Windows 10 - Deeper Impressions

[JorgeA]

@JorgeA Is it of any irony that link for ad-blocking being 'immoral' -- is chock full of ads?, even the comment section,er commented on it.

 

Do you mean the Facebook thread, or the post in geek.com, or the report in PJM? The writer in PJM takes our (pro-ad blocking) side, which does make it curious that there's ads on that page. But then, he's probably not the same guy who runs the website, so kudos to the website owner for allowing an editorial that seems to run against his business model! Or maybe he figures he'll run the ads and it's your decision whether to block them or not...

 

Regarding the downloading of videos without ads, I'm aware of YouTube Downloader which does much the same thing. It's like an arms race where the sites keep finding ways to block these applications and the application developers keep tweaking them to bypass the blocking.

 

Ultimately, I think, the solution is going to involve some kind of micro-payment to the websites via some sort of online broker. I wouldn't pay $10 or even $5 a month to visit every single website I ever visit -- I'd go broke in short order -- but I wouldn't mind paying a few pennies on a per-visit basis. That would be preferable to subscriptions that can add up very quickly, and also better than losing time waiting for bandwidth-hogging ads to load. The key is to design a frictionless (and preferably anonymous) way ot making these payments so that you don't have to sign in or enter a credit-card number every time you want to make a $0.03 payment.

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

The newest trouble swirling around Windows 10:

 

Windows 10 is shaping up to be the most unstable release since Millennium Edition

 

A quick perusal of peer-to-peer support sites like www.tenforums.com will give you a taste of just how widespread the malaise truly is. From buggy device drivers to "vanishing" modern apps, Windows 10 seems to have arrived with more than its fair share of rough edges.

 

My biggest problem with Windows 10: Instability

 

On my Windows 10 machine, this is how I've come to start my day: I slowly open my laptop lid, cautiously peer at my screen and wonder what is no longer working like it did yesterday.

 

Some days, I'm pleasantly surprised and things seem stable. But in the past couple weeks, the opposite has been the case. As a result, part of my new morning routine is checking my Windows Update history and my Windows Store app installation history, hoping against hope for clues as to why my machine is not running right.

 

This is not OK.

 

...But Windows 10's lack of stability is really starting to be an issue for me in a way that wasn't my experience on Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1. And based on emails and Twitter messages, I'm getting, I am not alone.

 

And check out the conclusion of the following post:

 

Windows 10 build 10537 release notes leaked

 

Going by the release notes, this build has more known issues than bug fixes, which suggests normal users should not run this leaked build as a daily driver.

 

Of course we'll hear from the pollyanna crowd that everything is hunky-dory on their Win10 systems, but that would be to miss the point. At what percent of troubled installations does the public decide that it's simply not worth the risk or the hassle? Should the stability problems continue, Windows 10 will rightly or wrongly develop a reputation for being unreliable, and that is bound to affect its adoption numbers down the road.

 

--JorgeA

 

 

 

[jaclaz]

Well still a line should be drawn.

One thing is the (evident) fact that the "monster" released on july 29th is far from being a "finished" product.

In due time surely the good MS guys will fix the issues, most probably not at first try, but eventually everything will work as designed/intended.

The other thing (the real issue) is the design/project.

This latter won't change and is (and will remain) terrible . 

 

jaclaz

[351837]

NCI Agency and Microsoft sign cyber cooperation agreement

​

​

​​ I wonder why?

[TELVM]

So in this brave new retarded world:

 

· Ad-Blocking software is "inmoral".

 

· Stealing all your data r belong to us and trading it around is "perfectly OK and good for you".

 

[Tripredacus]

NCI Agency and Microsoft sign cyber cooperation agreement

​

​

​​ I wonder why?

Here's the story on a site that you can read with javascript disabled:

http://www.winbeta.org/news/microsoft-re-signs-expands-agreement-to-share-info-with-nato

[JorgeA]

One little bit of good news: Microsoft has yielded to reality and brought back the (pseudo-)Start Menu to Windows RT.

 

The Windows 10 Start Menu on Windows RT 8.1

 

Late yesterday Microsoft pushed several optional updates to devices running Windows RT 8.1 and one of those updates, KB3033055, is what delivered the Windows 10 style Start Menu to those still on Windows RT 8.1 devices.

 

--JorgeA

 

[JorgeA]

So in this brave new retarded world:

 

· Ad-Blocking software is "inmoral".

 

· Stealing all your data r belong to us and trading it around is "perfectly OK and good for you".

 

 

  but you're right, everything's getting turned upside down.

 

How far we have gone from the heady days of the start of the PC revolution, when the personal computer was viewed as a machine to liberate people from the tech priesthood in white lab coats. We are coming back around to the user terminal model, where the local device is just a transmitter of keystrokes and a receiver of output and the data processing takes place in a central system, inaccessible to us peasants. Once again we are becoming dependent on nebulous, far-off Experts who make the big decisions for us and we're expected to adapt to them.

