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Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

zdnet.com

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Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#141

Post by dethswatch »

Someone1234 wrote: post #2

If Microsoft wants SMBs to use Enterprise then make the Enterprise edition more easily available to SMBs, don't try to force them to move to it by making petty little changes to make their life more difficult. I can go on the Google Apps website right now and buy myself seats with a few clicks and a few minutes. If I want to buy Windows Enterprise licenses it will take weeks, cost an unclear amount (at the onset), an…

They don't want you any more.

When you're ready to spend big bucks on Azure, please let them know.

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#142

Post by stordoff »

levemi wrote: post #29
Someone1234 wrote: post #2

If Microsoft wants SMBs to use Enterprise then make the Enterprise edition more easily available to SMBs, don't try to force them to move to it by making petty little changes to make their life more difficult. I can go on the Google Apps website right now and buy myself seats with a few clicks and a few minutes. If I want to buy Windows Enterprise licenses it will take weeks, cost an unclear amount (at the onset), an…

> I worked for a startup, under 20 machines, I tried to buy then Windows 7 Enterprise. Microsoft's partners were super unhelpful, disinterested in a small account, refused to provide clear pricing, and I was getting upsold even before we got the basics squared away ("I'll just add on 20 CALs, a Windows Server license, and let's talk exchange!"). Ultimately we just gave up, and used Windows 7 Home(!) for three years.…

> You need to go through bizspark

Shouldn't Microsoft make that clear then? If I wanted Windows 10 Enterprise for a business, I'd search for "windows 10 enterprise", follow the link to "Windows 10 Enterprise for your enterprise business - Microsoft"[1], and go to the "Buy>How to buy"[2] page. There is zero mention of BizSpark in that process as far as I can see.

It's also non-obvious from your link that BizSpark includes Windows 10 Enterprise. I had to download the "Products by benefits level" Excel sheet to be sure, and it appears to be limited to five people regardless.

I understand that Microsoft's enterprise licensing typically involves going through a reseller, but Microsoft certainly could be doing a better job pointing people (esp. small businesses) in the right direction. Even if I go through to "Contact a Windows Solution Provider"[3], it defaults to searching for UK and an 8km radius (accurate enough), sort by "Most relevant". Top 5 results:

* German-language result

* Scandinavian/Nordic-language result (doesn't look like Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian to me. Possibly Finnish?)

* English-language result, but located in the Netherlands

* French-language result

* Italian-language result

Maybe these companies can help me, or maybe they are the "wrong people" to whom you refer. Following what I would see as the obvious path to try and purchase Windows 10 Enterprise, I'd have no idea how to tell the difference.

[1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/WindowsForBusiness/windows-f... [2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/WindowsForBusiness/buy [3] https://pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-GB/search?type=companies&k...

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#143

Post by cm2187 »

Someone1234 wrote: post #2

If Microsoft wants SMBs to use Enterprise then make the Enterprise edition more easily available to SMBs, don't try to force them to move to it by making petty little changes to make their life more difficult. I can go on the Google Apps website right now and buy myself seats with a few clicks and a few minutes. If I want to buy Windows Enterprise licenses it will take weeks, cost an unclear amount (at the onset), an…

What's the rationale for not selling windows enterprise licenses on amazon? What's so special that it requires an official reseller?

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#144

Post by samstave »

camperman wrote: post #107

I always snigger at the formula of Microsoft's public statements. You just know that in the first paragraph it will claim - disingenuously - to be doing the exact opposite of whatever it's accused of. And sure enough the very first sentence is: "Microsoft is focused on helping enterprises manage their environment while giving people choice in the apps and devices they use to be productive across work and life." You c…

I am more interested in learning how much the person who crafted that sentence was paid..... :)

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#145

Post by vacri »

GigabyteCoin wrote: post #31

And this particular sysadmin-for-my-family will no longer allow windows to be installed on any of our computers whenever they are in need of a reinstall. Windows is becoming more and more like Facebook. Too many users changed a setting you don't agree with? Just block access to that setting or call it something else to confuse enough people to the point that the numbers are "good enough" for management. Almost every…

> my mother's Windows 10 laptop has reverted at least one of the changes I have made.

So, having moved house recently, I had no internet for my win10 gaming PC, not even the cable plugged in. Most days it'd be turned on for a bit of a play. After about a week of this, Win10 then told me it had updates to install, and took me through the install process!

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#146

Post by arca_vorago »

Grishnakh wrote: post #70
arca_vorago wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There it is. The vindication I was after. I knew I wasnt just crazy for doing everything I could to minimize ms in my ecosystem. Personally, I think rms, gnu, and gplv3 are the way to go. We need to protect user freedoms more than developer freedoms.

