quote

There’s no doubt that Windows 10 has some great security improvements over previous versions of the operating system. But it’s a shame that Microsoft made users choose between having privacy and security.

As a matter of fact I seriously doubt that there is any noticeable security improvement (NO proofs whatsoever of being in any way more secure have been actually provided/pulished and verified) and SURELY the chattiness of the OS is an INCREASED surface that can be possibly attacked AND it represents EXACTLY the same side of the coin.

jaclaz

 
 

[vinifera]

worst OS in history of NT and they want to stiff it in 3D
*facepalm*

will BSOD be 3D too or will VR hat just go black ?

[jaclaz]

And now, "paid browsing"

Those not in the US might need to use a US based proxy:

https://www.bing.com/explore/rewards-browse-and-earn
 

Quote

1) Sign into your Windows 10 device with the same Microsoft account used for your Microsoft Rewards membership. Click here to learn how to sign into your device using your Microsoft account.  
2) Launch the Microsoft Edge browser and earn for every hour of active browsing, up to 30 hours a month.  This limit may change in the future so check this page for updates.
Note: Bing must be set as your default search engine on Microsoft Edge to participate in this program.*
3) Check the Microsoft Rewards Dashboard to see how many points you've earned this month.

The combination of Edge and Bing is so successful that the good MS guys need to "bribe" users in order to have them use the new wonderful browser and search engine ... 

jaclaz

 

[jaclaz]

@NoelC

As a developer, you CANNOT miss this opportunity:
https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us/commercial-suite

https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us/development-edition

Only 3,000 bucks, a steal...

jaclaz
 

[JorgeA]

On Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at 2:56 PM, NoelC said:

By the way, in the vein of posting discussion-evoking links...  Look particularly at the massive collection of negative user sentiment in the comments under this article (to which Jorge posted a link before):

https://www.askwoody.com/2016/win7-and-8-1-to-get-cumulative-updates/

Is it because AskWoody.com has attracted people who don't like where Microsoft is going, or is it because Microsoft is simply doing such wrong things that even plankton don't like it?

-Noel

My money is on the latter.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

On Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at 8:19 AM, helpdesk98 said:

That is not just a blank page you have been added to MS's watch list that page actually sends detailed telemetry about you back to MS. lol

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Cortana: The spy in Windows 10

It looks like it may still in fact be possible to disable Cortana completely, it's "just" that the UI for doing that has been removed:
 

Quote

I should note that, if your distrust of Microsoft exceeds mine, you can rip into your operating system’s guts and totally disable Cortana. You need to beware, though, because it involves going in deep, to places where it’s really way too easy to foul up Windows. In killing Cortana, you could end up seeing a lot more Windows crashes.

In Windows 10 Pro, you type gpedit.msc into the Start menu. Head down to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search. Once there, double-click on Allow Cortana to toggle it to Disable Cortana. Log off and back on, and you’re done.

In Windows 10 Home, open the registry with regedit and head to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search

Next, right-click the Windows Search folder and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this new DWORD AllowCortana and set it at 0. Now log off and reboot your computer.

--JorgeA

[helpdesk98]

What is Cortana? and how do I uninstall it from Windows 98?