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Windows 10 - Deeper Impressions


xper

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(No dig against Jorge, here, but) clearly your font was too small and too jammed-in between two Quotes.  :ph34r:

 

They say that nobody reads post 1681.  I guess it must be true.  :yes:

 

In all fairness, this point about Microsoft building a walled garden does need to be discussed more.  A lot more.  It's the core problem.

 

-Noel

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Now for the $64 question:  Do we REALLY want today's Microsoft influencing our kids' thinking?

The priceless question would be: do we really have a choice whatsoever?

 

Additional question, value it as you like: do we really need Microsoft anymore?

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Since you couch the question as "we", the answer is yes, WE have a choice.

 

Don't spend a penny at Microsoft's store.  WE need to all do that.  Then they fail and return to making products that are actually good and useful in order to get people to spend money.  The world needs to return to the "build a better mousetrap" model and get out of this stagnation.

 

-Noel

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I, for one, do not intend to leave Windows98SE. It's my main system and has been for the last 16 years or so. I control it - it doesn't control me. I don't need any store, I don't need anything that would make me a slave of the machine. Dunno about the others.

 

Thing is, Microsoft are going down a completely different path. Most people have no idea whatsoever about what's in store (pun intended!) for them. Institutions are somehow either tricked or forced into adopting W10. Incompatibilities will soon arise due to standards incompatibilties. Regular users will have to comply, in time. And there's no going back.

 

My 98SE machine does what I want it to do currently. If I will ever face the choice, I will give up Internet rather than my freedom.

 

 

(where did those typos come from…)

Edited by Drugwash
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Well, to be fair, all prior versions (and even Win 10 in its current form) can be tamed to where the user is in control again.  But Microsoft - not being completely stupid - is even countering THAT by re-releasing OS "upgrades" on a timeframe of months, and surprise surprise!  It reverts everything back to "The Microsoft Way".  All the Apps are re-installed, OneDrive is re-installed, Cortana, etc., and many settings including privacy settings have been seen to be reverted.

 

As a result, some of us have developed software that re-tweaks Windows 10 back to being what WE want in record time.  I just went through a "trial in-place upgrade" of Windows 10 build 14279 and was able to shut it back up and return it to what I need in just a few minutes.

 

It's a bit like a cold war.  One side introduces a new missile.  The other side introduces a new missile defense.

 

That's a colossal waste of time and effort, though.  I wish it were more like a partnership again.

 

-Noel

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It's a bit like a cold war.  One side introduces a new missile.  The other side introduces a new missile defense.

 

No, it is not :no:, no missile was ever fired during the cold war, otherwise it would have become pretty fast a hot one.

 

Microsoft is actually firing their missiles (in the form of senseless resetting updates) and you (and the other good people) fire back with your tweaking tools, none of the fighting parties moving forward or backwards a single inch, it is more like Trench Warfare:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare

 

jaclaz

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(No dig against Jorge, here, but) clearly your font was too small and too jammed-in between two Quotes.  :ph34r:

 

 

In case somebody had touched on that news item, I visually scanned recent thread pages before posting, and it did escape me. :blushing:

 

--JorgeA

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Why PC games should never become universal 'apps'

 

"... If this future—one in which Microsoft gradually incentivizes UWP and the Windows Store at the OS level, and gradually disincentivizes Win32 and competing stores—ever came to pass, many of the wonderful things we love about PC gaming would be imperiled. The preservation advantages of perpetual backward compatibility. The large set of third-party tools free to interact with any game and enhancing or customizing our experiences. The competitive distribution market which results in the lowest prices and most frequent deals compared to other core gaming platforms.

 

And most near and dear to me, the end to a platform on which enthusiastic fans of a game can continuously improve and polish it, and ensure that it is easily accessible to future generations, even decades after the original publisher lost interest or ceased existing.

 

Handing Microsoft—or any other company, but given Microsoft’s history it’s particularly egregious—the metaphorical keys to the castle and giving them th possibility to enact such change, regardless of the likelihood of them actually implementing it, is something I can never countenance ..."

 

"... what needs to be front and center with that is user control, and more than that, user control with a convenient interface. Users should be able to exert full control over which software signatures they trust and which they don't, as well as retaining full control over the execution state and files of any program or game they own.

 

UWAs, at this point in time, put Microsoft's control and decisions over those of the system owner, and while that's standard for consoles it is not what the PC platform has ever been about or should ever be about."

 

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Well, to be fair, all prior versions (and even Win 10 in its current form) can be tamed to where the user is in control again. 

 

It's a bit like a cold war.  One side introduces a new missile.  The other side introduces a new missile defense.

 

Latest anti-anti-anti-missile-missile-missile...  Restoral of rounded corners on borders in glass-enabled window chrome via a replacement theme atlas.

 

AeroGlassRoundedCorners.png

 

 

-Noel

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Security Update MS16-023 installs new “Get Windows 10” functionality
 

Mixing security updates with non-security content is never a good idea, but it is particularly worrisome when Microsoft pushes new "get Windows 10" functionality on Windows 7 and 8.1 systems that one cannot get rid of without removing the security update itself as well.

Security update MS16-023, released as part of the March 2016 Microsoft Patch Day, looks on first flance like any other security update Microsoft released for one of its operating systems.

In its summary, Microsoft notes that it "resolves several reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer", of which the most severe "could allow remote code execution" if users open web pages that were created to exploit the vulnerabilities.

If you read on, you will notice that the patch includes non-security fixes as well.

This security update resolves several reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage in Internet Explorer. To learn more about these vulnerabilities, see Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-023.

