Windows 10 - Deeper Impressions

[JorgeA]

On Friday, April 15, 2016 at 7:45 PM, NoelC said:

Why the hell are so many people so enamored with Apps (to the exlusion of making OS software actually better)?  It's not like they work better, or perform better, or give better service somehow.

IMO it's mainly (if not simply) because apps are "new." Lots of people out there seem to confuse "new" with "better." Or they just like "new" even it it's not any better, or actually worse -- for the sole reason that it's something different than what they currently know.

Now, I don't mind people trying out new things. What I do mind is that the unquenchable lust for novelty is helping to crowd out OS functions that are actually useful, and leading to a "Windows as a Service" model where Microsoft is constantly changing the feature set and controls both what goes on my computer and how I will run it.

We could call it WaE, or "Windows as Entertainment" -- the entertainment part involving catering to millions of existentially bored users who crave periodic injections of the novelty drug into their Windows experience. By their very appearance onstage (never mind what they actually do), the new features and new apps themselves provide the needed momentary excitement, until they're no longer novel and withdrawal symptoms start to set in.

--JorgeA

[xpclient]

1 hour ago, JorgeA said:

IMO it's mainly (if not simply) because apps are "new." Lots of people out there seem to confuse "new" with "better." Or they just like "new" even it it's not any better, or actually worse -- for the sole reason that it's something different than what they currently know.

Now, I don't mind people trying out new things. What I do mind is that the unquenchable lust for novelty is helping to crowd out OS functions that are actually useful, and leading to a "Windows as a Service" model where Microsoft is constantly changing the feature set and controls both what goes on my computer and how I will run it.

We could call it WaE, or "Windows as Entertainment" -- the entertainment part involving catering to millions of existentially bored users who crave periodic injections of the novelty drug into their Windows experience. By their very appearance onstage (never mind what they actually do), the new features and new apps themselves provide the needed momentary excitement, until they're no longer novel and withdrawal symptoms start to set in.

--JorgeA

Exactly how I feel too. It's just entertainment, fun and games. Your work productivity is also entertainment for Microsoft.

[NoelC]

Yes, they're doing everything in their power to "make it all about running Windows".  Even the serious users amongst us are constantly struggling to get the system under control, and when it feels like we're close we find the dam has sprung another leak elsewhere.

An example:  No sooner than I have  the incantations to correct an .EDB database error that cropped up out of the blue, which was blocking the Settings App (which I don't want in the first place, but am now being forced to use if I want to run Windows 10), now suddenly, without a setting change or intention, my VM jumps to the lock screen when it is left alone.

And they're dragging Windows 7 users into that mess too...  Reference all the CPU looping delays being reported lately just by people trying to complete a Windows Update.

And just now I noticed some new errors emitted by gpedit.msc when starting up, implying Microsoft has screwed something up with their latest update.

Sigh.

-Noel

[JorgeA]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when the decisions were made as to what to put into some of these updates for Win7. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that they casually let loose some code within the updates to mess with earlier versions of the OS, as a further "nudge" to convince people to updowngrade to Win10. You know that all the conformists and submissives around the forums and tech news sites will bleat the line to "just upgrade" any time a Win7 user runs into a problem of that sort.

--JorgeA

Edited April 19, 2016 by JorgeA
typo

[TELVM]

Heh heh if only today's flies on the walls could speak like yesteryears' ...

AARD code

Quote

"What the [user] is supposed to do is feel uncomfortable, and when he has bugs, suspect that the problem is DR-DOS and then go out to buy MS-DOS."

[Dibya]

Let the craps be windows10

Windows 10 =  privacy craps + system hogs+ Advertisements+ SuperflopApps+ Nofreedom+Useless Cortana

Any math expert can solve this equation from software giant?

[JorgeA]

On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 2:02 PM, TELVM said:

Heh heh if only today's flies on the walls could speak like yesteryears' ...

AARD code

Nice find, TELVM!

