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2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

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Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#61

Post by martythemaniak »

gotchange wrote: post #13
martythemaniak wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Public opinion changes when mainstream entities (people/organizations) validate something new. Microsoft has been coming out with good stuff for several years now, but that opinion has been restricted to a subset of technophiles. If in 2014 you told someone about tablets and styluses, you'd either get a dumb look or the standard Jobs like ("you're doing in wrong") So what happened in 2015? Well, Apple validated (copi…

What you're basically describing in your comment is the concept of "cultural hegemony" [0] popularized by Gramsci in Marxist philosophy but superimposed on tech context. Apple clearly acting as the bourgeoisie of the today's tech world where Microsoft is relegated to the proletarian rank and file and because of that Apple somewhat gets to dictate what are the accepted social and cultural norms in the tech world and w…

It makes sense that this was noticed long ago, although personally I cribbed it from Krugman's "VSPs".

It's easy to noticed in everyday life though. Most people don't have the time/energy/incentive/desire/background knowledge/etc to form independent opinions, so they pick up the opinions of people who speak to their identity. If you see yourself (and want to be seen as) a "creative type with good taste", you'll just read DaringFireball and repeat whatever Gruber says. If you want to be "principled, anti-establishment", you'll crib Stallman, etc, etc.

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#62

Post by clort »

romanovcode wrote: post #49
deanclatworthy wrote: post #5

They've done some brilliant things for developers this year, but sadly shipped a giant spyware operating system at the same time. From what I've read people are still trying to determine everything it's calling home.

>spyware operating system I'm not sure how is W10 different than Android/MacOS. Actually, on Windows you at least can skip the account registration. On mac you can't even get updates if you don't register. Android doesn't even let you use the OS properly without account.

> Android doesn't even let you use the OS properly without account.

I'm not sure what you mean by this, can you explain further?

I will say, that I've had a couple of Android phones for perhaps 4-5 years now and while I initially did use the bundled OS on my first one, I have never signed in with a Google account.. I use CyanogenMod now on a Nexus S with no Google apps and the phone doesn't seem to be without features that I might desire, indeed there are vast number of developer options that I don't use. Certainly there are third party apps that I know exist that I just can't get (F-Droid is limited sometimes) but that is not really OS functionality in my opinion.

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#63

Post by Zikes »

ifdefdebug wrote: post #43
deanclatworthy wrote: post #5

They've done some brilliant things for developers this year, but sadly shipped a giant spyware operating system at the same time. From what I've read people are still trying to determine everything it's calling home.

It's easy to run Windows 10 without any calling home at all. Just don't use a Microsoft account. Just chose custom configurations during setup. Doesn't a default Android phone also do a lot of calling home? And Apple phones? Why is it so special when it's Windows?

Windows is not special. Android is not special. Apple is not special. I am equally upset at any operating system that chooses to collect and store information about me and how I use my device without my knowledge or explicit consent.

You don't get to point at some other examples of Bad Thing happening and hand-wave it all away like our concerns are not valid.

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#64

Post by Nelkins »

ifdefdebug wrote: post #43
deanclatworthy wrote: post #5

They've done some brilliant things for developers this year, but sadly shipped a giant spyware operating system at the same time. From what I've read people are still trying to determine everything it's calling home.

It's easy to run Windows 10 without any calling home at all. Just don't use a Microsoft account. Just chose custom configurations during setup. Doesn't a default Android phone also do a lot of calling home? And Apple phones? Why is it so special when it's Windows?

I agree that the outrage over Windows 10 seems a little...inconsistent. For Android users (could be on iOS too, not sure), open up Maps. Open up the options menu in the upper left hand corner and choose "Your timeline." This will literally show you every place you have traveled, WHETHER OR NOT YOU EVEN SEARCHED FOR A PARTICULAR LOCATION (i.e. it just shows where you've been walking around). You can delete the data and opt out I think, but it's not by default.

And that's just one thing off the top of my head, I'm sure there are many others. Ultimately, if you REALLY care about privacy you probably shouldn't be using any mainstream operating systems for mobile, desktop, etc.

