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Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

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Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classic Shell is now unmaintained because MS kept iterating and breaking the APIs being used for it.

The maintained version is Open Shell: https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

Looking their commit history, all the last "fixes" were rebranding. If I see it right, the latest substantial fix that is an actual improvement was:

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/issues/53

A patch by Ivo Beltchev himself! In the just world the man would be paid by Microsoft until the end of his life just for what he did up to now.

The critical fix before that was important and made by the new maintainers:

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/pull/33

It also shows that it's a real work keeping everything functioning with each Windows release.

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#52
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They started running after the touch segment and deliberately removed the keyboard interface. They didn't get the app-buyers and the keyboard people (like me) probably left them. I get that for ordinary users it's a dealbreaker, but I never understood this complaint about the Windows 8 touch UI from power users or developers. It takes maybe 5 minutes to download and install Classic Shell and suddenly you have a cla…

A lots of the Windows 8/10 design decisions are outright mistakes, not even controversial. Like in Windows 8, you had to place your mouse on the far right of the screen to access certain features. Fine with a small laptop touch screen, but clearly they haven’t tried it on a 4k, 42” non touch screen at native resolution where the side of the screen is far far away in term of mouse travel. I believe to this day, the Wi…

Is there an explicit strategy or vision for Windows?

Does anyone know what it is?

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#53
post #47
post #10

The biggest problem with Microsoft is them not sticking to their strength. I was an avid fanboy till Windows 7. This was an OS that could cater to power users- keyboard shortcuts, powershell (shitty console but anyway). They started running after the touch segment and deliberately removed the keyboard interface. They didn't get the app-buyers and the keyboard people (like me) probably left them. Linux is mature now,…

Huge rant incoming: My biggest issue is still not knowing how the (ugh..) fuck to remove Candy Crush Saga from my god damned “downloaded” apps list. On fucking Professional I should not have to deal with that crap. All the instructions on the internet I have found seem to no longer work, and it’s the tiny things that add up that really annoy me. It even shows up in classic shell ...

Here- let me do some powershell magic ;)

Get-appxpackage \microsoft\ | remove-appxpackage #asterisk around Microsoft

Now replace Microsoft with windows.

One of these will also remove the store - so careful/congrats

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#54
post #44
post #10

The biggest problem with Microsoft is them not sticking to their strength. I was an avid fanboy till Windows 7. This was an OS that could cater to power users- keyboard shortcuts, powershell (shitty console but anyway). They started running after the touch segment and deliberately removed the keyboard interface. They didn't get the app-buyers and the keyboard people (like me) probably left them. Linux is mature now,…

I find Windows 8 complaints so full of hyperbole. I used Windows 8 daily on my work laptop for years, and these are the items I needed to adjust to. Launching programs: Windows key + type type to Windows + S + type type (I still use that on W10) Shutting down the PC: click on start to right-click on start The Windows 8 UI was a failure and it sucks you need to adjust, but come on. I'd prefer Linux too, but changing a…

No hyperbole-

Win+s was the ultimate snipping tool powered by OneNote.

Shutting down is shutdown /t0

So you see- I know my way around but I still find windows shitty.

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#55
post #47
post #10

The biggest problem with Microsoft is them not sticking to their strength. I was an avid fanboy till Windows 7. This was an OS that could cater to power users- keyboard shortcuts, powershell (shitty console but anyway). They started running after the touch segment and deliberately removed the keyboard interface. They didn't get the app-buyers and the keyboard people (like me) probably left them. Linux is mature now,…

Huge rant incoming: My biggest issue is still not knowing how the (ugh..) fuck to remove Candy Crush Saga from my god damned “downloaded” apps list. On fucking Professional I should not have to deal with that crap. All the instructions on the internet I have found seem to no longer work, and it’s the tiny things that add up that really annoy me. It even shows up in classic shell ...

This project is well-maintained (and extensively forked). It helps you turn all of that crap off.

https://github.com/Disassembler0/Win10-Initial-Setup-Script

I actually bought a Windows 10 Pro for Workstations license because I thought it would let me cleanly install Windows with just a power user set of functionality and none of that XBox / Candy Crush rubbish. Turns out that used to be true, but no longer. Unless you can find a very particular range of old build images on the dark recesses of the Internet you have to do a standard Windows 10 Pro install and then "upgrade" it to Workstations.

