Slashdot Asks: Free Upgrade To Windows 10 Ends Today: What's Your Thought On This? 503
Exactly one year ago, Microsoft released Windows 10 to the general public. The latest version of company's desktop operating system brought with it Cortana, and Windows Hello among other features. While users have lauded Windows 10 for performance improvements, the Redmond-based company's aggressive upgrade tactics have spoiled the experience for many. Whether it was installing Windows 10 on computers without users' consent, or eating up tons of bandwidth for users who couldn't afford it, or whether it was deceptive dialog boxes, Microsoft definitely deserves a lot of blame -- and rightfully, a bunch of lawsuits. But many of these things, hopefully, will end today -- July 29, 2016 (or to be exact, Saturday morning 5:59am EDT / 2:59am PDT) Today is officially the last day when eligible Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers could be upgraded to Windows 10 for free of charge. After this, an upgrade to Windows 10 will set you back by at least $119.
We asked you a couple of weeks ago whether or not would you recommend someone to update their computer to Windows 10, and the vast majority of you insisted against it. What's your thought on this now? Those who opt out of updating to Windows 10 will also miss the Anniversary Update -- and its features -- which Microsoft plans to release on August 2 for free of charge.
We asked you a couple of weeks ago whether or not would you recommend someone to update their computer to Windows 10, and the vast majority of you insisted against it. What's your thought on this now? Those who opt out of updating to Windows 10 will also miss the Anniversary Update -- and its features -- which Microsoft plans to release on August 2 for free of charge.
Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh thank god, another Windows 10 story!
I was getting worried we might go a day without one.
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Windows 10 is like Donald Trump, no one likes it, but we keep hearing about it.
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Don't forget Cortana. What would we do without Cortana? I wouldn't know. Would you? Can you even conceive of going just one day without Cortana?
Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Windows 10, Windows 10, Windows 10! (Score:5, Funny)
"Cortana, why is Windows 10 so ugly?"
Aero Glass was too slow on non-Intel platforms, so Microsoft removed it entirely to avoid having Windows look uglier and worse on ARM tablets than it does on a top of the line i7 workstation.
"Cortana, what percentage of people who buy top of the line i7 workstation-class computers actually CARE about running Windows on ARM?"
***DIVISION BY ZERO ERROR***
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"Cortana, what percentage of people who buy top of the line i7 workstation-class computers actually CARE about running Windows on ARM?"
***DIVISION BY ZERO ERROR***
Wait, wouldn't that mean that nobody bought top-of-the-line i7 computers?
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No, it would mean that nobody who owns a top of the line i7 computer would voluntarily use Windows on a wimpy ARM device.
i7winUsers / i7winUsersWithARM ==> DIVISION BY ZERO
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Not only that, in windows 10 unless you pick an ugly-as-fuck high contrast theme, the default themes have almost* no difference between the focused window and other windows, making it infuriating to use on a two-headed PC since I have no way of knowing where the focus is.
*: I noticed that the focused window's title text is slightly less gray, that's it.
Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
My thoughts are the same as I've expressed before on these Windows 10 stories.
I'll describe them in detail again.
Fuck MS.
Re:Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not just the veneral disease outbreak aspect of Windows 10 that is bad. Though the itching is pretty annoying. But there were so many gawdawful design decisions. Decisions made that benefit Microsoft while hurting customers, like an automaker who uses corrugated tin for the seats because it's cheaper and keeps the drivers more alert than with cushioned seats (because it felt like the right time for an automobile analogy).
The default settings for Windows 10 were just plain awful. Their use of a torrent-like method to share Windows 10 with others that was made an opt-out feature. Their extremely bizarre feature to share wifi passwords if your friends already have them (later removed when MS sobered up). Their spyware, and their methods of bypassing the hosts file to make sure it's hard to block this. Their repeat of the IE mistake by making Cortana integrated and supposedly unable to be removed (just the name Cortana is a stupid idea, it's from a lousy xbox game that the majority of enterprise users will never have heard of). And the biggest hugest fuckup of them all, the inability to skip updates, even the pointless updates unrelated to security, the automatic reboot of your machine by default in the middle of doing your work or playing your game just because Microsoft thought it was a good time for an update.
