101–110 of 138 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Windows telemetry will by-pass the Windows firewall. You need to run a dedicated firewall box (that is not running Windows)
This is incorrect. I've run packet analysis to confirm that the built-in firewall blocks, among other things, telemetry - what is your source for this?
Microsoft doesn’t deserve 44th or 45th chances to get it right with decades of experience and billions of dollars. Does a law need to change here?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you tried settting your internet connection to metered? https://www.howtogeek.com/226722/how-when-and-why-to-set-a-c...
I read about that method too, but unfortunately doesn't work if you're connected via ethernet.
As an HN reader, I believe I am qualified to comment on the strategic direction of a major multi-billion-dollar software company. By pushing to make Windows as idiot-proof as possible, Microsoft is zagging when it should zig. They've basically lost the mass market. The e-mail checking machine in the kitchen has been replaced by a tablet, and it doesn't run Windows. Their only hope is to position Windows as the OS for…
There are still huge numbers of casual and home users who are much better off with automatic updates and the reflex to disable them due to being a minor annoyance has to go.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For security fixes, that is. Not for adware, crapware or phone home capabilities (or resetting your preferences) bundled on top. Microsoft ruined the benefits of auto-updates for which it should be criticized much more. I believe Microsoft wants two things: A more homogeneous installation base and the beloved walled garden with phone home capabilities. Both are directly adverse to users interests. Therefore people do…
I think it’s a bit more mundane than that. Most people aren't putting that much thought into their computers after all. I think it's that Microsoft still hasn’t figured out how to do updates without requiring a reboot. Nobody wants to lose their working state or wait minutes to begin working to what appears at first glance to be pointless computer housekeeping.
Oh boy, this happened to me despite using the enterprise edition. The system forced an upgrade, despite me doing everything to stop it, and every time the upgrade crashed and I had to roll back to the previous version. Every day. I spent a month like this, on an always-on system, trying to shut down the upgrade downloader from the task bar whenever I can after failing to stop it from settings, group policy, horsing a…
As an HN reader, I believe I am qualified to comment on the strategic direction of a major multi-billion-dollar software company. By pushing to make Windows as idiot-proof as possible, Microsoft is zagging when it should zig. They've basically lost the mass market. The e-mail checking machine in the kitchen has been replaced by a tablet, and it doesn't run Windows. Their only hope is to position Windows as the OS for…
That's one side of the story. There are still huge numbers of casual and home users who are much better off with automatic updates and the reflex to disable them due to being a minor annoyance has to go.
Outside of gamers, though, most of them couldn't care less about Windows and continue to use it because it's what came with the laptop. This is an irretrievably shrinking market. I admit Microsoft is in a bind here. A huge legacy install base that refuses to apply updates when asked nicely is a recipe for another Conficker. Their previous success in the consumer market has turned into a huge liability. But they can't fix that by having a punitive update process in Windows 10. All those old unpatched Windows 7 machines are still out there. The same users who don't apply patches opted out of the free windows 10 update.
Aside from those running windows-exclusive software, I'm more and more boggled at the fact that some people still choose windows over other OSes. I couldn't imagine living with this sort of crap. To each their own, I guess
It's a really nice development ecosystem I'm told. Our developers write exclusively Windows software (games company) and even though it costs us multiple millions of dollars in software licenses to run dedicated servers, the "cost of porting" is high enough to prevent people from doing it.
- install a dev environment with all tools and transient dependencies with a single command
- install multiple versions of the same library and easily choose between them
- install the same version of a library but built with different compiler switches
The world of open source operating systems can accomplish all of the above (I use NixOS). And we get access to a repository of thousands of packaged tools. And we get fast Git.
I'm sorry but the general consensus is that Windows falls quite short of being a nice development environment, despite the existence of Visual Studio.