Good. I'm not a Windows person, but I think discrete major versioning is an anachronism left over from pre-internet times, especially if a company's internal processes are bound to those major releases there will be a lot of friction from that factor alone. Continuous development and deployment is probably the more rational choice for a lot of software, including operating systems.
Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
171–180 of 323 posts
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
Windows 8 came with skydrive preinstalled, and I removed it. 8.1 has skydrive "integrated into the OS", so it can't be removed. I tried skydrive on windows 7 when skydrive was first released, and instructed it to sync a few specific folders. I didn't like it enough to keep using it, so I uninstalled it and forgot about it. In order to upgrade from 8 to 8.1, I had to put my microsoft account into the system (because t…
If retaining data like that would land you in jail, you shouldn't be using cloud storage in the first place. Likely you'd be (rightfully) fired for doing so. Cortana can be disabled, or never turned on even.
His point seems to be that he never opted into our was even informed of his my documents being synced to skydrive.
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#173I'm not happy with this. I waited on XP until they got over vista, and I'm still on 7 while I watch in bemusement at the windows 8.1 nonsense. Now, with windows 10, my security updates will come bundled with my unwanted OS changes. I doubt microsoft will let people opt out of unwanted cloud-based security risks or crazy interface experiments.
> while I watch in bemusement at the windows 8.1 nonsense.
This isn't really a thing, not anywhere near the level of Vista.
You're more of a luddite in this behavior than I think you may realize.
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#174Microsoft is getting into the software subscription model. Remember Office 365? You don't own a copy of Office, you only rent it per year and when updates come out you get the updates as long as you keep paying. Windows 10 is going to be a software subscription model. They'll most likely have a free upgrade version but it is limited in features. If you want more features you will have to buy a subscription. They alre…
It's much more likely they'll follow the OS X model of free updates forever, once you buy the OS.
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#175The obvious question is, how are we going to pay for this? With no periodic releases of new versions, it seems that Windows 10 will either be a subscription based service or, in all likelihood, a collection of subscription based services and extra features with a free, but spartan, core. It's an interesting move, but I suspect MS is severely underestimating the backlash that will exist against monthly OS subscription…
10$ a year sounds fair to me
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your monthly subscription payments will come in the form of monthly Azure payments. People will accept that. This isn't 1996 anymore. People don't buy desktops, and laptops will soon be obsolete too. When your phone has a processor powerful enough to do all the work a consumer could ever want, there will be 3 main markets. Mobile, Server, and Gaming. Now they probably could keep charging for the OS for the gaming PC'…
Piracy will come back with a vengeance. I don't know how they'll tell people who go buy their laptops that they have to pay a monthly subscription if they want to keep using it.
Anyone coming on HN and suggesting Microsoft is going to charge a monthly subscription for their OS is completely out of touch with reality.
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
Windows 8 came with skydrive preinstalled, and I removed it. 8.1 has skydrive "integrated into the OS", so it can't be removed. I tried skydrive on windows 7 when skydrive was first released, and instructed it to sync a few specific folders. I didn't like it enough to keep using it, so I uninstalled it and forgot about it. In order to upgrade from 8 to 8.1, I had to put my microsoft account into the system (because t…
If retaining data like that would land you in jail, you shouldn't be using cloud storage in the first place. Likely you'd be (rightfully) fired for doing so. Cortana can be disabled, or never turned on even.
The point is that all those cloud features are enabled by default and difficult to opt out of.
I for one will not upgrade to Windows 10 until other people have identified all of the crappy cloud-based features (Microsoft Account, OneDrive/SkyDrive, Cortana, etc.) and written blogs on how to disable them permanently. Then I will do a clean install, disable all the crap, and only then connect the external drive that contains all my files.
Most people, though, will not be so cautious. If something is enabled by default, 99.9% of users will just keep it enabled, even if it's possible to disable it. After all, that's the whole point of enabling something by default.
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm an Ubuntu Linux and OS X user and have been trying to like Windows 8.1 in the last weeks. The problems I have in no particular order ... - network management in Windows 7 was usable, whereas in 8.1 it is totally fucked - Microsoft accounts are on their way to become mandatory, as creating a regular account is not user friendly and there's a big and scary warning when you go that route; they are basically trying t…
>- of course, you can totally ignore the "modern Windows" side of the coin for now, except that's where Windows is headed It seems to me that they are backing off metro/"modern Windows" more and more. 8.1 made boot to Desktop the default, they are bringing back the start menu in 10 and Metro apps will run in windows in 10.
Nope, they're going even more in with Win10. Calc.exe is replaced with a shitty, functionally inferior version that takes 1-2 seconds to start.
The metroization is all over with its terrible blurry font rendering and gimped settings.
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#179I will say right now I will never pay a subscription to windows. I'll switch back to Linux even though I feel like as a whole Linux has stagnated for at least the last decade in the desktop arena.
Re: Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions
#180I use Arch which does the rolling release thingy and I love it.
The big reason why rolling release works so well on Arch is the assumption that the user is smart, so there are several difficult tasks which are pushed over onto the user (like handling non-trivial conflicts of software that the user may not have directly installed, e.g. libgl, handling exceptional circumstances, being able to recover after a failed update, ensuring the system is updated regularly, knowing when a re…
Aside from initially installing Arch and the major programs I know I am going to use I have never had a major problem with Arch which required extensive knowlege of linux to fix.
All in all I'd say I have about the same number of issues with Arch as a normal Windows install.