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Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

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Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#271

Post by 72deluxe »

patrickmclaren wrote: post #39

Off-topic rant: I used to live in a remote area, with very little connectivity. Upgrading tech used to involve traveling to a retailer, and buying the latest version off the shelf. More recently, it involes traveling to a solid internet connection, downloading incremental updates and distributing them on location. In Australia, satellite internet was subsidized in the 2000s (and easily eligible). Now, although still…

I can only imagine how OSX users cope with the giant OS updates and patches that get bundled. I thought that people here in the UK on ordinary broadband must get frustrated, but your experience puts it into perspective. It also makes me think more carefully about being "network-happy" in applications.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#272

Post by 72deluxe »

1_player wrote: post #263
velodrome wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Arch requires a lot of maintenance. Ubuntu, just click update and you don't have to worry about it (until the next LTS). Personally, I like the rolling model. Chromebook is probably best example for regular users.

I moved to Arch because just clicking update on Ubuntu more often than not botched the upgrade somewhere. And I'm a power user. If I had a penny every time I had to help a friend with a failed Ubuntu upgrade...

You "CLICKED" on upgrade? And you call yourself a power user!

Why did you not type it into the CLI? If not a runlevel 3 perhaps with a tiling window manager.

I jest :-)

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#274

Post by 72deluxe »

garrylemmkr wrote: post #163

I hope they stop making Windows entirely. What a sad company.

Do you really? What about all the checkouts in shops you go to? What will they run on? What about all the ATMs you get your money from? What will they run on? What about all the offices in the corporations you rely on? What will they run? What about your schools, hospitals and police forces? Will they all revert to paper?

EDIT: I didn't mean this maliciously, but I was genuinely asking because a comment like "I wish it would go away" is clearly not rooted in reality given the widespread use of Windows and the millions of users, happy or not.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#275

Post by raverbashing »

macspoofing wrote: post #225
someear wrote: post #191

Entirely an enterprise play - gone are those firms that essentially say "we'll stick with XP". They'll either be forced into a subscription model or will switch off to another platform. This is also a huge win for not having the need to support super old OSes, which is a huge tax in not just support cost, but also testing and designing for backward compatibility.

This is an anti-enterprise play. There are significant costs to OS updates, including retraining, downtime, and legacy (working) software compatibility. Most enterprises are pretty good at applying security patches but rightly balk at full OS upgrades. >This is also a huge win for not having the need to support super old OSes Who wins?

So this means enterprise IT will actually have to hire knowledgeable people, and not buy "enterprise solutions" that only bring new computers to a halt, cost an arm and a leg and bring negligible benefit.

Move the workflow into the web, ditch "office suits", don't touch ANY sw crap by IBM.

About 90% of your workforce can do with an Ubuntu workstation.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#277

Post by petepete »

ethana wrote: post #142
nightpool wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The parent was referring to " Steam boxes", i.e. http://store.steampowered.com/steamos

That's StreamOS, there's a different. Most of the Steam boxes come with Windows 8 ( http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/186-2840984-5406453... ).

Steam Machines won't be launched until at least November[0]. Anything launched before then, whether it has SteamOS or Windows configured to boot to Steam is just a PC.

[0] http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#278

Post by gnud »

GoofballJones wrote: post #243
gnud wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems they're planning on selling your data, and locking you in to their other services. I recently tried out the Win10 tech preview. It's very very hard to disable internet searching whenever you try and find a file, and it's even worse to try and remove OneDrive. Granted, this is a tech preview, so disabling this will probably be a tiny bit easier in the future, but I think it gives an indication as to the direc…

Where are you getting that they're planning on selling your data? Source for this? From everything I've heard, they're doing the opposite.

By 'selling your data', I mean using your data to target ads. Not actually selling it, but profiting from having it.

So I could probably have phrased that better.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#279

Post by pizza234 »

castell wrote: post #257
Redoubts wrote: post #45

This was news around January, I thought. Why are all the tech sites playing this up now? I feel like i could reply to half the top level posts with this link: http://blogs.windows.com/business/2015/01/30/windows-10-for-... >January 30, 2015 > this is much more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current via Windows Update for the supported lifetime of…

There are alternatives to "Windows 10 as a service" - WINE on Mac/Linux and ReactOS. ReactOS is an attempt to build an open source version of Windows XP/7. It uses source code from WINE and it aims for better compatibility with legacy apps and drivers by developing a WinNT-like OS-Kernel: http://www.reactos.org/screenshots

WINE and Reactos are a bit more complicated than an alternative.

ReactOS is nothing more than (arguably pre-)alpha software. It's not possible, at this stage, to predict when and if it will ever reach sufficient stability and security. If you follow the project closely, you will realize how complex an O/S is, and how fundamentally it needs big backing (which it doesn't have) to reach maturity.

WINE is not an alternative to an O/S. Specifically, it's a layer which needs to be evaluated on a per-case (application) basis; it's not (and it's not meant to be) a universal solution (which an O/S needs to be). Of course, ideas about tweaking WINE instead of fully porting software (see Carmack) are interesting, but again, that wouldn't make it a generic replacement.

Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions

#280

Post by zecg »

Redoubts wrote: post #45

This was news around January, I thought. Why are all the tech sites playing this up now? I feel like i could reply to half the top level posts with this link: http://blogs.windows.com/business/2015/01/30/windows-10-for-... >January 30, 2015 > this is much more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current via Windows Update for the supported lifetime of…

> for the supported lifetime of the device

Not to be confused with actual lifetime of the device.

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