It's not users vs. developers, it's users vs. vendors. The devs working for MS are just hired guns doing what they're told in exchange for a paycheck; they're not making decisions like this.

To the user the dev and the vendor is indistinguishable. Also, Nuremberg defenses aren't usually the most solid, but I see what you mean.

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#147

Post by TheRealDunkirk »

Grishnakh wrote: post #140
TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #102

The ball is back in Apple's court. They seem to take the end user more seriously, but they've been mixed. I made a comment taking Microsoft to task when their surreptitious telemetry came to light, and someone pointed me to proof that Apple was doing about the same thing. This is Apple's chance to continue to distance themselves from their competition. They've done well standing up for privacy, with the recent FBI de…

>They seem to take the end user more seriously Unless you're trying to keep music on your computer and use iTunes, in which case they upload all your music to the cloud and delete it off your PC. >Man, I really wish Google would release their desktop Linux. Ubuntu is OK, but someone with pockets like that could finish the job, and make a credible, consumer-accessible, 3rd alternative to keep BOTH #1 and #2 on their t…

> I find it pretty disappointing that Red Hat hasn't done more in this area

Me too. Especially now that the 2 things that kept Linux from being a player in the corporate space were 1) Office, and 2) Exchange. Now you can get Google Apps or iCloud or any of a number of hosted applications for these things. Unfortunately, the last time I tried Fedora, a couple months ago, I got a couple of cryptic selinux-related errors, and quickly decided "ain't nobody got time for that," but if a company would get serious about an image (as they do for Windows, anyway), the path is wide open for a Linux desktop in the enterprise, at vast cost savings.

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#148

Post by manigandham »

cm2187 wrote: post #90
GigabyteCoin wrote: post #31

And this particular sysadmin-for-my-family will no longer allow windows to be installed on any of our computers whenever they are in need of a reinstall. Windows is becoming more and more like Facebook. Too many users changed a setting you don't agree with? Just block access to that setting or call it something else to confuse enough people to the point that the numbers are "good enough" for management. Almost every…

One thing that windows 10 absolutely hates users changing is firewall rules. I regularly see my custom rules disappearing. This is unacceptable .

The windows firewall is also tied into pretty much everything in the system, disabling that service messes with lots of stuff, like installing fonts:

http://superuser.com/questions/957907/unable-to-install-font...

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#149

Post by CaptSpify »

camperman wrote: post #107

I always snigger at the formula of Microsoft's public statements. You just know that in the first paragraph it will claim - disingenuously - to be doing the exact opposite of whatever it's accused of. And sure enough the very first sentence is: "Microsoft is focused on helping enterprises manage their environment while giving people choice in the apps and devices they use to be productive across work and life." You c…

I find this true of most company taglines. "We have the highest rated customer service" = We have shitty customer service.

I think the people who write this stuff are usually presented with "Here's the bad parts of our reputation. Make sure your blurb fixes that"

Re: Microsoft no longer allows admins to block Windows Store access in Win10 Pro

#150

Post by leonroy »

Someone1234 wrote: post #2

If Microsoft wants SMBs to use Enterprise then make the Enterprise edition more easily available to SMBs, don't try to force them to move to it by making petty little changes to make their life more difficult. I can go on the Google Apps website right now and buy myself seats with a few clicks and a few minutes. If I want to buy Windows Enterprise licenses it will take weeks, cost an unclear amount (at the onset), an…

Adding my voice to the chorus.

The Microsoft Windows ecosystem is a god send for those wanting to enforce single sign on, roaming profiles and group policy to control things deploy Chrome, 7-Zip or all manner of apps straight to the desktop or lock down access for say the demo room machines but give full access to engineering notebooks and enforce things like password policy, mapped network drives, etc.

It honestly just works and is fantastic in practise for companies wanting to enforce good IT policies with 10+ employees (in comparison try doing the above with Mac OS X + Mac OS X Server - like pulling teeth).

However Microsoft's licensing is absolutely fracking byzantine.

* I first need a server license - is it per socket or per core?

* Then I need my desktop licenses - do I need Pro or Enterprise? Or heck, maybe Ultimate only has the regional language options I need?

* Then I apparently need a fracking Client Access License for not only Windows Server to Windows Desktop services but for god damn DNS and DHCP services too! Like seriously MS - are you kidding me? So every iOS or Android device which pops up on our Windows DHCP/DNS needs a CAL apparently.

Now the whole cluster fudge above would be barely tolerable for any well funded startup or company IF Microsoft made buying these licenses easy.

If the above nightmare sounds bad however, just try getting licensed for it all and ensuring you're compliant.

It's seriously, a real damn shame because Microsoft Windows Server + Windows desktop is fantastic. When put together it really does work beautifully. It's just such a shame that MS seems to shoot itself in the foot consistently when it comes to figuring out their licensing.

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