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#56

I'll stick with Windows 7, thanks. The last OS that doesn't try to babysit me.

Have you met our lord and saviour Arch Linux?

Right, Arch is the perfect distro for someone who wants their system to leave them alone and stop changing things.

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#57

Windows was once quite exciting, it punched above its weight and enabled people to do stuff that they didn't know they wanted to do but were grateful for it. This energy is now in the browser with Chrome being where the innovation is at. Microsoft can do whatever they like with their venerable operating system but the days of it being exciting and newsworthy are over. The fun is elsewhere and they have missed the boa…

> I know you can do development on Windows but I only see Apple things at those conferences and in meeting rooms.

When I buy a Dell or a Lenovo laptop, I'm confronted with a bewildering range of computers. I can build a machine that works for me in a couple hours, most probably (and I like the dual storage options). When I buy an Apple, I choose size, processor, memory and storage and that's it. It takes 5 minutes (I have to deselect the UK keyboard and order the US one from here). I had top-of-the-line Dells and Lenovos die on me for no reason. I never had an Apple do that since the late 80's. My wife had a MBP in the trunk when the car was totaled in a rear collision. The computer lived the rest of its life with a scar in one corner and a bent ethernet connector (that still worked flawlessly despite the marginally non-standard shape).

I sometimes indulge in server porn - I wish Oracle, HPE, Dell, and Lenovo allowed us to check prices and configure their 8-way servers more easily - just to check what a single node can be configured with, but, when buying a machine to do actual work, I want as little headache as I possibly can, hence my work laptops tend to be Apples.

The OS is also nicer, and that's part of the fewer headaches.

> Decades ago they were going to make a file system more like a cool relational database, that dream died too.

I watched that dream die multiple times. Even if it lived, I doubt it'd perform well in comparison to file systems that do nothing but make sure the files are properly written and quickly read. I like the idea of metadata that can't detach from the file it belongs to, but assigning meaning to it is something that's better dealt with a couple layers above the FS.

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#58
post #40

The single biggest change I hope for, is Windows not forcing my computer to reboot for an update. It's kind of acceptable forcing me to update when I reboot myself, but rebooting for me is just a no-go. Especially as it just gets stuck at my BIOS password and keeps the computer on all night. I know I won't get that wish fulfilled.

I don't know if this is perhaps different for the Enterprise edition?

I use the Enterprise edition, and while it asks me if I want to reboot to update from time to time, I don't remember it ever forcing a reboot - which is just as well, as I tend to go weeks without rebooting (I just put it to sleep when I'm done, so I can resume the next day).

BTW, if anyone reading this thinks Enterprise edition is only available for large corporations, it's not - you get something like 5 licenses with the Microsoft Action Pack, which is incredible value for what you get.

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#59

I'll stick with Windows 7, thanks. The last OS that doesn't try to babysit me.

I held out on Windows 7 for a long time, but I have to say that now Windows 10 has matured I actually really like it.

In particular I like the high-DPI capabilities, improved console, WSL, Windows Containers, Windows Defender and even the new Start Menu (after removing all the games and cruft, and replacing tiles with things I actually want).

Re: Microsoft begins work on its 2020 Windows releases in new preview

#60
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They started running after the touch segment and deliberately removed the keyboard interface. They didn't get the app-buyers and the keyboard people (like me) probably left them. I get that for ordinary users it's a dealbreaker, but I never understood this complaint about the Windows 8 touch UI from power users or developers. It takes maybe 5 minutes to download and install Classic Shell and suddenly you have a cla…

To shutdown Windows 8 (not 8.1), you had to swipe from the right to bring up the "charms" thing and that's where the shutdown option was. I remember myself having to search for "how to shutdown Windows 8" and feeling like a moron because I really couldn't figure it out on my own.

You had to do this in Server 2012 too, prior to the R2 release. As much as I like Windows, I never understood the point of crow-barring touch features into Server editions...
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