Windows 10 - Deeper Impressions

[rn10950]

Desperation?

 

Planning to purchase a Windows 10 computer? Microsoft will buy your old device

 

Planning to purchase a new Windows 10 laptop but don't know what to do with your old, existing gear? Microsoft has a solution. The company is willing to pay you up to $300 if you decided to swap your existing machine for a new Windows 10-powered computer. Microsoft is running a new promotion called Easy Trade Up, wherein it is accepting old systems -- up to six years old -- and offering money if you intend to upgrade to a new Windows 10 computer.

 

--JorgeA

 

Something MS doesn't realize with this is trading in your old computer, getting a discount on a much more powerful one, and then formatting and installing Windows 7 or 8.1.

[Drugwash]

What if suddenly none of the newer computers would accept anything other than Win10? They have the power to coerce hardware manufacturers as they did with blocking the development of 9x drivers for new hardware. Want a 'ready for…' logo? Ditch 9x compatibility. Manufacturers obeyed - it's all about money, users - people - don't count in the least.

 

I see here people losing their former XP/Vista/7/8.x/etc licenses if their older computers were OEMs with serials stuck on the side or bottom. They won't be able to revert unless they purchase new licenses. That is, if M$ would still sell old version licenses. I'd bet they wouldn't.

 

A crazy thought just came to mind, probably too crazy: what if they're actually looking for something on people's computers (beyond personal data that they may already have)? All this free OS upgrade plus spyware features plus hardware trade-in leads to the idea that they're desperately looking for something - no idea what. Or I'm just too paranoid.

 

Also, it looks like they want to be in total control of the whole computer world. Which means, if at one point they decide to kill all computers, they may just have the means to do it and nobody would be able to escape, thanks to the most recent "features" implemented in CPUs, chipsets, motherboards and so on, together with the evergrowing wireless network of the IoT. Sudden IT blackout sending us directly back to Stone Age.

[Kelsenellenelvian]

They had originally done that with Windows 8 there was laptops that where originally locked to that OS I run into it all the time you have to find a bios update to install other operating systems on the system

[JorgeA]

 

Desperation?

 

Planning to purchase a Windows 10 computer? Microsoft will buy your old device

 

Planning to purchase a new Windows 10 laptop but don't know what to do with your old, existing gear? Microsoft has a solution. The company is willing to pay you up to $300 if you decided to swap your existing machine for a new Windows 10-powered computer. Microsoft is running a new promotion called Easy Trade Up, wherein it is accepting old systems -- up to six years old -- and offering money if you intend to upgrade to a new Windows 10 computer.

 

--JorgeA

 

Something MS doesn't realize with this is trading in your old computer, getting a discount on a much more powerful one, and then formatting and installing Windows 7 or 8.1.

 

 

That would be a classic case of a strategy backfiring.

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

They had originally done that with Windows 8 there was laptops that where originally locked to that OS I run into it all the time you have to find a bios update to install other operating systems on the system

 

I vaguely remember that happening. Sounds like, at least back then, MSFT didn't have the power to totally control the computer market with a locked-down (hardcoded?) OS.

 

This is reassuring. IMHO if they did try to dictate what OS could go on a PC, they'd be faced with the wrath of the blogosphere in addition to that of the Linux world.

 

Maybe they figured they could get away with it in the case of Win9x because so few people were using those versions or cared about them

 

--JorgeA

Edited October 18, 2015 by JorgeA

[JorgeA]

A crazy thought just came to mind, probably too crazy: what if they're actually looking for something on people's computers (beyond personal data that they may already have)? All this free OS upgrade plus spyware features plus hardware trade-in leads to the idea that they're desperately looking for something - no idea what. Or I'm just too paranoid.

 

Anything is possible and this is a real concern. Microsoft claims the right to dig into our own files on our own PCs, and to monitor all sorts of processes, without a clear explanation of what exactly they're doing.

 

 

Also, it looks like they want to be in total control of the whole computer world. Which means, if at one point they decide to kill all computers, they may just have the means to do it and nobody would be able to escape, thanks to the most recent "features" implemented in CPUs, chipsets, motherboards and so on, together with the evergrowing wireless network of the IoT. Sudden IT blackout sending us directly back to Stone Age.

 

I'm more optimistic on this front. A whole bunch of PC OEMs and component makers would have to be willing to commit commercial suicide by going along with such a generalized "kill" order. If I learned that they'd opted not to speak out against such a scheme, I would go back to typewriters for my documents and #10 envelopes for my mail.

 

As for the IoT, better hope that no single entity gains control of the whole network.

 

--JorgeA

[Drugwash]

Some time ago I read an article about Intel's i5 CPU that had built-in wireless capability and an autonomous internal power source (or just the stand-by 5V power - can't remember) plus a control code that allowed somebody in the know to effectively kill the CPU, allegedly only when the owner would be suspected of something serious. The article marched on the idea that the computer could have been killed even when not powered on. I've no idea what exactly is the truth here but there must be something. And I'm positive many, many "smart" devices have secret control codes that can be input manually (cell phones come to mind first) and/or wireless that perform certain tasks and in case of sensible devices there may very well be this self-destruct capability. Obviously, common people would/should not find out about any of this, unless someone from the inside spills the beans.