Additionally, this security update includes several nonsecurity-related fixes for Internet Explorer.

To find out more about these non-security related fixes, one needs to scroll down on the page where they are all listed:

  • 3144816 XSS filter breaks submission of token for ADAL authentication in Internet Explorer 11
  • 3144520 Poor performance in Internet Explorer 11 when you enter characters in text field
  • 3144521 Internet Explorer 11 is closed when you use F12 Developer Tools
  • 3144522 Users can't access Internet because proxy settings are overwritten in Internet Explorer 11
  • 3144523 Empty textarea loses its closing tag in Internet Explorer 11 after conversion from XML to HTML
  • 3146449 Updated Internet Explorer 11 capabilities to upgrade Windows 8.1 and Windows 7

Of specific interest is KB3146449, which as it happens is the only KB entry of the six that is linked improperly.

When you open the right page, you find the following information:

This update adds functionality to Internet Explorer 11 on some computers that lets users learn about Windows 10 or start an upgrade to Windows 10.

Microsoft does not reveal what this means, or what this has to do with Internet Explorer. According to Woody Leonhard over at Infoworld, the update pushes a banner on Internet Explorer 11's New Tab Page advertising the company's new operating system Windows 10.

This appears to be only the case for non-domain joined machines, and the banner is not displayed on all systems the update is installed on.

The big, big problem

The main issue with pushing Windows 10 offers this way is that users cannot remove them from their system as KB3146449 does not appear in the list of installed updates for the system as it is integrated into KB3139929.

This means that one would have to remove the security updates as well to get rid of the advertisement for Windows 10 on the computer.

Obviously, not using Internet Explorer would resolve the issue as well, but this may not always be possible and only a temporary solution as Microsoft may be inclined to push Windows 10 offers to other programs or tools of the operating system in the future.

What now?

Apart from regularly updating updates so that they are pushed anew to user systems to bring along with them the dreaded "Get Windows 10" offer again, Microsoft seems to have made the decision to  tighten the screws even more by pushing the offer to its Internet Explorer browser as well.

If you think that this is the end of it you are probably mistaken.

There is nothing that you can do about it right now. While you could block KB3139929 on your system, you'd prevent security patches from being installed on it, and if you allow it, you have no option to remove the KB3146449 update individually which pushes the ads to Internet Explorer 11.

Maybe someone will figure out a way to get around this, by blocking the ads or somehow installing the security updates without the added fixes.

http://www.ghacks.net/2016/03/09/security-update-ms16-023-installs-new-get-windows-10-functionality/

Edited by Agorima
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It was inevitable that they would mix non-security content into security updates.

 

Maybe someone will figure out a way to get around this,

 

Why?  To what end?

 

Our response must be:  Think first, then act.

 

Don't fall for the "OMG, I *must* have the latest security updates or I'm at risk!" FUD.  Think logically before taking updates that deliver unwanted software to your older systems!

 

Why is it unwanted software?

 

1.  Whatever "OMG" bug they're hyping, it's been there all along.  You didn't feel OMG worried yesterday, did you?

 

2.  There are things you can do to adopt a security stance that makes it VERY unlikely you'll need patches.  Many have been described on this forum and in this very thread.

 

3.  Have YOU actually experienced any of the bugs they allude to?  I use IE all the time and I haven't.

 

4.  Do you want to continue to run the older system you have in the manner you have been running it?  If not, just upgrade to Win 10 already.  If so, why consider taking updates that are designed to change your older system to where you want Win 10 more?  They've just proven they're pushing at least adware with security updates!!!

 

5.  Do you really trust the current Microsoft programmers, who can't even make good Apps, to continue to code on Win 8 or 7 with the same level of quality that their predecessors did?  How do we know these "patches" aren't introducing even more bugs?  Don't forget that Microsoft's current stance is to push testing on we users!

 

It's time for the separation before the divorce.  It's been that time since last year, actually.

 

*MY* older systems are still running from having been booted literally months ago.  No bugs, no infections.  Imagine that.

 

-Noel

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It's time for the separation before the divorce.  It's been that time since last year, actually.

 

I have a feeling that's going to happen at some point. According to NetMarketShare's Feb 2016 data Windows 7 still owns more than 50% of the market despite Windows 10 being available for free since July 29, 2015.

 

Based on those numbers you'd think at some point Microsoft would have to admit that they're Microsoft Knows BestTM strategy just isn't working. I don't know about anybody else, but it feels like we've been waiting since October 2012 for Microsoft to be like "It's just a prank bro. You thought we were serious?" and release a real successor to Windows 7.

 

Microsoft has said they never want to go through XP-style holdout again, but I don't think they have a choice. The data suggests that Windows 7 will likely become go through a similar holdout. Plus, the sheer aggressiveness with which they are pushing Windows 10 isn't doing them any favours.

 

July 29, 2016, will decide Windows 10's fate IMO. Fortunately, if this is how well it does when it's free it should only do worse because there will eventually be a barrier to entry that wasn't there initially.

Edited by ptd163
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It was inevitable that they would mix non-security content into security updates.

 

 

Maybe someone will figure out a way to get around this,

 

Why?  To what end?

 

... ...

 

It's time for the separation before the divorce.  It's been that time since last year, actually.

 

^ This.

 

Come to this point it should be crystal clear, even for the most naive persons, that Microborg can not be trusted at all anymore and, as surreal as it sounds, has become the main threat to pre-abomination Windows systems (which they're hell bent to destroy, one way or the other).

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