Re:Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
No, you monetize your product by selling it. When you monetize your customers, you're selling them. People don't want Windows 10 spying on them, serving up ads, having built in backdoors, etc.
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Re:Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Same As Before (Score:4, Interesting)
19% market share for an OS that has been free for a year is fucking pathetic.
so tru :-D.
same can be sed about da market share of linux on the desk, free for 25 years.. 2% share.. lmfao.
Win7 4 life
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19% market share for an OS that has been free for a year is fucking pathetic.
so tru :-D.
same can be sed about da market share of linux on the desk,
But Linux has not been pushed onto people's desktops from a Win7/8 stepping stone like Win10 has. I am amazed if Win10 has only 19% share - I'd thought it was nearly unavoidable for non-experts.
Re:Same As Before (Score:4, Interesting)
Speaking as small tech support shop, I've had non-technical people willing to pay me to go back to whatever they had before. And I'm not counting the ones that had genuine problems with Win10 (Sound/USB/Networking not working, program incompatibility, etc). Fortunately the rollback feature usually works and most people got the computer to me within the month, so only a few customers actually had to pay full repair rates.
TL;DR - people will pay to NOT have Windows 10
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Re:Same As Before (Score:4, Funny)
Re: Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
Linux WAS actually well on its way to becoming a meaningful alternative, until Ubuntu (who was responsible for most of that popularity) succumbed to Tablet Fever and, like Microsoft, proceeded to slaughter its golden egg-laying goose.
Remember 2008? Just slightly over 8 years ago? Back when "Ubuntu" had almost become SYNONYMOUS with "Linux" as far as books, magazines, and mainstream users were concerned? Now look at them... the only reason they're even still RELEVANT is because of all the popular distros that take Ubuntu's Unity trainwreck and undo most of the damage.
Re: Same As Before (Score:4, Insightful)
Linux WAS actually well on its way to becoming a meaningful alternative, until Ubuntu (who was responsible for most of that popularity) succumbed to Tablet Fever and, like Microsoft, proceeded to slaughter its golden egg-laying goose.
That's only half the story. GNOME [wikipedia.org] did the same thing. An entire generation of operating systems were lost to "tablet fever". At least Microsoft was smart enough to realize it was a mistake.
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Re: Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
You do realize that you can install any desktop environment that you want onto Ubuntu, right? (or onto any linux distro)
1. The default environment is the one most people use.
2. The default environment is the one that receives the most testing.
3. The default environment is the one that receives the most support.
4. The default environment has had the most attention into it's functionality and user experience.
I've recently tested what you propose on Mint and Debian. The default user experience is superior. When I tried installing Cinnamon on Debian, I was left with a lackluster desktop. On Mint it's fantastic.
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This has been covered hundreds of times here. A work-a-like that's built on something very different and chasing a moving target is always going to disappoint.
It's different.
No point trying to hide it.
If you hide it people are always going to find out and get confused by subtle differences instead of knowing that they should be doing things differently.
Maybe try this little exercise - get someone who has never used linux to boot
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Android isn't free. AOSP is free. AOSP is not Android.
Count up the number of devices running AOSP, the number of devices running Android, and the number of devices running some other mutation of AOSP that isn't free.
Re:Same As Before (Score:5, Insightful)
Forced updates is the deal breaker for me. Given the stuff MS does these days (see the /. article on the "anniversary" update), I can't trust them not to undo whatever I've fixed, delete stuff, make stuff run that I don't want, etc. I have 8.1 on a separate (seldom booted) partition and even though it's crap, I haven't lost control over it, at least not yet.
Relief! (Score:4, Informative)
Now I can get back to the normal update cycle without worrying about getting Windows 10 accidentally on my part.
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You got it.
Some of their other updates have broken my system, but at least they back themselves out again automatically (and in again, and out . . . far be it for me to speculate on the sex life of the peons in Redmond)
Re:Relief! (Score:5, Interesting)
No, I think that's forever ruined.
They can't install Windows 10, but they can add all sorts of spyware to what you have via system updates, and they have already tried.
So from now of you will need to have automatic updates off and actually check up on each update before installing.
I have about a half-dozen I'm preventing from installing now because one of them causes my Firefox to crash all the time. Not sure which one, most of them are security-related regarding graphics drivers or something like that. All I know is, Firefox stayed running before I installed them and once it started crashing uninstalling them fixed it.