 

I saw the computer as a liberating device for essentially the same reason that millions of people now see it as a liberating device. Because as soon as you have your own it becomes your printer, your storage plex, your way of examining information and of dealing with ideas to unfold them, to visualize them on the screen, to try out simulations, to explore the world. And all of these mechanisms are essentially tools of freedom.

 

[...]

 

Well, the time-sharing notion, of course, is that we have only one big computer and we can let you use a little of it for a moment and then computer will respond. And if you're used to punch cards why that seems wonderful and fast. But if you expect to have your own computer on your desk it seems completely pointless. It comes from the psychology that there's only going to be this one instrument. It's like having a bus. You're... you're willing to take a bus if you don't have a car, but of course, anyone, most people who have the choice of driving a car, whether this is ecologically beneficial or not, choose to drive the car, because they have individual choices that they would not have, otherwise have. And it's the same way with personal computers. The excuse for time-sharing was that was that you had a central resource that was superior to a distributed resource. And we now know that a lot of little computers do a lot more for you.

[source]

 

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Not quite OT, due to the Win10 ad tracking and profiling connection:

 

Is Ad-Blocking Software Immoral?

Related:

http://www.viola-notes.com/why-resistance-to-ad-blocking-is-futile-and-whats-next-for-digital-advertising/

jaclaz

[NoelC]

like tiptoeing through a never-ending digital dung patch

 

Pretty much sums up computing now.

 

Leave it to Marketing people to turn computing into...

 

 

Just think of the long-term effect of this...  Only stupid or technically un-savvy people will end up seeing ads.  Anyone with any sense has already blocked them.

 

Then things will be designed only for stupid or technically un-savvy people, as the smart ones have exited the marketplace, right?

 

So...  Systems will become less and less sensible for smart and technically savvy people.

 

Nah, that wouldn't happen, would it?

 

-Noel

Edited September 17, 2015 by NoelC

[ralcool]

One little bit of good news: Microsoft has yielded to reality and brought back the (pseudo-)Start Menu to Windows RT.

 

The Windows 10 Start Menu on Windows RT 8.1

 

Late yesterday Microsoft pushed several optional updates to devices running Windows RT 8.1 and one of those updates, KB3033055, is what delivered the Windows 10 style Start Menu to those still on Windows RT 8.1 devices.

 

--JorgeA

Dang if that isn't identical to the menu in preview build 9841. Or its an old picture 

 

They need to make that update available for normal Win8.1

[Kelsenellenelvian]

 

like tiptoeing through a never-ending digital dung patch

Pretty much sums up computing now.

Leave it to Marketing people to turn computing into...

Just think of the long-term effect of this... Only stupid or technically un-savvy people will end up seeing ads. Anyone with any sense has already blocked them.

Then things will be designed only for stupid or technically un-savvy people, as the smart ones have exited the marketplace, right?

So... Systems will become less and less sensible for smart and technically savvy people.

Nah, that wouldn't happen, would it?

-Noel

Media Center addition.

 

 

New Spokesperson,

 

Edited September 18, 2015 by Kelsenellenelvian

[JorgeA]

 

One little bit of good news: Microsoft has yielded to reality and brought back the (pseudo-)Start Menu to Windows RT.

 

The Windows 10 Start Menu on Windows RT 8.1

 

Late yesterday Microsoft pushed several optional updates to devices running Windows RT 8.1 and one of those updates, KB3033055, is what delivered the Windows 10 style Start Menu to those still on Windows RT 8.1 devices.

 

--JorgeA

Dang if that isn't identical to the menu in preview build 9841. Or its an old picture 

 

They need to make that update available for normal Win8.1

 

 

Yeah, I remember thinking that the earlier versions of the Win10 Start Menu were better than what they finally settled on.

 

It would make 8.1 more usable, no question about it.

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

 

New Spokesperson,

 

images.jpg

 

 

Wasn't that one of the choices for Clippy? 

 

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Bing’s search share growth falls far short of Bing exec’s predictions

 

Bing usage increased by just 1% in the U.S despite escalated Windows 10 installations

 

Microsoft has been a growing but distant second in the search engine market after reaching a 20% U.S. share milestone earlier this year. Back in July this led David Pann, Bing Ads’ General Manager, to predict Bing’s search queries to grow by 10% to 15% by September with the then yet to be released Windows 10 operating system just around the corner.

 

Hmmm...

 

What does this tell us about the adoption (or usage) of Windows 10? One of the biggest benefits of Win10 for Microsoft, presumably, was that it would put Bing front and center since it's the default search engine on the default Edge browser. It looks like users are making their own browser or search-engine decisions, despite Microsoft's efforts to steer us in their preferred direction.

 

--JorgeA