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Microsoft Removes the Option to Opt Out of Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

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Re: Microsoft Removes the Option to Opt Out of Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

#51
post #11

> While switching to a new OS, especially Windows 10 is definitely a good move Who is claiming this? Maybe for hardware known to have good Windows 10 support it's a good move. For me, I've had more blue screens in the last month than I had in the 10 years before that. Lots of poor driver support (fingerprint reader doesn't work, touchpad reverts settings after every boot, crashes). The user experience is an upgrade f…

Dell,Lenovo and HP have completely dropped the ball with drivers for Windows 10. Its not horrible but at the same time not perfect. I will be ordering as many Surface book's as I can get once they are available. I think an office with 50% Surface Books and 50% Macbook Pros is progress. Not saying it will fix it for sure , but a bios update and complete format/re-install (after you already activated Windows 10 from an upgrade) remedies the blue screens for the Dell/HP/Lenovo laptops we have onsite.

Re: Microsoft Removes the Option to Opt Out of Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you still want to delay updating if Microsoft stopped all security updates for the previous version of Windows after releasing the new one? I think only supporting one version at a time has a lot of benefits like being able to focus on development and security for just one version. And I think we might all be better off collectively if everyone just upgraded straight away.

I want to point out that this logic is based on the implication that newer is more secure, and that isn't always True, especially in closed source products. Many apps have gone from generally-good software to adware in a coupe of auto-updates. Similar things could happen to Windows - in fact, the privacy issues I pointed out in the post below are a facet of that.

No that's not what I said. I didn't imply that newer is more secure. I said if Microsoft spent its efforts on securing just Windows 10, instead of Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP all the same time the results might be better. That's not newness - it's resourcing. The same would be true if they put everyone onto Windows XP instead.

Re: Microsoft Removes the Option to Opt Out of Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

#56
post #22
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disable the Windows Update service. Microsoft will never bother you again and you can have your exact, perfected experience for all eternity.

As your system becomes a zombie on some bot-net.

He gave a solution for a specific problem.

The "but your whole security will break down if you miss a year of security updates" argument is lazy and counterfactual.

Re: Microsoft Removes the Option to Opt Out of Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

#57
post #11

> While switching to a new OS, especially Windows 10 is definitely a good move Who is claiming this? Maybe for hardware known to have good Windows 10 support it's a good move. For me, I've had more blue screens in the last month than I had in the 10 years before that. Lots of poor driver support (fingerprint reader doesn't work, touchpad reverts settings after every boot, crashes). The user experience is an upgrade f…

Would you still want to delay updating if Microsoft stopped all security updates for the previous version of Windows after releasing the new one? I think only supporting one version at a time has a lot of benefits like being able to focus on development and security for just one version. And I think we might all be better off collectively if everyone just upgraded straight away.

Most people only want the security updates. You can tout the new features of Windows 10 all you like, but most people don't actually need them and the short-term value of the new features is less than the retraining cost of learning how to use them. Incurring that up-front retraining cost on a frequent basis causes you to never come out ahead. This is why everyone kept using Windows XP until it was completely unsupported and Windows 7 is the new Windows XP.

If anything what people want are less frequent releases with longer support periods. Or at least designate specific infrequent releases like Windows 7 for multi-decade long-term support -- if they would do that then they could reduce the support period for the non-LTS releases and end up supporting fewer versions at once.

Re: Microsoft Removes the Option to Opt Out of Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

#58
post #30

While switching to a new OS, especially Windows 10 is definitely a good move Microsoft would certainly promote that view, but is it really? Am I one of the minority of users who prefers a stable environment customised exactly as I want it, instead of "latest and greatest"?

There have been some pretty significant under-the-hood security upgrades in each new version of Windows. So while the UI changes are what users notice, the new security features are probably the more important reason to upgrade.

The security features seem to be more about protecting users from themselves and other users on the same machine than remote exploits though, which may be OK for "average users" and terminal-server type environments but definitely a negative for advanced users/developers who don't want the OS thinking it knows better than them, and are probably the only user.

Remote exploits that don't require any user action (i.e. simply be connected to the network and get pwned) are the really important ones to worry about, but are thankfully very rare. Newer versions of Windows come with more network services that only add more, unknown, attack area; and they are seldom actually needed because I have no use for those features.

Re: Microsoft Removes the Option to Opt Out of Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

#59
post #40
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disable the Windows Update service. Microsoft will never bother you again and you can have your exact, perfected experience for all eternity.

I had to buy a shovel a few years ago. It was so nice with the modern construction and materials. Much better than what my dad and I used when I was a kid helping him with chores. But you know what? I didn't have to re-learn anything! It just worked. It was a cool new color, felt better, actually helped me dig better, but the functionality it provided and the user experience was largely the same. Modern software comp…

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