And here I thought that Microsoft had gotten worse over the years. Turns out they were pretty bad all along.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

5 minutes ago, Dibya said:

Let the craps be windows10

Windows 10 =  privacy craps + system hogs+ Advertisements+ SuperflopApps+ Nofreedom+Useless Cortana

Any math expert can solve this equation from software giant?

With any luck, the elements will all add up to one big FAIL.

--JorgeA

[NoelC]

Heh heh heh, "SuperflopApps".

Very well put.

-Noel

[bpalone]

Just a side note, this new (which is not always better) software, is quite unholy!

Noel, I think you nailed it!!!  One cannot play with the Devil and not get their hands burnt.

The following was found on pcworld.com:

All this means that the process of locking in customers to the Microsoft platform might be taking longer than expected. To date, investors haven't minded, generally cheering Nadella’s leadership and sending the company’s stock up to near its all-time high in 1999.

But given Microsoft's lower earnings and revenue—and downward guidance in key business units—it’s possible Microsoft may come under greater pressure to make its Windows 10 vision a reality. That’s not necessarily great news for consumers.

End of quote.

The entire article is a decent read and in between the lines one sees the AARD code mentioned above.  Sure am glad I am not on this train, my decision a few years ago is looking better all the time.  However, one is not safe from the lunacy there either.

[JorgeA]

Good to see you again, bpalone! 

Yes, the new board software generated quite a bit of (justified) complaining, but xper seems to have taken care of some of the worst aspects of it. It doesn't appear to be possible any more to embed quotes within quotes, which means that if you have an intricate discussion you need to keep going back to previous posts to get the full context of what's being replied to.

I'll search for that PCWorld piece.

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Weak Lumia sales prove Microsoft should put an end to Windows 10 Mobile

Quote

In the same period of 2015, the company sold 8.6 million Lumias. That equates to a 73.25 percent drop in sales year-over-year, which is a clear indicator that consumers are simply not interested in buying Windows phones.

Compared to the previous quarter, when Microsoft sold 4.5 million Lumias, the drop does not look quite as bad, although we are still looking at a 48.88 percent decline. Regardless, 4.5 million units sold in what should be the best quarter of the year is more evidence that, in the grand scheme of things, Windows 10 Mobile really has no future.

Even Microsoft's biggest fan doesn't want Windows 10 Mobile

Quote

Folks like Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley are unapologetic fans of Microsoft. While Thurrott has long since abandoned the horrific Windows Phone platform, Foley has been one of the few holdouts. Today, she announces that she -- Microsoft's biggest fan -- is choosing the Linux-based Android instead. If this doesn't signal the death of Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile, I don't know what does.

Memo to Microsoft: folks, give up the ghost already and stop turning Windows into a phone OS. We are simply not interested, thank you.

--JorgeA

[NoelC]

If they "put an end to Windows 10 Mobile", wouldn't that throw out all of what has been driving the direction Windows for about 6 years now?

Not that I think the direction is anywhere near the right one (my mental image is one of Microsoft turning off the straight and narrow road and running at full speed through a desert), but what is the likelihood a company that's changed itself so thoroughly to do useless things could then do anything but?

-Noel

[JorgeA]

10 minutes ago, NoelC said:

If they "put an end to Windows 10 Mobile", wouldn't that throw out all of what has been driving the direction Windows for about 6 years now?

Yup. 

Quote

Not that I think the direction is anywhere near the right one (my mental image is one of Microsoft turning off the straight and narrow road and running at full speed through a desert), but what is the likelihood a company that's changed itself so thoroughly to do useless things could then do anything but?

Here's how I tend to picture what Microsoft's been doing:

https://youtu.be/iUy_61hkGPM

--JorgeA

[TELVM]

On viernes, 22 de abril de 2016 at 5:58 PM, JorgeA said:

Nice find, TELVM!

And here I thought that Microsoft had gotten worse over the years. Turns out they were pretty bad all along.

--JorgeA

At least in the good ole days they aimed at the enemy fleet.

Nowadays they are torpedoing their own flagships (the worst possible sin in any navy  ).