[loblo]

It's probably  Intel's Anti-Theft technology built into i3, i5 and i7 CPUs you've read about..

[Kelsenellenelvian]

All iPhones have it. If you report a iPhone stolen they remotely brick it and it cannot be recovered even by the original owner. AFAIK even macbooks have this feature and can have it done to them when they connect to the net.

 

Also about the secret phone codes? I have done the process for jailbreaking several phones. If you have physical contact you can do pretty much anything (Even permanently kill it)

[dencorso]

If you have physical contact you can do pretty much anything (Even permanently kill it)

Yeah. But to kill it, if having physical contact, no IT finesse is needed. The tool depicted below does it best.

[JorgeA]

Point-counterpoint:

 

Microsoft now uses Windows 10's Start menu to display ads

 

Microsoft says Start menu app suggestions in Windows 10 are not ads

 

What is "advertising"?

 

Definitions.net says:

 

a public promotion of some product or service

 

 

InvestorWords says:

 

Description or presentation of a product, idea, or organization, in order to induce individuals to buy, support, or approve of it.

 

 

Advertising need not be "paid" in order to qualify as such. Nor does it necessarily mean you're trying to "sell" a product or service. If you glue posters for your community playhouse to people's windshields in a parking lot, that counts as advertising.

 

Of course what Microsoft is plastering on the Start Menu is advertising. And I don't want it on my PC's Start Menu.

 

Nor should I need to "opt out" of these ads. Tell me about the feature, ask me if I'd like to use it, then make it "opt-in" and leave me alone, thank you.

 

--JorgeA

 

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Lol I'm just a conspiracy nut.

[jaclaz]

Something MS doesn't realize with this is trading in your old computer, getting a discount on a much more powerful one, and then formatting and installing Windows 7 or 8.1.

 

Naah, read the terms carefully:

https://easytradeup.com/us/en/pages/tradeup/terms

besides the deal running for a whopping 7 days:

1.From October 14th 2015 to October 20th 2015 inclusive, customers who purchase a Qualifying Product from Microsoft stores in the US & Canada will be entitled to a reward when they trade-in a qualifying device (“Trade-in”).

 

which allows for nearly noone to be eligible, nearly noone has a 6 years laptop with a working battery:

7. For your Trade-in to qualify for the promotion it must be a working, complete and undamaged Laptop, or Macbook up to six years old. Laptops must have a minimum 11” display. Your Trade-in must be complete with a working battery and power supply.

 

You will need to buy (where?) a valid 7 or 8.1 license as:

8. New purchases running Microsoft Pro Operating systems are specifically excluded from this promotion.

 

the home version won't allow you to downgrade, and of course there another few loopholes that limit the applicability of the trade-in offer.

It's just crappy marketing.

Surely the good MS guys will state how this offer had a great success, doubling the amount of trade-ins accomplished (they  lately became fond of "relative statistics").

 

jaclaz

[Formfiller]

LOL, desperate much:

 

 

 

This message appears in the newest W10 builds when you want to get rid of Edge as default browser.

 

Pro-tips to Microsoft. If you want your “new” browser to be taken seriously:

 

1. Don’t release it all buggy and call that “RTM”.

 

2. Add features pretty much all other browsers have (extensions). Even the first Netscape and IE versions had them if you count NPAPI.

 

3. Release it on more OSes than just one version of one platform! No one takes metro-only, W10-only software seriously.

 

4. Why do you guys expect that people will commit to this browser, given how you treated your users so far? IE got killed, but Edge is only available on W10, IE users on anything non-Windows 10 have no choice but to switch to the competition. How much trust do you guys think people have in a new browser from Microsoft now? Yeah, I know, you guys want them all to switch to W10 and all, well, how about not making W10 as obnoxious as possible then, with a start menu still worse than on W7, the crazy update-policy, the constant phone-home etc.

 

5. If your stand-out features are “distraction-free reading” (Hint: every browser has this, try to press F11) and smudging on websites, you have a problem!

Edited October 19, 2015 by Formfiller

[Drugwash]

It's probably  Intel's Anti-Theft technology built into i3, i5 and i7 CPUs you've read about..

Oh that's what they call it? They had to find an appealing name for a trojan horse-like "feature". Who's to say it will be triggered only and exclusively when the device was stolen?

 

All iPhones have it. If you report a iPhone stolen they remotely brick it and it cannot be recovered even by the original owner. AFAIK even macbooks have this feature and can have it done to them when they connect to the net.

 

Also about the secret phone codes? I have done the process for jailbreaking several phones. If you have physical contact you can do pretty much anything (Even permanently kill it)

Any such "feature" can be abused of. Imagine, say, a M$ employee pi$$ed off by the fact that one user disabled (almost) all spying abilities in SpywareOS 10 and they desperately want that user's data. If they can't get it then nobody should have it, so they trigger the "anti-theft". Bang!, the user looks at a dead screen. He wasn't an arab terrorist, he wasn't Michael Hastings, he wasn't Edward Snowden - he was just an ordinary guy who didn't like third party snooping around, wasting his Internet traffic and using up machine's resources.