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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1442111053 Message started by Oldfeller on 09/12/15 at 19:24:13 |
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Title: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 09/12/15 at 19:24:13 http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/09/12/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-now-forced-onto-windows-7-and-windows-8/ Microsoft FORCES Windows 10 Onto Windows 7 And Windows 8 users http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/thumbs/cropped5.jpg Notice the change in the wording on the little picture -- it is COMING whether you want it or not. Even if you tried to block it, some other pre-existing KBs (already approved and installed) are now modified to carry it on to your machine. It is there now, waiting to be triggered. Now it is being repeatedly triggered on each reboot according to several UK users who are now fighting hard to KEEP Win 10 OFF THEIR MACHINES. "The saga continues. Following news that Windows 10 automatically downloads onto Windows 7 and Windows 8 for users who choose to upgrade, Microsoft has now confirmed it has taken things one serious step further: Windows 10 will now download on computers even when users chose NOT to upgrade. This somewhat shocking development was discovered by The Inquirer when a reader reported Windows 10 had been downloaded onto their computer despite the fact they expressly declined the opportunity to upgrade: “The symptoms are repeated failed ‘Upgrade to Windows 10[ch8242] in the WU update history and a huge 3.5GB to 6GB hidden folder labelled ‘$Windows.~BT’,” the reader explained. “I thought Microsoft [said] this ‘upgrade’ was optional. If so, why is it being pushed out to so many computers where it wasn’t reserved, and why does it try to install over and over again? Windows 7 and 8 users are now prompted to get Windows 10 - and it will download even if they decline... Image credit: Gordon Kelly Windows 7 and 8 users are now prompted to get Windows 10 – and it will download even if they decline… Image credit: Gordon Kelly He continued: “I know of two instances where people on metered connections went over their data cap for August because of this unwanted download. My own internet (slow DSL) was crawling for a week or so until I discovered this problem. In fact, that’s what led me to it. Not only does it download, it tries to install every time the computer is booted.” Microsoft Confirms New Policy Astonishingly this is not a one-off error. Speaking to The Inquirer, Microsoft confirmed this is now something they are doing to all computers running Windows 7 and Windows 8: “For individuals who have chosen to receive automatic updates through Windows Update, we help upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they’ll need if they decide to upgrade. When the upgrade is ready, the customer will be prompted to install Windows 10 on the device,” said a Microsoft spokesperson. Now let’s be clear here: with regards to Windows 7 and Windows 8 “individuals who have chosen to receive automatic updates through Windows Update” is essentially everyone. So unless you expressly chose to switch off all Windows updates (not recommended), you will be receiving (and have already received) a 3-6GB silent download. As The Inquirer reader points out, this can be found at: C:\$windows.~BT Note this is a hidden folder so to view it you need to open File Explorer and go to: Organize > Folder Options > View > Show hidden files, folders, and drives. The Fall Out So what to make of this? Quite frankly, while opinions remain divided over Windows 10’s forced updates, for Microsoft to presumptuously take a substantial chunk of every Windows 7 and Windows 8 user’s storage (and data allowance) downloading Windows 10 even if they specifically state they do not want to upgrade is a big step too far. Personally I cannot see what Microsoft is trying to achieve here. When a user wants Windows 10 they will expect a large download to begin and there to be some waiting time. But Microsoft downloading Windows 10 anyway just to skip this wait for users who don’t want Windows 10 is complete madness." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/12/15 at 19:54:23 When a boy wants to be with a girl, he can expect to spend some time a'courtin her. Now, if he's not real concerned about her feelin the same way, he Can just tackle her and have his way with her, then explain to her she WAS eventually gonna Want him to do that, so, he was really just doing her a favor and saving everyone a buncha wasted time. Maybe management needs another turn in the Ethics classroom. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by verslagen1 on 09/12/15 at 20:03:16 good dog, I've been borged. 7/31 was the date. the nanites are currently dormant, but just waiting. I don't think I saw the documents and settings folder locked before. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/12/15 at 20:13:38 Verslagen, you are saying MS has actively locked you out of being able to control your own machine? This is in line with what is showing up on the net, that "a critical security flaw requires you to upgrade your OS at this point in time" and until you DO upgrade "willingly" your lock down grows and grows until you finally geek. :P Darth Satya knows best after all, that's why he's the Emperor ..... http://cdn1.sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PalpatineEvil.jpg |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/12/15 at 20:18:55 If someone can lock it, they can put stuff in it... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/12/15 at 20:33:21 Justin, Yep, MS has proven to everybody that they can indeed take over your machine --- take control of it away from you completely and use it pretty much any way they please. Including using your internet bandwidth to push along whatever they want to. Including using your machine as a Borg data crunching station while you are fast asleep and your machine is supposed to be OFF. Including reporting all things about you -- including your favorite porn sites, etc. to the gubbment. Don't you feel special, now? No? Special is not what you are feeling at the moment ??? Feel like you might just need a little protection for your computing now, a little bit of protection from MS and all the others that want to bend you over the coffee table? http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/hb-3.jpg Tony Stark says .... "If I want an antenna, I'll do it -- and it won't be inserted as a suppository either." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by verslagen1 on 09/12/15 at 20:39:20 Can't tell you the exact date I turned off auto update, but... it was before 9/1 and there's 3 updates for WinDef, kb2592687, kb2830477, kb2574819 and kb2901983. ah, update to ati radium driver on 8/23, that's when I last checked update was off. and numerous failed upgrade to win10, last attempt 8/30, must mean all the nanites are there... waiting. [smiley=undecided.gif] |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/12/15 at 20:42:20 I'm just tooling along on the kindle, is there something I should do? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/12/15 at 20:50:31 A Kindle from AMAZON is based on Android Opensource Code but is totally open to AMAZON to search your habits. Google Android is searched by Google, who makes no bones about it and Serge Brin has warned everybody for years that "There is no privacy on the Web, everything you do is monitored while going through the government controlled nodes." But, to date, Google has never tried to take over somebody's device -- the worst they have ever done was to uninstall an application that was in their PlayStore that was found to be a malware. Lots of notice was given on this and if the user wanted it they could put it back manually, but only with them knowing it was a tracking malware ..... Custom versions of Android from Samsung, LG and others are doing what Samsung and LG wants them to do. The Chinese versions of Android are notorious for tracking you and reporting it back to China every few hours. Right now Linux offers the best freestanding device, security wise, but that choice is still monitored by whatever your choice of browser does. (and you need to understand what that is, BTW) :P Relatively comfortable pre-crinkled tin foil hats, anyone? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/12/15 at 21:20:37 Ya know, they, whoever They are, already know everything about me. And IF someone wants me, they can put whatever they want on it and make it look like I did it.Funny about those porn sites, if it's bad to go there, why don't they take them down? Or, maybe that's who is behind them.. I'm going with that one. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by jcstokes on 09/12/15 at 21:38:28 Is it true that porn makes up about 25% or more of the internet.? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/12/15 at 21:42:33 Well, I can't say for sure, but, I doubt it.. Now, you take stupid, crooked, greedy and ask if that applies to 25% of the government, I can't prove it, but I'd say that's a waaay too low estimate. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/13/15 at 00:13:20 "This somewhat shocking development was discovered by The Inquirer " I stopped reading the post after that line.... might as well said The Examiner or The Star.... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/13/15 at 00:18:06 I think i'll crank up a couple of old PC's with vista, and 7 on them to see what you guys are experiencing. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by mpescatori on 09/13/15 at 03:24:47 797060677C787660130 wrote:
Uh... not sure, wait until I finish downloading the Mother-of-all-GrannyParn and I'll let you know ! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D (Hope you see the joke in my pun) :) [had to re-edit a number of times because of the spam filter...] ...what's a guy gotta do to crack a joke on a Sunday morning ? ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/13/15 at 07:03:56 46454D5B404D4C5B290 wrote:
Would you read one from these guys? http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/11/windows-10-preload/ .... or these guys? http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/microsoft-forces-windows-google-android-pay-tech-news-digest/ ..... and I like the "balanced reporting" that is shown by these Makeuseof guys and the Re/Code guys, who have identified by asking just how come MS thinks they have the right to send the Borg into your house at night with you being in objection to slimy mostly dead and rotting semi-mechanical beings touching you all over your body while you sleep. "Ina Fried, at re/code, received an unambiguous response from Microsoft (finally!) when questioned: “The license terms for Windows 10 require Automatic Updates be enabled as a part of keeping our customers secure and delivering Windows as a service.” The EULA statement says: 6. Updates. The software periodically checks for system and app updates, and downloads and installs them for you," reads the EULA's section 6. "You may obtain updates only from Microsoft or authorized sources, and Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates. By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice." Now, how did they do it to you? They used this wording in the click it to install EULA that you approved sometimes in the past to put something else on your machine that you considered worth-while. Then they hid the Borg code, or else simply sent it as part of a re-re-re-send of an old KB. Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates. By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice. Remember them words, because you already have your eyeball drilled and projector lens all installed and there is an awkward antenna sticking out of your bum right now. And they will finish the job later on this fall when they have the time (and think they have the drivers) to fully activate you completely, Monsieur la petite Borgette that you now are. Meanwhile, please enjoy being "mostly" benevolently monitored and controlled, for your own good of course. :-X No one has noticed any activity in Vista or XP at this point in time, but since the plan apparently is to switch you out completely then these old OS systems may not stop MS from going forward later on as apparently they want to do a clean sweep on all potential machines to widen their user base as much as possible. And remember, XP has a 25% market share still, so MS can't afford to just ignore them. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/13/15 at 07:28:51 And always remember, We should never even consider any of these Wild conspiracy theories. For to do so would lead us to the obvious truths. Just believe as you're told. I'm gonna post a clip of a marine and a D.C.think tank clown on the Tall table. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/13/15 at 14:39:48 The financial benefit to MS in rolling you into Win 10 (even against your will) means they only have to support one driver base, one set of upgrades, one set of security updates and one panic reaction plan in case something goes tits up. They save money that way. They also get to sell you piecemeal to whomever, plus they can use your bandwidth and router and internet connection to push out all these massive massive nightly updates. Also, they can farm out "pay me" data processing work to your machine at night for some pay me style number crunching. Plus, more importantly perhaps, MS gets to claim REALLY BIG market share numbers and they get to be a big dog again instead of being just the whipped cur of computing. Microsoft is shooting for a Billion devices running Win 10 by the end of next year. Put it in perspective, please -- Android sold 1.1 billion phones in 2014 and even more in 2015, so MS is trying to swag in their entire relatively recent production history to get an equal sized number, never mind that some of the devices were actually produced 9 years ago. So, Microsoft was being faced with irrelevance, and they have now taken desperate action in the conniving Win 10 push through to counter that growing feeling of irrelevance. And they are willing to accept extreme risk levels in some of the things they are doing to create those big numbers. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/13/15 at 17:01:30 Interesting perspective. Requires a grasp of the overall situation. And that requires a lot of time spent keeping up. I spent that kinda time studying political and economic stuff. Doesnt take long of looking the other way till it's changed... The basics remain the same, but, current events change. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by jcstokes on 09/13/15 at 21:01:37 Pease do this Signor Pescatori, I really want to know. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/14/15 at 05:39:34 Ok, time for the "out on a limb" predictions Microsoft, having proven out the tech, is going to go after Vista and XP machines that still have auto update still turned on. Actually, MS has proven they really can still push to your machine if you have auto update turned OFF, but they may need some new hooks put in the older machines for them to start to do this freely. Prediction: That last largest crop of 48 XP updates that got pushed out just two weeks ago included the "Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates. By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice." click to start approval verbiage and the first of the hooks needed to access your machine freely are already in place. You did this pretty much in ignorance, but yes, you did it. You are already a low level Borgette, but it isn't showing for much yet. To gain financial benefit from you, MS does not need to give you all of Win 10, they can give you the Borg package instead and get all the goodie from you that way while NOT HAVING TO GO INTO THE HASSLES OF REINVENTING ALL THOSE STRANGE OBSOLETE XP DRIVERS. You get minimum to no benefits and MS still gets maximum usage of your personal data, your internet connection and your computing equipment. Serobot asked a little while back "What's with this large 48 item update that got pushed to my XP machine?' I think this might possibly be a potential answer to his question. MS needed to put access hooks into your machine and they rode those hooks in on a Critical Security Update that you physically installed because MS said they needed to patch your XP machine for "serious issues". And indeed, they may have sent a few "fix an issue" things along with the patches, but some of those 48 items were your pre-Borg nanites. Serobot is now SeroBOT, welcome to the collective --- your charging station is over there against the wall. http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Borg.jpg "Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates. By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice." Having clicked to accept this verbiage just one time, then you will never see another update again -- they will all happen invisibly. People are reporting their XP machine suddenly getting all slow on them at times ..... wonder what that might be? :-? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by stewmills on 09/14/15 at 11:43:32 I for one went over my data limit (we live in the country...satellite only) this month and I called the provider and she confirmed it was windows updates that did it. I DO NOT want W10 and haven't looked at the downloaded files yet, so my question is what do I delete or 'finnagle' to STOP or PREVENT it from loading? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/14/15 at 13:07:22 Stew, It is too late ---- Microsoft has already downloaded the files to turn you into a Borg. They are in there on your machine already and you are getting the stream of (nightly nightmare) updates. Kiss your data cap good-by. People had some thoughts about how they could stop the process, but Microsoft very quickly stepped right around those motions and reinstall the things that they had deleted and reactivated the things that they had turned off. So they deleted and turned things off again and Microsoft reinstalled and turned things back on again. And then Microsoft began locking the settings on them as Verslagen noticed and pointed out. Microsoft controls your machine now -- not you. "Trust us." Sez Microsoft ...... ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/14/15 at 13:14:03 I got the kindle locally, some electronic devices store,, and know zero about the OS or if I'm in danger of, already Borged, or can prevent it. Your patience with me is appreciated. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/14/15 at 13:21:05 Justin, your Kindle runs Amazon's flavor of Android. This is not a Microsoft product. The only people you need to be afraid of is Amazon because they are tracking your buying habits and everything else through that tablet. However Amazon's only interested in your buying habits and they don't get so deep into your knickers like Microsoft does. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/14/15 at 13:31:11 http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/hb-3.jpg Tony Stark says "Linux is the only operating system I have found that is secure enough to use in my armor." Perhaps the EU will straighten MS out, or not .... the Russians and Germans are just going to ban it like they did Win 8 and use Linux. (Germany is working on a German National Operating System which shares code from both Unix and Linux -- smells sorta Apple scented if you know what I mean) :) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/14/15 at 13:40:48 Thank you, I am much comforted... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/14/15 at 17:33:02 http://www.zdnet.com/article/my-biggest-problem-with-windows-10-stability/ Why is this important? The person writing this article is Mary Jo Foley (Miss Microsoft) and she's not happy with Win 10 because it isn't stable enough for her to use. 1 month in and it's still not working right and Microsoft can't fix it and Mary Jo's beginning to say that bluntly. http://zdnet2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/09/14/d0ffe317-6de3-41f1-91ab-af9e46a46f7c/resize/770x578/6bc8f5147085cf18d1963035b1d76c94/windows-10-stability.gif "On my Windows 10 machine, this is how I've come to start my day: I slowly open my laptop lid, cautiously peer at my screen and wonder what is no longer working like it did yesterday. Some days, I'm pleasantly surprised and things seem stable. But in the past couple weeks, the opposite has been the case. As a result, part of my new morning routine is checking my Windows Update history and my Windows Store app installation history, hoping against hope for clues as to why my machine is not running right. ONE MONTH IN This is not OK. I wasn't a big Windows 8 fan. Being a heavy mouse and keyboard user, I liked 8.1 a bit more. Before installing Windows 10, I was really upbeat about its prospects, and my first few days with the new OS made me bullish. But Windows 10's lack of stability is really starting to be an issue for me in a way that wasn't my experience on Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1. And based on emails and Twitter messages, I'm getting, I am not alone." Mary Jo has just given permission for all the other writers to start bashing on Microsoft to get this s*** fixed. Miss Microsoft says it's broken --- why can't you fix it? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 06:42:37 http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-issues-sidelining-my-surface-3/ Windows 10 glitches have sidelined my Surface 3 http://zdnet4.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2015/09/14/6e10a10c-3d09-416b-a230-c3f8e20f3d13/bbf6e9a26f8ab7d6d633f3ce12dfa54b/dead-surface-3.jpg OK, Miss Microsoft has told the world Win 10 is broken (continuously no less) and she's sick of it. Everyone else is now going to write about their own instability issues now, piling on Microsoft's arse until they start fixing and stabilizing the OS instead of spending all their effort trying to suck more people into it. This is James Kendrick from Mobile News piling on with this classic "It's Microsoft's very own hardware for chrisssakes !!!" "In years past, when I talked to others about Windows instability, I would hear that it wasn't Microsoft's fault. There are the hardware vendors, system software, and hardware drivers to blame and this was no doubt part of the problem. That doesn't apply to my situation with the Surface 3. It's Microsoft's hardware, Microsoft's OS, and Microsoft's responsibility to get the drivers right. On top of that, all of the apps causing my frustration are Microsoft's own. Plus, if the problems arose due to a bad update, that's firmly in Microsoft's lap too. The fact that my system is all Microsoft makes me think that the company cannot fix Windows, and that makes me both sad and angry." The point that Mary Jo and James make is very clear -- it used to work correctly, but as MS wags in all these endless nightly fudge patches reliability has gone out window and the stuff just doesn't work right any more. Hell, I blame it on the Borg -- they run some really alien software and it must be bleeding over into the MS OS since they are lying in bed with the Borg now. Did Satya actually forget the Borg mantra? Resistance is futile -- you will be assimilated. Maybe the Borg feel that their mantra applies equally to MS just as well as all the human customers they have been injecting of late. Satya, did you even feel the needles in your neck when you got your Borg injection? ::) http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Borg.jpg |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 07:00:53 Here is MS's real dilemma. Kendrick went back to his Chromebook and Mary Jo went back to her Mac. If the message for the readers isn't clear enough, I'll state it more bluntly. If MS cannot pull their thumb from their own antenna orifice and get their stuff working well, you are going to start to see articles from mainline tech writers on what to do with all the mucked up Win 10 machines that you have in your house right now (since you cannot roll them back any more as the 30 days is up and especially since Win 7 is all Borged up now anyway. MS has nothing to offer you that is working well at all at this point in time -- not unless you want to go all the way back to XP) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 07:12:48 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/17/windows_10_pc_sales_flat/ Windows 10 PC sales boost? Don't hold your breath, say analysts "This according to analysts with ABI Research, who project that shipments will be flat compared to 2014. The entire portable market, which includes Chromebooks, ultraportables (such as the MacBook Air), netbooks, and conventional notebook PCs, is due to ship 165 million units over the course of the year. Of those four categories, notebook PCs (most of which are Microsoft Windows notebooks) are expected to see an annual decrease of 7 per cent. This despite Microsoft's release of Windows 10, the first major revision to the Microsoft OS since the 2012 launch of Windows 8. Many had hoped Windows 10 would fix the complaints around Windows 8 and, for ailing PC vendors, spur a wave of users buying new hardware to accompany the latest OS. Since its launch, however, complaints have risen over the way Windows 10 handles the personal data of users. Reviewers have noted numerous privacy concerns about the amount of information Windows 10 sends back to Microsoft by default. According to StatCounter, Windows 10 growth has already flattened out. One area that will see a boost is Chromebooks. Notebook PCs sporting the web-reliant Google OS will get a 35 per cent rise in shipments over 2014 to a total of 7 million units. Education will be a strong Chromebook market this year, and ABI said it sees markets outside of North America warming up to Chromebooks both in 2015 and the coming five years, when it predicts 22 per cent annual growth rates." And for the second time we hear people saying this little nugget, which is ominous for MS even if it only applies to business to business sales --- big business is a key market for MS after all, and for them to lose the leadership position, even for a few months, is very ominous news indeed. http://www.zdnet.com/article/npd-chromebooks-outsell-windows-laptops/ http://www.omgchrome.com/chromebooks-outsell-windows-notebooks-for-first-time/ |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 12:19:45 http://home.bt.com/images/10-quick-fixes-for-windows-10-problems-136399905362803901-150821152403.jpg The computing newscorps is NOT happy with Microsoft right now. Take a look at the headlines on the current first page of a Google search of "Windows 10 problems" and you see a litany of upset to downright angry articles. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=windows%2010%20problems You see pundits doing reversals of their recommendations to install Win 10 (its a bit late boys, the 30 days is up and the stuff actually works WORSE than it did on day 1) http://www.gottabemobile.com/2015/09/14/windows-10-upgrade-problems-still-dont-upgrade-yet/ You see semi-humorous attempts to make light of some pretty dire situations ..... this list is actually a pretty good summation of the first 40 days of Win 10's life. http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/10-quick-fixes-for-windows-10-problems-11363999064825 ======================================== In short, if MS hasn't offered to install the software yet on your machine -- count yourself lucky and stay away from it until later on in the year. Everyone trusts MS will eventually get a handle on their trouble making (trouble multiplying) bandwidth cap eating update system that is driven even the hard core Windows fans (like Mary Jo Foley) back to their Macs. MS is no longer predicted to do well with Windows 10 in the first installation year as the software installation has gone so badly it has turned boosters into boo'ers by the scads and droves. Hope exists that things will calm out later on this year and the advantages will show through again (hey, once they start working again). ::) However, now that Mary Jo Foley and James Kendrick have declared that they are writing their deadline articles on their "alternate equipment" (a Mac and a Chromebook respectively) you can count on the smarter people to be considering their other alternatives this Christmas rather than buying a brand new Windows 10 machine. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 12:53:52 http://www.computerworld.com/article/2870971/what-if-windows-10-fails.html What if Windows 10 fails? Read the first few paragraphs, and I think you will see a common assumption in everyone's mind that Win 7 will still be there to carry on the torch until Microsoft can cook up a new OS that pulls it all together. But, by Borging all the consumer Win 7 and XP installations, Microsoft has intentionally "burned their ships" to make sure people CANNOT go back to old comfortable Windows 7 or XP and just stay there. Win 10 is now do or die as the Borged Win 7 and XP installations share the same Win 10 type issues now. ======================================= Some say Chrome is too weak to pick up the load and Linux is too scattered to matter --- these viewpoints are being written by people who don't actually use those OS systems. The people who DO use them say "James, what the fluck are you talking about???" Fact is there are alternatives to Windows that take about as much mental investment as hopping from XP to Win 7 to Win 8 to Win 8.1 to Win 10. Alternatives that WORK right, right now. Macs look good right now for wealthier people and Chromebooks look good for everybody else. Techies like Linux and the various upscale Chromebooks (heck, using Crouton a good techie can have both running at the same time). Windows 10 is currently too broken for MANY MANY people and until MS gets their head out of their butts and STARTS FIXING WIN 10 ASAP then people will start discussing "Where should we go next?" |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 14:34:47 Whoooobaby, these tech writers are hot and after blood now. Mary Jo has given them permission to beat the pet dog and by golly they went and got their baseball bats out and started to floggin' .... Now the MAINSTREAM PRESS are picking up on it -- and getting out the electroprods. I expect the politicians to go off next, doing press conferences and demanding various regulatory arms to issue restrictions on these illegal behaviors. Let's start with the Inquirer, as it goes straight for the neck ..... http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/analysis/2425886/windows-10-updategate-microsoft-stays-tightlipped-as-the-world-rages And for another seasoned reporters more rational read on Microsoft's latest faux pas ... http://www.computerworld.com/article/2984312/microsoft-windows/microsofts-decision-to-pre-load-windows-10-upgrade-sans-consent-is-ill-advised.html and for the very best 180o turn around award, that goes to Woody here who now wants to string 'em up by the balls with a piece of barbed wire. http://www.infoworld.com/article/2983777/microsoft-windows/how-to-clean-the-windows-10-crapware-off-your-windows-7-or-81-pc.html Now why do I give the flip over award to Woody? He wrote articles saying it just wasn't so, that Microsoft would NEVER do anything that stupid and people were just wearing tinfoil hats that said that sort of stuff about his precious MS. http://www.infoworld.com/article/2983473/microsoft-windows/its-unlikely-that-microsofts-pushing-windows-10-files-onto-windows-7-machines.html "Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned", huh, Woody? Getting emotional for much there, buddy? Hey Woody, I gotcha a spare pre-crinkled mostly comfortable aluminum foil hat should you want to stop all that crazy stuff from being beamed into your head at night ...... that way you can get you some sleep, finally. ;) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 15:06:12 ..... and here comes Network World smokin' hot about Microsoft literally stealing customers bandwidth ..... http://www.networkworld.com/article/2956795/windows/microsoft-windows-10-updates-stealing-bandwidth.html Microsoft: Stop stealing bandwidth! http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/07/windows-frustration-100597519-primary.idge.jpg "Microsoft's decision to deploy Windows 10 with a function enabled to deliver Microsoft content via a peer-to-peer back door to fellow consumers is an egregious case of a vendor stealing users' bandwidth. This is just the latest example of an ominous trend for software and content purveyors to treat users' Internet bandwidth as a resource to be exploited without users' knowledge or consent, rather than a resource to be shared by choice and conserved whenever possible. Responsible application purveyors should be as bandwidth-lean as possible and should provide information about how much bandwidth a user can expect an application to consume. Although Microsoft's Windows 10-related behavior is especially appalling, the ever-growing resource needs of many applications have potentially bad consequences for a household's Internet connection performance, monthly Internet bill, and, in the case of Microsoft's peer-to-peer sharing, the impact on the Netflix movie being viewed on another device in the home." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/15/15 at 16:03:23 I just turned on my wife's Vista laptop and checked for any MS updates for the now abandoned OS which hasn't gotten an update in six months now. 22 Important Security updates sitting were in the cue -- recent updates with no particulars for what was in them showing up anywhere. Most were labeled Malicious Software Tool updates, some of which were listed as less than 3 megabytes but have taken in total more than an hour to download. ...... hhhhhhmmmmm ...... :-? :) Oh well, I think I may have just Borged my wife's computer so I can watch it all unfold first hand ..... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/15/15 at 21:17:02 Seeing MS bleed wouldn't make me cry. I hope Monsanto and archer, Daniels Midland all go tits up.. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by jcstokes on 09/16/15 at 00:22:07 I guess I'm Borgd, morgd, shorgd, torgd, horgd,rorgd, horgd, and forgd. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/16/15 at 06:33:35 Ohh, you poor, poor dear, horgd , twice. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/16/15 at 06:46:14 Let's talk Apple for a second. Yes, lots of people are pissed about Microsoft right now and they are looking hard at alternatives to HAVING to go buy a Win 10 machine. The time is ripe for a change since nobody likes having an antenna shoved up their butt all the time. Apple has now started to move their ARM for laptops project forward, intending to capitalize on Microsoft's antenna distress issues. http://www.macworld.com/article/2983385/ipad/the-ipad-pro-is-a-pilot-fish-for-apples-arm-laptop.html The iPad Pro is a pilot fish for Apple's ARM Laptop The latest iPad is a distinctly different creature than its predecessors, and Apple openly compared it to a laptop in specs. But is it a sign of even greater convergence? http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2015/09/ipad-pro-microsoft-office-100613594-large.jpg ARMed and ready "Ever since Apple began designing its A-series chips, we’ve heard rumors that the company is working on a laptop powered by an ARM chip. Certainly, Apple tests all kinds of ideas in locked-down labs. The iPad was built years before it finally shipped, and the iPhone actually came out of its development, not the other way around. Similarly, Apple had a group building OS X on Intel chips long before the PowerPC processor line was dropped. And thus we can be sure that OS X is running on prototype ARM-based hardware somewhere at One or Two Infinite Loop. While Intel ticks away at producing faster and more efficient processors, Apple focuses on controlling its own destiny. It’s been this way since the return of Steve Jobs, and slowly reducing the need for Intel processors would be a reasonable path. http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/09/ipad_pro_cpu_chart-100614584-large.png Please note that in last week’s keynote, Phil Schiller discussed iPad performance in a way Apple has previously avoided. The new tablet has a 64-bit chip that offers “desktop-class performance.” The iPad Pro’s CPU is 22 times faster than the original iPad’s chip, and twice as fast as the iPad Air 2’s processor. The new tablet also has twice as much memory—we know it’s 4GB thanks to an accidental disclosure by Adobe. Graphics performance is also 360 times faster than the original iPad. Apple even noted the Pro has better performance than 80 percent of the laptops on the market right now. Why praise the Pro in this context if it isn’t a test to see whether the market is waiting for something that combines attributes of a laptop and a tablet without the drawbacks of either?" An iPad Pro that has the screen size of a laptop, one that uses touch, trackpad, mouse, keyboard and pen/screen input, that instantly separates the keyboard for tablet use, is lighter than an iPad Air and has a stronger processor than 80% of the laptops currently on the market? Uh, what is not to like about that? The price, most likely -- the first Apple of a new generation or kind generally is a pretty pricey/snobby item, but we shall see what the two subsequent models next year do for some better pricing. The key thing is that the ARM laptop is now out there, coming both from Google and from Apple. This gives Google and Apple a price advantage that Microsoft doesn't have just yet, since an Intel chipped anything costs roughly a third to half more than the equivalent ARM chipped item does. But I also betcha Microsoft rolls out an ARM based PC before Q1 of next year (Qualcomm supposedly). This may be the new phonePC format, if Microsoft should be so bold as to take the move that will kill off the PC completely. Which brings up a point -- IF Microsoft already plans to make the PC obsolete, it explains why they don't care if they damage their image in the PC realm -- they will already own all of them through the Borging process and be able to use all "associated PC resources" freely to back whatever else they plan to do in the future. In short, PC would just be a disposable resource, to be Borged and used while it is still available. :-? As Macbook Pros have been notoriously expensive things all along, perhaps these new equally large screen ARM processored iPad Pros offer Apple a venue to undercut Microsoft's Ultrabook pricing by offering a less expensive NON-antenna shoving product that uses ALL FORMS OF INPUT gracefully and that works 100% right, right now to be Christmas competition for this year. I'm looking at it as my wife has already given me the directive to buy her a Mac when her PC dies. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/16/15 at 08:09:17 Just how well are Chromebooks working right now? It has been a while since I looked as once they got Linux Crouton'ed and all Android apps were able to be used I never really went into depth to see how much real usability that actually gave them -- I made an assumption since they could use Autocad on-line and Adobe Photoshop on-line and had Microsoft Office both on-line and actually sitting in the Google Chrome store as a native app that they had no real issues with productivity any more. This assumption needs checking I think. More pointedly, if you got sick of your Win 10 PC butt antenna and with Microsoft blowing up your internet bandwidth bill each month, would a low cost Chromebook be a usable thing to use to replace it? I wanted a current read off of the current crop of Chromebooks, and I found a journalist who uses more stuff than the normal person does who switched from a Mac to a Chromebook just recently and he had detailed his journey. This is PCMagazine talking here, so this is reputable enough stuff. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2490239,00.asp Why I Ditched My Mac for a Chromebook and there is a follow up article by another PCMagazine writer that gets into all the recent improvements and tricks that Chrome has gotten in the last year alone. http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/334395/12-tips-to-make-you-a-chromebook-pro 12 Tips to Make You a Chromebook Pro The gist of what I took away is that ChromeOS does most everything either by using Google's crop of built-in off-line capable softwares, or it uses on-line softwares from a wide variety of old mainschool suppliers who have moved on-line in the last year (so as to have a continuing existence). The rare holes that used somewhat strange journalism softwares are plugged using Android Apps or very very rarely a Linux version of the original strange software (sometimes using Wine and the original strange software). This is the ragged fringe stuff for a commercial journalist, so I don't think this really applies to normal people. What I see is that people who went Chrome either from a Windows background or a Mac background are quite happy now and don't plan to go back. The most money they had to spend in the change was involved in buying a cloud ready printer, but I kind of discount that now-a-days as ALL printers come cloud ready out of the box and it is just another replacement for a printer that crapped out on you naturally. You may already own a cloud ready printer, actually. For example, retrofit drivers exist from HP for most all fairly recent printers (that you can get from HP automatically as you install the Chromebook). |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/16/15 at 08:31:17 If you want to get shed of Win 10 (and Microsoft's antenna fetish) the order of cost goes sorta like this: Go Linux Mint Mate 17.2 COST = $0.00 Most of you guys would need help from a relative to do this, not because it is hard (it isn't) but because you are just too timid to do it on your own. Cost is practically nothing and it uses your existing printer and other items. (yeah, if you hit an exception I am sure you will tell me all about it, but that's OK) Go Chromebook COST = $250 Once again, the help from a relative may be needed, not because it is too hard but because most of you are both non-technical, inflexible and somewhat timid. The mindset you have isn't very flexible and the level of NEW is more than you can take by yourself. Help from a younger relative (who uses this stuff at school all the time) may be needed. Go Android tablet with attached keyboard COST = $300 If you have an Android Phone this will seem familiar enough to you. Go Amazon tablet COST = $350+ http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/amazon-fire-new.jpg yep, a 12" unit is on the way The current crop of 10" and 10"+ Amazon tablets with associated input devices look to be headed towards being fully usable computing devices, but will be more expensive than a plain jane Android device of the same size. Go Android Phone/PC COST = $500 This isn't fully cooked yet, but it is up and coming later on this year Keep Win 10 and just pay for the bandwidth overages each month TOTAL COST < $1,000 Go Mac/iPad Pro Cost = $2,000 Unless you already love the Mac this isn't a cost efficient option. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/16/15 at 08:42:24 2D0E0604070E0E0710620 wrote:
Really Old Feller?? Where you get those costs from? Updates do NOT cost on a windows phone, they are coded so as not to cost the customer overages on their bill, ask your provider. If they say anything other than that... get a new phone.... or tablet.... And why would Microsoft do that and lose a customer base of MILLIONS?.... I think thou borderest on aluminum foil hat wearing fear monger side of tech..... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/16/15 at 08:50:48 Yep, I do wear the hat, as do most of us who do not love MS. More tech journalists are putting on the hat as time goes by ...... (just read it) http://www.infoworld.com/article/2983777/microsoft-windows/how-to-clean-the-windows-10-crapware-off-your-windows-7-or-81-pc.html Seriously -- cost was a swag based upon paying broadband bandwidth overages each month (paying for MS pushing updates around) and for whatever service plan costs MS finally comes up with times 48 months which is the life span of a current computing device. But then again, you like wearing your antenna where it is, but I prefer mine coming from where Uncle Martin wore his, coming out from the top of his pre-crinkled aluminum foil hat. ;) Much easier to sit down that way. Plus, I can take my aluminum foil hat off when I want to and the antenna goes with the hat. ????? When did MS Win 10 phone creep into the conversation --- they ain't got one quite yet I don't think, do they? I was talking existing broadband cap overages people are seeing off their PCs each month, including some of our very own members. When Stewmills or one of the others here on the list can give us a real dollar cost for their broadband overage we can multiply it by 48 and have a more real figure. Until then, I fixed it by saying TOTAL COST < $1,000 |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/16/15 at 19:27:01 https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=microsoft%20stealing%20bandwidth NINE OUT OF 11 Tech News Sources say Microsoft is STEALING BANDWIDTH Look at the search results and read down through the first dozen or so -- since it is a live search the actual numbers will change daily, but lately have been headed upwards to a peak of 9 out of 11 tech sources say STEALING is going on. Certainly people who have not clicked on any sign ups to get Win 10 at all (but got it shoved on their machines anyway) and are having to pay any data overage charges for that shoving (and having to paying overage yet again to push it out to other people) are due compensation from Microsoft. Watch this one for class action suits and lawyers lining up for getting you to sign up for their particular class action suit. Keep up with your bandwidth overage charges if you want to try to get compensation back from MS. The EU is lining up a case against MS over this particular little ugly, so Satya, you might want to tell the boys to quit doing it ASAP and you go public and humbly apologize very sincerely for the "unfortunate mistake". ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/17/15 at 05:13:35 Well, time for a recap, I think. Yes, this is just my tinfoil hat opinion, but I think I have shown it unfold pretty clearly. <put on tinfoil hat> Win 10 was a must do, as MS was being faced with irrelevance as PC lost market share in high single to low double digits every year for the past 6 years. MS has lost approximately 25%-30% of their maximum market share from 8 years ago. Becoming irrelevant was more than MS could take. So, Microsoft envisioned Win 10 as sweeping up all existing PCs into a large enough single mass to put Microsoft back into the game as a MAJOR Player, suitable to compete in the future against Apple (iOS) and Google (Android). This Uber OS was supposed to run seamlessly across all platforms and give MS a tool to dominate computing again. It was staged very carefully with cherry picked Beta Testers (with known good hardware that MS could find drivers for) and the Beta Test program was run for 6-8 months while MS worked out their data mining and download P2P torrent tricks. Quietly, MS also worked out a program to extend data mining and download P2P tricks to the unsupported XP and Vista users with no intention of ever giving them the benefits of Win 10, but intending to use their personal data and internet bandwidth anyway. Then they polished everything up and did the big launch, but only to a selected subset of users who had the good hardware (similar to the cherry picked Beta testers). It went well for two weeks, until other users began installing Win 10 early before MS was "ready" for them. Flaws began to be seen. In an attempt to do damage control, MS locked down the descriptors on the nightly KB updates to hide the fact they were supposedly just re-re-re-peats of what went out last week, but actually the repeats were carrying extra code inside them to fix issues AND DO OTHER UNRELATED THINGS. The old KB was just a convenient carrying package with minimal traceability. Pundits began to write how to back out the "damaging" KBs and turn the features OFF --- and MS was reinstalling them again nightly and flipping the switches back on again. Finally MS began locking down the users ability to remove the offending KBs and took away their ability to disable the various features. MS then moved down into the larger mass of existing machines, for which they had spotty drivers for this and that. Issues multiplied. Frantic MS fixes for this and that began to fly around the internet every night, incidentally rendering Mary Jo Foley and James Kendrick's test machines (in Kendrick's case a Microsoft built Surface 3 with only MS products on it) both twitchy and unreliable. Mary Jo Foley and James Kendrick and finally spoke up and in doing so gave the press corps permission to beat on the family dog (criticize MS) and the press corps began to enthusiastically do so. Mary Jo went back to her Mac and James Kendrick went back to his Chromebook (their alternate article writing equipment). They are not going to chase a twitchy, erratic, malfunctioning Win 10 any longer. Call us when you get it fixed. MS has now been directly challenged to regain ground lost in the last 5 weeks, to repair what had been working correctly before and only then to carry forward with their program of total world conquest. More importantly, MS has lost the trust and good will of the press corps, which will make their lying about anything any further very contra-productive. Issue becomes that MS's roll out plan involved MUCH carefully weasel worded EULA tricks and many really vaguely worded click it approvals to get MS's program rolling in the first place. Now however, at each un-announced stage of that program it will be instantly challenged on legal and other grounds as people are ANGRY about what MS has already been doing. Stealing customers bandwidth and causing them to have to pay overage charges to their internet providers has now been called what it is -- stealing --. Pending legal and executive actions in the EU and Russia have put MS's grand plan into jeopardy and we are now waiting to see how it will all play out. Misleading consumers and false advertising is the very least of the offences MS is guilty of at this point. People should be able now choose to opt out of Win 10 and GO BACK TO AN UNPATCHED UNTWEEKED WIN 7 OR WIN 8/8.1 SHOULD THAT BE WHAT THEY WANT. <remove tinfoil hat> Microsoft the ARROGANT still exists in Redmond, and if you wish these folks to CONTROL your computer and MONITOR your on-line activities, LIST the contents of your hard drive for watchdog groups and STEAL your internet bandwidth then by all means, have at it. You will get "the operating system you deserve" by allowing all this sort of stuff to happen to your machine. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/17/15 at 06:06:53 http://betanews.com/2015/09/15/windows-10-is-shaping-up-to-be-the-most-unstable-release-since-millennium-edition-me/ Windows 10 is shaping up to be the most unstable release since Millennium Edition (ME) http://betanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PC-problem.jpg "Is Windows 10 unstable? That's the question that’s circulating through the blogosphere of late. With even veteran Windows watchers like Mary Jo Foley and Paul Thurrott now documenting their frustrations with the new OS, the perception that Microsoft released Windows 10 before it was ready is beginning to grow. A quick perusal of peer-to-peer support sites like www.tenforums.com will give you a taste of just how widespread the malaise truly is. From buggy device drivers to "vanishing" modern apps, Windows 10 seems to have arrived with more than its fair share of rough edges. SEE ALSO: How to fix Windows 10's worst problems I’ve personally documented my own (as yet still unresolved) issues with Windows 10’s lack of video driver support for first generation Windows tablet PCs. The finger pointing between Intel, Microsoft and the various hardware OEMs who are affected by this bug continues to this day. And in the course of upgrading to Windows 10 on several other, seemingly compatible PCs, I’ve encountered more than my fair share of general weirdness, including: Modern apps that simply won’t start. It often takes several taps/clicks on the corresponding Start Menu tile to get Modern apps to load. Tap once and nothing. Tap twice, again nothing. Finally, on the third or fourth try, the apps loads. My developer "spidey-sense" tells me it most likely has to do with a previous incarnation of the app’s process not fully shutting down. But whatever the source, it’s annoying as hell and makes Windows 10 feel less responsive than it should. Modern apps that suddenly "vanish" from the screen. I’m sure the app has crashed somehow, but the lack of corresponding visual feedback makes it all the more alarming. A simple error dialog with a hint at what happened (and perhaps a lead on how to fix it) would be nice. Even an Event Log entry would give us a starting point for diagnosis, but nada. Random freeze-ups upon resuming from sleep. On my Surface 3, if I leave the PC for a few minutes and it enters sleep mode, then resume it from sleep with a key press on the Touch Keyboard, I find I’m often frozen out for 10-15 seconds. This typically happens right after I’ve swiped away the lock screen. I then wait a bit and the system finally becomes responsive again. It’s almost as if the PC hung for a second (though the trackpad pointer is still active) and then somehow got unstuck. Needless to say, very alarming. Random scrolling issues in Modern apps. I’ll be scrolling through a web page in Edge and suddenly it freezes. Not the browser window, or even the tab controls, just the "content" within the tab itself. And even then, I can still interact with the underlying page (e.g. hyperlinks and JavaScript still work) -- just not move it in any direction. Refreshing the page doesn’t fix it, but closing the tab (but not the browser itself), and then reloading the page into a new tab, fixes the issue -- until it happens again. Interestingly, I’ve also encountered the scrolling issue in other Modern apps, most notably Mail and a Feedly-based RSS Reader app I use called Readiy (great app, BTW). Both exhibit similar behavior: Scrolling just stops dead until you close/reopen the app. I suspect that the problem may be linked to the trackpad on my Surface 3 (it mostly happens when scrolling in "desktop" mode), but it’s still quite disconcerting. More importantly, it’s the kind of random usability bug that makes Windows look bad when compared to iOS. The sad thing is that I don’t remember encountering nearly as many issues when I first started using Windows 8. Yes, there were some video driver issues when I upgraded my Envy x2 to Windows 8.1. But these were quickly sorted out by a driver update from HP. However, I don’t recall having as many problems with Modern apps running under Windows 8.x (e.g. no sudden "poof" events with the Mail client or Modern IE), and I certainly never experienced the kind of random freezes/lockups I’m seeing with Windows 10. To be fair, Microsoft is trying something new with Windows 10: A rolling update cycle in which the OS is never truly "finished" but instead keeps evolving over time. However, I can’t help but feel that the Windows team perhaps used this new development mantra as an excuse for cutting corners and releasing a remarkably unpolished (for a full release of Windows) product. Maybe this new approach will provide dividends in the future, but right now it’s leaving a sour initial taste, one that may prove extremely hard for Microsoft to mask down the road." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/17/15 at 10:01:22 http://www.zdnet.com/article/troubleshooting-and-repairing-windows-10/ by Ed Bott http://zdnet2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/09/16/58e3d0ac-ba9c-4f68-aad2-4838a9efaf8e/resize/770x578/588a909d11577b87f5f809c999b285a2/troubleshooting-and-repairing-windows-10-problems.gif As we choke along the Windows 10 saga, we need to remember to look at the viewpoint of people like ED BOTT (widely acknowledged as the most "in their pocket person" that Microsoft has ever owned). Ed has his annual full set of computing equipment GIVEN to him by Microsoft, a new set every year, so he can report on how wonderful it is as he writes his endless flow of gushy how to books. Even his peers consider Ed to be somewhat bought and paid for ..... and they make jokes about it. Why read Ed's article? Because he does say things need fixing without actually ever admitting how they were broken. And since his stuff is proof read by MS employees, you can be assured that the places he sends you to are still there and the toggle switches mentioned will still let you actually change them. And I find it totally amazing when he says "Occasionally, the return on your troubleshooting investment simply isn't worth it. Rather than spend hours trying to track down some weird bug or software interaction, I use Windows 10's Reset option to perform the equivalent of a clean install. The process is quick and extremely robust, and the results allow you to get back to work much faster than the old-school "clean install from a Windows DVD" option." Ed then goes through the 6 major areas where Win 10 is falling apart (carefully avoiding any of the real privacy or bandwidth stealing issues of course) and he keeps saying repeatedly to use the reset option. AND THEN AT THE VERY END HE SAYS THIS LITTLE DITTY, WHICH MADE ME LAUGH A BIT. "If basic troubleshooting doesn't work, I strongly recommend the Reset option, which does the equivalent of a clean install without the hassles associated with that option in earlier Windows versions. I've seen this option turn troublesome systems into well-behaved PCs, and the process of restoring apps and data is relatively quick, especially if your primary storage is in the cloud. And there's always the option to roll back to your previous OS and wait for a few months. Troubleshooting is all well and good, but sometimes being productive means allowing someone else to be the pioneer." What Ed is saying is that MS has really really hacked your computer up by uncontrolled randomly patching it to death, so you should just go RESET it repeatedly until you happen to hit a RESET mixture that pleases your hardware mix. Kinda like a monkey with a typewriter, given enough time eventually the monkey will inevitably type you up some Shakespeare. Luck of the draw will win out in the end. And no, Ed, these poor souls cannot go back to their Win 7 because the 30 days is up and MS just now got around to screwing their machine all sideways. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/18/15 at 06:36:19 Everybody has alternate devices now. We have Android and Apple tablets. We all carry a cell phone. MS and their brainchild can be stepped around if needed. Making a habit out of stepping around Win 10 is going to lead to alternate buying decisions eventually. Some are saying that there are MILLIONS and MILLIONS and MILLIONS of contented users who are having no issues with Win 10 -- and I am betting these are the same crowd who could use a Chromebook or an Android tablet with a keyboard and have no issues with that either as they simply do very very little with the machine. And yes, if you own really good modern hardware from mainline suppliers I bet your experience has been better than the homemade boxes put together by hobbiests buying their components separately. Drivers, you know, it is all in the drivers. The people having the most issues in normal use are the professionals, the power users and the gamers, people who stretch their machine to its raggedy edges. And I have to agree that Win 10 has the most torn up RAGGEDY edges of anything ever put out by MS to date. =========================================== Buckle down your broadband caps, MS is planning on fixing the mess next month with some sort of rebuild summary which will come out in a big lump about the size of the Win 10 pre-send that cause such a fuss this past month. They are forcing a form of Ed Bott style reset on you, sent at night while you are sleeping. The internet will be busy that day, and so will your machine as it re-sends it on a dozen times or more. Remember, if you blow your data cap, keep that bill for the class actions. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/18/15 at 07:30:18 Since Old_Rider has mentioned about MS Win 10 phones of late, I thought we might start discussing them also since they too have hit the news. I mean, it is all Windows 10, right? Same stuff working on all platforms, right? http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/17/microsoft-working-on-fix-for-phones-borked-by-windows-10-update/ hey, you need to click on this and read Gabe Aul's words -- it's worth the effort as the people he is writing to cannot even see his words on their bricked MS Windows phones that are totally borked, broken and NON_FUNCTIONAL. Microsoft working on fix for phones borked by Windows 10 update "When Microsoft released Windows 10 Mobile build 10536 to Insider users earlier this week, it probably didn't expect it to break user's phones. It did. Turns out,the update was only meant for certain devices, but a device check glitch allowed non-support devices to see, download and apply the new build. That's bad -- but Microsoft is trying to fix it." Trying to fix it ---- what the heck does that mean? How can Microsoft fix a BRICKED cell phone ????? Send you a pre-paid UPS mailer, I guess. Ship it off to a repair house. Weeks with no phone, gee, don't cha jest love it? "According to Microsoft's Gabriel Aul, installing the update on non-supported devices will essentially break the phone -- and the only way to fix it is to reflash back to the factory image, which most users probably don't have. There's no fix available for users who have already installed the mislabeled build, but Microsoft says it's on the case. "We're working on repair options for the devices that were not supported but got the latest build," Aul said on Twitter. "This is a high priority for us to solve and have a team dedicated to it. We will let you know as soon as we have info on recovery." Best course of action right now? Turn off Windows Insider updates, follow @GabeAul on Twitter, and wait." Anyhow, an illustrious beginning for the Win 10 phone effort, huh? It is good that MS gets the return for repair pre-paid mailer system all set up up front before the main roll outs begin, as if Win 10 PC is any indication they may well need it. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/18/15 at 07:59:05 http://www.techtimes.com/articles/85886/20150918/microsoft-working-on-fix-for-windows-10-mobile-update-that-breaks-phones.htm Microsoft Working On Fix For Windows 10 Mobile Update That Breaks Phones "According to Gabriel Aul, the corporate vice president of the Engineering Systems team in Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group, smartphones broken due to the installation of the Windows 10 Mobile build can only be fixed by reflashing the device back to its factory image, which is a process that most users are not knowledgeable of doing, in addition to factory images not being readily accessible." Here is a website that shows the twitter feed that took place as the borking began and the first layers of bricks hit the mortar. https://twitter.com/iamcadz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw I think MS should give all the Blu phone users brand new high end Nokia phones for their trouble ...... (hee hee) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/18/15 at 08:54:54 And you actually think I am a Microsoft basher? Pulleese ..... let me introduce you to the real McCoy (so you can tell the difference between an amused watcher and a real hard core basher) http://news.changewindows.org/windows-mobile/god-dammit-microsoft-screwed-up-again-right/ This is a windows insider .org that lists all changes made to Win 10. The organizers want to document if MS EVER actually listens to and takes some of the suggestions they have been given by their Beta preview people. This is for the Windows Faithful Windows lovers who want MS to at least listen to what users want instead of going their own merry way and saying "the users told us they wanted that" after the fact every time ...... they are documenting feedback given and ignored, in other words. There is no hate like love gone rotten. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/18/15 at 15:13:51 Both of my laptops are still running fine.... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/18/15 at 19:27:34 Let's be clear -- of the ~80 million Windows 10 users only a quarter of them were originally having serious problems with the update system and/or drivers. These problem folks generally use more than a handful of old style programs and a browser or two and they are the kind of hands on users that would try to customize their machine to suit themselves. The remainder ~55 million or so hit it lucky on their hardware and already have adequate drivers and really can't understand what the fuss is all about. The vast majority of users use their computer just to browse and hit social media sites and THAT'S IT. They are happy as a clam with Win 10. As time rolls on the ugly quarter has become more like an ugly third are that are having some unresolved issues of some sort (generally with more modern app style softwares) with the increase coming from all the buggy "fixes" recently put out through the update system. And from all the user attempts to cut off the objectionable stuff, etc. etc. etc. that MS is always having to turn back on all the time. Microsoft, through all its tech sites and captive tech writers are all now saying the exact same stuff now -- please RESET your machine and reload everything fresh and let us start over fresh, please. Then PLEASE don't mess with it. Issue I have is you having to reload all your software and set it all back up over again if you do it by the "you do it RESET method" -- me, I'd wait until October when Microsoft is going to functionally reset it for you automatically and MS will preserve all your installed softwares and settings when they do it. ;) ...... yup, and they will do it with zero issues and no fall out, just like they do Windows 10 phone upgrades ..... [smiley=evil.gif] |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/19/15 at 13:22:00 I am playing with a 15+ year old PC that had a Windows xp upgrade. LOL, finally got it to run, and loaded up drivers for my wireless-g PCI express card. Right now I am in the anciently slow process of defragging so it might run faster in the future. I will put the system specs here: when the defrag is done SOYO Dragon motherboard (can't find the specs for the chip socket) Radeon 9600 pro/w 128 meg ram 1 gig 266 DDR2 ram Western Digital 7200 rpm 250gig hd AMD Athalon XP2400 CPU (2.00GHZ) FUN STUFF! (posted this with the old dust bucket!) I am going to leave auto updates off to test the theory that evil Microsoft will turn it back on without my consent. And take over my dust bucket. After about two weeks I will turn the updates on and let them download ONLY if I approve. And see if evil Microsoft updates without my approval. Lastly, I will open automatic updates and let Microsoft have its way with this crochety old piece of outdated tech. If they download win 10 on this thing I will bow to their expertise or sue them for destroying my connection to the world! (OK, well, to here anyway) 8-) P.S. I will leave it running and turned on (it has a case off switch) and let it "sleep" for test purposes. Besides, the CMOS battery is dead, and I don't want to have to reset all the time! |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/19/15 at 13:58:03 You are running what is now called a Windows honey-trap. Many pundits and other people have done likewise, sitting up a place to check for Borg tracks each day. Mine is my Wife's Vista Machine, on the theory they'll go after a Vista machine before they go after the XP machines. We shall see, now won't we? ========================================= Honey trap results so far Verslagen has caught them pre-staging Win 10 on his Win 7 machine, as has at least one other list member. This Borg Win 7 activity has been admitted to by MS, so this isn't news any more. No Vista (other than suspicious resuming of a large chunk of security upgrades after no upgrades for a while) No XP (other than Serowbot getting a large chunk of security upgrades after no security upgrades for a while) The fact is that your Vista and your XP MIGHT be primed now for some future activity is pretty meaningless until it is triggered and the activity actually takes place. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/19/15 at 14:06:45 Oh.... and i'm running IE 7..... LOL, the task bar for suzukisavage page ends up in the middle of the screen most times. :D ;D P.S. How do you check for attacks each day, when this thing barely runs? LOL.... i suppose i will have to find some outdated software to do that with.... IF IT WILL LOAD ! Went back to the old YABB style to get rid of the task bar glitch :( P.P.S. Chrome dumped XP updates.... can no longer get or use it! But i can still use IE ! :P |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by youzguyz on 09/19/15 at 16:13:33 I haven't seen any action on any of my Window 7 machines at home. Is there anything to look for besides that hidden folder off the root of the Windows drive? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/19/15 at 16:52:38 MS has gotten WAY TOO MUCH ATTENTION paid to their shenanigans of late and seems to have calmed down a bunch lately on doing any more stupid things. Who knows, they might be concentrating on fixing some already known problems ...... They are also starting to do the push into Windows Phone and THAT AIN'T GOING SMOOTHLY either. I think they got their plate pretty full right now and aren't expanding their horizons so much any more. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/19/15 at 17:38:11 I am running XP 32 bit, even IE 9 won't run on this thing! I believe this machine is now 100 percent safe! Well, the browser isn't supported anymore (IE7) and the pages look like poop... but, well, 10 ain't gettin' IN! Guess i'll try firefox or what was that old one? started with an O ... Opera! yeah... is that still around? Loaded Firefox, works great.... went through settings and disabled all the prying eye software. Went back to the new forum graphics... works great.... guess, i'll use this machine to do little stuff (cause its old and don't want to work).... Still doing the experiment though..... So XP is still supported by firefox.... I tried using my mint 16..... finally got the video settings working, but the internet didn't work. I will delete and reload it and see.... Does mint 17 work with a 32bit system? Maybe i'll go there too. :) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/19/15 at 18:34:29 Mint comes in 32 bit flavor but you have to download the 32 bit ISO image and burn a new 32 bit Mint distribution DVD. Can't use your 64 bit disc at all as all the drivers and the program itself all wrong for a 32 bit machine. I haven't used 32 bit anything since my first AMD Athlon came down the pike, lo so many years ago -- I was an early 64 bit adopter back when it really didn't mean very much. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/19/15 at 19:25:08 Well the mint i was using was on drive one.... my wifes old failing one. Drive 2, my old xp drive was clean.... but.... 15, 16 nor 17 32 bit versions will work... they keep getting scared... and going back to text mode.... well, "scared" isn't the word used... I believe it was "panic mode"... So i guess i'll just keep doing the evil Microsoft test, and leaving well enough alone on this machine, and just let it stay on and online for the next two weeks in "no download" mode, then "approved only" mode, then just let microsoft have a field day with it.... LOL... if they dare! |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/20/15 at 04:39:23 I bet if you took out all the other drives out and left the one drive in question set up as the primary or boot drive it might work. You'd need the correct position on the cable and having the dip switches (or jumpers, as the case may be) on the drive set correctly, of course. The Mint installer likely assumes one (1) bootable primary hard drive on the automatic install routines. Or you could ask the estoteric boys and they'd give you instructions, but you may not know enough stuff to follow along and do what they say. Be aware that if you ever give Mint a whole drive to itself, it will reformat it to fs4 format with a Linux boot sector and MS won't be able to read the drive any more. BTW, GParted is a bootable CD freeware tool that can undo this full Linux format thing, and upon request it can reformat the drive back to NTFS and give it back a Windows boot sector. Unless your wife's bad drive has some real physical issues, GParted could put it back in the game again. This is one of the reasons virus and crap have such a hard time with Linux on a full Linux installation -- they can't see and can't feel and they really can't do much on a Linux formatted hard drive. If they demand something to be written to C:/, well, there isn't one. Linux is very frustrating for Windows viruses and trojans and rootkits and such. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/22/15 at 23:45:15 Ok, i'm not a "total" newb at installing software... well , except the linux stuff... LOL I have Two drives.... I actually unplug one (the wifes drive), and then plug in my drive... I physically disconnect each drive and test them..... My wife's drive will not actually accept the network driver that allows for wireless connection, but my drive will... go figure... her's is a western digitial 80 gig (with appropriate drivers from disc) and mine is a 250 seagate (with appropriate drivers from disc) The tower is capable of having 7 hd's on the bottom and four dvd/cd bays on top... however the power supply is only a 350watt. AND... the mother boards battery is shot, I think I stated that already.... soooo.... i won't turn it off with the back switch... only the power to the drives, or the reset button. It is not so old that I have to pin the ports or jumpers for usb's and such. But I did have a pin set for the forward usb ports. And there is actually a green power led for the reset on the motherboard (which also had to be pinned). Did I mention in some of my other forums, I was nick-named "old_school" ? I beta tested the GUI for AOL's windows 3.1..... when it was still in DOS Shell..... LOL, I still have my DOS 5.0 and Win 3.0 floppies! http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b471/Orphistle/IMG_20150923_245504359.jpg http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b471/Orphistle/IMG_20150923_245417220.jpg |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/23/15 at 03:20:45 I just recently threw away all my 5 1/4 floppies. Dos 3.0, DR Dos IBM Dos and the GAMES disks. My first computer was a Leading Edge model D with Two Floppy Drives. But I had RGB color, yep, state of the art all the way. Yep, I remember having to tune your systems interrupts whenever you installed new equipment due to conflicts over the same interrupt address. 40 meg hard drive was my first one -- FULL HEIGHT no less. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/23/15 at 03:44:10 I just recently threw away all my 5 1/4 floppies. Dos 3.0, DR Dos IBM Dos and the GAMES disks. My first computer was a Leading Edge model D with Two Floppy Drives. But I had RGB color, yep, state of the art all the way. Yep, I remember having to tune your systems interrupts whenever you installed new equipment due to conflicts over the same interrupt addresses. Then you set the jumpers on all your devices to the new assigned addresses. 40 meg hard drive was my first one -- FULL HEIGHT no less. ======================================== Looking back at the full run of it all, what MS is trying to do with auto-managing Win 10 from their end is pretty much groundbreaking and verging on impossible to do perfectly. The fact the bear can dance at all is a real breakthrough, if they can ever teach it to be graceful that will be amazing. After all, MS is trying to make a graceful Google Chromebook like ease of use device out of the "garbage everything" mass of computers from the last 10-12 years worth of computing. BTW, Chromebooks are taking off in Europe right now, Win 10 new sales are kinda flat at the moment in Europe as nobody wants the spyware aspect of it nor the bootloader hassles that comes with Win 10. The growing price differential between the two types is also killing the Win 10 devices as for the same money you can buy one hell of a nice Chromebook that is becoming easier and easier to put Linux on it (and that is what the European user is always looking for). As MS locks down new devices tighter and tighter their sales in Europe will drop, not expand. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by old_rider on 09/26/15 at 13:29:37 Well, i was hoping at least one of these had win 7 or earlier on them, but the one in the storage unit has xp also.... I remember setting them up in my sons play room for him and his friends to lan together and play wolfenstien and rott (rise of the triad) and duke nukem'. Still have a few four connection lan boxes in the closet. I have a couple old copies of win 95 and might take an old hard drive and load it up (if it isn't already on one of them, i have a couple 40 gigs and 80gigs) just to lan at least two together to play the old games in the garage... i kinda miss it LOL :) Well so far the two xp systems in the garage (i'm using the mad dog), have not been force fed win10 crap yet. Tomorrow will mark ten days for the mad dog with auto updates turned off.... I might just turn on the updates tomorrow using the (with my approval) selection and see what happens... the firewall is still turned off with this one.. The Compaq has auto update off and firewall on.... its only on like day 5 though. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/26/15 at 13:38:00 http://www.computerworld.com/article/2979745/microsoft-windows/windows-10-public-enemy-no-1-or-an-os-like-any-other.html http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/09/windows_logo-100612189-primary.idge.png What’s the biggest danger we face today? A gyrating stock market that could push us back into recession? Continuing terrorism threats? The long-range health of our social safety net? The specter of Donald Trump as president? Not if you restrict your reading to the tech press. There you will see that the one overriding threat today is Windows 10. That’s right; a simple operating system trumps terrorism, recession and, well, Trump. Since Microsoft released the new OS in late July, Windows 10 has been accused of massive privacy violations, denounced by members of the Russian parliament as a tool of espionage, banned by some file-sharing sites due to fears over privacy intrusions, and beset by allegations of violating federal HIPAA health-privacy regulations. And that’s just in the first month. The charges against Windows 10 have at their root people’s justifiable fears about their privacy when they use computers and browse the Internet. People’s fears have coalesced around Windows 10 because Microsoft has been a very big and convenient target for decades, particularly for those people who write the company’s name as Micro$oft. In fairness, part of this is Microsoft’s doing. Windows 10 shouldn’t default to the weakest privacy settings on installation — it should find a middle ground. During installation, people should be notified about privacy settings and what they mean. The company’s vague-sounding explanations of Windows 10’s settings do the company more harm than good because they leave room for conspiracy theorists. Yep, MS is still writing itself new headlines as it rings in its apologists to try to "explain it all away". Explain what away? Nobody has any questions or comments for MS except mebbe "When are you going to fix Windows 10?" Perhaps MS feels that any press, even bad press, is better than no press at all ???? Been quiet for the last 3 weeks, no new MS scandals at all ..... folks are beginning to just ignore MS again and they simply can't take being irrelevant. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/26/15 at 14:14:26 http://semiaccurate.com/2014/05/15/microsoft-now-irrelevant-computing-want-know/ The pundits are now writing in past tense about the decline and fall of MS into irrelevance now -- all over the place they seem to be writing about it. In 2013 they wrote to predict it, now it is written about in past tense. And this is in spite of Win 10 and "the new MS". Win 10's failure to hit the ground running well is seen as a confirmation of MS's inability to execute their new OS systems on PC, much less on mobile. Last weeks complete bricking of dozens of cell phones for the beta tester crew has put an !!! or three on to the FAIL associated with Win 10 mobile at this point in time. http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/microsoft-working-to-fix-phones-broken-by-windows-10-mobile-update-741670 The company is now assuring users that it is working on different repair options. "We're working on repair options for the devices that were not supported but got the latest build," Aul tweeted. "This is a high priority for us to solve and have a team dedicated to it. We will let you know as soon as we have info on recovery." Some HTC 8X handsets and many BLU smartphones are affected by the bug. Still no news on a fix for the broken phones and its been over a week now ..... but MS is toughing it out and going with the planned scheduled release of Win 10 Phone. If they do the same sort of "force you to do it" tricks and then tank a bunch more phones on a general release (especially since they now KNOW many brands will not take the upgrade ..... having found out the hard way by using the general beta tester population as guinea pigs and having cost some of them their phones ..... well then Win 10 mobile may get a rep for being too dangerous to try as an upgrade, ever. ======================================== So, how is Microsoft doing just lately? Like this past week? Nothing, stone quiet. No one is talking about MS at all, except to update some old predictions made back in 2013 and 2014 with "Yep, I told you so" sort of things. Here are some of that old prediction stuff that is all new like again ..... This is a LONG article, what is below is less than 10% of it ..... Microsoft is now irrelevant to computing, and they want you to know it Opinion: Two recent cave-ins leave no doubt they are done for Then came Surface, something SemiAccurate called a failure long before launch. We also said that OEMs were leaving Microsoft in droves at a level never seen before in the industry. People laughed. Bloomberg copied us without credit but still managed to doubt it. People poo-pooed what we said because they had no way of asking the companies about what was going on. Step forward two years and you have Chromebooks, Intel making Windows a minority OS, and every OEM out there trying desperately to put out not-Windows devices. Microsoft was almost non-existent on the floor of Computex 2013 and this year looks to be more of a Android, Chrome, and Steam OS whitewash. Microsoft killed their monopoly with Surface and management was too dumb to understand why. I doubt they even understand the depths of their problems today, but if you had to point to a single event that made Microsoft irrelevant, Surface’s launch was it. That said most people didn’t grasp how badly Microsoft had fallen, they were totally irrelevant and had no more monopoly to leverage. This played out with the Windows 8 launch, Microsoft was desperately trying to stay relevant in mobile by forcing the entire computing ecosystem to adopt their new mobile OS. In theory this would lead to software being leveraged across platforms, and between Office and Exchange, they could force people to use Microsoft mobile products. A funny thing happened though, an entire generation of users didn’t want to give up their beloved iPhones or Android devices for an inferior, slower, more expensive, app-free Microsoft device. Microsoft repeated their threat loudly, “Use our mobile OS or you won’t get Office or Exchange on your phone!” To their abject horror the response was almost universally, “OK, bye”. ======================================= http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-isnt-dying-its-just-becoming-irrelevant/ Windows isn't dying, it's just becoming irrelevant Once again, a long article, but this is the concise summation at the end of it. SIMPLICITY, OR LACK OF IT "Bottom line, some people don't have the time, energy, inclination, experience, or know-how to make Windows do what they want it to do. I know that there are times when I don't. And I'm not alone. When I read tweets from long-time tech veteran – and the person who, unbeknownst to him, was responsible for inspiring me to write about tech – Jon Honeyball about his struggles getting a printer working on Windows 8, that's a clear indication to me that the Windows ecosystem is broken. Sure, printers have always been the spawn of the devil, but given the ease with which I can connect my smartphones and tablets to a whole host of devices – from fitness wristbands to my car stereo – hooking a PC up to a printer should be a snap. Over the two decades that I've been helping people make the most from their PCs, I've lost count of the number of times that I've told people to delve into the Windows registry or run some arcane command that, to them, looks like it might summon the undead. I thought I was helping, but in the long run I was part of the problem. I was helping a bloated, convoluted, increasingly user-unfriendly product retain its dominance. THE BOTTOM LINE Windows, along with the PC, is going to be around for years to come. We're not talking about the sudden, premature death of the two icons of the modern IT world. Instead, what we are seeing is a slow, but certain, slide into irrelevance. Just as the stone ax gave way to one made of bronze, the Windows-powered PC must now give way to better, more customized, more refined tools." ========================================= https://techpinions.com/beating-the-dead-horse-that-is-microsoft-windows-part-1/ Beating The Dead Horse That Is Microsoft Windows (Part 1) This is just the index of a two week long series article on the fall of MS from any real relevance. I would say the full course of articles would hit 30 pages in length, and is very depressing to read in its entirety. Let Me Count The Ways "So, exactly how badly is Microsoft losing in the personal computing space? Let me count the ways: (FAIR WARNING: This is an old article and in this quote I replaced any out of date notations with the current name so it would be applicable to today's current nomenclature. This guy couldn't predict Win 9 would never be and Win 10 would be the name du jour. However, the accuracy of this series of predictions is still creepy accurate so far ..... 1) PCs are in decline; 2) Mobile is ascendant; 3) Windows 10 Phone sales have been disappointing; 4) Windows 10 new sales have been disappointing; 5) Microsoft Surface sales have been disappointing; 6) Third-party Windows 10 tablet sales have been disappointing; 7) Ultrabook sales have been disappointing; 8) Windows 10 business adoption has been disappointing; 9) Microsoft App Store growth has been disappointing; 10) Business and Enterprise is moving on without Microsoft’s products or services; 11) Microsoft has lost its monopoly and its monopoly powers; and 12) Microsoft is dependent upon legacy products – Windows and Office – for the bulk of its profits. No reasonable person is arguing that Microsoft is going away. What rational people ARE contending is that Microsoft is becoming irrelevant in the front end – the consumer facing portion – of the personal computing space." ======================================== So, if MS actually stops writing headlines for itself by having Windows 10 CONTINUOUSLY DOING RASH, CRAZY-SCARY OR STUPID / GREEDY THINGS, does it actually hasten the moment when nobody cares any more? Which will come first, the chicken or the egg? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/26/15 at 20:58:42 http://winsupersite.com/poll/08032015 Winsupersite has been running a poll for a while now, and as a major source of Windows information they have collected over 1,444 responses now. This is likely biased a bit since it is mainly a TROUBLE fix source type site, so folks having easy sailing don't go there all that much necessarily. Even so, 52% considered the upgrade successful (not perfect, but successful) with 35% ringing in with issues and 13% not having done it yet at all for fear of all the stuff currently going on right now. Was your upgrade to Windows 10 successful? Windows 10 was released on 29 July to much fanfare and to reviews that were overwhelmingly on the positive side compared to its Windows 8 predecessor. We would like to hear from you about your upgrade to find out if it was successful or whether you have not yet completed it. If you ran into issues during the process or are delaying the upgrade for a specific reason please share that info in the comments so we can get a good feel for your experiences. Yes 52% (757 votes) I had some issues with the upgrade 25% (357 votes) I have not upgraded yet 13% (190 votes) No 10% (140 votes) Total voters: 1444 If you click on the page, do take the time to read some of the comments. These are from the 35% that had issues, which turns out that some of the 52% who had no problems originally had some problems later on. Windows 10 has been a very mixed blessing so far for many users. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/27/15 at 18:47:19 http://teamtayonews.blogspot.com/2015/08/windows-10-russian-lawyers-sue.html "Once again Microsoft has found itself in troubled waters due to the data collection settings in its new operating system Windows 10. The Bubnov and Partners Moscow legal firm has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office and and have asked Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to investigate violations of the law that allegedly occur during the distribution of Microsoft’s new product Windows 10, thus infringing the local laws, reports RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday citing attorney Alexei Kuznetsov. According to the attorneys, the law firm claims that Windows 10 threatens user privacy, as the operating system collects browser history, passwords, location, emails, calendar events and voice samples and passes them on to third parties. The request could suggest that Microsoft could use this data for its own purpose and also to transfer them to third parties, from advertisers to security services to courts. The attorneys are mainly concerned with maintaining legal confidentiality. They claim that no lawyer using Windows 10 can guarantee confidentiality to a client. According to the law firm, the data collection function should be switched off by default and users should be able to choose whether to turn it on. They also said that the new operating system should only be approved for distribution in Russia after Microsoft complies with this condition. Last week, State Duma Deputy Vadim Solovyov sent an official request to the Prosecutor General’s Office to review Microsoft, for its compliance with the Russian law, Izvestia newspaper reported at the time. Solovyov believes that, since many Russian government agencies use Windows operating systems, it could result in leaks of classified information in favor of foreign intelligence. The deputy also claimed that Windows 10 is effectively spying on its users. A spokesman for Microsoft, however, denied the allegations to RIA Novosti. “The new operating system offers users the choice of how they want it to handle their data and users can change the settings at any point,” the unidentified spokesman told the news agency on Thursday. The company said in a statement that the privacy of the users is fully protected in Windows 10. “Windows 10 puts customers in control by giving them choices about how information is used to deliver personalized services and experiences. We also offer customers a number of options in Windows 10 privacy settings to control any additional information they choose to provide,” the company added. The Windows 10 data collection features can be done disabled from the settings screen. However, several apps that are already existing can do this automatically with just a few clicks. According to what some say, even if the features in the settings screen is disabled, Microsoft still continues to collect information in the background. Hence, to ensure that your privacy is not violated, it is advisable to use third-party apps when using the new operating system. For a period of 12 months, starting July 29,2015, the new Windows 10 operating system can be installed for free on computers using the previous version of Windows 7/8/8.1. Within the first 24 hours of release, some 14 million users around the world had downloaded the OS." The main issue that MS has with this iffy defense is that is hasn't been true for the first 4 months of the Win 10 implementation and although MS might indeed have a fix in place now that is active, it still requires a user to have the skill and the will to go do it -- by default the spying is still turned on and going on right now. Secondly, Microsoft, through their updates and patches and KBs have also shown a willingness to "adjust" these settings for you in the middle of the night (secretly, willy nilly) from what you had set the setting to. The Russians and the Germans and the Chinese will eventually reach an agreement with MS or they each separately will kick MS Win 10 asses out again, just like they did with Win 8. ======================== update ============================ China and Microsoft have now reached agreement to turn all Win 10 China search functions over to Baidu, which is the Chinese National search engine (Chinese gov controlled). Win 10 China is just a shell for Baidu now. China is the only gov right now with the balls to go deal with MS up front when they get out of line -- Swat Teams with guns go in and shut all the MS offices down and the Chinese LAN nodes quit processing all MS traffic until MS geeks whatever it is that China wants right then. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 09/27/15 at 18:59:37 http://amigobulls.com/articles/all-about-the-microsoft-baidu-deal-and-other-key-announcements-from-microsoft OK, MS is giving a NON-INTRUSIVE Win 10 to illegal hot copy Chinese XP users FOR FREE but MS can't seem to find a way to do it for us and we bought our XP legally. "Today, we’re excited to announce another partnership with a leader in China - Baidu," says the Microsoft announcement. "With over 600 million active users, Baidu is one of the most frequently used Internet gateways in China. Together, we will make it easy for Baidu customers to upgrade to Windows 10 and we will deliver a custom experience for customers in China, providing local browsing and search experiences. Baidu.com will become the default homepage and search for the Microsoft Edge browser in Windows 10." Officially released on July 2015, Edge replaced Internet Explorer as the default browser on Windows 10. The value of the Baidu deal for Microsoft is that it will help Microsoft capture more Windows 10 users in China. In exchange for the search placement, Baidu will make it easier for its own customers to update to Windows 10. Chinese Windows users - including hundreds of millions of users who run old or pirated version of Microsoft's operating system - will be able to upgrade to an official version of Windows 10 through Baidu's "Windows 10 Express" distribution channel. Where are our politicians and why can't our government take care of US the way that China takes care of the Chinese? :-? ...... users who run old or pirated version of Microsoft's operating system - will be able to upgrade to an official version of Windows 10 through Baidu's "Windows 10 Express" distribution channel. ..... hmmmmm ??? Potential there, perhaps. ;) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft forcing Windows 10 on UNWILLING peop Post by Oldfeller on 10/01/15 at 06:07:20 More after the fact Windows 10 polls ..... much much bigger polls ..... http://www.windowscentral.com/poll-how-windows-10-treating-you Poll: How is Windows 10 treating you? This is a significant sample size (over 5,000) from a site that "general people" go to, this is not a trouble fix site so the sampling isn't skewed so much. How is Windows 10 treating you? Brilliant, best Windows ever! 45.36% (2,518 votes) Good, few issues though 38.93% (2,161 votes) It's OK, mixed feelings 8.29% (460 votes) Generally not good, too many issues 5.51% (306 votes) Terrible, worst Windows ever! 1.91% (106 votes) Total Votes: 5,551 So, slightly over 50% report issues with the really ill stuff being limited to less than 10% but with the majority of the people still having nagging issues that have NOT BEEN FIXED YET. Yet, they are overall content with it because it was free and it mostly works OK. Rest assured if they had paid $110 for it they'd be much much less happy right now. ====================== AND all them tester folks with the bricked Win 10 phones from HTC and Blu, they still haven't been given a fix method by Microsoft. These folks are now clamoring for replacement phones -- MS, you busted it by being careless, you replace it. MS just promises that they have a team working on it. And now MS is saying unless you have a MS built, MS phone, please turn off your Win 10 Beta Testing update feed right now, ASAP, immediately. This is an admission that their entire program is based upon their own hardware and they don't test AT ALL on other hardware and MS gets plumb surprised when they go brick something else with an update. Something tells me MS really can't fix what they did to all those HTC and Blu phones -- their update trashed the bios flash feature on those phones and it is beyond MS's remote control to fix it. They simply can't get the phones to take a remote reflash any more. They may have to be sent home to be fixed. Time to send out the mailers, MS. Or replace the phones since you want only happy campers talking to all their peers, right? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/02/15 at 03:56:21 Fair is fair. I just installed iOS 9 on my iPad 2 and I am reminded that Apple releases buggy software with every revision too, then trusts user feedback to give them the info they need to fix it, eventually, generally finishing out the complete run of changes around the time the next revision rolls out. They roll a new revision once every 2 years ....... Right now my iPad 2 will only show battery charge levels base on the iPad 4's larger battery, my smaller Pad 2 battery is only 60% of that size, so that is what I show at full charge. This sucks, and it takes them MONTHS to fix this simple bug and they do it at every iOS changeover, religiously. Since iOS 9 is supposedly the last one for iPad 2, I am not going to have to do this again, I don't think. Fair is fair -- Apple does it too. So does Ubuntu Linux. Linux Mint does NOT do it, especially if you hang back a version level like I have been doing lately. Mint hangs back some anyway and fixes Ubuntu before releasing it, and lately Mint hasn't even tried to keep up with Ubuntu's frantic change nonsense but has stuck with ONE KNOWN GOOD UBUNTU RELEASE as their base point for the last 2 years running. Full maturity and 100% completed debugging takes a year or so in ALL computer systems. People are starting to value stability and "it just works" more and more and more, but Windows and Apple actually don't offer this so much on their new stuff. Android has the same general issue with updates. My very best android experiences are with Android phones that have fully matured and are static and stable at the last most perfected state of a slightly older candy flavor. I am running fully mature and stable Android 4.4.4 as massaged by Republic Wireless and am quite happy with the no strange stuff happening, ever. Accordingly, I will keep the phone until it breaks -- and Moto G (first gen, built by Google) were noted for being very rugged long lasting phones. =============================== Update: Two weeks later iOS 9.02 came through and fixed the iPad 2 battery reporting issue. Apple is getting quicker at their fixer upper stuff. :-[ The MS HTC and Blu phone update bricking issue is still unchanged. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/03/15 at 17:02:06 Silicon will change next year. Intel is going to go 100% 14nm Skylake (still with no real speed increase to be found) and Intel will start prepping Cannonlake (10nm) as a "2017 implementation". However, next year (2016) Samsung will PRODUCE FULL RUNS of 10nm chipsets to ship in new products for both Apple and for themselves. Rumor has it that one production line has already been fully converted and is doing Apple production runs as we speak. Speed isn't so great yet, but is getting slowly better. Technology is actually the existing "improved" 14nm tech with some extra lithography passes, so other lines are available to roll over when the time comes. Since it is slower, more lines will be needed. ARM is ready with hard macro designs for 10nm called the Prometheus series. There are 3 levels of chipsets in Prometheus, not just two as previously. By 2017 the three-level 10 core chipset (a la Mediatek) will be standard for all makers, including Intel, as 10nm lithography does not offer the big speed boost that folks are used to seeing at a lithography downsize. To get a real 25% throughput increase more cores will be needed to get that 25% throughput boost. Battery life should get better though, as 10nm will run at 2.2 volts, not 5 volts as 14nm does now. Cost for 10nm will stay high as all components have to be remade at 2.2 volts, and until the big volume goes to 10nm the costs there will remain higher. Single pass lithography 28nm will remain THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE lithography size, so expect a lot of players to keep on making their same bread and butter chipsets from years past, but expect them to go into ever cheaper and cheaper products. Also expect the old stuff to get better graphics and radios as such have already been designed for higher end products at 28nm, so they will now roll down into the low end products. Walmart now lists $50 and $60 tablets with specs that would have been state of the art 2-3 years ago. As the chipsets get better, so will the low end products. http://www.walmart.com/tp/tablets-under-100 |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/04/15 at 03:25:36 Phones ..... changing big time in 2016 Google Fi -- Google innovates by having multiple carriers (Sprint and T-Mobile) both lit at the same time by the same phone with the phone intelligently trading off between wifi and the two phone carriers as needed -- at a much reduced price to the end user. Google Fi comes to all the new Nexus phones that just came out and to certain select phones from other makers that are joining the Google Fi idea in this upcoming year. Apple is picking up on the trick with Apple becoming, like Google, a wireless carrier who will conglomerate existing major carriers. Apple will charge you a lot more for their wireless service though, while Google is doing it as a break even while trying to show the industry how phone makers can LOWER the end users cost for phone service while making it all work faster and better. Google uses Qualcomm chipsets (middle to upper grade) while Apple designs their own phone chip for maximum performance. Republic Wireless continues to pilot all the progress of this type, but using Qualcomm's least costly chipsets and with wifi, Sprint and AT&T for your roaming coverage. Republic Wireless costs half of what Google Fi costs and the phones cost $129 for a Moto E and $299 for a Moto X. Use of wifi as your primary connection type will become more prevalent in 2016 as many phone makers are utilizing the capability to do this that is built into all current Qualcomm and Mediatek chipsets now. All carriers except AT&T have already geeked some and lowered their plan pricing at this point in time. As Google tightens the screws with Google Fi and the old school main carriers lose more and more customers to Apple and Google they will all have to get with the plan or see their customer pool evaporate. ;) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/04/15 at 03:49:26 Computing Choice is the real theme of 2016 computing. You can choose to lock in with Windows 10, or you can go over to Apple, or go with the lower cost Chromebook, or you can go Android for the very least cost systems. http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Pro-II-10.1-Tablet-16GB-Quad-Core-Keyboard-Case-with-Ematic-8-in-1-Kit/45744382 http://i5.wal.co/dfw/dce07b8c-5e41/k2-_6c1e730c-1e18-47c0-a274-a23a21cd477e.v1.jpg-5fb5b0ffe8481ad97a9136fcbe9d20817c231641-webp-180x180.we $93 buys tablet, keyboard, bluetooth speakers and hook up & charger stuff The Android option is not being driven by Google, but is growing organically out of the Oriental's love of the open source Android OS system, with Oriental phone builders tablet builders and cellular carriers writing all the new code to do all the desktop stuff and adding it to their own versions of the Android OS system. This is becoming easier to do as these guys also send their code to the LINARO open source store to be stocked on the shelf for others to use. Google now directly controls less than 25% of the Android code world wide, and only controls 5-8% of the actual Android hardware out there. Organic Android is far far far the largest code base out there now-a-days. And its growing ..... organically and rapidly. Linux is still slowly growing in Europe still, becoming a "country based initiative" for those countries who are kicking MS out for spying on them. MS the arrogant still hasn't learned that they can't just go do that sort of stuff anymore whenever the whimsy strikes them. MS is not totally dominant in any new sales area any more, but seems to have a hard time remembering that fact as they continue to do incredibly arrogant things with Win 10. Organically growing Android is the most prevalent OS in the world right now --- and as organic (non-Google controlled) Android takes over 60% of the computing device market people need to recognize that organic Android is now the king on all sorts of screens. #2 spot belongs to Apple, based on iPhone and iPad sales world wide. Apple desktop computing is minuscule compared the numbers generated by iPhone alone. Next largest is Microsoft, which is based solely on their unifying their historic PC mass and their ongoing plan to give away "free Win 10" to stay in the game another 5 years while they try to figure out something else to be successful at yet again. Next is Google, but only counting them for directly controlled Chromebooks and directly controlled Android software and directly controlled hardware. ======================================== Ideologically, Android and Chrome give Google an 60% influence over the totality of NEW SALES OF computing, with Apple coming next at about 30% (due mainly to their huge iPhone numbers) and with Microsoft only influencing around 10% of new computing device sales right now. Linux ranges around 2% of total devices, but very very few are actually sold as Linux machines brand new. Almost all are retreaded Windows machines. Remember, combine computers and phones when talking about these total influence numbers. And yes, Apple generates more new sales revenue just in iPhone sales dollars than Microsoft generates in total new sales dollars, period. Seriously, Microsoft really isn't all that important any more ...... unless you are talking desktop computing where they still have most of the legacy that is out there. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/04/15 at 09:03:54 Processor sales Apple has the largest single block of processor sales which matches their iPhone and iPad sales. Samsung builds most of them, but not all of them. TSMC shares in that glory as well. TSMC produces the vast majority of standard ARM chipsets. However this lead is eroding as Mediatek and the other hockey stick boys are cutting into TSMC sales quite a bit of late. Global Foundry is in there as well, as part of the IBM/Samsung/Global Foundry Consortium. Then number-wise comes Intel, but only in the aggregate of everything they produce. Intel sales are giving up some of what the hockey stick guys are growing on, but since that rising tide is lifting all the boats at the same time, this really isn't so noticeable until the tide stops rising. That is when folks will notice Intel sitting low in the water compared to the rest. Microsoft is FIRST in this new Phone/PC effort, as apart from three (3) Oriental organic Android vendors Google has not replied yet. Nor has Apple. Intel feels the PC market declining most acutely (6-10% year on year on year) as what they picked up in tablet sales was all low margin stuff and you need 10 tablet chipsets to make up the profit margin from one PC processor (assuming you sell the tablet chipset at a profit, and with Intel this is not always true as they are still price supporting tablet chipsets). Mediatek is shooting at Qualcomm with their big new 10 core chipsets, but the shots that miss Qualcomm seem to be hitting the legs of the Intel giant standing off to the side behind Qualcomm. Intel is worried because they see their tablet sales losing all form of viability within the next 2 years as ARM chipsets are getting just that much better at a much much lower price. And they are rightly concerned as both Google and Microsoft are intending to be "processor agnostic" going forward into the future and the newest most powerful ARM chipsets rank right up in the mass of Intel laptop processor units as far as processing power and graphics go --- and the ARM stuff is much much cheaper. Both Qualcomm and Mediatek are making Intel sweat right now, as is the new Apple A10 and A10x chipset that is under pilot lot production right now. http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/14/apple-a-series-chips-mac/ http://https://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/kgi-apple-intel-a10-processors.png?w=1000 Apple is the only one still left that only uses Intel chipsets for laptop/desktop units any more -- and that situation may change at any time as Apple has been working on an ARM chipset for their low end laptops for quite a while now. A10x is out there, and it is acknowledged by Apple at their last show and tell as a laptop capable chipset. Tablet and Chromebook space are Intel's main ARM battleground fronts, but as the new Nvidia Tegra K1 crew, the Rockchip RK3288/RK3388 and all of the new Mediatek Helio 10 layered cortex A72 cores burst into laptop space this upcoming year -- in 2016 Intel may find all of laptop land joining into the churned earth of the ARM battle zone. Further confusing Intel's market mayhem is the phone/PC, of which we now have two examples being produced and shipped --by Microsoft of all people, with both using Qualcomm chipsets at this point in time. We currently have 3 organic Android units doing the same sort of thing off of ARM based tablets and phones. THESE ARE ARM CHIPSETS THAT ARE KEEPING INTEL OUT OF AN ENTIRE BRAND NEW MARKET SEGMENT. Intel must fire back ASAP, and that return fire is expected to come from the ASUS Zenphone group. ;) .... change, she comes ..... TSMC just made the news by providing Apple with testing samples of their 10nm production process, thus entering the A10X sweepstakes as a last minute dark horse entry. Since all 3 of the large ARM makers, Samsung Global and TSMC all have 10mm processes ready right now and Intel does not, life just got a little more interesting for Intel next year. :D ...... Intel should skip 10nm and drive directly for a 7nm non-silicone process -- they have lost out already on the 10nm generation and need to save some face at this point in time ..... If they try with everything they've got mebbe they can compete again at 7nm if the ARM guys haven't gotten there (again) a whole year before Intel does. REMINDER, the IBM, Samsung, Global Foundry Consortium already have a 7nm non-silicone process that was developed and patented by IBM 3-4 months ago. ASML Holdings is building a pilot production line for the Consortium (with Apple possibly footing the bill as it will be their dedicated line for 2018 when it is finally working right). Speed to the 7nm market is Intel's only possible hope now and they are starting out 3 months behind IBM/Samsung/Global/Apple at this point in time. Intel had better get on the stick as Apple will want that 7nm chipset as a A11x follow on for the year after next (2018) production year. Apple has ways of making things happen quicker than you would think it possibly could, but with them owning 33% of ARM Holdings may just have a little something to do with that, don't you think? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/04/15 at 12:28:26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-r1_oYSSrw it is a YouTube, click on it Microsoft Buys The Havok Physics Gaming Engine From Intel (the Console War with Sony Is Over) Intel has turned loose of their Havok engine, selling it to Microsoft in order to get out of that business. Intel has no great gaming chipsets in the pipeline to move forward into. Intel is tired of continuously losing money on gaming this and gaming that. Steam is controlling PC gaming now, just about, and Gabe loves STEAM/Linux, not Microsoft Windows. Gabe is jest a waiting to embrace ARM chipsets later on this year when they come out in a crop of brand new ARM based STEAM boxes ..... AMD is currently for sale again now, for about the same reasons that Intel is currently suffering (and exiting) from game land. > Microsoft is considering buying the video card part of AMD to get control of the AMD Gaming Graphics Consortium < alias MANTEL Microsoft correctly realizes that revolutions in GAMING has driven more brand new PC purchases than any other single cause. Plus MS needs something to own that will HOPEFULLY carry them on into the future ...... Microsoft isn't / hasn't been paying enough attention to what Gabe is doing, however, since he is planning to render Wintel Gaming obsolete soon enough. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/04/15 at 16:33:56 HA !!! Old_Rider gets to tell me "I told you so". I just used GParted live to re-do part of my hard disk back to a NTFS format on ~80 gigs~ of my hard drive space, and I went and loaded Win 7 legally and just one program, STEAM Live. I now have a 100% registered legal Windows gaming partition that only exists when I am gaming a Windows Only game. I load them from Steam into the 80 gigs of hard drive space and then I play them some, then reboot back to Linux Mint automatically when I get done. Linux Mint 17.2 Mate is where I stay all the rest of the time. [smiley=engel017.gif] This is a challenge to Win 10 to automatically go find me and corrupt me with nasty ol' Win 10. Plus, both my machine and my Win 7 are 100% Dell commercial, so Win 10 just may not come calling on me in the middle of the night in an uncontrolled fashion for fear of pissing off "Big Business". ;) ..... Plus, as a moving target that is there, then not there and there and then not there, lets see if they can find me at all. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/04/15 at 18:44:13 Well, Microsoft isn't supporting anything past 8 in the IE department, and one of the xp machines cannot use IE 8.... I downloaded firefox because even chrome has dumped xp.... looks like if you want to load old games, you, have to use dos box or other emulators. The two machines I have in the garage (Compaq and MaDdog) have been set to accept downloads with only my approval. I accepted 13 updates for maDdog, no build files included... I guess when I could not run the "windows updater", they figured the systems could not handle win 10 :) and stopped anymore "upgrades". The Compaq has yet to ask me to accept an update..... hmmmm... :-? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/04/15 at 19:42:00 Windows 7 is an update hairball as it keeps asking for .net framework 4.0 but the current versions are far far in advance of that. To get my video card installation and control software to run I finally had to get .net framework 4.6 from FileHippo along with their "no hassle installer" so as to get past all the conflicts created by me just raw dumping in an old random version of Win 7 Dell 64 bit Home Premium software into the big Dell box. There is a progression to Windows that I have broken by what I did -- but I was finally able to get my good video card drivers up and working and lo and behold the young small breasted teenage Laura Croft is up and kicking on my big old Dell box jest dandy. She's just too sweet and cute to kill anybody, don't cha ya know? $4.99 on Steam Midweek Madness .... gotta love that 85% off too. It's funny, Steam won't use or even touch MS Explorer but spot loads a copy of the blue themed open source Chromium Browser to do whatever it has to do for background work since crappy old MS Explorer has so many many bugs and limitations and it drops downloads, etc fairly frequently. And yes, I downloaded the Real Google Chrome so I could have at least one modern tool to work with while struggling with the Windows Gaming Partition from Hell. I actually asked MS Windows Update for an update stream on my various MS softwares, to see if they can move me from where I am (as installed) to where I need to be so this dog will hunt good again. So far it just blinks at me and does nothing useful ...... but that is OK, I have already refused two automated tries to get me to go to Win 10 already so mebbe it consulted the ultimate hater list and found me on it, second line from the top, and it is ignoring me now. I gotta like Google Chrome though -- it asked me for my login info and BAMMO !!! I had my full Chrome set up right there on the screen with all preferences, toolbars, favorites, add-ons, etc. all complete with a click link to on-line Google Photos that has all my Mountain trip shots in it. I take a new shot with my phone and the pic is there in seconds .... Gotta love that Google ..... it doesn't care where you are, all your stuff is available to you right now. :) So, I'm back on Linux again and once more I will tell you with feeling that Linux Mint is the good stuff. It works flawlessly good, it runs lickety split fast ..... and it bothers you not a whit while it goes about doing it. Windows is ALWAYS asking you for something ..... it is a pain in the ass because when you go get what it wanted then it doesn't like the version of it AND then something else that touches that gets indigestion too. Linux Mint comes on a DVD with ALL the touching softwares right there, with all of them the correct versions AND correctly configured to boot. It Just Works .... http://https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQXUFVVl9nRQefaFETeS8kdPLDIDIb8zwoClEMMYqPnibKrLpO |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by verslagen1 on 10/04/15 at 20:39:24 don't mind the maggots |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/06/15 at 08:09:18 http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/continuum_03.jpg Continuum lands on Lumia Phones -- the PC/Phone is real, starting next month. http://liliputing.com/2015/10/microsoft-introduces-lumia-950-and-950-xl.html "Continuum for phone might not let you run classic Win32 apps on your smartphone, but the new Universal Windows App platform allows many apps to run across both phones and desktops. Out of the box, these phones will support Microsoft Office, the Edge web browser, and Outlook apps, all of which look like desktop apps when you connect an external display. How do you do that? The Microsoft Display Dock is an accessory that connects to the USB Type-C port on your phone and has 3 USB ports, HDMI, and DisplayPort connections that let you hook up a display, keyboard, and mouse. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/continuum-dock.jpg When your phone is connected, the Start Screen shows up on your external display as a Start Menu. There’s a taskbar, and support for running Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and other apps. They’re the same apps that you use on your phone, but they take advantage of the extra screen real estate. Need to take a call or do something else on your phone? You can use it independently while the desktop experience continues to work on your external display." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/06/15 at 21:58:01 Windows 7 took a full day and a night to churn itself through the download stage of 193 separate updates for Win 7 and another 250 updates for the various pieces that are attached to Win 7. This update activity itself took 12 hours to execute once I told it it could begin. Do you think my hard drive is fragmented for much yet ??? :P windows .... and Versy jest says "don't mind the maggots". Me, I'm just glad I have another laptop, a phone and a tablet, because if I just had just the PC I'd have been shite ouf of luck for internet for the last day and a half. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/07/15 at 02:34:06 And, after spending all that time waiting on Win 7 to download all its serial updates and laboriously unpack and install them, I restarted the machine to go back to Linux, and it stopped me cold dead for another 2 1/2 hours to "Stage 1 of 5, Reconfigure Updates" before allowing me to do a simple restart. Coming from Linux, I find the maintenance "maggot level" in Windows to to have gotten to be simply astronomical. Does no one else see that Windows has gotten completely out of control, in taking up WAY WAY to much of your time and your effort because it is simply so poorly structured and so poorly written? And for those that have gone to Win 10, how do you like how Win 10 now spends your money (your bandwidth) to fumble around in this clumsy fashion on the internet every night? Microsoft deserves to die, really, it does. But what it will do is inspire the competition to do better, which also needs to happen. A good sign is that MS seems to be attempting to ease off on the demands on user knowledge and user intervention in the maintenance of Satya's ugly baby. If they can just get the bulky clumsy offspring to stay up on its feet better and quit with the diaper, already. Windows 10 mobile is shipping now, on two proprietary MS phones that are 1) costly and 2) bulky. However, Continuum works after a fashion off of these phones, showing Universal Apps as the planned future pathway for the Phone/PC. Microsoft is FIRST in this Phone/PC effort, as apart from three (3) Oriental vendors Google has not replied yet. Nor has Apple. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/08/15 at 05:23:21 At the 110 MILLION users converted mark, Win 10 is apparently settling down some. Microsoft is concentrating right now on getting the phone stuff right, as right now the only phones SAFELY SUPPORTED are MS's very own 2 brand new phones -- all phones other than MS phones have been told to cut off their Beta Tester feeds COMPLETELY for the very real fear of bricking a bunch more of the Beta Tester folks phones. The phone stuff ain't right yet, not even close. ======================================== Around January MS plans to put out a Stage #1 "roll up pack" to CAREFULLY reset your PC to the latest and greatest versions of all the Win 10 softwares that are pretty much working the way they think it should work ...... approaching final form in other words. A complete PC reset/reinstall is required as all the multiple multiple nightly KBs have hacked some machines up pretty good, what with what the users also did to try to fix them and all. Some cynics are saying this is the software that should have been shipped out in the first place, but I think they are missing the point that MS had to REALLY GO DO IT for six months to really learn what Win 10 had to do and how it had to be configured. I don't think anybody could have foreseen some of the pot holes that Win 10 hit along the way ..... .... so they really did have to put 100 millions of people through the wringer to get the real knowledge that they needed to finalize their product. ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/09/15 at 04:05:27 Windows 7 still requires 15 minutes to a half hour of fiddle per use. And by use I simply mean starting it to go play a game on Steam. But every time I go into Win 7 I have to deal with that day's updates, with a download, install, reboot, configure and a final install and reboot. Windows 7 was a user time hog compared to all the other OS systems out there at the time. Compared to what is out there now in both Chrome OS and Linux, it is simply friggin' ridiculous. All this endless update foo-bar just to occasionally play a game? Now it is nagging me to go to Win 10 and is offering me the little white window in the task bar. SO ...... right now DELL is in very good shape as far as drivers go, and Win 10 senses no issues with the upgrade. Here we go .... Win 10 is on the way. Nope, it was bait and switch and ..... wait for it ..... "You have reserved your copy of Win 10 and we will get back to you on when to install it." I could install Linux Mint 17.2 complete from sticking the DVD in the DVD Drive in this same 15-30 minutes of "Win 7 daily screw around with the updates time". Yes, in the time it takes me to just get past Win 7 to my actual game I could COMPLETELY INSTALL LINUX MINT. And I'd only have to do it once ...... and I'd only have to reboot the machine one time (when I took the DVD out) too. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/10/15 at 03:02:43 Now I've got to go learn how to turn Skype off as MS has autoloaded it onto my machine and set it up as auto run. Does this Windows BS never end? I am still getting minor "update" download activity on the Windows partition even when the machine is set to Linux as MS is the primary partition that the machine boots to. During boot, MS is apparently loading some stuff that remains on even while the machine is running Linux. Apparently I accepted something that allows MS to do this, as they are pushing stuff to my machine now without requiring me to approve stuff. The only thing that I saw that could do this was a crop of 11 "optional" updates that showed up with the last batch of 57 security updates. So, you click approve some "optional" security updates that look like all the other updates and MS takes over your machine. Cute. :P It looks like MS is just as clunky as it ever was, but by hiding the activity from you (excuse me, "By making the process transparent") MS hopes to up your user satisfaction score concerning their new clunky monkey. What they have done is double your overhead when running Linux as the MS is still running in the background. It is also obvious that all Win 7 users are already on a greased slide chute that leads to Win 10, having watched MS go do this to a brand new Win 7 installation. ::) Let's see, Linux can see into the MS partition (root and all) and it reports all hidden stuff anyway naturally, too. What exactly is on my machine that MS set up automatically all by itself ..... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/10/15 at 04:16:03 Well now, the all seeing eye of Linux detects 3 hidden folders (directories, to you MS speak people) with the first weighing in at 1.6 megabytes, the second at 204.3 megabytes, and lo and behold, the top secret hidden secret .NET package "downloaded and ready to go" files folder at a dainty and skinny 5.1 GIGABYTES. Each folder has its own secret "what to do with me" instructions, and here they are in order. Instructions for 1.6 meg hidden folder <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend"> <servicing> <package action="install"> <assemblyIdentity buildType="release" language="neutral" name="Package_for_KB958488" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" version="6.2.7600.16513"/> <source location="%configsetroot%\Windows6.1-KB958488-x64.CAB" /> </package> </servicing> </unattend> This looks like the Win 10 .NET package which was kept separate so it could be updated easily. Instructions for 204.3 meg hidden folder This is the all the detailed automatic installation instructions for Win 10 .NET package, it is very very long and complex and involves multiple multiple sub folders and CABs. Instructions for 5.1 GIGABYTE hidden folder <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend"> <servicing> <package action="install"> <assemblyIdentity buildType="release" language="neutral" name="Package_for_KB958488" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" version="6.2.7600.16513"/> <source location="%configsetroot%\Windows6.1-KB958488-x64.CAB" /> </package> </servicing> </unattend> It looks like the middle one calls all the shots and asks for information contained in the other two as needed. They kept the main body of data in one, the .NET installation in the other and the one the counts is the middle one with all the instructions. I "think" the middle one is the actual installation which then fires the .NET off and the bulk of the .NET files are just sitting in the third. You will note that these 3 hidden folders came automatically into the Windows root directory which is apparently active even when the machine is in Linux mode. :P I am a member of the Borg Collective now. There definitely is an antenna up my butt now that is in silent and secret communication with the MS Death Star ...... :-? I still have not gotten the super secret Win 10 update package, this is all for .NET stuff which masses about as much as anybody else's whole OS does. Microsoft, the bulky slow and obese ..... and don't forget, <transparent>. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by jcstokes on 10/10/15 at 11:26:44 This computer illiterate hasn't had any known updates for Win 7 for a couple of weeks, but then I don't computer game. Little white icon is still there. It got bigger once but I turned it off. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/12/15 at 06:56:25 My rate of update was high because I was making up for YEARS of updates ---- I am finally current and the only thing getting updated now is MS's in-house antivirus program. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/12/15 at 07:49:55 Well, neither of the two old PC's in the garage can handle the new "windows downloader" even though they have XP home edition. So I guess MS has given me the "by-pass" on the win10 offer and is just going to let these "unsupported" PC's go unsupported until companies just update their browsers with more "advanced features" and soon (probably this year) they will no longer be able to even look at a page without locking up or having page errors. Definitely going to reload the security camera software on one or the other and just leave it run in the garage in a corner some where. And i'll just box up the other and give it to goodwill or something... This experiment was fun, but now I need the space back in my garage for home projects :) I really need to finish my "hardware" storage project for my $99 dollar (you put it together) pressed wood Armoire.... HEY! it was cheaper than their tool cabinets.... I just installed some extra shelving in it.... :) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/13/15 at 19:34:27 http://liliputing.com/2015/10/acer-jade-primo-smartphone-will-ship-with-mouse-keyboard-and-pc-dock.html Acer Jade Primo smartphone will ship with mouse, keyboard, and PC dock http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/acer-jade-primo_001.jpg "The Acer Jade Primo is expected to be one of the first smartphones to support Windows 10’s Continuum feature, allowing you to turn your phone into a sort of desktop by connecting it to a docking station and hooking up a keyboard, mouse and display. Acer made that announcement when the company introduced the phone in September. This week Acer confirmed that not only does the phone support Continuum, it’ll come with all the hardware you need to get started… except for a monitor." Now the laptop vendors are selling Phone/PCs and Microsoft has two that are promised as well. Monkey on the back now shifts to the Android and Apple folks to reply, and 3 small android players already have replied, some months ago. Google now needs to put the feature set into a standard release flavor of Android and STANDARDIZE the interface and connection hardware so all the android phone guys can do the exact same thing in the exact same way. Apple needs to come out of the closet and play too, or they are simply going to get left behind yet again. So, Microsoft seems to want to get them a few kudos for trying to lead again -- been a while, ain't it? Please remember the idea was invented by the Ubuntu folks and the Oriental Android guys (three of them) had it working and SHIPPING before MS ever got theirs to work. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by jcstokes on 10/13/15 at 19:36:48 Had another 35000 plus updates for win 7 today |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/13/15 at 19:46:29 I got just one update, a MS anti-virus definition update file. ===================== http://liliputing.com/2015/10/cloudready-uses-chrome-os-to-breaths-live-into-old-computers.html Cloudready uses Chromium OS to breathe life into old computers Neverware has created a software program that turns any old computer into a Chromebook or Chromebox. All it takes is a USB flash drive and a few minutes to load the company’s Cloudready software onto a computer. The company worked with Google to develop Cloudready, and it’s a cloud-based operating system based on Chromium OS, which is the open source version of the software that runs on Chromebooks. Since everything runs online, via a web browser, the operating system puts less strain on the computer’s hardware, which helps it run faster and more efficient. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/150928113556-neverware-mix-of-machines-custom-1-680x292.jpg Neverwhere claims that Cloudready can make any computer that is less than eight years old run like new again. The program is built with schools in mind, although there is a version for individuals. Schools, however, can take advantage of additional tech support and automatic updates through their existing Chromebook channel. Old_Rider, the old stuff you just ID'd that couldn't boot / run Windows or couldn't make the update to a more modern windows --- take one of them and give this johnny a try for the shits and giggles of it. On the pretty well proven theory that you actually can run off the cloud now days, this should prove to be a interesting move on Google's part to completely unify a school system under ChromeOS, converting all the old Windows this and that that is cruffing around the edges in the school system. The world of Linux Distros has all the old windows boxes pretty much covered for drivers, etc. so combine that driver coverage with the light fast (no big resources required) nature of Chromium OS and Google/Neverware may actually have something here. ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/14/15 at 18:11:03 Sounds to me like "trap wear"..... stores all your information online... you basically just have a browser.... So it traps all your information so they can use it for "information" purposes. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/14/15 at 20:50:27 Google has done well by the Chromebook crew, they really don't voice any complaints about how their data is treated. Nor do the actual Google users have any heartache about how their data being used by Google. Look, I know Google is all over my phone data stuff, but it is worth it to boot up a new partition, toss a random OS on it and load Google Plus for that OS and get that opening screen, type in ID and password and BAMMO -- all my stuff is there, correctly configured exactly the way I like it. Take a pic with my phone and in 2 seconds it's available on all my screens. THAT is convenience ..... On Android phones (various candy flavors over the last 4 years) On iPad 2 (iOS 4 through 8 no less) On XP, Vista, Win 7 and Win 10 Microsoft will EVENTUALLY finally figure out how to be a Google, once they get stuff that just works and then figure out how to let it go and then let it GROW organically along approved pathways once it is outside their control. Microsoft and Google will serve to keep each other honest (mostly) and their one upping each other means more progress done faster. Microsoft will lose in the end because they cannot "turn it loose and let it grow" organically, and Google can do that and HAS done that for years now. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/16/15 at 05:43:04 We done told you this bullshite was coming ..... http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/10/windows-10-upgrade-installing-automatically-on-some-windows-7-8-systems/ This latest system update has already generated some complaints, as Windows Update will download the sizeable operating system installer even if you don't intend to upgrade any time soon, but, over the last couple of days, the situation seems to have become a little more aggressive. We've received a number of reports that people's systems are not merely downloading the installer but are actually starting it up. http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/optional-but-selected-by-default.png This is an optional update, but we didn't check that box... Our own testing shows that, yes, the optional update is getting chosen by default, and that's not supposed to happen to optional updates. For those not wanting to make the switch to Windows 10 just yet, all is not lost; the installer does require human intervention to actually proceed, so you won't run the risk of waking up to find your PC running a different operating system. If you're not paying attention, though, you may find yourself upgrading sooner than you expected. Microsoft backpeddled on this issue the next day, and sent Ed Bott out to "explain" their increased tightening of the screws on people who are stalling on Win 10. Win 10 has an image issue because MICROSOFT has a very old tarnished image with many people. Doing stupid tricks like this is why. And sending Ed Bott out "to explain things" once you already got your bleeding ugly stubbed toe is just pure cowardice on MS part. But what Ed the hand puppet says is interesting, MS is increasing the pressure on users to upgrade by "encouraging them" in various ways, including bugging the crap out of them with pop up notes. It is implied by Ed that this encouragement will escalate over time. THRESHOLD 2 is coming in early November, and MS is far far behind where they planned to be and their upgrade issues with customers is why. Win 10 is just now approaching the place it should have been at as originally shipped --- as BETA software ---- not as fully finished software. Win 10 is not nearly feature complete at this point in time, much less being polished in any fashion whatsoever. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/16/15 at 08:14:52 http://liliputing.com/2015/10/dell-hp-lenovo-intel-and-microsoft-launch-pc-does-what-marketing-campaign.html A group of PC makers are partnering with Microsoft and Intel to convince you that it’s time to buy a new computer. While it’s not unusual for Intel and Microsoft to work together to highlight the latest chips or operating systems, what is unusual is for competing PC makers to partner in this way. But with PC sales stagnating, maybe it shouldn’t be surprising to see Dell, HP, and Lenovo band together to try to convince you that PCs are still exciting. As user resistance to their forced upgrade tricks increases, MS is also now finding NO ONE IS BUYING THEIR OVERLY EXPENSIVE NEW WIN 10 PCS. In an attempt to correct this horrible momentum killing issue, MS is offering $200-$300 trade in your old PC or Mac programs along with a concerted push by all their main PC vendors. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/pcwhat_05.jpg If you thought there was free competition in MS space, this should disabuse you of those foolish foolish thoughts -- all the PC boys are sitting there in a row, each saying his little piece as MS calls the general tune. "Buy something, please buy something". Intel was there too, selling a NUC for $250 with memory and storage and Win 10 already in place. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/grass-canyon.jpg It's Christmas, buy something ---- please ??? :P ..... come on, our OS is almost finished, so go buy you an overpriced new PC using our almost finished OS, OK ???? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/16/15 at 08:45:01 So, now MS has geeked completely on the "we tell you when" upgrade thing, and will (for a short time) allow you to download a Win 10 ISO image and hard install it on a scraped clean hard drive using your old Windows activation key from any approved previous OS version. Part of this is due to MS's inability to auto-fix some of the screwed up installations out there where MS and the actual user hosed some stuff up fighting over who controlled what on the end users' machine. Meanwhile, the Chinese are still working on their XP class machines, getting the old antique driver mass and such all squared away and ready to go for Win 10. Life goes on everywhere, however, and more and more people are realizing that MS isn't the only (or even the best) way to get on line and get their various stuff done. AND YES, THE NEW PC/PHONES ARE ROLLING OUT NOW, WITH NEW ONES COMING OUT WEEKLY FROM ALL VENDORS. Most announcements are running Win 10, but some are coming out Android ..... and the resulting pressure on Google to incorporate all the Android windowing and multiple display tricks officially into a unified mainstream Android release are mounting and mounting and mounting. Oriental Android versions aren't waiting on Google, they are rolling ahead in native language releases intended to be sold inside their own boarders. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/acer-jade-primo_001.jpg |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by jcstokes on 10/18/15 at 01:22:07 OF, I suppose you know all about MS offering rebates for people who buy new Win 10 machines, and bigger ones if they trade Mac products, these rebates are available in big markets like the US, not down here in Godzone. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/18/15 at 05:16:50 Well, since I was a beta for win10 I already have one windows10.iso install disc. I believe it was build number 285 or some such. My little 14" acer laptop hard drive went to poop on the return drive from our last outing in simple life. I ordered another one on ebay for a whoppin' $25,and its a one screw, remove a door, unplug and do the reverse, to change it out. But maybe i'll just reload it with the windows 8 it came with and watch the "magic" of win10 do its stuff :) Oh, by the by, my wife's 17" HP Pavilion still has 8.1 and has not been forced to windows 10... (auto downloads are shut off). |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/18/15 at 06:56:01 Threshold 2 is coming in November, and for those who intend to hard install I would wait for that as it includes new features and "complete fixes" for existing issues (yeah, right). |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/18/15 at 07:15:29 JC, I read about the $200 and $300 and consider it admitting that Windows 10 machines are being intentionally over priced by more than that. It is common to see $1000 plus dollar Surface units get introduced and then sit in inventory for most of a year or two before actually moving out at less than 1/4 of that price. Microsoft wants to sell stuff at Apple prices, but cannot. What you should do with an old trade in machine (electronically sound) is put a Linux or a Chrome on it and use it. You will find the old hardware is amazingly fast and reliable, once you get away from the Windows OS products. If most of what you do is in a browser anyway -- yes you can run ChromeOS as your main tool. If you have fears of the unknown, dual boot a Linux -- I too did this for years before giving up on Windows completely. Now if I can get Google Chrome to run on it, it doesn't MATTER to me what the base OS is any more. I freely NOW use Linux and Apple iOS and three different generations of Windows and I DON"T CARE ANY MORE AS CHROME IS CHROME IS CHROME. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/18/15 at 11:14:57 The Magazine Rack Report on Windows 10 Mind Share Barnes and Noble Computer section There were only two (2) Windows based anything on the entire computer rack .... only one was Windows 10, the other was PC gaming related. The rest of the rack was Apple iOS, Android, Linux and generic console games related. The one (1) real Windows 10 magazine included a disclaimer on the index page that some of the work around articles could be (had already been) rendered invalid by a subsequent nightly pushed Win 10 nightly update. Some of the articles had sentences and short paragraphs lined out as having been changed after final writer edit (but before printing the finished publication). THIS BRINGS A POINT OUT CLEARLY -- Win 10 is changing so rapidly that nobody can write a magazine about it any more. This relatively thick magazine publication was mostly work arounds for existing known Win 10 issues and a lot of general PC advertising that had pretty much nothing to do with Win 10 at all. It begs the question -- what is Win 10 this month? Is it going to be a good bit different next month? When will the rest of the promised big new features be delivered anyway? With Threshold 2 coming out in November, this is very likely the case -- that what the magazine was written to is going to be different than what the readers will be seeing on their machines once they read the articles and try to go do it. ESPECIALLY all those deep under the covers "undocumented" setting pages that were being "disclosed" by the magazine article writers as part of their problem fix articles. Win 10 is a mess under development, so I'd wait like a year before spending any money on fix it magazines. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/18/15 at 13:07:27 Mary Jo Foley speaks again on Windows "instabilities" in this add-on to her previous article on the subject. http://www.zdnet.com/article/my-biggest-problem-with-windows-10-stability/ "Microsoft's original plan, we've heard from various sources, was to roll out Windows 10 in October 2015. Instead, due to OEM pressure, Microsoft began rolling out Windows 10 in late July. An update with a bunch of missing features, known as Threshold 2, is coming later this Fall. But what I'm more interested in now is Redstone. Redstone is the next set of updates for Windows 10 after Threshold 2. Word is there will be two Redstone updates -- Summer and Fall -- in 2016. And according to my sources, a big focus for Redstone will be on improving the stability of the Windows 10 ecosystem and its many piece parts, via engineering processes instituted by the Windows team. I'm hoping time and some of these ongoing Cumulative Updates will bring more stability to Windows 10 in the coming months. While I wait for this, I'll keep using Windows 10 on my laptop and hope for better stability. But I'm definitely also not going to be moving my main work machine off Windows 7 in the interim." Some serious slam words coming from Ms Microsoft herself. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/18/15 at 13:31:52 http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-upgrade-nags-become-more-aggressive-offer-no-opt-out/ And speaking of some more serious slam words, this time coming from the Mr. Microsoft side of the gender gap, here is Adrian Kingsley-Hughes speaking harshly from ZD-NET England on Win 10 for PC ..... http://zdnet1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/10/15/7529cc5e-1341-46d5-bee5-c680a957d9fc/resize/770x578/327967ee324f61453e99997782385ecc/windows-10-upgrade-not-ready.gif "Reports are circulating that some users are being presented with dialog boxes that only give them the option to start the upgrade process or reschedule it for a later date. Others are finding that the Windows Update screen is only offering them the option to begin the upgrade process, with other system updates being hidden from view. Is there anything you can do to reverse this situation? Right now there isn't. Even Josh Mayfield, the maker of the GWX Control Panel -- an excellent utility that has previously allowed users to opt out of and avoid the nags to upgrade to Windows 10 -- doesn't have an answer at present. It seems that Microsoft is desperate to get laggards who are still running Windows 7 and Windows 8 onto Windows 10, but there's a fine line between being enthusiastic about a new operating system and behaving like you own every PC that is running Windows, and I think that in this case that line has been crossed." Microsoft, upon being contacted by the EU Commission for Fair Trade quickly realized they had bloody well stubbed their other big toe now and MS immediately issued a clarification. UPDATE: Microsoft is blaming a bad default option for this issue: "As part of our effort to bring Windows 10 to existing genuine Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers, the Windows 10 upgrade may appear as an optional update in the Windows Update (WU) control panel. This is an intuitive and trusted place people go to find Recommended and Optional updates to Windows. In the recent Windows update, this option was checked as default; this was a mistake and we are removing the check. Hopefully that will fix this issue." ::) ..... so now what are you going to do about all the folks who hosed their machines up using systems restore to get back away from the forced, no choice upgrade? What, you are gonna offer them a free upgrade to Win 10 using a clean DVD install authenticating it with their old registry key code? :P :D ...... duh dude, don't you get it? They don't want Win 10 at all right now, they want to stay on Win 7 because Win 10 is an unstable buggy mess that even your biggest fans in the press corps don't even want to use on their main machines right now. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/18/15 at 14:00:35 And, speaking of the Win 10 Mobile Beta Test program ..... here is the next "unknowing, unwilling" installation bricking kerfuffle. http://www.windowscentral.com/non-supported-phones-will-see-windows-10-mobile-build-10536-you-shouldnt-install-it Windows 10 Mobile Along with the list of officially supported handsets, it looks like several non-Lumia phones were also able to download and install Windows 10 Mobile build 10536. That's due to a "detectoid" bug, according to Gabe Aul, who has stated that the build will not work on a non-supported device, and that installing it will require a reflash to get the phone back to a functioning state. Once again folks, if you see Windows 10 Mobile build 10536 on non-Lumia devices, do not download and install it. You'll just end up having to reflash your device. Here's the official list of phones supported by the Windows Insider program: Lumia 430 Lumia 435 Lumia 520 Lumia 521 Lumia 525 Lumia 526 Lumia 530 Lumia 532 Lumia 535 Lumia 540 Lumia 620 Lumia 625 Lumia 630 Lumia 635 Lumia 636 Lumia 638 Lumia 640 Lumia 640 XL Lumia 720 Lumia 730 Lumia 735 Lumia 810 Lumia 820 Lumia 822 Lumia 830 Lumia 920 Lumia 925 Lumia 928 Lumia 930 Lumia 1020 Lumia 1320 Lumia 1520 Lumia Icon HTC One (M8) for Windows **Update:* We've heard back from users stating that the update has been downloaded automatically to those running Windows 10 Mobile on unsupported devices, even with automatic updates turned off. If you're running the preview on non-sanctioned devices, we advise you de-list from the Insider Program until the issue is resolved. Source: Twitter (Gabe Aul); Via: WinBeta Ouch ..... more bricked dead "other brand" phones, huh? And, although MS pushed the update out to all the Beta Testers and MS triggered the update automatically and it was MS's bad update that bricked the hardware, but this time MS says they have no responsibility to you financially because they done told you all you off-branders REPEATEDLY to DE-LIST from the Beta program because unless you own one of a very select few MS built phones that the stuff actually works on it jest isn't safe for you to touch? Sorta like saying your mobile pusher engine is totally out of control and can't tell what sort of phone the user has so they all get the same potentially harmful package no matter WHO they are ..... that's like saying your pusher engine is crap, you know. Oh, bad buggy detectoids again -- I see. Right. What will the EU Fair Trade Commission have to say about that, I wonder ...... you know, the free Win 10 mobile that everyone was promised that would run on all Windows phonesand in fact is only running on MS own Lumina brand phones and is actually killing off all the other brand phones automatically, I mean. Is that possibly considered "In restraint of free trade"? Or is it just plain old "negligent property damage" instead? ::) ..... mebbe if they can tell whose detectoid it was that had the death dealing bug in it then perhaps they can assign all the damages $$$ to that detectoid's owner. The owner of the malicious detectoid is after all, the one responsible, according to MS. Hey, that's YOU, MS -- it is all on you. Doing such stuff twice means that the second instance is fully actionable for all harm done the second time around, since you KNEW it would kill those non-Lumina phones and you dispersed the upgrade anyway through a non-discerning, known to be broken pusher engine. "Trust us" ----- right. >:( |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/18/15 at 17:57:44 This is sorta warped, you know. Blaming "a bad default option" and a "detectoid bug" really sounds like MS really has a hard time of simply saying ...... Hey, we screwed up -- again ..... yeah, MS screwed up and needs to 'fess up and stand good for it in all three cases. Not admitting their errors and laying the blame off on detectoids and default options THAT THEY WROTE simply says MS lives in a mental state of denial. "Trust us" isn't going to work in this environment, boys, while you keep throwing out lame excuses and sorry half-written software that your own favorite magazine writers WON"T USE because it is just too random and buggy right now. And all of your mobile Beta Testers should quit right now, ASAP after you denied some of them coverage for breaking their stuff AGAIN after promising to fix it last time (which I find no sign of having happened, BTW). Or is that what "a select dedicated team working tirelessly on the situation" really means, it was assigned to your PR team who decided this was the appropriate fix ...... slap a little foggy brown PR on it and say it is somebody else's fault. Hey you financially injured guys, go sue them "faulty detectoids" for the value of your phone. Go hit up them "bad default options" for the repair time costs of hosing up your PC and having to pay a tech to make a house call to fix it. "Trust us" ----- right. >:( |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/19/15 at 11:55:29 http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-begs-you-to-use-edge-2015-10?r=UK&IR=T Microsoft is begging users not to ditch its Edge web browser http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5624adb0dd0895c3588b45b8-538/edge.jpg "Microsoft has previously made overtures to those wanting to switch, placing a message within the Bing search for Chrome and Firefox that advertises the benefits of Edge. According to Netmarketshare, Edge had around 2.4% of the total browser share on desktop as of September. Safari, the default browser on OS X, had around 5%. The company is also targeting people who want to switch to third-party photo and music apps, offering a pop-up window that displays the virtues of the built-in Photo or Groove Music apps." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/20/15 at 08:32:37 See this yet? What will Google do next? https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/google-away-software-microsoft-office-140153326.html |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/20/15 at 10:23:27 This refers to big business customers and it is a shot straight at MS Office. Since Google can Chromebook any Windows PC now and it is offering FREE software to business I think this is an escalation of the old Chrome Wars. Google took education at 90+% already and has made some minor inroads in American business -- but it has done a good bit better in developing markets as FREE means more to them, especially when you combine it with not needing an IT department to ride herd on your MS mess. Google is also putting themselves forward at a time when folks are getting sick of Win 10 being so erratic and unstable. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/20/15 at 13:36:34 http://www.extremetech.com/computing/216588-upcoming-windows-10-patch-begs-you-not-to-change-default-programs-switch-browsers Just read it. Look at the airplane picture. Quickly read the article. Start reading the comments and read down as far as the one that says I didn't want to sign up to have an ongoing fight with my operating system. Then realize that these people have just put their finger on what will kill Windows 10. That people do not want to engage in a running battle with their operating system over who's running the show or anything else for that matter. The attitude that is being shown by the computing press is shifting and the attitude being shown by the people writing the comments is shifting --- they are getting tired of the MS level of irrational BS. Put the wheels on the plane in the correct orientation, get the wings on right and quit screwing with us. "I initially intended to upgrade to Windows 10, but the longer I’ve waited, the more uncertain I am that doing so is a good idea. It’s not a question of whether the UI is faster or DX12 a better gaming API — I’m fundamentally uninterested in engaging in a protracted fight with my operating system. In the past six weeks, we’ve seen Microsoft start including app suggestions in your own start menu, accidentally force-upgrade some users to Windows 10, download Windows 10 to systems even when the user has not requested that this occur, refuse to shut off telemetry, and fail to address problems with its own patching model. When I decided not to upgrade to Windows 8, my reasons were structural — I thought the Metro interface was a disaster and wasn’t willing to pay Microsoft for an OS with huge swathes of functionality I didn’t want. With Windows 10, the underlying model is far more solid, but Microsoft’s efforts to monetize, monitor, and control end-user interactions are extremely frustrating." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/20/15 at 18:59:49 http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ubuntu-convergence.jpg Guess who celebrated their 11th birthday by vowing to bring full convergence into a Phone/PC by year's end. And we mean full convergence using all Unbuntu's full scale full power programs. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/20/15 at 19:14:42 LOL, just got the used hard drive for my 14" asus yesterday, loaded it up today and found out my copy of vista is 32bit... Won't even load the microsoft page... or any newer one... have had to download firefox to view most anything... because it is IE7 I "had" windows 10 on it when I was beta testing it... but they don't offer that build any longer... so i'm now stuck in vista land! (unless I purchase an upgrade) :) It will still download the security updates... at least it has that. :P |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/20/15 at 19:26:44 So much for MS's promise to let you keep your Beta software and they would keep it updated on out into the future, huh? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 10/20/15 at 20:06:35 That phone with dock and keyboard made me have the drools, I love the way my phone does the web, I just don't love the tiny screen (and the fact I still haven't figured out copy / paste on Android) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/20/15 at 21:37:50 LOL, spent 12 hours loading up and downloading stuff for windows vista, my last "update" was for sp2 or somesuch "64bit", on reboot, I got a flashing line top left... stuck the recovery disk in, and got a 10" tall red "error" on the screen. So I stuck in 17.2 mint.... 25 minutes later and here I am :) Got to learn to use it with games and such, going to download steam tomorrow and set up a few games. Then i'm going to try to tackle my newest one.... it is an old favorite being made new again, a 6 degree flight sim called descent. http://descendentstudios.com/ I am an underground tester ... small area's right now... and I will have to build a better computer to play, but hey.... it's addicting :o ;D 8-) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/21/15 at 05:10:28 I remember the original Descent -- it was a precursor to all flight & shoot games, had a nameless hero that was kept on ice for the relatively few times he was needed as the centuries rolled by as he was just too dangerous to let out between missions. Put him in his little bitty flier and he was hell on wheels ..... Spawned a flight stick industry (I bought one) and I played the game multiple times end to end and got very good and smooth at it. Late 286 era? I forget. It was 20 years ago, easy. ============================ I just broke down and bought a XBox 360 controller for my game rig as most games are built for controllers now-a-days and some, like Tomb Raider are just about impossible to get past a boss battle using a mouse and keyboard controls --- too disjointed and slow. I shoot the bow better, more accurately with the keyboard and mouse though, so I use keyboard for most of the walking around stuff, but for the slow time boss battles you gotta be controller literate to get past them. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Drestakil on 10/21/15 at 05:39:21 I just installed Linux Mint a few days ago alongside Windows. There are still 2 or 3 programs I need that I can't get to work in Linux so I can't get rid of Windows till I retire. Enjoying the learning curve so far. When shutting down Windows to switch to Linux I've been holding the Shift key while clicking Turn Off. I know it shuts down different, hopefully enough that Windows can't do anything in that state. Think it helps? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/21/15 at 05:57:34 Drestakil, I don't know if ANY form of shutdown stops MS any more. When you dual boot you give MS control of the root (boot) partition and they DO things to it that makes MS "live" and downloading and torrenting at all times even when you are running Linux or Steam. You let MS on your machine and they really do try to own it .... If you are data capped in any fashion, look to your bills to see uncontrolled MS "torrent" activity showing up there. Use Linux to look at your Linux partition and you will find large chunks of MS stuff showing up there shortly in hidden folders. "MS loves Linux" and has learned how to invade and hide inside a Linux set up. The only set up that EXCLUDES MS is a pure 100% Linux machine on a raped and scraped hard drive and I am no longer sure they cannot figure a way to worm into that through a MS company software that you choose to install in Linux. For example, if you use SKYPE on Linux --- surprise, lookie what you find on your linux partition now as hidden folders -- the full .NET enchilada. You could state it this way. "Microsoft loves Linux" because it is free and open and can be manipulated with hidden folders and such pretty much "freely". Blow your mind time, Linus doesn't care if they do that, up until the point they actually use some lines of Linux code inside some MS programs in which case the FOSS license kicks in and that particular entire MS program structure becomes FOSS and MS loses it all to open source ...... This has happened once in one MS server software and indeed FOSS sued and took them over and the program became open source. Wasn't very good software and didn't get used for much, but a few folks got some benefit out of it. MS has been very careful since then. MS can use Linux programs (kept whole and separate) just like anybody can. But if they get caught taking Linux code and incorporating it inside their software, well, it is sorta like injecting yourself with cancer cells -- it takes you over and you become the cancer. Poor MS, life is so hard when everybody sorta cordially hates you for what your rapacious founder did in years past ...... and they all cooperate with each other, too, which makes it even worse. ;) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 10/21/15 at 08:42:00 so at this point in order to go Mint I'd have to find my disc (I think it got packed and put in storage) go to a dual boot, learn Mint, get it to work right, and then have my hard drive raped and scraped, and then nevr use MS anything ever again Oy I wonder if my 'mobile hot spot' on my Phone (4GLTE) would be sufficient to do the setup on the Acer chromebook (con ONLY be set up with wifi, though after that can use a wired connection) And then I get to eat the $300 I spent on this machine |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/21/15 at 08:45:24 http://fortune.com/2015/07/28/intel-micron-memory/ http://liliputing.com/2015/10/western-digital-to-acquire-sandisk-for-19-billion.html https://www.sandisk.com/about/media-center/press-releases/2015/sandisk-and-hp-launch-partnership I mentioned that Sandisk and Hp and Sandisk and Toshiba were teaming together to bring out 1 terabyte NON-VOLATILE flash memory drives that are a thousand times faster than flash memory sticks or hard drives, and that this would spell the end of hard drive companies. Western Digital decided it didn't want to die just now, so they have announced a plan to BUY Sandisk outright for 19 billion dollars. I look to see other hard drive companies and PC builders either try to buy Sandisk outright themselves or to try to make a consortium out of the purchase/consolidation as the new "memristor" memory tech is COMPELLINGLY better than old memory or old hard drive or old flash drive techs. We are talking systems memory speeds that are non-volatile and that can affordably scale up to a terabyte very easily. Think of a PC or a phone with a terabyte of systems memory ...... ..... game changer, huh? Remember please that Intel and Micron are also teamed together to see if they can ring the bell first. And that HP and Sandisk are teamed as well, as are Sandisk and Toshiba. Lots of money is available to build that first plant and get them pending patents actualized. Why is Intel trying to create a similar thing with Micron? Well, both feel sorta left out right now, and very very threatened by the pending changes. Lastly for Intel and for Microsoft to sweat over is this little nugget ...... http://www.technologyreview.com/news/533066/hp-will-release-a-revolutionary-new-operating-system-in-2015/ Yup, a HP operating system that actually uses the copious amounts of new memory in an intelligent fashion. Only a supercomputer type Linux has ever had or has actually ever used this level of FAST memory before. The new "memristor" memory is just that vital and compelling to the computing industry and it will cause massive disruption very quickly. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/21/15 at 09:01:35 Art, please don't take this the wrong way ...... (jeeeze I hate saying that, because they always do take it the wrong way) Considering your technical base knowledge (and the fact that all you understand is Windows and Windows related) you might be better served to just continue to use your Windows machine and gracefully let MS "own" you and hope they use you gently out into the future. Even full time computer article writers who are VERY knowledgeable are saying they are getting tired of fighting with MS. And the journalist guys have computing alternatives on hand, like Chromebooks and Macs and Linux machines that they already have set up and thoroughly understand. You don't. You just have a Windows machine that is going to be rolled to Win 10 soon enough whether you want it to or not. ============================ For all the locked in Windows people like Art the only advice I have is FIND YOUR WINDOWS REGISTRATION KEY FOR YOUR OLD "upgradable" WINDOWS VERSION AND DO NOT LOSE TRACK OF IT -- because it is your path to reinstall Win 10 on a clean install if MS makes a mess out of your automatic upgrade that is coming for you whether you want it to or not. For the more technical hobby types who have a spare old machine laying around that is Vista, or XP or older, yes, play around some with a Linux like Linux Mint 17.2 Mate that does NOT require you to do things beyond what an XP person would understand. Remember, the new supercomputer PCs likely will have an HP OS available, and a MS OS available, and a Linux variant or two -- all of them running like scalded dawgs on 100's of gigabytes of system fast memristor memory. New I/O ports will be needed, as your new memristor thumb drive can run at these speeds too. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/21/15 at 09:22:53 OF, i'm thinking the versions of MS before windows7 won't be affected, they just won't let you use the key to go to Win10. This I know for fact now, you can upgrade windows 7, windows 8 and 8.1, but anything before that will most likely not be able to run the new windows 10. I was one of the insiders and got to play with the "upgrade" on the little laptop (2Ghz CPU and 4 meg RAM). I was not "guaranteed" to keep my version if my laptop dumped (bouncing around in the back of my wife's bike fried the HD), which did happen and I had to reload my copy of Vista home. My son upgraded to Win 10 with a bootleg copy of windows 7 (don't know where he got it) and tried to go back to the copy of win 7 when he was dissatisfied with win 10, it would not let him. He had to have his "key", he called me, I gave him some old keys (legal ones I had purchased) from past discs (XP and Vista keys).... when he tried, the error was "you must have a windows 7 or higher version key". So i'm thinking MS is just going to stop supporting anything older than windows 7, and let them fall between the cracks, and suggest you buy a newer system. I still find it unbelievable that MS is dumping any kind of support for systems they are "liable" for. Legally they are still responsible for your systems if they are the proprietary owners of the software, and that is why I thought that was the reason behind the "free windows 10 upgrade", so that they could nullify all those old systems. It has to be in the legal speak somewhere in the software contracts that if the system can no longer handle "upgrades" they (MS) are not liable. After all, they can't put a Lotus carb on your Smart car.....so to speak. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 10/21/15 at 10:24:12 Well OF my Mate disc is 16, so supposedly simple, but really the PC is sort of clunky for a guy living in a 16x8 travel trailer, I'm contemplating a tablet in the future, and go all Android all the time, or a chromebook Actually I had the thought that a tablet with speaker and mic might double as a Phone (sort of bulky but not terrible) and computer Something like a galaxy note, and put the SIM card from my phone in it lol Or something like the phone you posted, that can simply be docked into a larger screen with a keyboard and maybe a mouse Currently I have the AsUS ZenFone 2E and I'm running my PC off it's data via USB tethering (yes, I asked LOTS o questions at the ATT store) as only ATT works well in my new home and there is no DSL available here that I have yet found And no I am not the least offended by your post My problem with staying with MS is the way they plan on charging for use in the future although honestly they've been charging fo use all along with all the 'new version' buys |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/21/15 at 22:54:09 Art, its all about "DATA"... how much you use through your phone can up your costs. With my Verizon phone, I can watch football games live... but one game can take up my whole 3 gigs worth of data for the month. Linux can run faster than windows via tethering.... and actually uses your windows settings to connect. I put mint 15 on an old PC here and used a dual boot setup (the Linux setup asked if I wanted to load it alongside windows) (don't let Linux delete windows or replace it). You can stick the mint 16 disk in your drive and hit the escape key, and tell it to "boot to cd rom", and just run Linux from the cd rom itself, and it will not even install on your PC, it will use your windows net settings to log onto the internet. I am not sure how it will handle tethering as I've never had to deal with that (but have read it does nicely), but still, just run Linux off of your cd to see how you like it. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/22/15 at 09:46:09 For what it is worth, the last three Win 10 mobile updates have been Lumina only (MS products only) updates. Microsoft seems to be settling in on being a proprietary platform again, thinking that Win 10 mobile is able to "carry them forward" as a exclusive platform. So, all the "mobile openness" that was promised early on currently ISN'T and doesn't seem to be fated to be going on out in the future, unless MS realizes they aren't selling well as an exclusive platform and goes back to working closely with other vendors as a non-exclusive platform. To the best of my knowledge, the broken BLU and HTC Beta tester phones remain broken -- but since MS is being so closed mouth about the whole affair they may have put out a fix and told no one about it but the poor sods involved. MS is still telling everyone not running a short list of Lumina phones to IMMEDIATELY DE-LIST from the Beta program and stay gone until notified otherwise. ============================= ON THE PC FRONT --- Threshold 2 will be out by Thanksgiving and will be pushed out first to all the existing "good working" Win 10 users <~30%> who will be the beta test group for the changes included in the T-2 release. PR on new stuff is being carefully controlled by MS so the results will seem "uniformly good" in the press. Troubled users will get to pick it up later on (yeah, right). 2016 will have at least 2 major releases in it (Redstone releases) where the rest of all the advertised stuff will be put out in the same sort of carefully metered and controlled manner. TROUBLED USERS will be force led to a full re-install re-set of the software which may involve a DVD and using your key from your old Windows software. Part of this is some hand spanking for users who dared to disagree with MS's decisions about what goes where in your machine. You will be getting trained to NOT MESS WITH IT, as pain and suffering goes with along with messing with it. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/22/15 at 13:21:16 http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/606243/Windows-10-Microsoft-CEO-Cortana-Fail-Dreamforce?_ga=1.23252921.284531222.1445544498 http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/59/590x/Windows-10-Cortana-Cant-Understand-Microsoft-Ceo-Cant-Get-Cortana-To-Work-On-Stage-606243.jpg Just read it. -- Satya couldn't get Cortana (after three tries no less) to work correctly during a televised presentation and he stopped trying and gave up on it, rolling on with his slides and presentation spiel. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 10/22/15 at 19:36:57 57545C4A515C5D4A380 wrote:
If I can locate my disc, I'll try it I have 4 gigs high speed, then I drop to (I think) 2G, too slow to run a PC, but fast enough to interweb on the phone (maybe on a tablet, too) I think my Mint 16 disc will be fairly easy to find, IIRC it's not buried too deep in the storage roon It will use less data, yes? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/23/15 at 03:22:20 Trusted Reviews is starting a multi-part review on Windows 10 ..... I think they have bitten off more than they can chew with that 8 of 10 rating that they initially gave to Windows 10 ...... http://www.trustedreviews.com/windows-10-review-stability-performance-and-verdict-page-7 What is interesting here is the heavy stream of user comments listed immediately below the "Trusted Review" page -- these Trusted Review contributors are being MERCILESS and very accurate in what they say about their own experiences and they want to know how THEY as a group ever managed to give Win 10 "an 8 out of 10 rating" by analyzing their feedback. This goes along with the Pollyanna effect that MS always seems to seek out of its paid reviewers -- you will only hear the good stuff, until you read the comments down at the bottom that is. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/23/15 at 03:41:26 https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_7?url=search-alias%3Dsoftware&field-keywords=windows+10&sprefix=windows%2Cprime-instant-video%2C141 Amazon is a place where purchaser comments FROM REAL ACTUAL AMAZON PURCHASERS get automatically tallied and shown to help folks to decide what is safe to buy. We all know how this system works and we all know how to use it. Being automatic, Microsoft can't influence it like they apparently can a review site like Trusted Reviews. So, go look at Windows 10 on Amazon and decide Amazon style if you would want to buy it ..... at 2 1/2 to 3 stars (it moves some from day to day) :P then read the reviews themselves ...... and please remember this is identical to the rape and scrape DVD install using your old registration key that Microsoft now uses to fix all them troubled screwed up Win 10 automatic upgraded installations. Scary, ain't it? ::) I mean normally would you buy anything that had only three stars and that high a level of strong customer complaints (close to 50% when you add 1 stars and 2 stars together) ???? And these people PAID REAL MONEY for it too. Go down the page to Windows 7 and see what the customer rating is on that version. Hmmmmm ??? Think you might want to stall on that upgrade for as LONG AS YOU CAN? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/23/15 at 09:30:17 Some feedback from Nvidia and AMD and several other card vendors -- they are slow to say they have anything other than a "preliminary Win 10 driver" because Win 10 keeps moving around and scooting out from under them. Or, saying this way, the driver that worked fine last week doesn't work this week because MS changed something. So, it is Catch 22 all the way -- you can' get a good Win 10 experience because the drivers aren't stable and you can't get a stable driver because Win 10 keeps moving around all the time. And nobody is going to go back in time 6-8 years to work their older stuff and waste their effort writing a driver until Win 10 is done changing (goes through its 3 planned major revisions). Satya's plump baby boy has a built in stability Catch 22, looks like. And this is scheduled to last beyond the free upgrade time frame. People are getting fatigued dealing with Win 10's erratic nature. :-? HP threatening to come out with a Linux based "Memristor OS" is a very viable threat right now, especially if Gabe at Steam and Linus himself make strong commitments to support it completely. Gobs of lightning fast memristor memory will change computing in very large ways, especially if the OS can actually handle that much systems style memory to make a lickety split fast STABLE user experience when playing the most modern games. ;) ...... he who controls gaming has much to say about what goes on, right? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/23/15 at 19:31:42 I am being told (by gaming programmers) that AMD is loosing the race chip wise. You can stack them 8 deep, but they still won't perform as well as an intel quad 4. Something or other about quantum chiping.... or some such. I was going to build an AMD 8 core system, but am being told by those in the game building business, to just purchase a high level quad four intel chip. I found out recently (using my task manager tabs), that my 2.5 AMD chip does not ever run at 2.5, unless it is not being taxed...and it always is. The 2.5Ghz is what it runs at MAX.... and if its being bombarded by four or five processes it will usually run at 1.5 to 1.8Ghz, NOT EVEN 2Ghz! However... my large laptop is still running windows 10, and yes, I am finding issues. It runs super great when not being bombarded by security scans, or back round updates. My hard drive when I boot up is 100% busy, not my cpu, or memory, just the hard drive. I have reverted to using IE 11, because edge seems to do the security thing more than 11 does, and I don't get as many slow downs with 11. ASUS still doesn't have drivers to fix the windows hotkeys.... I never use them anyway, but I imagine if folks do use them it would be driving them nutzz. I am still happy with ten and will keep using it, because it WILL improve and its really easy to use :) Never know... i'm playing with Linux again on the little laptop, so I can get to know BOTH styles, much like OF is doing with his stuff and his wife's stuff. Can you imagine if they actually get together and use one overall OS? Can you even fathom the progress that they could make? Someone smack me! I am dreamin' again! :) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/24/15 at 01:32:26 No, MS will always try to run its own path and try to own the dirt and the grass and your machine all at the same time. However, computing is getting better all the time when talked about as a "general thing". Copious amounts of very fast memristor memory will make computing "go much faster" even when using today's processors. Computers are getting smaller and more powerful and FASTER all at the same time, just like they always have. Google keeps getting better and Apple keeps getting better and MS keeps copying good things they see in Apple and in Google -- it has always has been that way it seems. ======================================= Remember Crysis, the game you wanted to play but you did not have near enough computer nor near enough video card to run? It was on $4.99 super sale on steam, so I bought a copy of it (and a copy of Far Cry 3 for $6.99) and now I am going to load them and see if it will run on my 9 year dual core old big Dell Box using my second from the bottom AMD cheapie video card. So, what has changed to make this even theoretically possible? STEAM. Gabe and Linux have broken up the Microsoft/NVIDIA control of PC gaming and now you HAVE to work to with Gabe's standards which are "reasonable standards". Gabe's boys actually work with the card makers to write their own STEAM video drivers for all the video cards which ARE CURRENT ALL THE TIME as they load at the same time the game does. I will report soon on how well the "impossible" game runs now, under STEAM ..... on my < $100 gaming rig. ============================== Crysis had to load an older generation of everything, but it ran and ran well. Now-a-days it isn't even a noticeably big game any more. Far Cry 3 IS a BIG GAME which loaded and ran, but then got ill over one of it's dependent copy protections and said my password was invalid and I had multiple instances of the copy protection running at the same time. I wasn't very far along so I just uninstalled it for later when I am not running Crysis at the same time. Crysis and Far Cry used to be the actual same folks, but they split up and got all funky with each other over a bunch of nicky shite. Now they sometimes have issues messing up each others installations because the bits and pieces are the same (or very similar anyway). |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/24/15 at 13:40:33 I loaded steam on the laptop and three games Descent Underground.... won't run it hardly at all.. because it is only a 2Ghz chip 7 days to die.... haven't tried to play it yet, played it for about a week on my HP laptop... a lot of keyboard playing (I don't like keyboard playing, i'm more of a point and click / joystick type) Rust.... after 1/2 hour trying to load all the map sets... I gave up on it, I thought it was because I had not reset my laptop, but even after resetting the laptop I still could not get it to run... is that a Linux thing? I will have to look into it. I played Rust on the HP also...it has a lot of keyboard stuff, but less than 7DTD.... and it is (or was) a basic survival type game/w some PVP (player vrs player) action on some servers. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/25/15 at 09:16:26 http://www.wired.com/2015/07/deceptive-simplicity-intels-new-memory-tech/ http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-29-at-10.13.13-AM-582x331.png Micron and Intel's entry into the "memristor" sweepstakes isn't a memristor type at all, it is a "3D X Point" type of memory. Read the article and realize they haven't told us how it is going to work completely just yet, although they will say it is MUCH faster and much denser than existing memory types. I can see why a new machine will be needed to use this tech as it is true nano tech as expressed on wafers instead of the bulky gross transistor tech as is used today. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/26/15 at 12:55:43 Wow... ran across an interesting article about a "mini" computer (The Kangaroo) that uses windows 10 home edition. Its the size of a cell phone and has two usb ports, an hdmi port and a power port, it also has Bluetooth capability. https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/meet-kangaroo-99-windows-10-desktop-pc-small-120008124.html Oh...and it is only $99 :o |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/26/15 at 22:10:00 Yup, and it has a four hour battery too. http://liliputing.com/2015/10/kangaroo-pocket-sized-desktop-computer-now-sale.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/kangaroo_05.jpg http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/kangaroo_07.jpg The phone PC gets closer and closer and closer to being here ...... ....... OK ....... it's here, but it can't make phone calls? ?????? :-? ??????? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 10/27/15 at 15:24:20 According to the person at my AT&T store, if I get a tablet and stick my SIM card in it, it can act as a phone (once I download a Phone APP, so really the phone computer been here It's just a rilly big phone ;D |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/27/15 at 15:50:06 http://liliputing.com/2015/10/is-google-developing-its-own-chips.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/google-chips.jpg Google is hiring chip designers. Not talking about it, doing it. So much that is VERY BASIC about computing is going to change soon, such basic level changes that HP and Lenovo and the other major players are going to need to go "silicone out" to make their devices work optimally. Apple does this, as does IBM ---- it is a way to get exactly what you want out of silicone and hardware and software. Google has historically been out there in front with a released to FOSS guiding solution that has been commandingly good, good enough to guide an industry. They have done this trick 3 times now and are working on a 4th and 5th as we speak. The Internet of Things is going to take off in the next year, and the computing part of it needs to keep pace with the "software vision" driving the user's experience. "According to Business Insider, the job would be in the same department of Google that’s responsible for Pixel devices, which suggests that Google might be planning to build its own custom processors for upcoming tablets, notebooks, or other consumer devices." Change, she comes ........ ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/27/15 at 16:00:28 http://liliputing.com/2015/10/play-tetris-credit-card-size-gaming-device.html yeah, you remember stuffing all them quarters into the arcade machines http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tetris-MicroCard-680x383.png "The Tetris MicroCard is a tiny gaming device that’s the size of a small stack of credit cards. Despite its compact profile, the Testris MicroCard has an actual D-pad and action buttons. Although it comes outfitted with an officially licensed version of Tetris, the tiny console is fully programmable with Arduino. The Tetris MicroCard is available for preorder now from the company’s website for $49, which might seem a bit steep, but remember that Tetris is officially licensed and the tiny console is programmable for additional games. Estimated shipping is sometime in the first quarter of 2016." If these things take off, think stocking stuffer for kids. Apple is building 10nm chipsets and they will roll out from Samsung and others next year. Then the 7nm non-silicon (supposedly much faster) generations of chipsets will roll out in the next 3 years. New memory (faster non-volatile) will change things up too in the same time frame. Stretch your mind a bit and think of Google Glasses with prescription lenses sitting on your face and you simply carry your computer with you all the time. ;) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/28/15 at 09:33:36 http://liliputing.com/2015/10/google-launches-android-based-brillo-os-for-internet-of-things.html Google comes out with documented IoT OS and Wireless Communications standards -- the Brillo and Weave documented open FOSS standards for operating system and wireless communications http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/brillo_01.jpg What does this mean? Well, it is Android based, so it talks to phones already and it has potential to become a general "use for all things out there" OS system as it is scalable, open and free. Watch this for a light background coverage https://youtu.be/2rPkbyyviGI This is likely one part with Google's recent hiring of full bore chipset designers, as all current ARM chipsets do phones just fine but lack a lot of experience with IoT little nicky stuff covered by these two new open standards. Chipsets (phone and otherwise) will have to change some to accommodate the IoT items scattered around your house. Of course, ARM can incorporate whatever Google designs into their designs if it is good stuff, because that's how Google works. Google believes in "Turn it loose and let it grow". Being able to work with all the small IoT stuff around your house will be very important to you going on out into the future. Intel and MS likes to lock all their stuff down and charge megabucks for it which isn't going to be the way into the future, I do not think. "Organic Android derivatives" are currently larger than any other computing platform out there right now and the tool box for this is just getting better and better. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 10/28/15 at 21:51:26 Well, here is my big beef with the cell phone companies... 1. Making a phone with no removable battery (to totally shut the phone off) 2. Making a phone with no removable memory (for upgrade) flash memory only goes so high, mine is at 16gig, so 32 gig total. 3. Making the phone only usable with THIER system. 4. Not making a 10" or larger tablet with phone capability. I argued with a rep at Verizon (well, a HEAVY discussion) about tablet with phone capability and she stated "It wouldn't be a big money maker, so they won't make one". She then says "you know you can link your phone with your tablet and use it that way right?" To which I replied "I'm 56 years old (she was about 27), my vision is getting worse, my hearing is getting worse, and I can't remember where I put ONE device let alone THREE of them (cell phone, Bluetooth ear piece, and the tablet)! Then she says "Maybe one of those smaller Chinese companies will make one since the big 3 won't be doing that." And then I stated, " I am of the BABY BOOMER group of folks, if I think it would sell, don't you think about 100 million others might think so? or at least 60 million of us? I guess that Chinese company will be taking in some big money!" I then asked her if she had heard of the google glass, she said she had, but they were beyond her monetary reach. I told her I bought one and use it regularly, and I could afford it, and if Verizon would come out with a tablet capable of phone use, I would buy it tomorrow. I also told her I would not purchase another smart phone, and would keep mine until it died, so no money for Verizon or commission for her. I told her, think about it.....maybe you could tell the company what they are missing out on. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/29/15 at 07:46:12 How big does your device need to be? My daughter and son-in-law have six inch Nexus phones ($600 phones) and they have completely stopped hauling around their tablets -- they have good enough eyes to use their phones for everything. If I take my glasses off I can use my phone too, but only using my short distance vision which is still pretty good. There are BIGGER 7" phones out there, with relatively large batteries to support the big screens. http://liliputing.com/2015/10/blu-launches-a-phone-with-a-7-inch-screen-199-price-tag.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/blu-studio-7.0-LTE_03.jpg This is a world phone so it can get support from ANY GSM CELLULAR PROVIDER. ....... and Amazon sells it for $190 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016SCZWF6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B016SCZWF6&linkCode=as2&tag=bradlindsdigi-20&linkId=X5DOKWPHGFKJCPZ2 PLEASE be aware that last year's version and the year before that are still being sold, so WATCH OUT for what you are buying !!!! The older chipsets do not have the world radio in them and are not 4G and are not real LTE and cannot support all the stuff the current model can. Watch your list of carriers/players .... Sprint is not on the list. Blu offers zero support after sale --- they are throw away phones at the price they are sold at. Amazon will sell you a warranty, which translates into a replacement phone if it dies. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/29/15 at 18:57:57 http://www.wsj.com/articles/alphabets-google-to-fold-chrome-operating-system-into-android-1446151134 Same info is being bounced all over the web tonight -- Google is going with Android and combining Chrome OS into it according to Wall Street Journal and other sources who are quoting Sundar Pinchar. The first beta will be released next year (2016) for testing with the finished product to come out in 2017. http://zdnet2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/10/29/7c2be59e-5a33-4a50-bf27-9c58152e8a6f/resize/770x578/afc940c09e968a5ec5e6a2a40251143e/android-chrome-thumb.gif "The Wall Street Journal just released a doozy of a report saying that Android and Chrome are merging. The venerable paper says that a unified operating system will be released in 2017, but Google will show off an early version next year. The report says that the merger has been underway for "roughly two years," and it refers to the end result as "Android," which makes it sound like Android will play host to the merge and integrate parts of Chrome OS. The Journal says the unified OS will "run on PCs," and Chromebooks (which will now run Android) will be given a new name. As a "browser only" OS, Chrome OS has struggled to get the app ecosystem traction that Android and Google Play have excelled at. Most of the software innovation we've seen from Google over the years has been on Android, with Chrome OS remaining "just a browser," with few major exciting features. It's been clear that Android has been the OS with all the momentum, but it's still a shock to hear that Chrome OS is going away. A merger like this is going to bring massive changes to Android. The mobile OS is awful with a mouse (or touchpad) and keyboard, and it would need a big UI revamp to work on Chrome OS-style hardware. Android also has no scalable update solution, while Chrome OS has a controlled, seamless, silent update process. Part of the allure of Chrome OS for schools and businesses is that it's relatively bombproof, easy to manage, and easy to update." The article writer is assuming that Google is going to follow MS's path of throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the OS itself -- instead Google may go modular and let the devices each carry whichever load they need to carry, that way they stay faster and cheaper to do for the job at hand. Whatever Google does, it must be released into the wild just about as soon as it is debugged and running well. This one is going to be the quintessential battle between poorly written, huge and over-controlled (MS Win 10) and organic fast growing FOSS with hundreds of hands in it writing away -- with how well Google does the skeleton itself saying which one will eventually win. The people's OS vs Microsoft's OS --- this one will be interesting to watch develop. ======================================= Clarification for the hordes of educators emailing and tweeting in about the fate of Chrome OS on Chromebooks --- it isn't going to change beyond getting additional functionality over time. Their investment in hardware and software is totally sound rolling on out into the future. This gives a bit of boost to my idea that Google may "modularize" the new OS instead of going the kitchen sink approach (a la MS). There is no reason to burden a device with more OS than that particular device needs. Phones need a sleek minimalist Android OS and full bore laptops need a lot more to do all that they can do -- but no law says all stuff needs to be on all devices all of the time. Google already has the ability to move modules into a device as needed through the net seamlessly with you not even noticing it has happened. Google also is good at doing data farm supported "big calculations", etc and just giving your device the answer to display, they do that already too, both on Android phones and Chromebooks. If Google has been working on this for two years, likely they already have something interesting and compelling that they are now getting ready to start talking about. And already have business partners lined up to build and support. Now they need to start with the user base (having watched MS fumble through alienating their Beta Testers in both PC and Mobile implementations, I bet Google does a much better job of it). It also explains why Google wouldn't support anybody else's attempts at a multi-user windowing full laptop environment in Android, they already had one under development. :) Once they name the thing we can have another ?????Wars to track for a year or three. Microsoft is struggling to force enough users to go to Win 10 in order to have their promised billion Win 10 devices. Right now they are hung at 130 million PC and phones and holding. The new device sales of Win 10 are not that good right now as people are realizing that Win 10 isn't right yet and Win 10 certainly can be viewed as unstable in the broadest viewpoint. And Win 10 is falling behind more and more on the list of "completed features" that were promised to be done by the end of this year. On the Android side, Organic Android initializes a billion devices brand new every year and has done so for well over a year now ...... in one month alone Android initializes more devices than are running on Win 10 right now, period. So far free Win 10 has only served to put a positive blip into MS's slide into obscurity, a short term reversal that MS is having to drive with whips and shock prods at this point in time. What will happen when Android becomes a full featured OS ??? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/30/15 at 09:02:08 Ah, here it comes ..... revolving slowly as it bites into your flesh and starts to bore on in. It is the lead tip of the BIG SCREWJOB from Microsoft. Their very first 1,400% price increase on Win 10 computer associated stuff. http://liliputing.com/2015/10/got-a-skype-phone-number-you-rates-might-be-going-up-a-lot.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/skype-changes.jpg This is what has happened to Brad Linder, the guy who runs Lilliputing. Needless to say, he posted it and checked into it some to see if it was real. "Skype offers customers an optional Skype Number which links your account to a phone number. When people call that number, your Skype app will ring. And there’s an optional feature that allows your Skype number to show in caller ID when you’re calling a phone number from Skype. I’ve had a Skype Number for almost a decade and for much of that time I’ve paid about $24 per year for the number. But this morning I got an email from Skype telling me that the rate was about to go up to $29.94. Per month. That comes to $359.28 per year, which would be a nearly 1400% increase. I’m not the only person getting this sort of message." "Trust us." right ..... Is this why everyone on Win 10 gets an automatic Skype account and why MS has back installed it automatically into all Win 7-8.x accounts just lately? >:( |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/30/15 at 09:54:06 http://liliputing.com/2015/10/windows-10-is-coming-to-windows-update-be-careful-if-you-dont-want-an-accidental-upgrade.html Then, on the same day as the Skype 1,400% price increase MS drops this little dungus into your computer. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/win10-update.jpg Windows 10 is coming to Windows Update: be careful if you don’t want an accidental upgrade This particular change is also potentially possibly firing off some more random "forced automatic upgrades" that MS will say was accidentally created again due to your particular mix of automatic update settings. "Here’s what’s happening: Right now Microsoft is updating the “get your free upgrade” notification language to help encourage more users to take advantage of the free upgrade. You also no longer have to register and then wait for a download. That system was in place at launch so that Microsoft could ensure that your computer wouldn’t encounter problems during the upgrade. Now that more than 100 million devices have been upgraded, Microsoft has a lot of data about the process. Now when you sign up for the upgrade, it starts right away. Soon Microsoft will begin offering Windows 10 as an “optional update” in the Windows Update service for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. This means it won’t download and install automatically, but you’ll be able to select the update if you’d like. In early 2016 Windows 10 will become a “recommended update.” If you have Windows Updated set to automatically install recommended updates, this means your computer might start the upgrade process without any user intervention… but it will only start the process." Sure, we believe you that you aren't going to twist our arm behind our backs to coerce us into upgrading ..... you are our "trusted" OS supplier, right? You are just going to let millions of us do it by mistake, right? Gonna set us all up for a new "free" Skype number too? >:( |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by verslagen1 on 10/30/15 at 09:58:46 You got the notice cause you have a paid account (u r screwed) Most have a free account (I m not playing) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/31/15 at 03:30:09 Right now you have 3 large players in the device OS marketplace. You have Android, Apple and Microsoft, in order of the number of devices. Apple is content, they are raking in profits like no other computing business has ever done, and are not particularly interested in "taking over the market" as they already own all the parts they want. Apple could take more, by having a less expensive line of laptops and phones, and they have been considering this move for years now but haven't quite decided to go do it yet. Google has been all hung up with its two part Android/Chrome approach for YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS too long. Plus, Google has been running around playing Switzerland and being all Budda-like all over the place instead of being a competitor. This was a big mistake. By stupidly waiting for MS to completely finish all their Win 10 moves, Google has just about guaranteed themselves the loser position in PC/laptop space and may well lose their mobile crown as well, with mobile going to Apple. Google, excuse me Alphabet, is too occupied with their internal stuff right now to watch the baby. Microsoft is acting like a competitor again and they are moving more and more quickly into taking chunks of market share that they see hanging out there unattended. By in essence "taking over" their own customers machines Microsoft has begun a Gengis Khan type move back into the marketplace that they had once owned 100%. Microsoft is the only computing company NOT DISTRACTING ITSELF trying to build a car right now. Apple and Google are both occupied with these sorts of "exterior distractions" that are turning out to be a lot more distracting than they thought they would be. Right now, the ones moving quickly and seizing opportunities IN COMPUTING goes like this. Microsoft, Google, Apple If Microsoft gets its Gengis on, look to see Google get bashed up pretty good both by its internal restructuring woes and a strategic lawsuit or two (prompted again by MS behind the scenes). Google is a bunch of very smart people who have just been playing at what they want to do, as opposed to a revitalized MS who is coming out of all their Win 10 disasters as a well sharpened spiked instrument totally focused on gutting their competition and having a honed ability to rewrite whatever is needed to do just that. And the chutzpah to just throw it out there 3/4 written and to fix it on the fly. And totally "owning" their customer base, so loyalty is not an issue, even when flogging the peasants fairly frequently the way they are currently doing with their constant nightly faulty updates. Google has a better set of people, and writes better code that works better when it is released, but they are very very LATE coming out of the gate and MS may actually fix their stuff before Google even gets into motion good. I look to see Android lose market share to a "zero initial cost" MS Win 10 product group, as MS is focused on making that happen RIGHT NOW and Google is still floundering about "restructuring" again. Unless Google has indeed written something really good in the past two years they have been "working on it" then Google and Android are doomed to lose their first place position to Microsoft (PC side) and to Apple (mobile side). Furthermore, the new Alphabet soup group is going to wind up being lots of small competitors which will each separately not really have the traction to win anything going out into the future. Google as a whole was a force to be reckoned with, Alphabet soup, not so much. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 10/31/15 at 15:03:24 http://liliputing.com/2015/10/rockchips-light-biz-os-turns-android-into-a-desktop-operating-system.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/light-biz-os.jpg "Rockhip is probably best known for producing processors used in low-cost tablets, Chromebooks, and TV boxes. But the company also develops software optimized for those chips, including a new version of Android called Light Biz OS. It’s designed to make Android work more like a desktop operating system. Apps run in resizable windows, allowing you to view multiple apps at once. And there’s also support for multi-screen viewing: hook up an external display and you can view a presentation or movie on the big screen while reading your email on the tablet itself. Light Biz OS is based on Android 5.1 Lollipop and users can run pretty much any Android application. What’s unusual is that you can run those apps in full-screen mode, a half-sized window, or an even smaller window. This lets you do things like surf the web while a video is playing in one window and a chat application runs in a third. The custom version of Android also includes a taskbar, a start menu-style app launcher, and support for keyboard shortcuts, pen input, and other features designed to make it easier to get work done on an Android device. You can also go into the display settings and disable multi-window support at any time to use you device like a normal Android tablet. Rockchip makes the software available to companies that use its RK3288 and RK3368 chips in their tablets, TV boxes, and laptops." Well now, Google, that makes 3-4 of your major users that are putting together your new windowing OS before you do. Does this signal anything to you, buddy ??? Like get off your duff and DO IT ???? ;) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/02/15 at 07:18:35 Apple and Qualcomm are now testing 10nm pilot runs off of the Samsung process and the TSMC process in order to correctly award next year's production orders. Rumor has it that low yields and overheating issues exist with at least one of these sets of submissions. Enough so to make it necessary to get a fresh large production sample from both companies, letting them fix everything they can in the meanwhile. A smart company (and Apple is a smart company, as is Qualcomm) will also be doing risk analysis on this new lithography level to see if it could possibly bite them in the ass like 20nm TSMC did for the Qualcomm 810 year before last with its rampant overheating (which was never totally fixed by TSMC, btw). Apple, if not satisfied that 10nm is a good "smart" move from either vendor can certainly stop at 14nm level and simply wait until the non-silicone 7nm stuff is ready in 3 years. Or, both ARM and Apple can redesign their chipsets to a massively multicore arrangement, to help with the 10nm overheating issues. NOTE: APPLE JUST ANNOUNCED A HEXACORE PRODUCT DESIGN FOR PHONES AND AN OCTACORE DESIGN FOR TABLETS/LAPTOPS The monkey is now squarely on the backs of Samsung and TSMC to make their 10nm performance/heat yields and actual performance levels pay off correctly. And they HAVE TO BEAT THE OVERHEATING ISSUES or else come clean on the overheat slow down curve that their version of 10nm actually has to have so the chipsets can be correctly redesigned. Intel finally had to take this path with their overheating 14nm chipsets, finally having to develop correct specification curves for cooling and performance that actually reflected what they were really actually shipping. Intel NEVER COULD FIX their 14nm overheating slow down issues, they simply spec'd them correctly in the published product specs. And they correctly spec'd some serious chip cooling as part of the performance curve sales package. Intel now markets 14nm as a battery saver, not as a performance improvement. 10nm ARM may have to do the same. A possible dodge is to go massively multi-core at the ARM 10nm design level, to keep each individual core's temperature down at a reasonable heat level. A part of this trick will be the supporting ARM bios software, able to rapidly switch out the tasks assigned to an overheated core to a cooler core. Since many phone tasks are only 1-2 threads deep, a 6-8 core chipset could move things around to cooler cores in a round robin fashion to keep the throughput up higher. Good chipset cooling DESIGN REQUIREMENTS would be needed as well. ======================================== http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/xiaomi-flagship-smartphones-pack-mediatek-chip-10-core-processor-report-1501988 Late breaking design news from Mediatek and Qualcomm as they try to design some massively multicore chipsets that will work well on into 2016 and 2017 and be able to bump down the lithography shrinks for those years ...... "Qualcomm, in contrary, is also said to be planning for a new SoC featuring the deca-core processor dubbed Snapdragon 818, in a bid to compete with MediaTek's Helio X20. Qualcomm's upcoming chip is expected to support LTE-Cat 10 speeds. Designed to be used in top-notch mobile devices, the Helio X20 is the world's first mobile processor incorporating Tri-Cluster CPU architecture, with 10 processing cores. The company has confirmed that the chipset would be ready by third quarter of this year and available in consumer products by the end of the year." Qualcomm has a 4 core chipset that is a horsepower chipset, but it sounds like it won't translate well at 10nm with the thermal constraints, so Qualcomm is going to go massively multicore to beat the heat ..... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/02/15 at 08:05:30 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/asus-zenfone-2-laser-deluxe-launch-in-the-us-for-199-and-up.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/asus-zenfone-2-laser.jpg Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE551KL "Unlike the international version of the Zenfone 2 Laser, this model is the same size and shape as the original Zenfone 2. But there are a few key differences under the hood. The phone gets its name thanks to the laser-assisted autofocus feature for the rear camera. It also has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor instead of an Intel Atom chip." (please note, the 615 is an octacore chipset) Why interesting? Zenphone went with Intel chipsets and the big big memory levels as spec'd by MS/Intel so they could play in the Win 10 phone/PC realm two years ago when it was originally promised to come out. It never made it ...... Two years later, Zenphone still isn't a Win10 approved pnone/PC player, so Zenphone is dropping the Intel chipset, dropping the overkill Intel memory specs and is becoming a Qualcomm octacore based product. This isn't as bad as it sounds as Qualcomm chipsets will likely make it into Win10 phone/PC space before the Intel chipsets will anyway. Intel isn't really doing all that well in mobile right now as the original Zenphone was one of the very few players using an Intel mobile chipset in a mainline product. Intel mobile stuff is only 2 to 4 LARGE cores and simply cannot compete with ARM massively multicore chipsets on just about any front. Now the only Intel mobile chipsets left are in a few MS built Lumina phones that are just plain grossly overpriced. Watch Intel have to go massively multicore across the board so they can try to maybe get something useful out of their now "behind the development curve" 14nm manufacturing process. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by verslagen1 on 11/02/15 at 08:30:18 Sounds like they've hit a wall. The wall is no longer can we make it smaller, but how many electrons do we need to flip this switch. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/02/15 at 08:48:29 It is a wall that can be cheated some with massive multi-core and "move the task to a cooler core" tricks. But yes, it is a wall. Intel was so proud their 14nm was a true "14nm used in all traces" design, but that simply meant they unexpectedly hit the wall before the ARM guys did. At 10nm the wall is there for everybody. Only the very clever ones will build successful things at 10nm and below. And now you see why Google is hiring some top notch chip designers away from the other guys as the correct optimized "OS/chipset" design for the current lithography level is now a critical business requirement right now. They need an in-house chip designer to explain to the software OS guys exactly what the rapid moves just made by ARM and Apple and Mediatek and Qualcomm will require out of the Android OS in core scheduling functions, etc. etc. etc. etc. OS design must mate up well with the lithography required chip designs, or you will have a loser product going forward. And please remember, Android is intended to be a laptop/PC OS going forward, too ...... :) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/02/15 at 19:33:18 Believe it or not, Chrome OS has many vocal fans. It only pulls down 3-5% of all computing devices, but it bulks "large" in new low end laptop sales for the last 3 years running. It also has a fairly strong lock on Education right now, holding a majority market share there. It is beloved for what it does well, easy installation and minimal maintenance by instructors, with only one computer geek being required in each elementary school. Google has now come forward saying Chrome for Education will only gain a few new features, not convert and become Android per se. Android will get more Chrome features as far as resizeable windows, ease of keyboard and mouse use goes ..... and they can have the stronger Chrome security system and the no hassle update system too. Blend the billion or so individual loaded Android apps with Chrome's ease of use and Chrome's really VERY GOOD security structure ...... then give it a new name that won't alienate either group. Here is the trick -- Android is really quite Organic now and nobody is going to do anything in Organic Android that they don't want to do. If Google goes odd places, they will go there by themselves. Chrome OS is more of an ecosystem, complete and whole -- Google can sway that ecosystem, but will quickly find out that the Open Chromium Project means that folks don't have to follow bad moves there either. Android has some historical things in it that gets them sued periodically --- this would be a good time to lose those things and use the Chrome bits instead. It would be nice if nobody had to pay MS their Android "or I'll sue you" extortion tax any more ...... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/03/15 at 06:38:21 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/microsoft-is-dropping-onedrive-free-storage-to-5gb-killing-office-365-unlimited-storage.html Microsoft is dropping OneDrive free storage to 5GB, killing Office 365 unlimited storage http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/onedrive-5.jpg So, you actually believed MS's BS that they told you back when you bought into their stuff? MS's EULA states they can change the rules on you at any time with no prior notice. So there, take that --- you somewhat naive person you ..... just savor the flavor as MS turns that big MS screw in another quarter turn ..... about $1.99 a month's worth. If you are a Cloudbook user, likely you will pay the $1.99 a month since a chunk of your OS lives up in the cloud most of the time and if your Drive stops working so does your machine. Let's see now, that is a monthly charge of $1.99 for Drive and $2.95 for a Skype number. Hey, that is 60 bucks a year -- wasn't that what MS originally said they would charge for Win 9 as a "pay as you go" subscription plan? And remember, please .... "Google, meanwhile, continues to offer at least 15GB of free storage for users of Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/03/15 at 07:32:38 ;D Food for thought ...... by inference Google is saying by 2017 you can simply dock your midrange to upper range Android phone and use it as your PC to run your keyboard, mouse, controller and big screen. Will Steam (games being the only real reason to use MS) come to the new Android? Yeperoo. It is a no brainer since it is already available for Android. Now you understand MS's latest big fixation with buying some sort of controlling interest in GAMES. They MUST control premium games, or they are gone in 5 years. So, in two short years, the world may sort itself out into "everybody else" and MS .... with MS being by far the lesser item. If Google does it smart, this "everybody else" will be a huge mass of organic contributors who, as a whole, run things but willingly adhere to the skeleton rules Google keeps up with. ;) Steamboxes are out and shipping in quantity this Christmas -- folks who don't want to upgrade their Xbox or Sony Play station for the umpteenth time can simply buy a Steambox from a competitive variety of suppliers for similar to less money. The good news is Gabe is telling the game developers to write ports of all their big games for his Steam machines. If they do this, they automatically write Linux Mint ports as well. This is good for us old farts as MS is going to drive us all to Linux eventually with their unbridled greed and ever changing EULA rules. Some few big game houses are still under exclusivity agreements with Xbox/Microsoft. Very few houses write solely for Playstation/Sony any more. This "restricted" age is ending ...... finally. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/04/15 at 05:31:03 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/google-says-chrome-os-isnt-going-anywhere.html Google replies to the Wall Street Journal article, saying Chrome OS isn't going anywhere http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/chromebook-pixel-2015.jpg Some of Chrome's functionality will go into Android, and vice versa (which was all that was told to the WSJ reporter, who simply "folded in" the rest of it with his own interpretations.) Chrome OS is currently a success in laptop land and the following factoids were given in support of that statement. More than 2 million teachers and students are now using the new Share to Classroom to use Chrome OS devices in class settings (something new to allow easy widespread use of teaching softwares) 30,000 new Chromebooks are activated in US classrooms every day (that's a lot of Chromebooks, it would be nearly a million per month during the first months of a school year as I doubt this rate holds good all year long ---- plus that is only here in the USA, other countries add more to the pile I am sure) A growing number of businesses (including Netflix and Starbucks) are said to be using Chromebooks as well. Chromebooks regularly top Amazon’s laptop best-seller list. People who use Chromebooks are buying their second unit now, which is a step up in memory, processor and screen size generally speaking. :D ...... only MS wants that Chrome OS should be killed off at the moment. BUT EVERYBODY DOES WANT ANDROID TO GROW UP SOME AND BE A REAL OS CAPABLE OF CORRECTLY RUNNING A LAPTOP OR DESKTOP. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/04/15 at 10:11:54 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/hp-chromebook-with-4gb-ram-fhd-display-now-available-for-280.html HP responds to WSJ article by releasing an upgraded Chromebook As expected, HP’s fourth-generation Chromebooks are now available, and as expected, they sell for $249 and up. But the sweet spot is probably the $280 model. Because that version has 4GB of RAM and a 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS display, making it one of the most affordable Chrome OS laptops with those features. Best Buy is selling the $280 Chromebook in two colors: Silver and Sky Blue. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/hp-chromebook-14-fhd.jpg The cheaper model has a matte 1366 x 768 pixel display and 2GB of RAM. Both models feature Intel Celeron N2940 quad-core Bay Trail processors, and 16GB of eMMC flash storage. The notebooks measure about 0.7 inches thick and weigh about 3.7 pounds. Other features include 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth, a full-sized HDMI port, a microSD card slot, two USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.0 port with sleep and charge support (allowing you to charge your phone or other device even when the laptop is sleeping) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 11/04/15 at 10:19:12 I wonder if you can set the darned thins up without having to have wifi, like you gotta have for the Acer |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/04/15 at 12:20:43 Art, You have an atypical set up with no router and no home LAN and nothing except a AT&T skate board with its single connector jack. Chromebooks, although desirable to you are not consistent with your connection/environment. Some of what you struggle with is the atypical nature of your set up, which isn't going to change without you moving and getting a internet company instead of a phone company as your provider. Right now you lack choices in the matter, as you only get it one way (the phone company way). They can hook you up, but count on it costing you beau coup dinero when they do it. Something for you to check into is a WIFI or mobile "HOT SPOT" which is a small box you can get from your provider to give you a WIFI hot spot in your house. The price for such varies, with T-Mobile being dirt cheap, Sprint less cheap and AT&T being down right rapish last time I looked. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/04/15 at 12:26:41 Back to the gen 4 Chromebooks, running just a shade below a Pixel in specs and running less than $300 to start. It is the next generation of step up Chromestuff and they are going to appeal to the folks falling out of love with Microsoft who don't want to drop a grand on a Mac. Mac people are also learning to like the up-spec'd Chromebooks as they can get the fast specs, the size and the weight and the screen -- all for $500 cheaper than the new Macbooks cost. Definitely some FASTER step up stuff, with stronger processors, 4 gigs of systems memory and 32 gigs or more of hard drive space. Light as many tabs as you want to as fast as you want to, play multiple on-line games on multiple tabs, etc. etc. The backlit keyboards and the big mouse pads are very nice as well. The new Android laptops will likely step into a sub-Chrome market space and cost range, since Android currently lives large on a single gig (2 gigs is super spacious) and having memory sized at 8-16 gigs in even the most spacious of the non-Zenphone items. Intel & Microsoft are FAR more expensive propositions with their Win 10 Mobile offerings right now ...... and are barely at the Beta stage as far as software completion or reliability goes right now (and only Beta-operate on MS's Lumina phones to boot). =========================== You can get full Win 10 laptops for $300 and up, but that is above the price range of the new gen 4 Chromebooks AND IT CANNOT COMPETE SPEED-WISE WITH THEM EITHER. The lightest and cheapest of the MS Win 10 units, the Cloudbooks, may require a $1.99 a month One Drive subscription after the first year runs out just to be able to get to all their operating files when they need them. Microsoft is in a quandary -- Win 10 stuff isn't near as light (in hardware specs or in pounds) and it isn't near as fast as a Chromebook, and it costs 25% more money. Right now Win 10 itself isn't coming across as a big selling point either as it is buggy, unstable and not completely written yet. Christmas season starts this month -- we should be able to get some sales results out of both camps for this Chrismas season as we have the first half baseline numbers already (pre-Win 10 numbers), the third quarter numbers (Win 10 launch) and we'll get the full years end numbers too. If Christmas Chromebooks outsell Win 10 laptops, it will be BAD, very bad for Microsoft ...... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 11/04/15 at 21:35:59 Want a cheap ebook setup? well, remember that RCA Pro 10.1 I got and still have? (It is running great by the way, and I use it every time I go out to appointments or will be away from the house for awhile) Walmart has them for $69.99 right now, except its the RCA Pro II 10.1 which runs 5.0 lollipop in place of 4.4 kit kat. (android) I ordered one up for the wife and will get it next week, and I will do an unboxing (I will need to set it up for her accounts) video and put it up on you tube, and will link it here. Its her Christmas present, i'm not sure I will be able to hide it though, LOL :D http://www.walmart.com/ip/44185467?productRedirect=true |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/05/15 at 05:12:08 4E4D455348454453210 wrote:
I've watched Old_Rider use this and he gets it done -- right smartly. Its big enough to read and it connects anywhere a wifi only tablet will connect. http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-b664/k2-_b268a54d-1581-4b07-9977-1249d7b93d03.v1.jpg Remember, the Orient is already lousy with these things, and Google is coming out with a windowing version of Android starting next year. The $69 price is a mark down from the $99 they normally sell at Walmart all the time.. MS isn't happy with this development -- they can't price support enough stuff to even try to put a dent in it. Organic Android --- its like Kudzu, it covers everything ...... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/05/15 at 05:21:08 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/huawei-kirin-950-chip-shoots-for-high-performance-low-power-consumption.html "Chinese company Huawei is starting to make a name for itself in the US thanks to its partnership with Google on the Nexus 6P smartphone. But the company doesn’t just make phones. It’s also been producing its own processors for a few years, and the latest will likely be used in the upcoming Huawei Mate 8. It’s called the Kirin 950, and it’s an octa-core chip with four 2.3 GHz ARM Cortex-A72 cores, four 1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 cores, and Mali-T880MP4 graphics. What does that mean? It’s fast. Very fast. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/kirin-950.jpg But Huawei says its chip is also energy efficient. It’s built using TSMC’s 16nm FinFet process, which is the same one used for Apple’s A9 processor. The chip also has a low-power, always-on co-processor for sensors including the barometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, and other motion sensors. Huawei says this new i5 co-processors uses just 6.5 mA, while the company’s previous i3 version used 90 mA. All told, Huawei figures its new chip offers about a 40 percent performance boost while also reducing power consumption by 60 percent, which should lead to longer battery life in mobile devices." This is a laptop capable chipset, BTW ....... that can do a phone or a tablet as well So, now we got Chinese phone builders becoming chipset designers, just like Google predicted. ARM Holdings stock price is going down slowly, BTW, as before long these guys will go their own way instead of just modifying ARM designs -- ARM Holdings is also trying to branch out into other things right now too. The 10nm wall is acting to make ARM's final effort at silicone based wafers a sort of stopping point for ARM as well. ARM is working with the Apple and IBM and the IBM chipmaker consortium on the 7nm non-silicone prototype and it will be interesting to see what 7nm non-silicone processor looks like. Equipment to make the things is being made right now, so it isn't but a year or so away. The Cortex A-72 core does seem to be a real hit with everybody right now, and they are all building octa cores (or more) out of them. This Huawei beast is actually a 9 core chipset since it has an IoT core in it too for always on duty. I have a phone that runs on four of the LEAST of these A-53 cores that are being used now-a-days, and it ain't a dog by any means. My Moto G still seems a snappy little beast to me. I think next year we will see laptops and Chromebooks running this generation of new A72 chipsets in our local phone stores as well as even more powerful tablets and phones. And once I've played with one a bit, I'll want that level of speed just like most other folks will do. Addendum: The IoT core that is being used in the Huawei Kirin 900 is an Intel IoT core -- wow, Intel actually made something folks want to use of their own free will no less ....... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/05/15 at 06:05:07 Having lost their place in the Asus Zenphone (their only large production mobile product) Intel reacts weakly, trying to fix what ails them. http://liliputing.com/2015/11/intels-new-cherry-trail-chips-are-a-little-faster.html Intel’s new Cherry Trail chips are (a little) faster "Intel is making a small update to its low-power Atom chip lineup. The new Intel Atom x5-Z8350, Atom x5-Z8550, and x7-Z8750 will replace the current Cherry Trail lineup soon. So what’s new? Not a whole lot… but the new chips should be a little faster and a little more reliable. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/intel-atom-cherry-trail.jpg The updated processors have the same base clock speeds, but support higher CPU burst frequencies. They also fix some problems with alpha blending and ATSC graphics. Intel will be phasing out its current Cherry trail chips to make room for the new models, but here’s an overview of the existing chips and the new ones that will replace them: x5-Z8300: 1.44 GHz chip with 1.84 GHz burst and Intel HD 400 graphics x5-Z8350: 1.44 GHz chip with 1.92 GHz burst and Intel HD 400 graphics x5-Z8500: 1.44 GHz chip with 2.24 GHz burst and Intel HD 400 graphics x5-Z8550: 1.44 GHz chip with 2.4 GHz burst and Intel HD 400 graphics x7-Z8700: 1.6 GHz chip with 2.4 GHz burst and Intel HD 405 graphics x7-Z8750: 1.6 GHz chip with 2.56 GHz burst and Intel HD 405 graphics All of processors are quad-core chips." Let's go to the very last, most powerful chipset and I'll translate the Intel speak for you. Our best mobile chip with our best graphics starts out stone cold at 2.56 ghz but within 10-20 seconds it gets slightly warm and slows down to 1.6 ghz, same as before. Since it is only a 4 core processor, it can't switch the work load over to cooler cores like the octa and peta ARM boys can, so once it has slowed down it stays slowed down since mobile products can't have the big huge heat sinks our 14nm chipsets really like. And we think we fixed the alpha blending bug in our in-house graphics, finally. Still, it is an improvement on the Intel baseline ...... if Intel pays folks enough to use it, that is. It is sad that some other commentators are now saying that the fix on the alpha blending issue is the only real change done to the chip, and that the spec change, such that it is, is only 100% sinky brown vapor and the chipset is actually unchanged except for the bug fix and the new part number. Since there are no products out there using the thing, it becomes a moot point I guess. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/05/15 at 20:06:04 Why you cannot be recommended to buy a MS based Cloudbook now at all ...... and why you have to immediately stop Win 10 from syncing to your One Drive storage RIGHT NOW before they start hitting your charge card for $1.99 or greater every month for your "excess storage". It is estimated that MS will stuff enough of their nightly download data on your hard drive and automatically sync it to their One Drive to exceed 5 gig limit automatically fairly quickly, then MS will start billing your charge card for the excess measured in 5 gig lump sums. And it won't take them very long to get there. http://www.geek.com/microsoft/microsoft-breaks-unlimited-onedrive-storage-promise-1638531/ "It’s not just the unlimited plan that’s being killed. Microsoft is also getting rid of the 15GB photo sync bonus that users have been getting for turning on automatic uploads to OneDrive on their smartphones. And at a time when cloud storage just keeps getting cheaper, Microsoft is also ditching their 100GB and 200GB plans. Paid OneDrive plans will max out at 50GB, which will cost $1.99 a month. Sure, two bucks a month is cheap, but that’s half the storage Google gives you for that price. The silliness doesn’t stop there, either. Microsoft is also going to roll back all free OneDrive accounts to just 5GB of storage. That’s right. If you were given bonus storage at some point — like I was for being around since the beginning — you’re going to be knocked back from whatever you have to 5GB. If you’re over that amount, you may want to start moving some files — but don’t worry, Microsoft will be sending you nagging emails as the rollback date approaches. It’s going to happen “early in 2016.” Are they going to piss off some people? Absolutely, and I’ll probably be one of them. Ultimately, though, Microsoft probably isn’t too worried about users like me who were happy limiting their use to their free OneDrive storage. They’ll be happy to sit back and watch people’s OneDrive storage fill up with automatically synced content from Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Eventually, their free storage will fill up and some will convert to paid subscribers… at which point it’s mission accomplished for Microsoft." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 11/05/15 at 20:20:01 5370787A797070796E1C0 wrote:
Oldfeller, my phone IS a wifi hotspot, do I choose to use it as such, the mobile hotspots from AT&T use the same network, and yes, AT&T is rapish on their wireless hotspots |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/05/15 at 20:27:28 Art, I loaded some free software on to my ancient XP laptop that I keep at work so it could be a wireless hot spot to support my wifi loving Republic phone. Then I used an Apha style long distance WIFI antenna to snatch up a far away open wifi signal to fuel my laptop's wifi hotspot. It is all old stuff that I had lying around, intelligently used to give me free phone service and movie streaming, etc. etc. And I can call and text anybody anywhere in the world, for as much as I want, for free. And stream movies and stuff too. Gets slow sometimes though, as the open signal I am accessing isn't really very fast stuff --- Wifi G data rate at best. When it falls back to the B rates, my streaming gets all cobby on me. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 11/05/15 at 20:44:28 that's what'll happen if I use up my high speed on the phone, the service drops from 4GLTE to 2G and then it won't work a PC I don't think I get unlimited data, but my hi speed is rationed |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/06/15 at 05:29:03 http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/10/pc-sales-drop-in-q3-2015/ I alluded to this several times, but the third quarter figures are in -- Win 10 resulted in the same standard drop in PC sales figures that has gone on for years now -- no reversal of the decline of the PC has been seen so far. "Windows 10 may have breathed new life into your PC, but it didn't do anything to juice PC sales this summer. Both Gartner and IDC estimate that computer sales dropped several points year-over-year (between 7.7 and 10.8 percent) in the third quarter, right when the new Windows arrived. That's one of the steeper drops in recent memory, in fact. Not that it comes as a complete surprise. As the analyst firms explain, Microsoft's fast-tracked release left many PC makers shipping existing systems with Windows 10, which weren't going to drive demand as much as brand new models. You're not going to buy a months-old laptop just because it's running new software, are you? The big question is whether or not the wave of new Windows 10 PCs launching this fall will make a difference -- if there's still a sharp decline, the industry is really in trouble." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/06/15 at 05:33:15 http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/05/pc-support-discourages-using-windows-10/ PC makers' tech support asks customers to avoid Windows 10 http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/4febfb795f22fb86579fb432a30ecc0e/202078250/Dell+XPS+computex+full+bleed.jpg So Dell and HP are both telling folks to roll back to Win 7 to fix their issues, huh? These are two of your MAJOR partners, MS, who don't think your new software is worth having right now ...... "You may have upgraded to Windows 10 as soon as humanly possible, but don't tell that to your PC manufacturer. As part of its tech support research, Laptop has learned that at least Dell and HP are discouraging customers from updating to Windows 10, or even recommending that people roll back to older versions. When asked, both companies defend the practice. They're committed to Windows 10, but their ultimate goal on a support line is to fix your PC... even if that means reverting to old software. This kind of policy isn't strictly new. As anyone who's worked tech support will tell you, vendors usually teach reps to support a narrow range of software for a reason. It's hard to guarantee that a years-old PC will run a version of Windows it was never designed to use. However, this policy is at odds with Microsoft's attempt to push as many Windows 10 upgrades as possible, including for Windows 7 users. The two sides are effectively fighting each other -- one camp wants a wave of early adopters, while the other wants to discourage those eager beavers whenever possible. Unless PC makers go the extra mile to support Windows 10, Microsoft could end up with a lot of confused customers." It's not that confusing, you loaded Win 10 and it broke your machine. GO BACK ASAP to Win 7 and stay there. Wait until the Redstones both roll out next year and then do your upgrade. Maybe Win 10 will have achieved stability by that point ...... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/06/15 at 09:37:42 http://www.zdnet.com/article/npd-chromebooks-outsell-windows-laptops/ Sales figures on low end Windows laptops are being actively withheld by MS and by its partners, on MS orders. This means you have to wait a quarter to a half a year to get a belated total roll up by Gartner or one of the other tracking companies -- which isn't timely, but it is what MS wants for you to have. http://zdnet3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2015/08/13/144e297b-9d91-400a-9388-f8f1b0d369e5/59cc6528fe1bba9cf55bb76d1a904f6f/npd-laptop-and-tablet-sales-2015.png Third quarter just ending saw another decline in PC overall (between 7.7 and 10.8 percent) in the third quarter alone. Add that to what is in the graphs above and you get a pretty sad picture for MS newest OS. Apple has taken losses too, so far with Apple being the largest contributor to Chromebook's market share growth. "Both Gartner and IDC estimate that computer sales dropped several points year-over-year (between 7.7 and 10.8 percent) in the third quarter, right when the new Windows arrived." see article two items up -- this drop is not specific or directly related to the Chromebook area of sales though as those numbers are a tightly held MS secret right now. But it ain't good, whatever it is ...... during this period there were weeks when Chromebooks outsold PCs in total. Now we will see what happens over the Christmas season. What will sell well, and what will not. You may get reports of Christmas sales but only if they are good for MS, or you may get more complete stony silence out of MS and all its vendor chain if the Christmas news isn't all exuberant for MS and its boys. ;) ..... and when the new windowing multi-user Android laptops hit these charts, what will happen then? Where will the phone/PCs get counted when they roll out? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/07/15 at 14:19:54 http://www.howtogeek.com/228551/how-to-stop-windows-7-or-8-from-downloading-windows-10-automatically/ http://cdn9.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/650x300xScreenshot_9_10_15__10_02_PM-650x300.png.pagespeed.ic.i-mMpcFO-6.png You have heard Win 7 people talking about MS stuffing Win 10 down their throats and then starting to charge them money for One Drive 5 gigabyte drive space overages that they never asked for or agreed to use. And you have heard the tales about Skype numbers not being free (or not even close to cheap any more) and tales of MS installing the Skype product on your Win 7 machine automatically without asking you. And for using your machine as a zombie droid to torrent all their nightly update stuff out to all the millions of people who are getting it all up the antenna chute right now along with the overage charges from their internet provider for blowing up their data caps. AND FOR INVALIDATING YOUR WIN 7 LICENSE CODE WHEN THEY STUFF WIN 10 ON YOUR MACHINE SO YOUR WIN 7 INSTALLATION DISK BECOMES USELESS TO YOU. Microsoft needs to be told NO and folks are using the GWX Control Panel software to do that. This stuff blocks Win 10 now, but later on permits you to go on to Win 10 later on, when it is worthwhile for you to do so. You will have to download Win 10 and put it on a DVD, then use your Win 7 keycode to initialize it -- but you can wait until there is a good stable Win 10 to do that. Go look at GWX Control Panel, check its reviews and consider using it to keep MS at bay until you chose to convert. By using it you can STOP MS until such time you choose to go over to Win 10 (once Win 10 is feature complete and much more stable than it is now). Use the software NOW, before you get converted "accidentally" by MS and lose all control of your machine and all your backup options. http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/ GWX Control Panel (formerly GWX Stopper) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/07/15 at 17:50:42 And yes, I am joining the growing group of people who do not find it amusing to have an endless ongoing conflict with their computer's OS system. There are alternatives out there that do not consume your inner peace on a weekly basis. Since I just wanted to game a few non-Steam titles and Win 7 does that just fine without bothering me or screwing with my wallet, then Win 7 it is ..... forever. And, most emphatically, if I need to reload my Win 7 off my DVD using my keycode, I want that DVD to work. I have turned my updates to "I will approve only what I want" and I only approve the updates to the anti-virus stuff now. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/07/15 at 20:42:44 http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-windows-veteran-joe-belfiore-takes-a-year-leave-of-absence/?ftag=YHR05c7fba Microsoft Windows veteran Joe Belfiore takes a year leave-of-absence Joe Belfiore, one of Microsoft's key lieutenants on Windows, is taking a year's break. What gives? By Mary Jo Foley for All About Microsoft | October 21, 2015 -- 14:37 GMT (07:37 PDT) | Topic: Windows 10 Mrs. Microsoft herself is signaling to the world that something is up in Microsoft land ..... the talking head guy with the flippy hair who promised us all this neat stuff with Win 10 that never actually happened is leaving the scene for a one year furlough. Meanwhile, MS is starting to monetize Win 10 in somewhat crude fashions before they even finish writing the durn thing. "Contacts are asking me if there's more to Belfiore's decision to take a break than meets the eye. I've heard some wondering whether Belfiore's absence offers clues about Microsoft's long-term commitment (or lack thereof) to Windows Phones. All I can say is with Microsoft's own executives talking up the company's growing interest in Android, even if it's just a "Plan B" at this point, it does give some of us Windows Phone faithful pause.... I've asked Microsoft who will be replacing Belfiore while he's gone. No word back so far." Mary Jo Foley is rarely off base on MS stuff, and if she senses a sea change going on at MS then by golly the wind has shifted and is blowing from a different quarter now. ::) Belfiore himself says: "As for me and my job... when the 1 year trip is over, I'll be right back at it! I'm proud to have spent the last 25 years working for a thoughtful and considerate company here at Microsoft. It's a company and community whose values align with mine and whose management has been completely supportive of me and my family in pursuing this idea. I'm taking an extended personal leave-of-absence starting in November: we're gonna visit family and show the kids the great cities of the northeast US before we leave on the ship. I'll be back at MS in my same job working on Windows next summer, in time for the kids to get back into the normal US school routine. "We're thrilled to share our exciting news with all of you! At some point, we'll figure out a blog or facebook page or... something. But for now... wish us luck and send us your ideas on what to see!" |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/07/15 at 20:58:04 http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/feature/2421044/windows-10-mobile-release-date-price-devices-and-features The Windows Phone platform struggles to find the same success as its Android and iOS rivals. http://www.v3.co.uk/IMG/754/329754/lumia-950-and-950-xl-540x334.jpeg?1446946306 Mary Jo says "look to the Win 10 phones" and sure enough, there are some metaphorical cracks developing in the mobile Windows touch screen glass as we are going forward into the actual release week, which has now been pushed back to mid December now. This is a move that in essence precludes any holiday sales at all for any brand new production Win 10 phones. Supported devices 'Microsoft announced at the 2015 Mobile World Congress in March that devices currently running Windows Phone 8.1 will be upgradeable to Windows 10 Mobile by the end of this year. However, the company has only confirmed a limited list of Microsoft/Nokia Windows Phones due to upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile once it launches: the Lumia 430, 435, 532, 535, 540, 640, 640 XL, 735, 830 and 930. This excludes the Lumia 520, 530, 625, 630, 635, 925, 1020, 1320 and 1520, all of which are still being sold on Microsoft's website. That isn't to say these devices will never be upgradeable to Windows 10 Mobile." Duh, dude, when you exclude them from the beta it tends to say that, you know. Is this a Win 10 mobile Christmas flop in the making ????? September release move to Oct, then to Nov and now to mid December ...... do I hear a January, a February, a March coming up next ???? Just how screwed up is Win 10 phone, anyway? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by youzguyz on 11/08/15 at 02:27:47 5D7E7674777E7E7760120 wrote:
I am not much of a gamer, but my wife has a Steam account. Out of curiosity, I went and looked at the catalog for games. Windows: 6,903 SteamOS + Linux: 1,606 Mac: 2,540 Simply an observation of the state of it now. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by cheapnewb24 on 11/08/15 at 19:16:20 Okay, I haven't really read all twelve pages of this, but, if someone has not already said it, I will. Windows 10 does not really force itself on to Windows 7 specifically, but it really tries its best to get its foot in the door and stomp its way right through. :P I don't have automatic updates. I control them manually, at least to some extent. In order to get the Windows 10 download prompt out of the way of Windows update, one has to consistently and persistently go around back to the place where one chooses individual updates and uncheck the option for downloading Windows 10. I actually tried Windows 10 on my Mom's computer. That didn't last long ;) I reverted successfully back to 7. I have decided to wait awhile before I finally go to 10 permanently. Windows 10 was cool in some ways, especially the games. Mozilla applications (Firefox, Thunderbird) did not display properly. I would think they have fixed that by now. One thing I did not like was all the online accounts and personal information stuff. At first, like many others, I thought 10 looked a bit ugly :P, but I think I started to get used to it somewhat. BTW, I also tried Windows 8. It was pretty bad. From the start, I had to update my BIOS because I found out the hard way that I would be left with a blank screen during setup otherwise :(. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I may have reinstalled it again after some time due to a hibernation issue or something. I don't remember clearly. I do remember that I had trouble with it updating and reverting in an endless cycle ::) Stupid Computer! >:( ;D One of those problems, I think, was the reason I had to revert to 7. I may have also had to reinstall it once because I might not have given it enough partition space :D (I run Linux too, but I haven't used it lately). In essence, it was just a bit buggy. ;) Even if you take Windows 10, you can revert and then try it again within the year. It's optional for 7 However, the newer systems may have a force component to them. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/08/15 at 20:14:37 You can go back to Win 7 within the first 30 days of installing Win 10. After that you are locked in, your win 7 license is terminated and you are locked into Win 10 forever. Going back to Win 7 isn't flaw free -- various drivers have been changed to the Win 10 drivers and they don't get changed back to the old Win 7 drivers always. Things to fix. Things to fix. Things to fix. Safest is to AVOID it until the Redstone Upgrades happen next year and then review what folks are saying about it then and make a choice with better information right before the free offer ends. Next, by then the monetization plan of Win 10 should be pretty clear to everybody -- they are likely going to nickel and dime you to death over all the little things associated with using Windows since "Windows is free". ..... right ..... Also, by then the planned advances in Chrome OS and in Android OS should be pretty much known and perhaps be available as Beta. You need to understand and weigh your options, since converting your desktop PC to Chrome OS is now out on the table too. If you just want gaming, you will want a Windows, by golly, and then you'll find that Win 7 is less hassles and a no brainer to do (you are already there). Do not let MS pick your pocket nor let them run your internet connection into cap busting overages and cost you money --- you CAN stop these things with a little research. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 11/09/15 at 11:44:29 Yup on the cannot go back after 30 days.... I am LOCKED into windows 10.... I have been running my task manager in another window trying to figure what keeps slamming my hard drive process to 100% and my CPU to 65% and up... First turning on, the spyware and security for win 10 runs at max for about 3-4 minutes.... yeah minutes.... no more instant logging onto IE or Edge even though it saves the settings and preloads, it still takes awhile. I've actually followed instructions from a you tube video that explains how to disable and get rid of a few of the non essential search engines, it got rid of some of the 100% hard drive processes. I loaded mint 17 on the little laptop and can run a few windows games through steam (but I think they have drivers for both), however one of the games i'm playing (RUST) is in alpha testing and they have yet to finish the Linux side, so its only playable in windows... I'm sure win 10 will "eventually" catch up and fix most of the problems. ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/09/15 at 19:31:37 OK, Impartial person there, Old_Rider, give us a boot off test from a cold computer to Chrome ready to take a search from using Win 10. My Win 7 takes 1 minute 33 seconds from a cold computer to a Chrome query type in. And my Linux Mint Mate 17.2 takes 1 minute 20 seconds from a cold computer to a Chrome query type in. My Moto G Android phone takes 33 seconds to boot from a cold cell phone to a Chrome query talk in. ................... why the cold computer testing? Other than cold computer testing, you can do all sorts of neat tricks with Linux Mint to have it "come on to the Chrome entry screen in like 8 seconds" but that really involves never shutting the device down, ever. (yeah, Linux is so light on resources used and is so reliable that some people don't ever turn it off, they in essence just kill their monitor when they want to go to bed). Since Chromebooks are always live using a little bitty tiny core (so they can get messages and such) this mebbe partially explains the instant on capabilities of Chromebooks. They are never really turned off, either. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 11/09/15 at 21:32:21 Ok, i'll do some cold boot tests , on both, from how long it takes until ready to go and some testing on how long it takes for the browsers to boot up. Now you got to realize the mint is on an "older" laptop (about 8 years old), and a slower CPU. It takes almost as long to long onto it. I did find out I cannot log onto "my dlink" from the win 10 computer using edge (new windows explorer), but can still use my IE 11 to log in on the same computer.(I am currently using a vista PC to run my security cameras) DLink site says they do not have drivers (like so many other companies) for the new edge browser. Maybe i'll do a video or two so I don't have to remember everything to write down :) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/10/15 at 19:52:37 http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/11/10/microsoft-admits-windows-10-automatic-installs/ This is a third, even larger episode Microsoft makes it into the news again today, November 10th, for once again trying to force users to go to Windows 10 before they are ready. ..... and yes again, after being caught with their hand in the cookie jar yet again, Microsoft cries out again that "it was all a mistake due to a bug ....." This "it was a bug" excuse thing is getting more and more difficult to swallow because the attack was coded very carefully to NOT SHOW UP ANYWHERE while it was going on (and it went on for 3 MONTHS in some cases, night after night) but the gambit became obvious on reviewing the update logs user's machine after over 30 failed attempts to download and install the Windows 10 packages. And, in reaction to uproar that followed today, MS let slip that they are indeed able to control these attempted machine hijackings BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO INSTANTLY MAKE THEM ALL STOP all over the world. "No, it’s not just you. In recent weeks I’ve received a lot of emails from Windows 7 and Windows 8 users saying Windows 10 has repeatedly tried to self install on their computers. Now, after two weeks of talks with Microsoft, the company has admitted to me that the problem is very real… The symptoms follow two paths. For some they were using their computer as normal, were prompted for a restart due for standard updates and on reboot found the Window 10 installation was under way. For others they checked their Windows update history and found Windows 10 had tried but failed to install itself without permission over and over again. The most extreme example I have found of the latter came from one Forbes reader (who wishes to remain anonymous) who found his computer attempted to install Windows 10 on 31 separate occasions. So what’s going on? According to Microsoft the fault lies with a bug in an automatic update it began rolling out to Windows 7 and Windows 8 users in August which triggered the attempted installations. Microsoft didn’t disclose which specific update it was, but confirmed it left the error code ‘0×80240020’ (sometimes recorded as ‘080240020’) in Windows log files when upgrade attempts failed. As the upgrade attempts all happened silently in the background, those affected would only know Windows 10 would attempt to update once they restarted their computer. For those computers where the update began but failed in the background (apparently a high proportion) they’d be none the wiser without checking their installation history between August and November. To do this click the start button, in the search box type ‘Update’ –> Windows Update –> in the left pane click ‘View update history’. So what’s the state of play now? Microsoft claims the bug has been fixed and there should be no further background attempts to install Windows 10 on unsuspecting users. The good news is those who contacted me have also confirmed the repeated installation attempts have now stopped. Of course the wider problem for Microsoft here is more than just the issue of crying wolf. Just last month another bug in Windows Update for Windows 7 and Windows 8 automatically checked the optional tick box to upgrade PCs to Windows 10. Microsoft declared this too was ‘an accident’. This may very well be true of both cases, but with Windows 10 upgrades being moved to a ‘Recommended’ status next year (meaning it will install automatically for those with default update settings) it is understandable that many users will be cynical. Especially when set against the backdrop of dramatically slowing Windows 10 adoption over the last two months. Only 5.38% market share was attained in its launch month of August, this increased 1.42% in September and 1.31% in October. That’s not great for a product being given away free for a limited period. Ultimately what should be clear to Microsoft by now is that hardcore fans are now all aboard, but there’s less interest from the mainstream and I suspect the Orwellian control Windows 10 requests of its users is a major factor. How and if Microsoft reacts to this over the remaining months of the free upgrade period (ending July 2016) will be crucial in determining whether Windows 10 is indeed the surefire success its launch once appeared to guarantee…" Yup, the bulk of real users are beginning to actively resist (intending to wait until the Redstone updates are done then see what the OS actually is going to be like once completed) and the growing population of abused or tricked users are NOT happy at all with these heavy handed MS tactics any at all, whatsoever, not even a tiny little bit. Throw in the recent ham handed attempts at monitization and MS is coming across now as a greedy trickster, intent on getting onto your hard drive and then taking over, any way they can. ============================ Microsoft needs to be forceably told NO and folks are using the GWX Control Panel software to do that. This stuff blocks Win 10 now, but later on permits you to go on to Win 10 later on, when it is worthwhile for you to do so. You will have to download Win 10 and put it on a DVD, then use your Win 7 keycode to initialize it -- but you can wait until there is a good stable Win 10 to do that. Go look at GWX Control Panel, check its reviews and consider using it to keep MS at bay until you chose to convert. By using it you can STOP MS until such time you choose to go over to Win 10 (once Win 10 is feature complete and much more stable than it is now). Use the software NOW, before you get converted "accidentally" by MS and lose all control of your machine and all your backup options. http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/ GWX Control Panel (formerly GWX Stopper) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by youzguyz on 11/11/15 at 02:48:06 Remember... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/12/15 at 03:13:04 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/samsung-exynos-8-octa-processor-coming-by-end-of-2015.html http://liliputing.com/2015/11/qualcomm-introduces-snapdragon-820-chip.html Samsung and Qualcomm come out with their next BIG GUN CHIPSETS Samsung and Qualcomm are competitors in the market place. And, like Samsung and Apple, Samsung's finished products compete with their processor build partners finished products once everybody's best chipsets are built into units and shipped. But once again Samsung has waited to announce their new chipset until AFTER their main customers have announced and gone into first production. Both Apple and Qualcomm are building their new big gun products off of Samsung's 14nm production process chipsets right now and the chipsets are rolling out to them as we speak. Both Apple and Qualcomm are saying they are upping their game by 30% faster processing and 10% better battery life. This is all the mature 14nm process from Samsung allows them to get for right now. Both Apple and Qualcomm have carefully modified their 4 core processors to optimize their results off the Samsung build process. And the results should show up soon in Q1 2016. Once again, the question becomes will the brand new faster chipsets STAY FASTER when they get warmed up good ..... this is becoming the perennial question about anybody's top dog chipsets any more. Samsung has worked with their customers during these optimizations and certainly understands what they did and why they did it. And Samsung actually ran off the chips and did the post production analysis with their customers, suggested improvements, did the whole six yards as the chip supplier has to do. Now the flip side comes due -- Samsung is taking their existing optimized Octacore rig up which last year used ARM standard core designs built at 14nm (to build what was this past year's ass-busting clear winner for best performing chipset and phone) and they have now dropped in 4 each custom designed big boy cores of their very own custom design on top of the 4 each A-53s which for everybody is still the very best small core design out there. And, because they are Samsung and are only going to use the chipset in their own top end product (which isn't selling in huge numbers because the price is being held intentionally very high, way on up there) and they have the basic phone hardware ready to go since it is last year's basic hardware unit, Samsung is bringing out their newest big gun new phone out BY THIS CHRISTMAS. What does this mean? By striking the gong first in time for Christmas, Samsung gets another win, but they do this knowing full well that both Apple and Qualcomm units are going to take that short term win away from them with their new units just as soon as their finished units ship out. Which will be some months from now. Samsung is then going to uncork a NEW even better chipset and a new even better phone at that time to take the crown back again next year. It is hard to beat the company that actually builds your chipsets ..... ;D |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/12/15 at 03:33:26 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/arm-introduces-energy-efficient-cortex-a35-64-bit-design.html Here is the new ARM line up for 2016, complete with a new low end low power A35 chipset to make up a triple play 10-12 core super chipset. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/arm-cortex-a35.jpg Why consider 3 stage chipsets (a la Mediatek) ????? At 14nm and below thermal concerns become king, and the ability to switch off the load to another set of "almost as fast" cores while your big boys cool down some means the overall throughput is faster and better than if you only use 4 big cores that get WAY too hot and slow down WAY too much, WAY too quickly. 8 is better than 4, and 10-12 is better than 8 in the modern world of lithography based thermal slowdowns. Battery life gets better with a 3 stage chipset too, as you can ramp up and ramp down over 3 levels instead of going from low to high back to low again (at overheat). That middle zone gets used a lot during normal load ramp up and the resulting emergency thermal ramp downs ..... ARM 14nm is still going to have significant performance boosts to show people, but they come at the expense of using an extra layer of cores and some core switching trickery in the ARM/Android core scheduling software. ============================ Look to see Intel come out with some "many core" chipsets with some extreme attention being paid to heat sinking and thermal control. Intel has fallen completely out of mobile right now as they cannot beat the heat in their current 4 big core mobile 14nm chipset products. ============================ Also please note that the new A35 completes the conversion of ARM to 100% 64 bit products. And please also note that ARM/LENARO/GOOGLE didn't screw up a single thing big-time in doing that conversion --- no 64 bit ARM pooches were deflowered along the way, something that NOBODY was able to do before in a 32 bit to 64 bit changeover, ever. ARM puppies everywhere breathe a little easier tonight, the danger is finally over at last. http://https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUgrv5FiN1SLqrDKKsbcUapZXHxAzgStlvlqM8nAHYk_RhP4Mwzb_Aej9 ...... ah, life is good ...... ..... this certainly cannot be said for any young canine that is associated with Microsoft, especially those poor off-brand Windows Mobile pooches belonging to their poor mislead Beta tester masters. Some time in the dark of the night, MS came calling ..... <yip!> silence I'd show you a picture of the mostly dead, very damaged off-brand MS beta pooches, but it is too too too depressing to even look at ..... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/12/15 at 17:40:16 http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/12/lenovo-blames-smartphones-for-its-first-losses-in-six-years/ "Thanks to charges related to its Motorola acquisition and $300 million worth of unsold phones, the company incurred a hefty $714 million net loss for the first time in six years. PC sales didn't actually help much, with revenue in that division dropping 17 percent over last year." So, Lenovo has just announced they're losing money -- first time they've lost money in the last six years -- and they're blaming Motorola mobile for it. In fact the figures say that their PC business is trending down 17%, going down past the point that their current profits can support their existing overhead costs. Having already cut all the people that they can cut, Lenovo is now going to have to cut non-profitable product lines and discontinue and sell off a lot of inventory to try to generate some cash to get out of where they are right now. Lenovo will come out of this a smaller company with a much smaller line of products. Motorola will become just another brand name slapped on a phone designed and built in China. I would not plan to buy anything name branded "Lenovo" for this Christmas because they may not be supporting what they are selling off going out into the future like you would like to see happen. Of course if the price is right, really really right ..... 8-) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/13/15 at 07:03:12 This was news to me, anyway. Office Depot and Office Max are now one company and they are running joint Black Friday ads and THEY ARE NOT COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER ANY MORE. I was looking for a new printer when I saw these joint ads ..... Oh well, change she comes. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/13/15 at 07:43:25 BTW, last night you got a big new MS update to Win 10. Despite being billed as a big thing, the new functionality expressed by last night's update isn't groundbreaking by any means. Nor was the full list of promised "issue fixes" actually there at this time. Microsoft is running about 60-70% on hitting their promised this and that and last night's update wasn't any different. Now, to put it in big picture perspective, if MS hadn't decided to push Win 10 out way early before it was even firmly into Beta Quality territory, it would have come out about right about now in about the same or slightly better shape. I think it would have been received better in the current shape, instead of stumbling all over itself for 3 months to just to get this far. ::) ============================= I spoke too soon. http://www.windowscentral.com/how-prevent-windows-10-november-update-getting-stuck "The bug seems to be specific too: if you begin the installation process, the Windows 10 November update will stop responding at the 44% marker. According to Microsoft, the company has been observing that "some devices" that have an "SD bus with an SD card inserted" may experience some issues trying to install the update. While the software giant keeps investigating the issue and offers a permanent solution, it recommends users to remove the SD card from their computers, before proceeding with the install. However, the update needs some available storage space to complete the upgrade. If you're using an SD card for the purpose of adding more storage, Microsoft recommends using a USB storage device instead to perform the install." Sounds like some stormy times ahead for all them skinny little Cloudbooks out there ..... And since your MS updates sneak into a Win 10 machine while you are sleeping, how the heck are you 1) going to know to take your SD out of your drive ahead of time and 2) be awake and watching for the update to show up and auto install itself? :P |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/14/15 at 19:57:45 :-? http://liliputing.com/2015/11/maybe-android-apps-arent-coming-to-windows-10-after-all.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/android-for-windows.jpg Why is this important? There aren't enough Windows 10 Apps in the MS App store to support a Win 10 eco-system ...... "But Windows 10 has been available for months… so where are all those apps? Some are on the way, while others… might not be. Microsoft hasn’t officially commented on the matter, but Windows Central says it’s spoken to developers and other sources who say the project is delayed, or possibly even canceled. There are a few possible reasons for that. Most of them have to do with the fact that while Microsoft has developed tools for porting iOS, Web, and Win32 apps to the Windows 10 Universal app platform, the company was planning to take a different approach with Android apps. Windows 10 was supposed to simply include an Android emulator, making it easy to just run unmodified Android apps. On the one hand, that would have made it extraordinarily easy for developers to submit existing apps to the Windows Store. On the other hand, it also made it rather easy for developers to get lazy and not bother actually customizing their apps to take advantage of Windows features or design elements. It could also make it easy for users to install pirated apps (or just apps that the developers hadn’t explicitly made available for Windows). I imagine Microsoft also wasn’t pleased when some folks figured out how to install Google Mobile Services on a pre-release build of Windows 10 Mobile earlier this year, essentially bringing some services that are only supposed to be available for Android phones to Windows. Windows Central says the Microsoft team working on the Android app project was also much, much larger than the team working on the iOS app porting tools, suggesting that the company might have decided it wasn’t worth the effort. And there have also been reports that the Android emulator caused performance issues with Windows 10. I should repeat: Microsoft hasn’t publicly stated that Android apps aren’t coming to Windows 10, so take all of this with a grain of salt. But Microsoft also hasn’t said much lately to give us the idea that they will be coming anytime soon. So it certainly seems plausible that the company is giving up on the idea, or at least making some behind-the-scene changes before rolling it out." In the last two months we have seen Windows 10 suddenly stop working with non-MS supplied Win phones and just the past week or so we saw the list of MS built Lumina phones which are supported by Win 10 get cut in HALF. Now we hear the support teams for MS Win 10 software development are being curtailed to only go after Apple and to totally ignore porting Android. We also hear rumbles from Mary Jo that MS is still considering simply going with a forked version of Android (like Amazon did). Now we see Google planning a future technological revolution that goes all the way down to the chips themselves, incorporates VR, etc. etc. etc. As someone who cannot seem to do mobile right by themselves, MS needs to get in line behind Google and simply toe the party line. MS no longer has the resources to "reinvent the wheel" time after time after time. Certainly not in mobile, they REALLY need to focus on getting PC right as quickly as they can or else they will fall to the next wave of laptop OS products coming out of Google. There is a 10nm silicon lithography wall coming up soon that is going to require DIFFERENT STUFF going forward past it. Many are saying that the industry will just skip 10nm silicon since it has so many thermal issues associated with it, and drive all their efforts at a non-silicon 7nm next generation product. Some are suggesting that the early details of 7nm non-silicon chips are being given out now by the IBM/Samsung/Global consortium and Google is just reacting to what they should be working on for two years out, while MS is simply cutting off all the projects that are "already future dead." ????? :-? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/14/15 at 20:27:58 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9769/arm-announces-cortex-a35 http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9769/a53-comp_575px.PNG 28 nm lithography is still low cost king, for cost reasons and for fastest build time to product (lots of assembly lines available). ARM has done another smart core replacement, giving significant speed and power consumption bonuses while allowing the old chip base and ball grid (and the old phone motherboard designs) to be completely reused. Smart, but they have done that before, regularly, on the low end of things. This is a product that can SCALE DOWN VERY WELL, running at 28nm, 20nm, 16nm, 14nm and below when that gets here. Since it can pick up a 25-35% performance boost over the old 32 bit A-7, that puts it in the rough lower half of the performance ballpark where the 64 bit A-53 is sitting today. ;) The old A-53 is likely going to get an overhaul next, as it is the oldest 64 bit chipset anybody is still actually using (the oldest, the old A-57 has already been upgraded and replaced by the A-72). If you think you see three constantly upgraded "matched and paired" levels of ARM 64 bit cores churning in turn to support a Mediatek style triple layer processor, you are right. BTW, 32 bit ARM is dead, as of this release. It will drag on, zombie-like for a year or so, but it is dead right now with a Cortex A-35 ".35 caliber" sized hole in its forehead. Android is in its second full 64 bit generation now, with the third generation coming out next year. 32 bit is pretty much totally past tense in Android land at this point. One also has to question if Intel is functionally dead again as well, since they have nothing low cost competitive in phone space any more, especially since Asus has dropped them from the Zenphone 2. And also please remember, Win 10 mobile is now a MS controlled "for our own Qualcomm processor based Lumina products only" proposition right now. No Intel phones anywhere ..... got some Intel based tablets still, though, still left over from last year's big push. Now that ARM has announced all the various A-35, A-53, A-72 layers, Mediatek can come out of the closet about what they are really actually using now, correctly naming them instead of saying they are using "two levels of A-53 cores" like they have been saying. Once again, ARM has delayed putting their cards face up on the table until the partner built products are actually ready to ship. http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9769/config_575px.PNG How powerful is this tiny quad core A-53 as shown? It is 25% better than my current A-7 based cell phone is right now and it would have better graphics and longer battery life as well -- a step up in every aspect. And as physically tiny as the new A-35 cores are, a 8-10 core A-35 chipset at 14/16nm will fit in the space that was required for the oldest Cortex A-7 48nm lithography quad core chip designs. Remember, if we are re-using the old 48nm chipbase and ball grid array on purpose on the low end cheapie phones so there is lots & lots of room on top of that chip base for some serious A-35 power expansion should the vendor want to go do that. Also please realize that when using lower modern lithography levels, dual cores of this thing is are physically as small as the current crop of IoT cores, with far far greater capabilities. A bluetooth phone in your glasses or split between your ear rings is now completely possible using 14nm. Google Glass will get a new look at, again, by both the Google and Samsung glass design teams. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 11/17/15 at 19:53:40 https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/intel-72-core-processor-coming-desktop-computers-next-230548582.html Ok.... almost everything I have now days has 4 core, processors.... How is it that they now are coming out with 72 cores? Did some magic shrinking gun get invented? Has a core been redefined? and it really doesn't mean one layer? Or are they using numbers as cores and not layers? I give up...you know what? The next machine I build will probably be the last one for about five years.... because I think within the next five years we will all be using large tablets, because pc's and laptops will be phased out. Well, that's my prediction... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/18/15 at 03:23:49 Ain't it magical? I makes me a prediction, and it comes to pass ..... Harsh facts coming out of ARM land is that only Samsung had made a first 14nm core that didn't do the thermal slow down thing so badly that performance was degraded. Part of it was Samsung's intelligent spec'ing of the output, actually do X+ but only claim X such that when it gets warm in your product it does not drop below X. Samsung did that this past year with their first 14nm chipset since their drop down X was still faster than anybody else's chipset's bogus X+ claims. Intel isn't smart enough to do that -- they always claim the moon and then fall way way short. Then, when they get caught falling short they "make a new version" with a high "turbo" setting just to move all the failed silicone. Qualcomm has started doing this too, with their 810/808 chipsets. Many times the very quick "new Intel part number" changes you see are somewhat bogus, just a respec'ing of wiped clean and part number reprinted chipsets. Or, if sorting for Apple had taken place, the selling off of the sort failures as another part number. For example, Qualcomm admits that the 808 chipsets are 810's that failed testing and are being sold as lesser products. ======================================== So, everybody has the 14nm and lower thermal issues now, but ARM has decided to combat this widespread issue with MORE CORES and very quick core switching built into the Android scheduling software. Lots of ramped sets of cores and good switching software also allows for better energy management and it keeps throughput higher than a full thermal dump on just 4 cores will allow. All of Intel's cores are MUCH BIGGER and less energy efficient than the current ARM cores. They make more heat per milliamp of processor power and 14nm Intel currently gets thermal degradation twice as badly as ARM does, to the order of half speed to 1/3 speed after warm up when run in a product that does not allow for a fan and a humongous heat sink. A phone for example ..... phones can have heat spreaders, but it increases the weight of the phone rapidly. And BTW Intel, using your battery as a heat spreader isn't the smartest move either. Intel now specs BIG heat sinks and fans for all their 14nm products. And nobody is using Intel phone chips any more. More and smaller (less heat sensitive) cores is the only path Intel has to follow right now. Being Intel, they will go with multiples of whatever core count they actually plan to use and they will spread the cores out such that the built-in heat spreader can take heat from the active set easily and move it out to the heat sink and fan. Then the active set of cores will be switched to march around the population of many cores according to some scheduling algorithm or else each core will get used sporadically and then let sit idle for a few cycles to cool down. Either way works to the same end, spread out the heating effects by lowering the % utilization time per core. Intel will not go to 10nm as they already know it won't work for them. You can bet they are frantically working on a non-silicon 7nm process that does not violate the IBM patents though. ======================================== Here is my woopie thought for this week. Those working with the new non-silicon stuff say it is a lot faster and it uses less power. What if the non-silicon stuff is faster and better, enough faster and better such that a larger, existing lithography node could offer large performance increases compared to the existing best of the best using silicon based 14nm ??? Wow, you could be back in business kicking out improved products ASAP that way. Now do you understand why Google is hiring a very few of the very best processor designers away from Qualcomm and Samsung? Google needs to understand the new non-silicon chipsets ahead of time, up to two years before they are released, so the OS can be ready for them. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/18/15 at 19:56:57 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/reports-windows-falling-fast.html Windows phone has just about dumped half its existing market share in the last year (most of it in the last 6 mos) Windows Phone, who had a 3% market share just got dumped down by its user base, dumped down to a 1.7% market share that is still dropping. Why? "According to a recent report from Ericsson, part of the problem is that Windows phone users aren’t as loyal to their platform as Android and iOS users. This year about 82 percent of Android users who bought a new phone bought one running Android, while 73 percent of iPhone users who switched phones bought a new iPhone. But Ericsson says only about 20 percent of Windows phone users who bought a new phone purchased a model running Windows software. About 60 percent of users switched to Android phones, while about 15 percent switch to iOS." http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/gartner-q3.jpg :-/ and if that isn't bad enough, there is even a flow chart showing EXACTLY how Windows is losing their place in mobile as users leave the Windows phone experience behind them. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ericsson-loyalty.jpg |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/18/15 at 20:10:50 Now let's say the dirty word --- COST. A Windows phone is VERY expensive to buy, and you really are going to wind up buying it from Microsoft since nobody else is building them for much any more. Next, you got no apps. And if you want one that does exist, it COSTS you plenty. And if MS happens to roll Windows Phone out from underneath it, well, tough turkey. Go buy you a new phone. Next, your MS Phone has a KNOWN track record as a pain in the butt to live with as far as how well the software runs over time (lots of buggy updates) ---- and MS has just shown a recent willingness to discontinue supporting your 1-2 year old phone COMPLETELY -- just plain stone cold dead. I think the people MS screwed over so far mostly went to Android, the abandonment numbers line up pretty good with the non-support for Win 10 on the existing Windows Phone populations. And now you know why MS has dropped development support on the Windows 10 Mobile line on quite a few of its model numbers, functions and support items. Mutual abandonment -- a customer/supplier suicide pact ========================================= http://liliputing.com/2015/11/reports-windows-falling-fast.html http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3169417 http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/mobility-report/ericsson-mobility-report-nov-2015.pdf Reports: Windows Phone market share is falling fast "Android is the world’s most popular smartphone operating system, followed by iOS. Windows comes in a distant third, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon… unless Windows movies further down the ladder." Well, Win Phone is moving alright, skipping a couple of rungs at a time now as it drops down towards Blackberry status. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/19/15 at 03:19:58 What will $100 buy you in an Android phone? Answer, the general unlocked standards that were brand new at the start of 2015 http://www.amazon.com/BLU-ENERGY-Smartphone-Battery-Unlocked/dp/B015XIHS62/ref=sr_1_7?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1447931649&sr=1-7&keywords=blu+energy+x+plus http://cellcute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BLU-Energy-X-Plus-all.jpg Unlocked Dual Sim Smartphone, with Android 5.1 Lollipop 4,000 mAh Super Battery that lasts approximately 3 days with standard usage and over 30 days on standby with just one charge 5.0" HD display, 8MP Main Camera with LED Flash + 2MP Front Camera MediaTek Quad Core 1.3 GHz processor with ARM Mali-400 GPU, 8GB Internal Memory 1GB RAM Micro SD up to 64GB GSM Quad Band 4G HSPA+ (850/1700/1900/2100): US Compatibility Nationwide on all GSM Networks including AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket, MetroPCS, Straight Talk and others. ;) Lots of people are dropping their expensive data plans with the built in $600 replacement phone's worth of monthly charges. They are moving to "U-buy it" phones like this, taking it from carrier to carrier according to who has the best non-contract deal at the moment. They shop for service in other words, with a generic unlocked phone that can move with a sim card change up. PS, look at the specs -- 3 day battery life, good graphics, quad core chipset with performance similar to the low end Qualcomm phones. Downsides -- it is a throw away phone if anything goes wrong with it. Cost you more to ship it in for service than it is worth used. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/19/15 at 09:24:55 http://liliputing.com/2015/11/microsofts-con08-or-810-chip.html Microsoft’s Continuum for phone requires a Snapdragon 808 or 810 chip Microsoft has rolled their dice and made their play -- if you want full Windows 10 support on a MS Windows phone for real, you MUST use a Qualcomm 808 or 810 (same chipset, actually). Intel chipsets need not apply. Furthermore, only top end Lumina phones and the Acer Jade Primo are fully supported right now. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/cphone_03.jpg "To repeat, your old Windows phone is NOT supported for Continuum unless you chose rightly, and recently -- i.e. if you bought one of the first three phones that we know of that will support Continuum software: the Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL, and Acer Jade Primo that is." The rest of you Windows phone people (yeah, all the Intel chipped guys) well, you are out in the cold going forward. Sorry. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/20/15 at 11:52:45 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/lumia-950-review-windows-phone-finally-has-a-new-flagship-will-anyone-care/ Lumia 950 review: Windows Phone finally has a new flagship—will anyone care? Camera is great and Continuum is cool, but Windows Phone likely blew its last big chance. (Some) benchmarks, showing that Microsoft (using the same Qualcomm hardware) under-performs strongly to all of its competition while charging just as much money as much as a flagship Apple phone costs. http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/gfxbench-offscreen-980x735.png "That new Windows Phone flagships are so overdue has been nothing but bad news for the platform. Even people who otherwise like the platform, develop for the platform, evangelize for the platform have jumped ship for lack of hardware. And for those that stayed, the delay has also placed tremendous weight of expectation on the new flagships. Unfortunately, the Lumia 950 does not really live up to those expectations." You have to read it all to get all the particulars, but it really boils down to if this phone had come out early last year it could have been a flagship phone. But now, a full year late, it is just barely only a "me too" at best. And the performance that Win 10 Mobile can get out of mostly good hardware is pretty durned abysmal since a non-top-end Nexus 5 can beat its performance. And a similarly priced Apple phone can QUADRUPLE its actual performance. And since some of the groundbreaking key features like iris recognition are totally non-functional for people wearing glasses and the Continuum docking doesn't work with real PC softwares this new "flagship" comes across as a year late very expensive total boondoggle that just got pushed out because MS felt just had to. Lumia 950 review: Windows Phone finally has a new flagship—will anyone care? Camera is great and Continuum is cool, but Windows Phone likely blew its last big chance. Ars technica's wording, not mine. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/20/15 at 20:50:50 http://www.itworld.com/article/2968437/windows/good-bye-chromebooks-acers-new-windows-10-notebooks-just-killed-you.html Every once and a while it is good to go out to light house point and get in a boat and ride out in the deep open ocean currents to see which way the current is going out where it really counts. In this case, we ride out to the IT World lighthouse point and we put in our boat in the water and we ride out for an hour and a half. Then we park our boat way out there by the Preston Gralla sona-buoy way out there in the deep deep Microsoft IT main ocean current and we lower our instrument package into the main current itself. This is so far out in the MS Gulf Stream that no-one could mistake which way the currents should run, right? I mean really, we are doing our sampling right next to the official sona-buoy for chriminny sakes ..... To perform this experiment, you need to read the article and then read the comments below the article. This is a whole dolphin school of IT professionals responding to a respected MS preacher who had just delivered what was last year's standard pulpit sermon -- and they wholesale threw it back in his face like he was getting slapped by a wet fish for being stupid. If you didn't think things were changing for much, please reconsider that mindset after taking your little boat trip. Even IT professionals know very well what Chromebooks are good for and why that is the way it is. :-/ http://www.itworld.com/article/2968437/windows/good-bye-chromebooks-acers-new-windows-10-notebooks-just-killed-you.html |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/20/15 at 21:26:32 OK, that was deep deep current IT professionals, now how about the normal mainstream user community? http://www.zdnet.com/article/no-a-windows-10-cloudbook-isnt-a-chromebook-killer/ "I think the idea of getting rid of Windows can be a key part of it (which is the case for me personally and for a lot of other folks I talk to) -- having a simple experience that "just works" and doesn't involve all the old-school computing hassles like drivers, compatibility errors, virus worries and the need to buy and run anti-virus software, systems slowing down over time, annoying manual OS and app updates, etc etc. Chromebooks may seem to be about inexpensive machines, but I've found that they are much more transparent machines, by which I mean that I don't have to think about the machine to get my work done. To borrow a phrase, it just works. I use my Chromebook more than my Windows PC and it's safe to say that while price is a factor with Chromebooks, it's Chrome OS that keeps me on board. The fast boot times, seamless updates and the plain simplicity of Chrome OS is just great. I migrated my father 2 years ago from Windows to a Chromebook and it was the best decision ever. Just search for "my father goes Chrome". The decision was based mainly on simplicity rather than price. It just works! I was sick of windows. The constant updates, the long boot times, the unnecessary complexity of everything. I do everything in the cloud, both personally and at work so have moved completely away from windows, been only using chromebooks for the last year. It is absolutely about simplicity and 'appliance computing'. The simple fact is this - if ChromeOS does what you need than it is absolutely a better operating system than Windows. It's not even close. I have a good chunk of several days setting up a new Win10 box for multiple members of a family - most of them older and not especially tech literate or savvy. Meanwhile I've spent about 10 minutes total setting up or maintaining both my own Chromebook over the last 18 months, and also another Chromebook for my sister - who again is not very tech literate/savvy." Sometimes it's not what you get with a product, but what you don't get, that's the compelling factor. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/21/15 at 19:42:20 http://semiaccurate.com/2015/05/04/microsoft-just-palmed-mobile-market/ This is deep and chewy stuff -- very sales and marketing detailed and it is completely based on 20 years of watching computing grow and develop. It isn't an easy read, but the man makes his salient points in the first sentence of each paragraph and then spends the rest of the paragraph proving the salient point. It makes it easy to scan the article and you only need to deep read the bits that catch your attention. If you want to know why MS suddenly can't do anything right, this man has an explanation. It isn't a very nice explanation, but he's got one. Realize he wrote this back in April of this year, and it looks like his predictions all came true in the time line he estimated. Microsoft did indeed lose mobile market share hand over fist since this article first hit print. They have literally lost half of what they had and are still dropping like a rock in deep water. MS literally can't do anything right any more. So, you can perhaps say his theories have worked out in real life and can now possibly be considered "explanations". Just not very nice ones ...... http://semiaccurate.com/2015/05/04/microsoft-just-palmed-mobile-market/ |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/22/15 at 07:40:22 Remember Microsoft saying you could install Win 10 off a ISO downloaded DVD and use your old key to intialize it? Sounded good, didn't it? Actually a user friendly sort of thing. Mebbe MS was finally getting it ..... Today, four hours ago, Microsoft yanked the ISO image and has stopped the old key initialization process as of today, Sunday, 11/22/2015. No explanation was given. Shite like this is why users get ill with Microsoft. Some pundits are now wondering if MS is going into total self-defense mode, planning on keeping anything they have that is of any real value at this point in time with intentions of plunging into the monitization process post haste in order to have an income flow next year. They may have to go ahead with monitization NOW, since they are losing market share in the places they need to be growing and Win 10 is actually becoming somewhat slightly un-loved by the un-converted general populace. Evidence of this trend swing could come from strong Chromebook sales over Christmas and weak Win 10 notebook sales. Or vice versa, should Win 10 be considered desirable to the masses in its present condition. Since MS is forcing its suppliers into keeping mum on all notebook sales figures, only your hairdresser will know for sure. Statements issued by MS of late about notebook sales have been misleading, to say the least. ;) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by bobert_FSO on 11/22/15 at 11:27:32 I read about this pulled update yesterday. Did the update break something or have they changed their mind? This is my biggest issue with MS these days. They seem to change direction every couple of weeks. I would certainly hate to be a corporate customer these days. How do you plan for the future when the target keeps moving? Not to just pick on MS about screwing up updates. Apple has been having the same problems with IOS. Releases 8 and 9 come out and stuff breaks. The whole operating system business has become too complicated. Chrome intrigues me, but I have not tried it yet. I have no desire to dive into Internet access required cloud computing. Not that I don't trust the vendors, but I just don't trust the vendors. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/22/15 at 14:18:50 Bobert, It is even stranger yet -- the big November update is being rolled back by successive nightly updates now. It is as if the increase in functionality was too much to be given away for free, and it is now being reclaimed for a future pay me re-release as part of an even larger pay me upgrade next year. MS isn't doing well financially on several fronts and you are perhaps seeing the sudden retrenching of their battle lines as they prepare for monitization earlier than they had expected. To be locked into Windows 10 at this stage is unfortunate, since you get to go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride now whether you want to or not. "Trust us." :P MS giveth and MS taketh away ..... get used to it. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/22/15 at 14:37:43 Ed Bott speaks ...... Microsoft's pocket boy is completely bumbfuzzled by MS's actions. Somewhat angry, too. http://www.zdnet.com/article/ed-botts-weekly-wrap-update-disappears-amazon-adds-2fa-lumia-fails-to-inspire/ "Microsoft's latest communication snafu dominated the news last week. WINDOWS 10 NOVEMBER UPDATE (VERSION 1511) GOES MISSING What happened to the big Windows 10 Microsoft released on November 12? It's supposed to be the first in a continuous series of new feature releases. But if you tried to update over the weekend, you were out of luck. The Windows Update servers appear to have stopped delivering the update package, and the manual tool has also been downgraded to the original release. Microsoft yanks latest Windows 10 release from its download server Another by-product is that anyone upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 today has no choice but to accept a 3 GB upgrade to build 10240, followed a month later by an equally large second upgrade to version 1511. And to add insult to those injuries, the sudden removal of the build 10586 ISO files means that the newly added capability to do a clean install using a Windows 7 or Windows 8.x product key is now unavailable to the general public unless they were fast enough to download and save an ISO file before the change. Microsoft's official statements on the matter are almost incoherent, and I'm told that the real reason is "complicated." Maybe we'll get some real answers next week. ============================ LUKEWARM LUMIA 950 REVIEWS Microsoft released its Lumia 950 smartphone this week, the first of two flagship phones that will show off the Windows 10 Mobile operating system. The reviews were not kind, in general Peter Bright, Ars Technica: "Camera is great and Continuum is cool, but Windows Phone likely blew its last big chance" Joanna Stern, WSJ: "Can a Smartphone Be Your PC?" (Spoiler: Probably not.) Mary Jo Foley, ZDNet has a less-than-enthusiastic first look, with a more detailed report coming later. One common impression: The first-of-its-kind Windows Hello feature, based on iris-scanning technology, is flawed, especially for anyone who wears glasses." Ed Bott and Mary Jo Foley have reverted to being reporters now, rather than being an insider/booster. They have both been cut off from the insider knowledge that they was once given, and both are honestly shocked at what is going on right now. Chalk up another two members of the media who are not really happy with Microsoft at the moment. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/22/15 at 14:53:40 http://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-lumia-950-review-can-a-smartphone-be-your-pc-1448028413 Joanna Stern at the Wall Street Journal rips MS a new one over Continuum NOT WORKING VERY WELL. Dear MS, butt burning articles like this in the Wall Street Journal can affect your stock price, you know. http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-LJ252_LUMIA3_M_20151119180644.jpg "The problem is, despite the hexa-core processor and 3GB of RAM, the system feels out of power. Having just five or six open tabs reminded me of the dial-up modem days. Not only were sites slow to load over Wi-Fi, but the entire system and browser got bogged down. Besides, Google’s Chrome is just a far better desktop browser, feature-wise. But that’s not the worst of it. Remember those app problems? Because this is Windows 10 Mobile and there is no Intel chip inside, Windows desktop apps don’t work. That means no downloading the desktop version of Spotify or Slack or iTunes. You can’t run mobile apps on the big screen, either. For example, I couldn’t open the Windows Phone Spotify app in the desktop PC mode, but I could run it on the phone while I did work on the computer monitor. Microsoft’s own apps—Outlook, Office, Maps, Weather—are what the company calls “Universal Apps.” They’ve been written to work on Windows 10 phones, tablets, laptops and desktops and everything in between. Microsoft is betting that app makers will begin to release their own Universal Apps, especially now that there are more than 110 million devices running Windows 10. But since those Windows 10 PCs can run standard desktop versions of popular software, the developer incentive to go universal is a little shaky. If phones will one day replace our computers, we’re going to choose the phones with the apps and services we already love. Unfortunately for Microsoft, right now those are iPhones and Android phones, which already work great with Microsoft’s own apps and services. It feels like the Lumia 950 is a proof of concept that might help Microsoft get momentum for its new strategy. But I can’t recommend buying a $600 proof of concept. For now, your phone stays ... a phone." And it was news that the little Continuum connection box costs extra, $100 extra, too. That's $700 for stuff that simply doesn't work right .... MS deserves to lose market share with $700 stuff like that. Others have written the pan reviews on the Lumina-as-a-phone already, and it sucks rocks for performance as a phone compared to current Apple and Android premium phones and it simply doesn't work on any of the "exclusive new MS Iris phone features" worth doodley. And now the Continuum stuff sucks rocks too. MS totally fails .... again .... and the Wall Street Journal is the one calling them out on it. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by jcstokes on 11/22/15 at 20:36:55 OF, if 110 million computers have now gone to Win 10, do you have any idea of what percentage of the worlds computers 110 million is? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/22/15 at 21:29:09 OF, if 110 million computers have now gone to Win 10, do you have any idea of what percentage of the worlds computers 110 million is? https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=total%20number%20of%20pcs%20in%20the%20world As of October 2014, there were nearly 2 billion personal computers used worldwide. The 2015 number number has actually declined some since then as no one is buying replacement PCs like they used to ...... So, using your 110 million figure, Microsoft has only converted roughly 5% of the total population of computers to Windows 10. It must be noted that the conversion process is slowing greatly over the last two months as computer owners take action to STOP MS from converting them against their wishes. Of the 5% that have converted, roughly 40% of the converted are having some sort of driver or other sort of nagging issues that have not been fixed at this point in time. If MS had good intentions and was acting honorably about this process and had a good & complete product, there would be no push back. But they aren't acting honorably, and have tried to hide the high levels of issues being seen by the recently converted in order to keep the process going on schedule. So many issues have been hidden and so much false information put forward concerning the 3 sets of accidental conversions or all the "buggy" updates, etc. --- so much so that the user push back level is increasing month by month accordingly. Why would MS do this? If your product, such as your Win 10 phones, are noticeably incomplete or buggy, then you HAVE to hide this from your users or they won't willingly convert. And, if they don't willingly convert so you can control them and "totally own them" then you have no ongoing future pathway except subterfuge if your name is Microsoft. You know you cannot compete fairly as your product is not that good and the eventual real cost of it is actually very high. So you promise all sorts of glowing new features and abilities and hope enough rubes buy your spiel and take your "free upgrade" before it becomes obvious the new stuff isn't all that great, or else some of it simply isn't coming at all, ever. Examples of such oversold BS could be the "advantages of the Edge browser" and "Win 10 Mobile with Continuum for all existing Windows phones" == stuff that either isn't nearly right yet or else simply ain't EVER going to happen. So you give Win 10 away for free for a short period of time (promising weekly that all sorts of fixes will be here soon) and LOCK those consumers in by removing their choices completely and controlling them completely. Knowledgeable consumers would never willingly pick your buggy partially complete product, so keep them in the dark as much as possible and take all elements of control away from them as quickly as you possibly can. Right now, by removing the DVD ISO install pathway using your old license key Microsoft has once again put consumers BACK UNDER THEIR TOTAL NIGHTLY CONTROL AGAIN. Microsoft will begin doing the unwilling automatic conversions of the lazy and the unknowing starting early in 2016. And still all the fixes promised for the November big release have not materialized, with only 60% of the promised fixes even being given a partial "lick and a promise". That is like starting 6 weeks from now ...... Now what is scary is that the latest big November upgrade is being rolled back now, and nobody knows why. Makes it sorta hard to "trust us", huh? :P |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/23/15 at 19:35:13 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/windows-10-update-threshold-2-deletes-essential-default-programs-freezes-during-upgrade-1528987 http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1464542/microsoft-windows-10.jpg?w=736 Threshold 2 deletes essential default programs and freezes during upgrade We are still waiting on MS to explain why they are welshing on all the novel features they have now backed out of the Threshold 2 November update and why they have gone back to strictly doing the secret middle of the night type upgrades instead of letting people reformat their hard drives and reinstall the entire thing fresh using the MS software key code. But what we do find FASCINATING is this little nugget from International Business Times, as once again MS is getting slammed on by a major financial news source. This time it is not the Wall Street Journal but this time it is the British equivalent financial news source called International Business Times. And once again, the article could affect MS stock prices as people are really getting cussing mad over this one. Threshold 2 deleting essential programs and drivers "And if that isn't annoying enough, users have been complaining on Reddit that various important default programs needed to run the computer are being deleted without notice as Threshold 2 installs, and you only find out that the program is gone or had its settings altered after the installation is complete. According to angry users, the programs affected by Threshold 2 include Intel's Rapid Storage Technology software, SATA storage interface drivers, laptop mouse trackpad drivers, Java Eclipse Mars, VPN clients from various makers including Cisco and F5, apps preinstalled by the computer manufacturer, Windows' own Remote Server Tools, the Adobe Reader app, Adobe CS Suite, Android Studio, CPU-Z, HWMonitor and Spybot Search and Destroy. "This is retarded, windows reinstalling their sh**ty apps and uninstalling people's programs," wrote Reddit user Krelianz. "That's f**king bulls**t. I really hope people oppose this vigorously and stop being Microsoft fanboys like this subreddit always is. Just this once. I mean this is totally unacceptable. This isn't what an 'update' is supposed to do," added Reddit user indeepth0ught." My take is that MS feels like they CAN remove anything that conflicts with any newly developed Win 10 systems software as they claimed that right by the EULA you click approved so long ago. This means if they want to lock you into some newly written MS software, not only can they automatically install it on your machine in the middle of the night, but they can DELETE your old programs and files and uninstall the old softwares that you paid money for and that YOU LIKE TO USE. :P ...... and I repeat for emphasis ..... "This is retarded, windows reinstalling their sh**ty apps and uninstalling people's programs," wrote Reddit user Krelianz. "That's f**king bulls**t. I really hope people oppose this vigorously and stop being Microsoft fanboys". |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by jcstokes on 11/23/15 at 20:03:55 I wonder what would happen to the global economy, if say 1 billion didn't "upgrade", or found a way of stopping the "shovelware", or whatever you techies call it, and the MS share price took a significant hit, or even collapsed. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/24/15 at 05:43:01 Microsoft isn't going to collapse, WE AS CONSUMERS ARE NO LONGER THEIR MAJOR MARKET and we are not currently paying any of their bills, us old USA consumers, using our old software that was paid for over 10 years ago. We are just unruly children who are being used as Beta Testers as they refine their tricks before putting them into use in Enterprise versions of the same Win 10 OS. Will Big Business be happy with the new sneaky misleading domineering Microsoft ??? That is the real question. Big Business will decide MS's fate. ;) Remember, Chromebook doesn't have any shovelware and Google doesn't delete your installed this and that, ever, unless it was found to be an active malware in disguise. Then you were given the CHOICE to let Chrome OS remove it completely. Your choice, your click. Hell, there was a separate pre-click that made you respond that you had really read and understood about the issue and you weren't just auto-clicking along. Google doesn't mess with people at all, Google isn't very sneaky and that is becoming a major draw to their software now-a-days because MS certainly does mess with people a lot and MS IS VERY VERY SNEAKY OF LATE. ======================================== So, Oldfeller, why do you have a protected, shielded, carefully controlled Win 7 partition on your Linux box? The ONLY thing that Chromebooks (and Linux) don't do right now is play some really big AAA game titles that started out in Xbox space. But Steam and Gabe are working on it, and the first wave of Steamboxes is out now for sale this Christmas. Prices on the first units are too high, but the market will bring that down quickly enough. Some AAA game titles have moved over, and some have not, depending on contractual agreements with MS and others. I will NEVER likely see Master Chief on my machine, ever. MS isn't going to support Steamboxes, not in this lifetime anyway. In counter, MS is desperately trying to get a patent based lock on some of the key aspects of gaming. ON ANYTHING, because MS knows that if gaming goes away from them, so do they (within 5 years, give or take). This is why year on year they are willing to continue losing a mint on XBox -- it is considered mission critical to PC in the consumer space. BTW, MS XBox losses are way up lately too. Doing better than Sony Playstations, though. MS's attempts to buy AMD recently were actually in pursuit of this goal, but AMD turned control of the Vulcan gaming video standards over to FOSS immediately when this became known, and MS immediately dropped their buyout attempts as they would not be buying the video standard that they wanted with the company. Right now the new video standard used by MS (Direct X 12) is temporarily somewhat better than what FOSS has to offer, but there are very few existing video cards (actually no inexpensive ones) that are using that new MS Direct X 12 based standard at the moment. The Vulcan open source standard however is very widespread, as is the old AMD Catalyst system which came before it (note that these were among the things that Win 10 automatically REMOVED from users's machines during the November Update that pissed so many Europeans off so badly). Is MS acting in restraint of free trade? One might think that is the case, as reportedly MS caught a judge's legal injunction for doing that shite, which then caused Microsoft to pull the big November Threshold 2 update on all machines out there, going back to the previous edition along with its nightly hidden update system. Yep, the big mysterious pull back has possibly been explained ...... more pie in the face for MS. Yep, there were possibly legal reasons for the abrupt about face MS just did on the November Threshold 2 Update -- it was potentially illegal for them to do that to YOUR machine, removing the installed drivers and software that YOU HAD PUT IN PLACE. This was a MS directly done potentially illegal action that in effect shut some competitive products down completely. It was actionable. And noticeably stupid, too. My video card uses AMD Catalyst drivers, so no, I will NOT be going to Win 10 as my video card would quit working, repeatedly, as MS deleted my Catalyst drivers time after time after time in the wee hours of the night. Screw that. Win 7, locked down and shielded, is good enough for me on my gaming partition though, thank you very much. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/24/15 at 09:55:29 Some local courts are considering pushing class actions that would have MS send out brand new Win 7 and Win 8.1 DVD's to the complainants along with brand new unencumbered license keys --- why? --- because MS substantially misrepresented Windows 10's progress (state of completion) in order to get the users to switch over and then MS locked them out of being able to reload their old software after 30 days -- illegally -- according to their existing licenses. I find it fascinating that MS's original talking head boy, ol' flippy hair boy, is out of the country for a whole year right about now .... he is unavailable for any direct testimony. If this goes very far, or becomes very widespread, then it may be game over for MS as their future pathway DEPENDS on locking you into Win 10 as a powerless dependent. Having the courts say you are not powerless kinda undercuts MS's game plan. And I wonder how many of the 130 million would go back at this stage, knowing what they now know. Certainly a chunk of the 38-40% who are still having nagging driver issues would go back -- in heart beat -- if they could. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/25/15 at 06:54:28 However, if offered the chance to go back on Win 10, many would not go. There ARE people who are happy with Win 10. Generally they are users who don't do much with the computer beyond browsing and light social networking. They are happy that MS is taking care of them now all the way and they DO NOT HAVE TO THINK AT ALL. Some also have no problem paying out some money occasionally, as they always have had to pay for everything all along in their computing life. Paying for "subscription service" is natural to these folks. These folks also believe everything MS tells them, which makes them perfect MS customers. They have been told that the constantly changing MS Win 10 operating system is "evolving and getting better" and they see just enough progress out of the churn to believe this is real. They take pride in watching their machine delay 2-3 minutes at each computer turn on while the current crop of nightly MS updates are integrated into their machine, because to them that is progress in motion. Daily progress, updates that they have faith will make their computer better. "See, MS is making new changes to make my computer better .... oops, that's odd -- well they will fix that tonight or tomorrow night with the new updates." Microsoft has worked on Win 10 for over 5 years now, including when it was Win 9, and this is what they have come up with. A constant churn, every night you get used to push updates out to everybody else, updates that fix item A for somebody but cause other issues for persons B & C. Eventually they will get drivers for your hardware, too, whenever the driver pixies get the driver gnomes to give them the raw forged magic metal to make them with. ======================================== Would MS's demise hurt the economy? Considering that MS is being slowly replaced by other systems and methods that do the same jobs, no, MS will die off by simply becoming irrelevant. Microsoft is with us, they intend to try to be with us in phones and in IoT and in VR and all the rest of the new forms of computing. Trouble is, they aren't very good at these new things when compared to their competitors. And they have competitors now, real ones. So, MS shrinks year on year ...... each year trying a new way to take over the world. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/25/15 at 09:56:12 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-ideapad-100s-11-6-laptop-intel-atom-2gb-memory-32gb-emmc-flash-storage-red/4475000.p?id=1219751168924&skuId=4475000&cmp=RMX&srccode=cii_10043468&cpncode=41-114911560-2&ref=25&loc=SHZ http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/lenovo-ideapad-100s_02.jpg I mentioned Lenovo was in a money crunch and was going to be dumping some inventory, right? Best Buy will sell you an "open box" unit for $116 with Office 365 for a year. That is cheap, huh, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still to come. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 11/26/15 at 14:08:49 Well Raspberry is at it again! $5 computer here we go! https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/5-computer-change-world-171124178.html |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/27/15 at 10:25:02 http://i1.wp.com/makezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/PiChip.png?resize=620%2C413 For $5 Raspberry Pi Zero is getting reviewed as being 3x faster than the original Pi and 7 time cheaper. Has fewer I/O ports though, but it runs ALL the original Pi software family, Raspian, etc. using the ports it does have. Trick is to buy a USB hub that supports the thing, they have several identified that work OK now. Yep, Raspberry Pi is getting better, has better throughput (faster, stronger) AND is getting cheaper, but it still supports its distributors and software sub-vendors with a small profit margin. It isn't much, but the folks still like it well enough to write for it. Nobody in Pi space is greedy, indeed some of them simply accept "donations to the cause" as that actually gets them more money quicker as they get ready to make a new revision available. ======================================== http://makezine.com/2015/11/28/chip-vs-pi-zero/ C.H.I.P. (black one on the right) is a $9 one up on the Pi Zero that has the maker crowd in a buzz -- based on a cheap Allwinner phone chip it has all the built in stuff that you have to buy then hook up to get a Pi running completely to suit you. ======================================= Microsoft and Intel have nothing -- all their attempts at this hobby space flopped miserably. All Intel has is a $100 hobby board. And its uses Android, not MS anything to run. MS still hasn't built a successful Win 10 phone yet, much less a hobby board. MS seems to be content to survive off of Big Business right now and until that changes, you will have MS to support your Big Box PC stuff with the nightly update churn nonsense. Nothing else. MS is trying to get ALL their PCs gathered under one roof without pissing anybody off mortally, and it's HARD for them to do that. The programmers are given goals of things to do with each level, and when they go do them and they SHOW UP in the nightlies and do what they are intended to do, well then the Europeans have kittens about it and MS gets caught doing more "legally actionable" strange stuff and has to back track again. Next year it is all going to hit a wall when MS claims that the Win 7/8.1 to Win 10 roll over is NOW REQUIRED to keep your computer secure and you MUST kill off all your old software and drivers and only use the approved MS stuff that they just sent to you last night as part of your required upgrade path. And you will have to buy whatever MS tells you to buy for Office, etc. etc. going forward. If you have not ever clicked to accept the Win 10 EULA ever, then doing this to you is illegal and actionable. Then the court case goes before the EU -- and we see what we shall see. I hope it happens, goes to trial and gets all shaken out before we hit the one year update deadline. Best case, the EU constricts and limits MS in certain ways that keep computing free and competitive. Worst case, MS takes over the PC world autocratically and you get NO CHOICE going forward. MS just owns you. Then, in late 2016 Google finally uncorks a full span general purpose OS and then MS and Google go through competitive improvement cycles one-upping each other from then on forward. This assumes the Alphabet boys don't get distracted by something else, say a rigged up lawsuit or two on some other issue ..... it's not like MS hasn't done that to them lately, now is it? Microsoft will be suffering from a lack of drivers still, and Google will have a strong advantage as they certify all hardware like Apple does and Google simply doesn't have that bad driver issue to deal with. Believe it or not, Apple has lost more Macs lately to the current somewhat lame competition between Google and MS than MS has PCs. iOS and MacOS still are separate, but are edging closer all the time. Google is still picking up all the loose market share, except when Lenovo is dumping Windows 10 laptops below their mgf cost like they are currently doing. Then MS gains some share as something running Win 10 is "right priced" finally. Lenovo has no choice, however, their last year's Win 8.1 inventory stock MUST move out to free up vital cash to keep them in business for 2016. The processors in these "dumpees" are starting to get stale and soon enough will be seen as "obsolete" -- the time to convert them all to Win 10 and dump them on the marketplace is NOW when MS is still screwed up enough to take all the blame for the sorry unit performance. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/29/15 at 08:52:39 http://www.techtimes.com/articles/90658/20151003/ibm-to-ditch-silicon-for-carbon-nanotubes-to-make-ultra-powerful-ultra-efficient-1-8-nanometer-chips.htm http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/carbon-nanotubes-could-power-the-next-generation-of-processors/ Life after silicon exists, it is just 2-3 years of hard work away at this point in time. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/30/15 at 10:16:45 http://www.winbeta.org/news/windows-10-mobile-news-recap-market-share-goes-up-custom-roms-and-more I have stated that MS is pushing out a GREAT DEAL of very misleading information. Let's talk some about the latest "news flash" from MS. "We learned this past week that Windows 10 Mobile usage as increased to 7 percent, compared to 5.7 percent the previous month. The number will likely increase when more people get their pre-ordered Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XLs. The new operating system is also set to hit existing devices in the coming months in phases to selected devices." First thought is "Where did they get these numbers? MS had 3% market share at peak counting all Win Phone varieties, and that has just recently dropped down to 1.7% market share as their fan base abandons them -- where did they get these 5.7% and 7% growth numbers? " The answer is quite simple, to Microsoft the world of phone ONLY contains Windows phones. This tiny 1.7% market share (and shrinking) pie is split up into various Windows phone segments by Microsoft for analysis. What they are really saying as the fans leave the sinking ship, abandoning all the Win Phones fairly evenly, but more especially the ones that MS has also co-abandoned, the shrinking pie has changed shape --- and the Win 10 phone segment of the shrinking pie has grown from 5.7% of a 3% market share pie to a whopping 7% of a 1.7% market share pie. But hey, is this really growth at all ?????? .057x.03 = 0.00171 of total real market share .07x.017 = 0.00119 of total real market share 1-(0.00119/0.00171) = 30% decline in real unit count vs real total market share In other words, the Win 10 phone pie slice shrank drastically, but compared to the even faster shrinking Win Phone market share pie they can claim the Win 10 slice "grew" 1.3% relative to the even smaller and smaller size of the ever shrinking Win Phone round pie. ..... Please remember, the Win Phone total pie can shrink simply because Android and Apple total pies GREW that much in the same time period. In other words, it is all just about complete malarky, intended to mislead and misdirect and keep the real secret still secret -- Win 10 phone is a flop but it is still the great white hope for Windows 10's total future gro..... Please remember, the Win Phone total pie can shrink simply because Android GREW in the same time period.wth. ;) ...... is it any wonder people are fleeing Win phone as fast as they can? Nor why MS resorts to funny numbers to make their stuff seem larger than it is? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/30/15 at 11:38:32 http://www.computerworld.com/article/3009440/windows-pcs/windows-10s-usage-share-lead-over-windows-7-evaporates.html Just read it -- the gist is that Windows 10 although completely free has dropped below the ongoing adoption rate of Windows 7 back when Windows 7 was new. This also highlights the problems that Microsoft is having now that people are not believing the bullshit that they're saying all over the place about how great Windows 10 is and how well it is being accepted. The main difference is that Windows 7 was liked and paid for by people because it was well written, completely finished and relatively flaw free. Windows 10 is none of these things. People are correctly reacting to seeing Windows 10 using strong arm tactics to try to get on to their machine and then abusing them once it arrives by deleting their software and changing their settings nightly -- time after time, night after night. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 11/30/15 at 11:49:44 http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/11/windows-10-class-action-microsoft/ Windows 10 Users May Pursue Class-Action Against Microsoft The message says that after upgrading to Windows 10 via ‘automatic updates’ thousands of the PCs have “been rendered useless,” and left with 1. no sound, 2. no operating screen time 3. no access (password issues) 3. memory issues 4. lost files 5. unauthorized access by Microsoft.” Meanwhile, the lead enjoyed by the Windows 10 over the adoption rate of Windows 7 at the same post-launch point in its lifecycle evaporated. Windows 10 has lost its lead despite it being offered for free, claims data from a Web analytics firm. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 12/01/15 at 07:27:40 So far no issues with mine, maybe I haven't been 'upgraded' yet |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/01/15 at 09:14:00 Art, there are about 30% of the Win 10 population who report "no issues" when answering polls. Sad part is some start out with no issues and then get one later on, unnecessarily, due to a new update that does not agree with their machine. Some machines are odd, the ones who were tweeked by the maker with custom drivers to suit abnormal hardware mixes (generally Compaq did this, said it made their machines faster than normal. Dell does it too.) Now here comes MS, wanting to do it their way, automatically .... on non-standard equipment that has been sitting there for 3-10 years now. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/01/15 at 19:35:31 http://www.cnet.com/news/windows-10-continues-to-crawl-its-way-up-on-desktop-pcs/ http://cnet2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2015/12/01/df2c0d5a-7f6c-4fae-9138-13f73c7bb8e5/51fd70e9bb2d2ec5589b451040a23fb8/windows-market-share-nov-2015.jpg Windows 10 continues to crawl its way onto desktop PCs "Microsoft's Windows 10 isn't setting any speed records moving up the desktop operating system food chain. The latest edition of Windows snagged a 9 percent share worldwide of all Web traffic generated by desktop operating systems in November, NetMarketShare said Tuesday. That number was up around a percentage point since October. Overall rate of growth had been declining since the initial share of 5.2 percent in August after Windows 10 officially debuted July 29. The slower uptake in Windows 10 adoption over the past three months comes as Microsoft needs to prove to consumers that it can still make an appealing and user-friendly operating system after the misfortune of Windows 8. Many consumers hesitated upgrading to Windows 8, leading Microsoft to offer Windows 10 for free for Windows 7 and 8.1 users. The free offer is good for only the first year. After that, Windows 10 will cost $119 for the Home edition and $199 for the Pro version. So growth in adoption of the new version will be a critical factor for Microsoft over the first half of 2016. The offer has one drawback, however, in that it could prevent Windows 7 and 8.1 users from buying new PCs or tablets, both of which are in a sales slump." Since MS is stifling all the direct sales numbers both from themselves and from all their major device builders (why? Because the numbers aren't good at all) we are now forced to talk about NET TRAFFIC NUMBERS generated by Win 10 OS equipped machines instead. Microsoft can't stifle that information, so it is readily available. http://cnet2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2015/12/01/df2c0d5a-7f6c-4fae-9138-13f73c7bb8e5/51fd70e9bb2d2ec5589b451040a23fb8/windows-market-share-nov-2015.jpg What does this graph tell you? That the majority of Win 7 users, Win 8 users, Win 8.1 users and the current majority of new machine buyers being sold something this Christmas are ACTIVELY AVOIDING Windows 10. Win 10 ain't right yet, and everybody knows it ..... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/01/15 at 19:42:00 http://www.consumeraffairs.com/microsoft-news Microsoft Changes License Agreement to Bar Class Actions Microsoft's customers give up their right to sue and agree to binding arbitration in all disputes By James R. Hood "Microsoft, never shy about trumpeting its latest innovations whether real or just vaporware, has quietly changed its U.S. end user license agreement to forbid its customers from suing or joining in class action suits against the company. The 14th Amendment guarantees everyone the right of due process, but when it's consumers against mighty corporations, that doesn't mean very much. In this and similar cases, companies have been modifying their end use license agreements -- commonly called the EULA -- to state that the consumer agrees to be bound by the conditions of the agreement. And -- voila! -- one of those conditions is now that the consumer will not exercise the right to sue. In other words, you still have the right. You just can't use it. What could be fairer? After all, no one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to use Microsoft Word, right? Not much notice The notice, such as it was, of the change was slipped into a Microsoft blog just before the Memorial Day weekend, a favorite time for issuing notices that one hopes won't be noticed. In the blog posting, Tim Fielden, assistant general counsel at Microsoft, describes the changes, which mandate arbitration for all customer claims and forbid class-action lawsuits as a precondition to using Microsoft's products. The mandatory arbitration clause of the EULA is binding and is not an option. "You understand and acknowledge that b4y agreeing to binding arbitration, you are giving up the right to litigate (or participate in as a party or class member) all disputes in court before a judge or jury," the EULA states in clause 18.1.4. The denial of consumers' rights already applies to XBOX products and is being extended to other Microsoft products, presumably as quickly as Fielden & Co. can crank out the new boilerplate. "We will implement similar changes in user agreements for other products and services in the coming months as we roll out major licensing, hardware or software releases and updates," Fielden wrote. Microsoft, of course, is not alone and, as usual, is not even out in front. Companies have been falling over themselves to unilaterally rewrite their contracts even since an infamous 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the AT&T v. Concepcion case handed corporations the right to simply remove, demolish, diminish and destroy consumers' rights simply by inserting a few sentences in their contracts. A contract is generally defined as an agreement between the two parties. But that cuts no ice in this case. The consumer simply has no input into the decision once deciding to buy the product or service -- commonly known as the "take it over leave it" option. Not only is there no opportunity for negotiation or modification by the consumer, most EULAs are written to allow the corporation to unilaterally modify them, as Microsoft is doing, a rather unusual provision for what is supposedly an agreement between consenting parties." It is my layman's OPINION, that .... Doing this EULA change after the fact and counting our old "uninformed" and "non-consenting" pre-change EULA click as a contract on this class action issue thing doesn't fly at all. Many of us clicked long before this "after the fact" change was made. MS has been informed that users will be carrying forward with their class action suits with all previous MS EULA "protection" being considered null and void by MS's own "after the fact" illegal actions. Plus, attempting things like this after the fact and after the various issues have been raised acts to increase the severity of the language being used in the complaints, which now use terms like "misrepresented features that were available" "made fraudulent claims of performance that exceeded competitor products" "said the software was 85% feature complete and only required mild debugging which was simply false advertising". Makes their Micro bung holes all pucker up all tight-like, it does ..... and now you know why flippy hair talking head boy was put out of the country during this period of time, as he would have to be called to directly testify to tell the court who told him to say all that false stuff. And this is in the good ol' USA, mind you. What the EU Commissioners can and will do to MS is not limited or controlled by US law. And then you have those potential local actions by France and Germany and China, filed under their OWN laws to consider. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 06:00:20 http://liliputing.com/2015/12/lattepanda-is-an-arduino-friendly-79-windows-10-mini-pc-crowdfunding.html Some Wintel fans are reacting to the latest crop of $9 and $5 hobby boards that are out and that you can freely buy today. How? By coming up with a crowd funding plan to build one running an Intel Cherry Trail Processor and with Windows 10 as an extra cost option. Please look at the boards and tell me what you notice right off the bat when looking at the processors ...... $5 $9 http://i1.wp.com/makezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/PiChip.png? resize=620%2C413 Now look closely at the proposed Wintel hobby board. The picture and the pricing tell you what is wrong with Wintel compared to ARM in a nutshell. A pledge of $129 or more gets you a LattePanda Enhanced edition, which has the same processor and basic design. But the Enhanced version comes with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and Windows 10 64-bit. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/lattepanda_03.jpg .... yes Virginia, the sticker on the Intel chipset is bigger than either of the ARM processors, and the Allwinner based black board is a full phone system on a chip too, which the Intel is not. Single-board computers are getting so cheap that you can pick up a CHIP or Raspberry Pi Zero for under $10. But you’ll have to pay a little more if you want a model that can run Windows. For example, Newegg sells the Kangaroo Mobile Desktop for $99. Want something a little more hacker-friendly? The LattePanda is a new single-board PC with an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor, Windows 10 software, and support for up to 4GB of RAM. It also has an Arduino-compatible co-processor and GPIO pins. The team behind the project are launching a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of raising money to deliver the first Lattepanda units in a few months. I think the Wintel folks have also missed the point that learning how to program a computer means being able to get into the software guts of it freely -- something which MS does not permit the kiddies (or anybody else) to do. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 07:17:27 http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2015/12/01/microsofts-new-windows-10-smartphone-no-world-beater/76604344/ http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a612972077bb04d7a0fd2c0fd3d788ce0850860e/c=669-0-4643-2988&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2015/12/01/USATODAY/USATODAY/635845812534510861-20151201-153619.jpg "But no one at Microsoft appears to have gone out of his or her way to suggest that the Lumia 950 smartphone that recently went on sale is a world beater. That’s because this new Windows 10 phone is anything but." USA Today does its normal so-so job of regurgitating everyone else's breaking news. In most cases this is OK as USA Today reflects a "consensus viewpoint" and being after the fact they generally do catch little points like the phone does not come with the required $99 "Connection Station" that is required if you want to try to use the Continuum feature. The lead ins that you follow to get to the video review are telling however Microsoft Win 10 Phone: Half-baked Microsoft's Windows 10 phone is no world beater: Review ======================================== Intel isn't happy at being ousted from Microsoft's mobile world and has some plans that they (not Microsoft) have announced now, in the normal reactive "me too" Intel brown vapor blast coming from left field. And there they are: http://liliputing.com/2015/12/report-microsofts-surface-phone-could-be-6-12-months-away.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/surfaces.jpg "Now Windows Central reports that Microsoft may be scrapping plans to launch an Intel-powered smartphone in May to make way for a new phone from the Surface team which will reportedly launch in the second half of 2016. You should probably take the report with a grain of salt: Microsoft still hasn’t confirmed the details. Windows Central’s sources might have inaccurate information. And even if the information is currently accurate, there’s plenty of time for Microsoft to change its plans: the earliest Windows Central expects to see a Surface Phone would be August, 2016. It’s possible it could also launch later in the year… if it launches at all." So, are you going to get this thing from AT&T? Verizon? If you were going to drop that kind of coin, why not use the Skype already built into the unit's Win10 OS for free ????? This is the kind of dumb Wintel reactive brown vapor blasts we have learned to love so well. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by justin_o_guy2 on 12/02/15 at 07:59:19 Mmmkay, everyone knows just how tech savvy I Ain't so, my little post is not to state anything definitive, but, more to offer to the smart guys, I saw a headline, for lack of a better word, on Rense, saying,paraphrased, Win 10 malware deletes user files or something along those lines. Now, is this true? Is this malware that Bad Guys attack with After it's on the machine or is this something that just comes With it? I'm just curious to know How is it that after All this time, software developers haven't figured out how to make an OS that is user friendly, has enough bell and whistles to be useful, and doesn't get the flu every time the wind blows. And , if I didn't know better, I'd swear it almost seems like it's on purpose. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 08:10:50 Justin, The latest episode of Win10 illegally deleting user installed programs and files was not a malware at all, it was Win10's first pass at the big Threshold 2 upgrade update that did the evil deed. Threshold 2 was immediately (and secretively) pulled by MS as they digested several restraining orders issued by various legal arenas, some domestic, some European. The speed with which the restraining orders hit suggests that legal arms are primed for MS action now and take literally no time at all to fire off legal actions. The speed with which the Threshold 2 update was undone also suggests MS can do (and undo) things to your computer AT WILL, no matter what you do with your settings. The big Threshold 2 upgrade reappeared on your machine two weeks later, somewhat corrected, cleaned up and sanitized. The deletion damage that was done to user's machines remained however, and further fueled the movement for the class action suits that are rolling around now. Does this help clarify what you remember reading? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by oldNslow on 12/02/15 at 08:11:49 Jog wrote: Quote:
They know how to do that. The OS is called Linux Mint. And it's free. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Art Webb on 12/02/15 at 08:30:26 I have an Acer, less than a year old so far as I know it's still win 8.1, I havebn't even been offered win 10 if it goes tits up I'll get a tablet |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 08:31:00 Justin, Windows 7 fits the bill for what you requested, and that is the whole point of the Class Action lawsuits against MS -- Win10 has locked users away from being able to go back to their old Win7 installations, Win7 installations that had 7 years still left on the license. Users are TIRED now of the Win10 BS level, the nightly invasions and the big bi-monthly upgrade disasters -- they want to go back to Win7 and have calm in their lives again. Most users agree with Miss Microsoft that Win10 has really shown that MS cannot even fix what they have written because they have lost so much as a company over the last 4 years of cut and cut and cut and cut again. Crueler reviewers suggest that MS is doing exactly what they have planned to do, showing ZERO concern for normal individual users and taking all their old market share back again by a Genghis Khan type of maneuver. And now they have run afoul of the legal system because what they are doing (and how they are going about doing it) is potentially illegal. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 10:04:42 http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/upgrade-10-class-action-lawsuit/cd4bfca3-e297-479a-a7fd-94bdf765dcc9?auth=1 Upgrade 10 Class Action LawSuit LILisaCapaci started on August 14, 2015See post history Is there an attorney or firm interested in pursuing a class action suit? There are thousands of computers that have been rendered useless after being upgraded to Windows 10 through "automatic updates" and left with 1. no sound, 2. no operating screen time 3. no access (password issues) 3. memory issues 4. lost files 5. unauthorized access by Microsoft. Microsoft's own Community Answer Forum is now being used to discuss and organize the Win10 class action lawsuit action. They are asking for a class action law firm to come forward as the vehicle for their wishes. Microsoft, who claims to listen to their community, certainly now knows that people really really want the "go back to Win 7" button to last a lot longer than 30 days -- does MS actually do what the talking heads say they do about honoring community requests? ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 10:21:23 http://news.softpedia.com/news/windows-10-users-considering-class-action-lawsuit-against-microsoft-for-poor-system-performance-496880.shtml Windows 10 Users Considering Class Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft for Poor System Performance “There are simply too many issues with this upgrade” The Windows 10 experience has so far been very mixed for those who installed Microsoft’s new operating system, and while some claim this is the best OS version so far, others can’t even get the Start menu working after upgrading from Windows 7 and 8.1. It’s no secret that there are a ton of problems in Windows 10, at least on some PCs, so some of those whose computers got upgraded to this OS version, either manually or automatically by Microsoft, are now considering the possibility of starting a class action lawsuit against the company. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 12:24:36 http://microsoftclassactionlawsuit.com There is a web page now that is holding reference links to all of the various class action lawsuits against Microsoft over Windows 10. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 12:35:17 An example of a current class action lawsuit Who to contact to join the class action. "The Abbott Law Group, P.A. has a team of lawyers who specialize in Electronic Discovery and Technology based litigation. If you have been affected by the unwanted Windows 10 download, or you computer, laptop, or tabled, has stopped functioning properly as a result, you may be eligible to join the Microsoft Class Action Lawsuit. Microsoft has neglected to inform the users of its Windows operating system that the Windows 10 update will be downloaded onto their hard drive. Microsoft has also failed to consider how the download may impact the end user. Call us now for a free consultation if you believe you may be eligible to join the Microsoft class action lawsuit for Windows 10 download without permission." Notice please how vague the wording is .... if you had any downsides associated with Microsoft putting crap on your machine without telling you in advance and getting your permission then you're eligible for this lawsuit. This specifically includes any data cap overages or any problems with a low capacity cloud book running out of storage space or any driver or crash issues involved with not being able to take the entire download and the resulting partial download causing you extreme problems cuz you didn't get all the drivers. Specifically it also includes getting Windows 10 drivers substituted in the place of your Windows 7 or Windows 8.x drivers and all the functional problems that spring from that. It also includes getting portions or all of Windows 10 installed on a machine that doesn't have all the proper drivers available for it yet. :P |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 12/02/15 at 19:06:35 I have a couple laptops, I use one for my main.... and yes I put windows 10 on it, and yes it still is kinda buggy...but oh well, it works. I put Linux mint 17 on the little experimental laptop... had 15 on it before I made it go all windows to test win 10 during beta. The hard drive died and after I put in a new one, I put mint 17 on it. Well Saturday I went out to the garage to fire it up and play with it a bit.... and it kept crashing on start.... would not boot.... so I started putting the old windows home vista back on it.... today is my third day messing with it, and I finally got everything updated....yeah... 3 days from start new till all upgrades are done.... :( |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 19:19:21 Have you replaced the Bios "maintain battery" that is located through the drive bay hatch -- 2 wire pin connector to a flat battery pack ..... Jest askin' ...... when these go flat your machine loses its mind while in storage. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/02/15 at 19:22:38 Old-Rider, Have you replaced the Bios "maintain battery" that is located through the drive bay hatch -- 2 wire pin connector to a flat battery pack ..... Jest askin' ...... when these go flat your machine loses its mind while in storage. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 12/02/15 at 19:35:31 It's always plugged in, it sits on a work bench in the garage.... I usually put it in "sleep mode" when I close it. I was thinking it might be a memory glich causing problems, but the memory test says it is good. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/03/15 at 07:22:38 If you have never replaced the Bios battery, consider doing it to prevent problems. That is if you intend to use the machine for anything out in the future. Sounds like it is parked for the duration, no? I have 2 perfectly good, BIOS battery changed, main battery charged and wrapped in cloth, all defragged and snuggled down for the long nap XP laptop machines, that I still think perform as good as they ever did. Issue becomes that my cheapie cell phone responds way better than they do when out on the web. I don't even take them on vacations any more ..... How old are the machines? The internet still only responded to WWW. calls back when the machines were new and there WAS no streaming video anything anywhere, web pages were static read sort of things. Flash was under development back then. They have been updated all the way to the latest XP service packs and fixes, then it all stopped when XP updating stopped. :) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/03/15 at 07:36:15 http://liliputing.com/2015/12/now-you-can-install-windows-10-on-a-xiaomi-mi-4-if-you-can-get-a-mi-4.html http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/mi-4-windows.jpg Here is Microsoft's PROOF that they have no common sense and no central brain controlling what the various programming groups go run off and go do. Now somebody wants to have Chinese teenagers take their brand new Xiaomi (non-microsoft built) phones and have them go flash Windows 10 mobile on to them in wholesale lots ...... Can Microsoft people even read their own "recommended phones" lists ????? Not the bright thing to be doing right now, MS ...... Stubbing your toe in China is NOT what you want to be doing right now ...... Those Chinese police come equipped with AK submachine guns when they come to kick your door down, remember? ::) |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/03/15 at 07:51:02 Speaking of not bright things for MS to be doing right now ...... http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/10/15/microsoft-no-longer-lets-you-opt-out-of-a-windows-10-upgrade/ http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/windows-10-wallpaper- 19.jpg "If you haven’t already updated your computer to Windows 10 and it is eligible for a free upgrade, then prepare yourself for more aggressive update notifications that no longer give you the ability to opt-out. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users are reporting popups that inform them their Windows 10 upgrade will be installed in one hour. Users have the option to start the process immediately or reschedule it, but there is no longer an option to opt-out of upgrading altogether, ZDNet reports. Not even GWX Control Panel, a third-party tool that allowed Windows users to avoid the upgrade before, is able to sidestep these notifications at present, according to the app’s creator, Josh Mayfield." Ruh Ro Shaggy ..... I use GWX Control Panel and the man who wrote it says it won't block MS any more? ........ aw shite ....... :-/ ......... I'm screwed ....... OK, I was curious, so I went and looked. I booted my gaming partition (Win 7) and sure enough all the bad KBs are there waiting for me to approve them --- right now I am set up to manually approve ALL patches and upgrades, and I simply don't do that. Upping them to security patches won't get on my machine as I manually approve those too. MS will have to break into full 'accidental completely automatic' mode to break into my gaming partition ..... and they could get sued for doing that. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/03/15 at 09:18:50 Meanwhile, I drop back into my default state, Linux Mint Mate 17.2, and I am comfortable and safe inside my heavy duty armor .... MS targeted, Repulsers -- fire !!!! http://thekoalition.com/images/2015/05/Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Hulkbuster-Armor.jpg |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/03/15 at 20:06:28 http://www.neowin.net/news/world-bank-director-wants-class-action-lawsuit-against-microsoft-after-sons-4500-xbox-bill World Bank director wants class-action lawsuit against Microsoft after son's $4500 Xbox bill "The latest example is quite a high profile case, involving Jeremy Hillman, Director of Communications for the World Bank Group, whose son managed to spend over $4,500 on digital content purchased on his Xbox before his parents noticed. In a post on Medium, Hillman explained how - while checking his credit card bill - he spotted four charges of $109 each from Microsoft in just two days. While he initially believed it to be a billing error related to his Office 365 subscription, it didn't take long for his son to shed light on the matter. In Hillman's words: What he had been doing was purchasing FIFA player packs. He tearfully told me that he’d tried to buy a player pack for $100 but it hadn’t worked and so he tried a couple more times. Knowingly trying to spend $100 would have been bad enough but if he was telling the truth then this was a one-off aberration — and Microsoft would surely compensate us for the failed purchases. It was only when he contacted Microsoft to request compensation that he was informed of "all the other charges" that had been adding up: "With horror I started scrolling through pages of charges — $109, $109, $109 — sometimes two a day. More than $4,500 of charges for virtual FIFA players going back several months." Hillman said that he and his wife "accept our responsibility in this. We should have paid much closer attention to his video gaming, and my son accepts his responsibility and punishment." But he claims that Microsoft bears some of the responsibility too, and alleges that the company has mishandled the whole situation. "Where was Microsoft in this? What was their responsibility?" he asked, adding: "...the treatment we have had at the hands of Microsoft has been appalling. On the first live-chat we were assured we'd be contacted within three days. That never happened." He went on to explain that, after speaking with someone else a week later, he had to wait several days more for the case to be referred to a Microsoft 'escalation analyst', who told him: Our policy states that all purchases are final and non-refundable. A purchase confirmation email was sent to email: XXXX.XXXX@hotmail.com (my son) each time a purchase was made because that is the email that was designated as a contact email on the billing profile …….. you are responsible for any material that a user of your Services account accesses or is denied access to (including as a result of your use or non-use of Parental Controls). You acknowledge that use of our settings is not a substitute for your personal supervision of minors that use your Services account. While Hillman acknowledged that he added his credit card details to his son's account - "I needed to do that to purchase the original game ($60)" - he said that he "had no knowledge that $100 in-game purchases could even be made and no wish for my credit card to be openly available for use for evermore" [sic]. In his post, he openly challenged Microsoft to answer his questions "on behalf of the thousands and thousands of parents who have fallen into this same situation": With all the brilliance of your engineers and sophisticated systems to protect data how hard could it be to put a realistic ceiling on what can be spent on in-app purchases before the credit card details and security code need to be re-entered? Most apple –iTunes purchases need a password to be re-entered for each new purchase. How many users legitimately spend thousands of dollars on in-app purchases and just how much usage would it actually take for you to flag this as unusual behavior and require confirmation that the purchase is legitimate? Banks and credit card companies regularly do this?—? .... there can’t be many reasons you don’t. But it's in his conclusion that Hillman pulls no punches, alleging that "Microsoft calculates that actually taking a responsible position that protects and safeguards its customers would be too much of a dent to its profits." He added that Microsoft "will tell you there are all sorts of parental controls available but back in the real world we all know that parents often don’t have the time or expertise to use these properly." He claims that "if Microsoft wanted to spare thousands of parents from frustration, anger and sometimes, serious financial consequences then it could find a hundred ways to do it. It has just chosen not to. Microsoft made a decision based on profit maximization and adhering to the minimum legal requirements." He concluded his post by stating that "if there's a lawyer out there that wants to start a class-action against Microsoft and force them into compensation and adopting a better policy I'll happily sign up." We have invited Microsoft to respond to Mr Hillman's allegations, and we will update this article if and when they do so." :P Ah Microsoft, go ACTIVELY piss off the directors of World Bank and see what that will get you for long term goodwill in Europe and other places. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by justin_o_guy2 on 12/03/15 at 21:52:36 Awwrite, is it just my attitude or am I seeing consumers less satisfied with each progressive New Windows OS? |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by MMRanch on 12/03/15 at 22:54:37 I'm still using Vista and don't want any new Windows ! :D Hay ??? What are you Windows 10 folks doing for a word processor ? Our "New" computer is an 8 or 10 :-? and it won't load my copy of Word 2003. Surprise :P even though my wife has tried it repeatedly . |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/04/15 at 05:18:27 Basic issue here is you have a company that has GOT to get you to use new stuff ANY WAY THEY CAN so they can charge you some new money for doing it. It becomes a nickle and dime "war for existence" with the starving for coin MS, with them consistently sticking you for every penny they can. In this you can "trust them", they will create a chance to charge you some money going forward and slam that poorly written $$$$ excuse right on to your machine while you are sleeping. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/05/15 at 02:06:31 Folks with DEEP pockets are looking to Apple Mac products for a solution, but Apple charges more money than MS does and actually uses the expensive MS Office products to fill out a productivity suite. Folks with very skinny pockets are going with a friendly version of Linux like Mint Mate 17.2 or 17.3 right now because the OS and the productivity suite are already there and it is all free. There are many who are looking towards Google for next year, as Google's stuff is free and they are used to using it on their phones and tablets. They know it works and they know they could use it, if the Android stuff were to just catch some of the windowing ability that already exists in ChromeOS. Google has promised this is coming for 2017. Why not just use ChromeOS? Folks really aren't that familiar with "living on the web" just yet, although many in truth spend more time on the web (in a browser) than anywhere else. They have been told by MS's Pawn Star guys that "You can't do that" which isn't true, but it is what they believe right now. Those that have seriously tried Chromebooks, have by and large liked it. Those that wanted "more locally loaded content" found the Crouton trick and have become Linux users on top of ChromeOS and are quite content with that pair up. Microsoft is creating a deep wish to get away from them in the hearts of many users. When it all shakes out, MS will still be here, just a good bit smaller than it is right now. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/05/15 at 18:34:14 http://liliputing.com/2015/12/pine64-single-board-computer-coming-to-kickstarter-soon-for-15.html PINE64 single-board computer coming to Kickstarter soon for $15 What's different? Full 64 bit 1.2 ghz ARM quad core phone system on a chip here, with all the hook ups available. Runs Ubuntu and Android 5.1 which are full service OS products now that will only get better as Google does their full new OS thing next year. The tech advisor guy behind it was a founding crew member of Apple Macintosh Crew, who is now retired. He's got both the creds and a bunch of people backing him up, some that actually speak American English. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/pine64.jpg "A few years ago the idea of a fully-functional computer with a $35 price tag seemed crazy. These days you can find models that sell for as little as $5 or $9. But the Raspberry Pi Zero and CHIP aren’t particularly powerful. Neither is the PINE64… but it’s more powerful than most other devices that sell for under $20. This single-board computer has an Allwinner 1.2 GHz 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 quad-core processor, support for up to 1GB of RAM, and a starting price of $15… at least during a Kickstarter campaign that’s scheduled to launch on December 9th. https://youtu.be/iYq-G4fn7XU ..... it is a YouTube video, click on it A pledge of $15 will reserve a model with 512MB of RAM, and a 10/100 Ethernet port. Spend $19 and you can request a model with 1GB of RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, and additional connectors for an optional camera, touch panel, and video adapter. Both models feature ARM Mali 400MP2 graphics, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI output with support for 3840 x 2160 pixel displays, and 3.5mm audio jacks. The PINE64 has no built-in storage, but there’s a microSD card slot which can handle cards up to 256GB. The developers say the computer can run Android 5.1, Ubuntu Linux, and other operating systems. Plug in a keyboard, mouse, display, and Ethernet cable and you’ve basically got a small, low-power computer. But there’s also a Raspberry Pi 2-compatible 40-pin header for connecting additional hardware, including accessories designed for the Raspberry Pi." For $19 on kickstarter right now, you get a 1meg of RAM, 258 gigabyte flash drive card based UBUNTU computer. When Google releases its new stuff, you will be able to buy that for less than $50 with a MUCH MORE CAPABLE PROCESSOR. We got old really good tech guys retiring now and putting this stuff out as a "pay it forward" retirement project. This is good stuff, as it uses Raspberry Pi extender boards and the world of Pi written Linux softwares. Apple and IBM are getting tight now, intending to take Big Business away from MS. Google is planning to do the same thing. Things are changing now, in basic ways. Intel is falling out of the equation more and more, even for MS, who is now using Qualcomm ARM based chipsets for all their newest tricks. Windows 10 has jelled into a product whose customers it seems may want to sue MS over the lies and abuses contained therein. MS is home of the Restrictive, Secretive EULA now, which is how they will have to be going forward or their own customer base will put them out of business legally. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/05/15 at 19:37:04 http://www.pcworld.com/article/2050508/former-microsoft-privacy-adviser-i-dont-trust-microsoft-now.html Former Microsoft privacy adviser: 'I don't trust Microsoft now' http://core1.staticworld.net/images/article/2012/12/privacy-goes-public-100018807-gallery.jpg yep, Cortana's eyeball "Caspar Bowden, who authored Microsoft’s privacy policy between 2002 and 2011 for 40 countries, said this week that he distrusts his former employer and has gone so far as to ditch his Windows phone. Bowden, who now calls himself a “privacy advocate,” told a conference this week that he was unaware that Microsoft participated in Prism, a charge that Microsoft has denied. But Bowden, as quoted in The Guardian, now says that he will only use open-source software and had ditched his phone for privacy’s sake. “I don’t trust Microsoft now,” Bowden said. It becomes obvious that key MS employees were denied knowledge of what MS was doing when they did it. Microsoft representatives declined to comment." At least the Google people know where Google is on these sorts of things ..... Google resists NSA, consistently, but cannot stop them from getting to the streaming data as it goes through public backbone nodes. And yes, Virginia, Google putting in their own optical backbone as part of their Google Gigabyte System does indeed remove their dependency on government controlled nodes to a major degree, and this is something that Google really thinks they need to do. People who are actively debating with Google over Chromebooks in schools both get a real answer and access to verify whatever it is that they need to verify. Google isn't secretive about the kiddies .... come check for yourself. MS is coming across as much more secretive much more so now than they did 3 years ago. They have more current dirty laundry to hide than they did under Ballmer and they are NOT going to let you in to check on it. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by old_rider on 12/05/15 at 20:35:08 110311030E1D121F145C0 wrote:
:'( MMR, I loaded up Open Office 4.1.1 but haven't used it much, just a couple of documents. There is also Libre Office (an offshoot of Open Office), both of them are free, for the basic program I think.... I don't much use office type programs any longer. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/06/15 at 05:37:01 I find the same thing --- tried to do a spreadsheet recently and found I had forgotten much of what I had known about formulas, etc. Skills not used, get fuzzy. ============================ http://liliputing.com/2015/12/remix-mini-review-70-android-desktop-pc.html First full review of the very first full windowing multi-user Android PC box intended for full use. This is a pre-cursor of the official Google system that will be out as Beta next year. http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/01_multi_02.jpg http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/multi_01.jpg It is a long, full review, and I read it to see the developing details -- if this might be a real alternative to Windows. Answer runs like this, if you are an Android user this is a clear improvement for desktop uses. If you are Windows user you won't be happy because the Android apps available now are "too slow and too limited" to fill your expectations. If you are an Oriental Android user, it certainly fits the bill at $70 for a home desktop unit -- mainly because you have NEVER used MS Windows at all and can't miss all the power that you have never had. The Orientals do have some very powerful, feature complete native language apps that actually really are what they think of as "computing". Point is that the light duty kiddy level English language Android Apps are what make the thing come off as light duty to us -- when using full items like Chrome browser, etc it is same same as same as. Use the serious Oriental native language apps and it is very much a real OS. Will Android compete with Windows? -- yes, because it is the same thing that is run on phones and it is shown now that it can run on a desktop using all the tricks Windows uses. When the English apps are better, it will compete better. My interest is seeing if a year from now (when the main crop of mobile processors are all literally more powerful than the old Intel Core i3 stuff used to be) .... will an Android phone be able to simply shine up on a big screen and do the home desktop duty for you using the then stock Android that came on the phone when you bought it. Not a different look, just the same stuff you use on the phone every day. ::) My answer from this review is, yes, they will. Same OS on the same phone device will be able to dock and do it all for you. Jide as an idea was developed as a Google person's paid for 25% side project while he was working at Google. He was allowed to try commercializing it and he has successfully done so, so he has proven it is viable. Really truly viable. Likely Google will now offer to buy him out, or else do an IP sharing with him for $$$ payment since when Google does it next year some of the same "Google paid for to develop while he was working there" ideas are going to get used. And then later when it is just a normal part of Android Google will give it all over to the public domain by putting it all in the LENARO store. And yes, this is why Google will pay the man before they turn it over, he has IP invested in it and he deserves to be paid for his IP. And Google does this all the time with their top end employees, BTW -- you can't hire the very brightest and the best and not allow them to express that genius level thinking. And you pay them for it, generously both while they work for you and after they go out independent if you want to use their ideas. And yes, if you keep the relationship going by paying them fairly along the way, why you wind up being an industry leader waving the guiding baton for a whole lot of people who don't even work for you any more. This is the same thinking that took place with two of the three guys who formed Republic Wireless, the guys actually made a working company out of it and it is still a working company that is doing pretty well (especially since Google was careful to come out with their Google Fi products at a pricier, much nicer level that was clearly above and SEPARATE from where the Republic Wireless guys had staked out their company's low end turf). And it is still clear that what Republic Wireless develops Google is using, and vice versa, so the cooperation agreement still exists. Every new trick Google cooks up I find on my Republic Wireless $10 a month phone within a couple of months. And vice versa .... Google works that way, always has. I really like my old first gen Moto G phone a lot, really. $12.46 a month for Republic Wireless Wifi Only unlimited data, unlimited cell calls and unlimited cell texts -- and it works everywhere Sprint and AT&T goes (my roaming back up is with AT&T). If I have a wifi signal available I can do it all, for as much as I want, anywhere I go. If I need cell data, I can get it over the phone for $10 per gigabyte (which is a very good rate now-a-days) but I find wifi for free at everywhere I stop now-a-days. I can download a Google map for the area I am in and store it in the phone now, so I only need occasional wifi to get along just fine. Can you imagine trying to do something like that with Microsoft? :P Nope, neither can I. Microsoft shares nothing with nobody and charges out the arse for everything they do. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/07/15 at 08:51:39 http://betanews.com/2015/10/30/microsoft-will-push-windows-10-even-harder-in-2016-is-the-company-being-a-bully/ Microsoft will push Windows 10 even harder in 2016 -- is the company being a bully? http://betanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/microsoftbully.jpg "Windows 10 is a wonderful operating system -- the best operating system that Microsoft has ever created -- when it works well. With that said, there are still many bugs in it. Plus, the privacy concerns are legit, despite what some fan-sites may have you believe. My biggest annoyance? Advertisement prompts telling me to try Office 365, and regular survey prompts asking me to rate Windows -- I am on the retail build, not pre-release, and that is totally inappropriate. With all of that said, it is totally understandable that some Windows 7 and 8 users want to hold off on installing version 10. Sadly, Microsoft seems intent on pushing the new operating system on the world. First, the company was caught intentionally downloading Windows 10 setup files onto unsuspecting PCs. Of course, let us not forget that "accident" where Microsoft forcibly upgraded some computers to Windows 10. Now, according to Terry Myerson, Microsoft's Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group, the company will start pushing Windows 10 even harder in 2016. "Early next year, we expect to be re-categorizing Windows 10 as a 'Recommended Update'. Depending upon your Windows Update settings, this may cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device. Before the upgrade changes the OS of your device, you will be clearly prompted to choose whether or not to continue. And of course, if you choose to upgrade (our recommendation!), then you will have 31 days to roll back to your previous Windows version if you don't love it", says Terry Myerson, What about those on metered connection? Surely this could cause some to use up precious data limits. Myerson explains, "if you are on a metered connection on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, then you have the option of turning off automatic updates. We strongly discourage this in today's connected world because of the constant risk of internet threats. If you choose to do so, we recommend manually checking Windows Update frequently, perhaps when you are on a non-metered network and consider the installation of all 'Recommended' and 'Important' updates. Windows 10 will not automatically download updates on a metered connection unless there is a security issue addressed within the update". The problem, you see, is that full-fledged operating system upgrades should not be lackadaisically pushed in Windows Update as a "recommended update" for Windows 7 and 8. Come on, Microsoft, you know the difference between an OS update and an OS upgrade and so do we -- pushing Windows 10 as a recommended update is inappropriate and a bit misleading. The fact that you are giving 31 days to roll back is too-little-too-late for non-power users." Plus, your drivers are changed to Win 10 drivers and then DON'T GO BACK TO YOUR EARLIER SOFTWARE'S CORRECT WIN & or 8.x DRIVERS when you try to roll back .... especially if the card's company is out of business now then the old drivers possibly aren't available from anywhere any more. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/09/15 at 08:27:34 http://www.computerworld.com/article/3012278/microsoft-windows/microsoft-sets-stage-for-massive-windows-10-upgrade-strategy.html Microsoft sets stage for massive Windows 10 upgrade strategy http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/07/windows-10-upgrade-notification-100599027-primary.idge.png OK, MS is getting all ready for the Big Push -- your hidden Borg partition has been updated with the latest and greatest .... and a new, special, "install it whether you like it or not" tool has been moved to your machine. You will get a push notification first (to let you "Choose" to install Win 10) then you will get a recommended push (that you will have to refuse several times over a week or so) and then you will get body slammed to the canvas (or tricked by some vague wording, they still haven't decided yet). "Microsoft has declined to provide more information than what Myerson gave out on Oct. 29 about the timetable for the upgrade hitting Windows Update. "We will soon be publishing Windows 10 as an 'Optional Update' in Windows Update for all Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers," Myerson said five weeks ago [emphasis added]. "Early next year, we expect to be re-categorizing Windows 10 as a 'Recommended Update.'" The lack of reports online, including on Microsoft's own Windows 10 support forums, argues that the company has not yet started adding the upgrade to Windows Update on Windows 7/8.1 PCs. The first move may happen as soon as Tuesday, Dec. 8, which is the month's already-scheduled "Patch Tuesday," the day Microsoft historically serves up security updates. Microsoft often uses Patch Tuesday to deliver other, non-security updates. In Mayfield's eyes, the background machinations conducted by Microsoft's GWX app and the recent changes to the Windows Update client on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 systems are clues that the company is preparing for the upgrade reaching the optional list. The GWX Control Panel app can be downloaded from Mayfield's website. While the app is free, Mayfield does accept donations from appreciative users via PayPal. But he's not getting rich from those donations. "I get a donation from about one in every thousand downloads," he said Friday. When users allow GXW Control Panel to run in the background, what Mayfield called "Monitor Mode" -- and which debuted in version 1.6 -- the app detects any behind-the-scenes changes Microsoft makes to Windows 7 or 8.1 to grease the wheels for the Windows 10 upgrade. Users can then use GWX to restore the PC's settings to a "do-not-upgrade" state." OK, the GXW Control Panel has been upgraded to version 1.6 and this is worth it for you downloading it as it gives you a pre-warning when the MS push tool is loaded and being made ready to be activated. If you get the warning, you can use the GXW Control Panel to REMOVE the push tool before it gets activated. This forces MS to re-download all the stuff again and gives you a few days of peace before you have to do it all over again. You cannot STOP Microsoft from putting their OS on your machine as no one has completed a lawsuit yet, but you can forestall them using the GXW Control Panel version 1.6 and keep them off for a bit. If you had put the earlier GXW tool version on to your machine and it isn't there any more, suspect that the MS pixies may have been at work and record the facts about the reinstall -- removing this software (or any other software) IS actionable and MS should not have done that. ============================ Let's see what I find when I go do the new GXW tool. Well dang, the MS pixies have been at work fer shure !!!! My machine was CHANGED and was set up for an AUTOMATIC upgrade again !!!! And every bit of GXW activity from before had been removed. Use the new version 1.6 GXW stuff to set your machine back to "refuse all updates/upgrades" and go to the very bottom of the GXW pop-up window and enable the watchdog function. >:( |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/11/15 at 09:28:50 http://liliputing.com/2015/12/blu-life-one-x-is-an-octa-core-fhd-phone-for-99-for-now.html BLU Life One X is an octa-core, FHD phone for $99 http://liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/blu-life-one-x.jpg The phone has a 5.2 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, an octa-core processor, support for 4G LTE networks, and 2GB of RAM. The BLU Life One X has a MediaTek 6753 processor with ARM Mali-T720 graphics, 16GB of storage, a microSD card slot, a 2,900 mAh battery, a 13MP rear camera, and a 5MP front camera. Amazon says: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0189RMNTG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0189RMNTG&linkCode=as2&tag=bradlindsdigi-20&linkId=6SKCXPBUOXBJJHEF Unlocked Dual SIM smartphone, Android 5.1 Lollipop 5.2" full HD display with Corning Gorilla glass 3 16GB Internal memory 2GB RAM, 1.3 GHz Octa-Core Mediatek 6753 with MALI T720 GPU 13MP Main Camera with Phase Detection Autofocus and 5MP Front Camera with LED flash 4G LTE, (2/4/7/12/17), 4G HSPA+ (850/1700/1900/2100). GSM Quad band: US compatibility Nationwide on all GSM Networks including AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket, MetroPCS, Straight Talk, Pure Talk USA, and others I had predicted BYOP from places like Amazon would destroy the carriers and their ravisher two year $600 phone allotments and that before long a $100 phone would be all you would need or want in a good day-to-day beater phone. And here it is ..... $99 Prediction achieved, a for real octacore phone for less than a hundred bucks. Able to move freely from low cost plan to low cost plan. Certainly cheap enough to throw away in a few years as what you will be able to get two years from now for $99 will outshine it considerably. Next prediction, $100 will be able to buy a dockable phone / PC inside that same two year future period. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/11/15 at 10:13:27 Freedom POP has the phone plan for those of us who are retired and who make very few phone calls. By this I mean its FREE. https://www.freedompop.com/phone Yup, its free. 200 minutes of phone, 500 megabytes of text and 500 megabytes of data. Watch out for the little niggling extras though, just don't sign up for anything but the free service and don't go past your cap amounts or you may wind up paying more than Republic Wireless $10 service (which is unlimited calls and unlimited text and unlimited wifi only data). I considered Freedom Pop, until Republic started refunding the unused data minutes that I didn't use while on vacation (the only time I ever turn data on). Looking at retirement upcoming, I might be able to make Freedom Pop work and stay on their free plan and just let them cut me off if I go over. Free is cheaper than $10 a month, you know. |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/11/15 at 11:57:44 https://medium.com/@zg/skype-for-windows-is-fundamentally-broken-and-nobody-is-doing-anything-to-fix-it-bc064a50094e#.7h6vscqa9 "I’ve never had a particular issue with having advertisements running in Skype. In fact, I would prefer they stay there, so that I can enjoy using Skype for free. Unfortunately, the advertisements are broken, and the application becomes unusable, even sometimes crashing. Skype for Windows takes advantage of Internet Explorer and Flash to display advertisements in the client. This means that in order for advertisements to work correctly, Internet Explorer and Flash need to be working correctly. Unfortunately, things are not working as desired. And I’m not the only one struggling with this issue. All one has to do to reproduce this issue is to trigger an ad accidentally and have it fail to load -- Skype as a whole locks up." This is fairly self-explanatory it's a long term user complaining that Skype doesn't work anymore. Skype doesn't work because it is choked with Flash-based ads and the ads get run-time preference over the skyping and the ads aren't working. Yes the ads --- when they quit working it stops the Skype app from working because the advertisements have preference. Go Microsoft, go ...... |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/11/15 at 17:24:41 Google has started to talk about their plans on Regit.com in a multi-person round table when the cold wet reality fish came to see their face again. The reporters handed Google their asses for being so slow and tentative about what they were planning to do, reminding them that they had SCRAPPED a working system to do this only two years ago, a move that should never have happened. Google did this reversal back then because the large cell phone makers/suppliers (Samsung and Qualcomm) were getting mad at them for becoming a MS style direct "competitor" to their own supplier chain -- and Google backed away from this minefield, sold Motorola and became Switzerland again. Now they are going back into the minefield, slowly and tentatively --- and they have already stepped on a little bitty smoke grenade, an occurrence which reminded them of why they exited the mine field in a hurry two years ago. MS is busy being Genghis Khan all over in PC space and Google is being all timid again. ;D Weeeeeeeeeee !!!!! |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/12/15 at 08:08:53 While Google suffers through their latest identity crisis, Microsoft is busy reacting to the budding class action suits from their own customer base. This class action group contends that MS had broken a binding sales agreement by chopping off the 15 gig of ONE DRIVE allotment after the fact which was a no-end time mentioned incentive offered to get you to purchase the machine, and another 15 gig of ONE DRIVE allotment for the customer choosing to use the MS Photo storage app. These actions appear to have found themselves to be a winner -- MS is indeed liable for these actions. Rather than waiting for a court to tell them this (and take the resulting black eye) Microsoft is doing a "microsoft-clever" semi-admit, semi-restitution move intended to forestall the class action from ever going to court. Read it and see what you think. Note that Microsoft is now saying the camera roll drive space is a "bonus" that they can give or withhold as they wish at any time, but in the same breath they admit the new machine sale based 15 gig of drive space was a "quota". http://liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/onedrive-keep.jpg ::) "About a month after Microsoft announced plans to drop the amount of free cloud storage it offered users of its OneDrive service, the company is throwing a lifeline to existing users. Starting early next year anyone that signs up for OneDrive will only get 5GB of free storage instead of the 15GB Microsoft currently offers. But if you already have 15GB, you can visit preview.onedrive.com/bonus/ and click the “keep your free storage” button to hang onto what you’ve already got. If you use a OneDrive app with the camera roll feature enabled, you’ll also get to keep the extra 15GB bonus… which means that existing users can continue to use up to 30GB of free cloud storage. You’ll need to click that button (and agree to the terms) by January 31st, 2016 in order to keep your storage. Otherwise existing users will get the same amount of free storage as new users: 5GB with no camera roll bonus. If you need more cloud storage space than that, Microsoft will sell you 50GB for $1.99 per month… or you could opt for a different cloud storage service. Microsoft will also stop providing unlimited OneDrive storage to Office 365 subscribers in early 2016. Instead, customers will be able to store up to 1TB. There’s currently no option for existing subscribers to keep their unlimited storage space when the changes take effect." |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/12/15 at 14:34:27 http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/11/microsoft-caves-and-gives-15gb-back-to-legacy-onedrive-users/ Engaget puts a MS friendly spin on the ONE DRIVE debacle -- sign up or lose it because you were too lazy to click. http://www.technombob.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/osphone.jpg "Free cloud storage is great. That is until you've added it to your workflow and the amount of storage you have is being reduced by Microsoft. That's what happened to OneDrive users. In November, Microsoft announced that the 15GB of free storage it was offering was being reduced to 5GB. Naturally folks got pissed. One post about the reduction in space generated over 72,000 votes on a OneDrive forum. That got the company to backtrack (sort of) and is offering legacy customers with 15GB the chance to keep all that room in the cloud. But they have to opt-in by January 31. In a response to the forum post, Douglas Pearce, Microsoft group program manager apologized to OneDrive customers and even announced that those opt-in to keep their free 15GB of storage will also be able to keep their 15GB of camera roll bonus storage. He posted, "We are all genuinely sorry for the frustration this decision has caused and for the way it was communicated. Thank you for sticking with us." So be sure to sign up to keep your 15GB of free storage and the additional 15GB of camera roll storage. Or come January 31, it'll be reduced to a measly 5GB." And, if you click on the link you below you lose your chance to get the class action settlement money forever, whether we actually give you the ONE DRIVE space or re re re neg on the bonus freebie again once we pay off those who sue us since it is a bonus we can give it or not give it according to our whim ..... ............. forgot to mention that, I think. ::) "Trust Us" indeed ..... right, them 72,000 black ball votes on their own fan site was what made MS see the light, right |
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Title: Re: Microsoft Windows 10 (the ongoing saga) Post by Oldfeller on 12/12/15 at 18:36:37 Now a recap of computing from this past year, and general predictions for next year. Microsoft will suddenly quit being Genghis Khan in the PC realm as they have been in the last 4 monthts and they will wig out into full Wrath of Khan mode for next year. Their own fan base is already suing them with multiple class actions for Christ's sakes -- and this is going to make them kinder and gentler? MS must unify their user base under Win 10 or begin irrelevance starting next year. See MS get more abrupt and uncaring as the company gets more desperate for ever slower market share "growth". See user resistance increase as the software flaws abound as the huge rush to get it out becomes overwhelming. Remember, next year Big Business has to decide to buy into Win 10 or not ...... Google is going to stumble around a bit, then come out with some of the features of a refined version of the co-developed Jide OS system that will be incorporated into Android N. How much effort Google puts into it may be a function of how much risk of pissing off Samsung and Qualcomm and the other larger players Google is willing to take. So, if they go balls to the walls, the next upcoming set of Nexus N phones may be phone/PCs ..... with a re-sizable movable windows built right into the phone OS such that screen size becomes transparent and unimportant to the OS's basic functions. Since there are "functionality barriers" to this inside today's 5.1 and 6.0 Android, then Android itself has got to change. This is where Samsung and Qualcomm and the rest come in --- Google is not alone in the world of Android (nor is Google the largest piece of the android pie anymore). Android N has to sense the device's changing parameters and modify which modules it loads and runs accordingly, something it can already do to some degree today. 6.0 already loads a form of Android BIOS that can sense the hardware, so work has already begun leading into a unified Android between phones, tablets and big screens. ======================================== Apple MUST put out a lower cost laptop, or give up and be a niche player from this point forward. Any form of MS/Google war will incidentally damage Apple unless Apple has cost competitive laptop products out there for sale at the same time MS and Google duke it out. Google's Chrome and Pixel level products have shown the ability to take 20% of the Mac laptop users away from Apple ..... mainly by Apple losing sales due to upper end Chromebooks being HALF as expensive but just as nice as the lower end Apple Mac laptop product. Apple has GOT to get its cost down. It can do this by dumping Intel processors and using their own A-10x processors. |
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