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#65

Post by Grishnakh »

flyingbuttress wrote: post #28
melted wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My observation as well. Bought a Surface Book earlier this year and it was crashy as hell. Took it back to the store. Good luck competing with Apple in the premium segment with this level of QA.

Same here with a Surface Pro 4. Lots of little bugs that I'd never expect in an Apple device. Weird keyboard issues, random screen shutoff, DPI issues, etc. Luckily, Windows Updates have been fixing the issues a handful at a time, but this means that initial impressions will suffer. Hopefully they get their QA issues sorted out.

Hopefully not.

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#66

Post by soared »

oldnan wrote: post #51
soared wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you honestly expect them to open source software that earns them significant revenue? They are a business trying to make money.

I don't, and neither does anyone else. The point is that they remain a proprietary software company at their core and will likely remain that way.

Oh I misinterpreted your comment. I see your point.

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#68

Post by Zikes »

Nelkins wrote: post #64
ifdefdebug wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to run Windows 10 without any calling home at all. Just don't use a Microsoft account. Just chose custom configurations during setup. Doesn't a default Android phone also do a lot of calling home? And Apple phones? Why is it so special when it's Windows?

I agree that the outrage over Windows 10 seems a little...inconsistent. For Android users (could be on iOS too, not sure), open up Maps. Open up the options menu in the upper left hand corner and choose "Your timeline." This will literally show you every place you have traveled, WHETHER OR NOT YOU EVEN SEARCHED FOR A PARTICULAR LOCATION (i.e. it just shows where you've been walking around). You can delete the data an…

Location History is opt-in, and Google sends you frequent email reminders that you are opted in. I have email reminders in my gmail account dating back to 2011 when it was still called Latitude.

If you want to see this info and/or enable/disable it: https://www.google.com/maps/timeline

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#69

Post by frik »

nailer wrote: post #53
oldnan wrote: post #21

Microsoft's 2015 reminds me of Sun's 2004 - open sourcing software in a desperate attempt to remain relevant as Linux grows. In truth Microsoft hasn't open sourced Office, Windows, SQL Server etc. which they make money from, but only bits which they think might save them from irrelevance amongst developers in the era of Linux and the cloud. As much as MS made a song and dance about open source the vast majority of MS…

Yes they're both companies, but Sun open sourced stuff to get you to buy it on Solaris, their traditional cash cow. Microsoft promotes stuff like Visual Studio Code and Chakra not to sell Windows - their stand at Node Interactive earlier this month had a 50 inch TV running Ubuntu. Instead, they realise you don't necessarily want Windows, and are happy to sell you Azure (which runs Linux VMs and is a pretty good produ…

Azure is their cloud OS and runs on a special Windows server cluster in huge datacenters. (One can run Linux VMs on it, but that's just a byproduct) Azure and software as a service are their mid term future plans. Not for a reason Dave Cutler (73 years old!!), VMS and WinNT fame/chief architect has worked on Windows Azure and Hyper-V since 2008. He is undoubtly Microsoft's oldest and most important person - without him Windows (NT series, XBox, Azure) wouldn't exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Cutler

Re: 2015: The year that Microsoft started getting the benefit of the doubt

#70

Post by sz4kerto »

clort wrote: post #62
romanovcode wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>spyware operating system I'm not sure how is W10 different than Android/MacOS. Actually, on Windows you at least can skip the account registration. On mac you can't even get updates if you don't register. Android doesn't even let you use the OS properly without account.

> Android doesn't even let you use the OS properly without account. I'm not sure what you mean by this, can you explain further? I will say, that I've had a couple of Android phones for perhaps 4-5 years now and while I initially did use the bundled OS on my first one, I have never signed in with a Google account.. I use CyanogenMod now on a Nexus S with no Google apps and the phone doesn't seem to be without feature…

You are an outlier. For 99% of the users (not an accurate figure, of course) using Android without the Play Store is not viable.
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