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Windows Sandbox

techcommunity.microsoft.com

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Re: Windows Sandbox

#221

Post by castis »

eitland wrote: post #173

Seems like a really nice feature. I've been thinking about something like this for a while. I see some people are really annoyed that it isn't available for the Home version and I too am somewhat annoyed but in this case it is somewhat understandable since it depends on a feature that is (somewhat more reasonable) limited to Pro versions. The thing that annoys me more (hi MS guys, feel free to tell the relevant peopl…

> they have started to add ads to the login screen and my start menu

A coworker has asked what reasons I could have for not wanting to run "the best OS". this is enough for me.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#222

Post by krylon »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #62

This is pretty cool, I know where I'm going to run my browser from now on :-).

Every time you start a sandbox, it is a fresh environment, so you cannot persist browser history, bookmarks, etc.

That may be exactly what you want, but it might come as a rude surprise otherwise.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#223

Post by tremon »

alkonaut wrote: post #155
laumars wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nowadays it's almost impossible to uninstall an app completely, because most of them creating files willy nilly. This has always been the case on Windows. In fact if anything, nowadays it’s better than its ever been because thanks to the UAC and other controls Microsoft have put in place, developers aren’t so free to do whatever they like to the host machine. But that’s remember a time before the UAC when it would…

> Of course you still have the problem of the software writing files during its operation but that should be limited to $HOME (on POSIX systems) or any path that is writable by the owner / group of the user that application runs as (which should be limited even if it’s a system service). The really tricky problem is when a package must modify an existing shared resource. Such as appending lines to an existing config…

The really tricky problem is when a package must modify an existing shared resource. Such as appending lines to an existing config for example.

This is currently solved by having applications support both a config file and a config.d directory. The primary owner (package) of the resource modifies the conf file, while secondary packages drop their own config in conf.d/${package}. Numerous examples exist: logrotate, rsyslog, apache, nginx, systemd and apt come to mind.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#224

Post by laumars »

alkonaut wrote: post #213
AsyncAwait wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The really tricky problem is when a package must modify an existing shared resource. Such as appending lines to an existing config for example. Pacman creates a .pacnew file and lets you merge it yourself for this very reason.

Seems like that is offloading the tricky bit to the user rather than solving the tricky problem to be honest.

Yeah that's exactly what's happening. But Arch is an intentionally hands on distro (eg it doesn't even ship a an installer - instead you're expected to do everything yourself via the command line).

Obviously this wouldn't be to everyone's tastes but it's good that market is catered in my opinion (but then I would say that as I'm very much a hands on person).

Re: Windows Sandbox

#225

Post by ForHackernews »

zozbot123 wrote: post #209
ForHackernews wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Secure and inexpensive as long as you don't mind paying with your privacy. I'm worried that this is going to be the compromise we're all forced to make in the future.

> Secure and inexpensive as long as you don't mind paying with your privacy. There are obvious alternatives to ChromeOS that are just as secure and just as inexpensive (especially if you have some old hardware just laying around, or else you can just buy refurbished hardware - just about anything made in the last 10 years will do, if not more than that) - and not any less useful than a Chromebook. And they can be upd…

Yeah, if you're technical enough, then for now you can still install and run Linux. That's probably not an option for OP's parents.

You can easily imagine that in the future hardware manufacturers will remove the ability to install a 3rd party operating system. It's already essentially impossible on a locked-down Apple iOS appliance.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#226

Post by jake_the_third »

pjmlp wrote: post #203
SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue that typical home users are the people who need this feature the most.

And I would argue they are better off with Windows S mode.

Tell that to my father who still uses decades-old software. I agree with the gp, Windows Home users need this feature the most.

Folks who don't mind Windows S would already be using android/ios.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#227

Post by ForHackernews »

snr wrote: post #176
ForHackernews wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Secure and inexpensive as long as you don't mind paying with your privacy. I'm worried that this is going to be the compromise we're all forced to make in the future.

Umm, that's how economics work?

Privacy should not be a luxury good.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#228

Post by hiccuphippo »

laumars wrote: post #70
finchisko wrote: post #52

Nowadays it's almost impossible to uninstall an app completely, because most of them creating files willy nilly. And it's same on all known OSes. The side effect we see is system size growing in time. IMO running an app in a sandbox should be the default option. On Windows, I used to like sandboxie, which virtualized every write into single directory. Uninstall was easy as removing that dir. This MS sandbox doesn't a…

> Nowadays it's almost impossible to uninstall an app completely, because most of them creating files willy nilly. This has always been the case on Windows. In fact if anything, nowadays it’s better than its ever been because thanks to the UAC and other controls Microsoft have put in place, developers aren’t so free to do whatever they like to the host machine. But that’s remember a time before the UAC when it would…

One trick I use when trying to see where in $HOME a program creates files is to create a new user with an empty $HOME, run the program and then see what files were created. If it's a GUI program, give it permission to run from your regular user with xhost so you don't need to login through the desktop manager.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#229

Post by wtallis »

eertami wrote: post #170
kemayo wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS 12 runs on everything through the 5S, and notably improved performance over iOS 10/11 on the same devices. [1] is a bunch of benchmarks from back in the beta period. My kid has it on a 6, and it's legitimately good performance there. Good luck getting the latest Android onto a 5 year old handset without jumping through some non-trivial hoops. [1]: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/09/ios-12-performance-improv...

I'm not speaking hypothetically, but from experience. I have a 4 year old 200gbp Android phone running Pie, took 10 minutes. I also have an iPhone 8, this is an Ok phone but is a worse experience than the 4 year old Android phone. Despite the cost being much higher, the screen is worse quality, for instance. My partner has a 6 and it is remarkably slower than both. To the point where you sometimes just want to give u…

> I'm not speaking hypothetically, but from experience. I have a 4 year old 200gbp Android phone running Pie, took 10 minutes.

You're lying. Installing a custom third-party Android ROM is way more than a 10 minute process, your OnePlus X is barely more than 3 years old, and there's a huge difference between a random OS image you downloaded from a forum online and manufacturer-supported OS updates for a 5 year old phone.

Re: Windows Sandbox

#230

Post by handzbagz »

finchisko wrote: post #72
chungy wrote: post #5

Sandboxie has been providing similar functionality on versions of Windows since XP: https://www.sandboxie.com/ It's probably nowhere near as elegant as the Windows 10 feature, but it should be very handy if you have older versions of Windows!

Sandboxie is actually still superior to this Windows Sandbox, as it allows you to continually run an app in the sandbox. In Windows Sandbox, once you close the app, your stored data, settings etc. are gone. But yes, it's UI is horrible and might be difficult to setup (apps with incorrect setup might not even run).

They clearly have different use cases, I don't think it's fair to say one is necessarily better because of it.
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