I might say something to Microsoft, but their response it either going to be blaming Firefox or saying I have to update to Windows 10 to fix it.
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Now I can get back to the normal update cycle without worrying about getting Windows 10 accidentally on my part.
"Would you like to upgrade to Windows 11 Alpha Preview?"
Handy guide to operating systems (Score:5, Funny)
BSD: Free as in speech
Linux: Free as in beer
Windows 10: Free as in herpes
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Best thing I've read today, thanks!
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Herpes? You are too nice, free as in HIV would be more correct.
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Oh gawd, the flame war was supposed to be dead, now I can feel it rumbling in its grave! Run everyone, run before it's too late!
Thoughts? I wish I had the enterprise version (Score:2, Insightful)
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Microsoft is supposedly going to be making the Enterprise version available to everyone through subscription licensing. $7/month or some such.
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That would be good. Because I am not sure I can be Windows-free until 2020, and the Enterprise Edition of Win10 would be the only one I would even consider for replacing my Win7 Pro. Disabling telemetry completely must be possible. Refusing updates must be possible. Getting rid of Cortana permanently must be possible. $7/Month would not be an issue though.
Dont care (Score:4, Interesting)
I moved to osx (with all its own flaws) and linux when windows 8 was introduced. As long as my employer is slow in adapting windows 10, and as i have no control that except quitting, i just simply cannot be bothered.
Re:Dont care (Score:4, Informative)
I moved to osx
Have you ever run something like Little Snitch and seen the ton of places that OS X wants to connect to? It's a real eye-opener
Re:Dont care (Score:5, Interesting)
In short, yes [apple.com].
If you read through their privacy stuff you'll notice they talk mostly about how they encrypt all the data they collect on you and how they try and keep it "secure" - but they still collect a ton of data on you. iOS was known to gather your location, OS X has been sending all the wifi passwords you connect to back to iCloud for several versions (yet no one cared until Windows 10 did the same thing then everyone got mad), iTunes sends back information about what music is on your Mac, and who knows what else since I'm not about to dig through their excessively long privacy policy to find what they gather on you.
In short: yes, OS X collects a shit load of info about what you're doing and then sends it back to Cupertino. But they "encrypt" it so I guess it's OK.
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Encrypted? Yeah whatever. How about they have nothing? I don't use the cloud services and always deny sending data back to home when possible.
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That may be so, but this is not my problem. As for the other bits, i really just do not care. At all.
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The UI, hands down.
Classic Shell with Aero Glass Windows 7 theme is awesome, but be warned: getting glass8 (http://glass8.eu) to work is a BITCH. I got the translucent drag bars to work pretty easily, but window outlines are still just one pixel, and the translucency effect itself looks more like Metro's cheesy alpha-blending than Aero Glass' Gaussian-blurred splendor). And installing the debugging symbols it depends upon was a NIGHTMARE. Full props to its author for making it work at all, but Microsoft des
Is it really going to end? (Score:2)
You can install Windows 10 Threshold 2 images with Windows 7 and Windows 8.x keys. I bet they will continue to activate these installs.
Doesn't affect me; couldn't care less (Score:5, Funny)
I just upgraded my OLD PC to Win10 (Score:4, Informative)
All the stories I'm seen look horrifying (Score:5, Interesting)
They keep removing management features, they keep forcing weird searches on users, they are slowly crippling Steam in favor of their app store -- am I really just seeing the negative stuff when it's not so bad, or is there some major Stockholm Syndrome going on? I'm pretty happy with Windows 7 on my nine-year-old gaming laptop that's slowly flaking out and has finally stopped keeping up with new releases.
I've heard you can activate your old license key for Windows 10 without upgrading your machine...is that viable if you want to apply it to a new computer, or is it tied to the hardware like Win 7 licenses?
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OEM licenses are not transferable. If you got Windows 7 with your machine, it's an OEM license. If you upgrade to Windows 10, it's still an OEM license.
Honestly, stick with Windows 7 for the time being. There is very little in Windows 10 that could be considered compelling unless you have a specific use case that Windows 10 happens to satisfy, but with all the continually accumulating negatives, that use case would have to be pretty darn serious and specific to justify either losing control of your machi
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they are slowly crippling Steam in favor of their app store
How so? I haven't heard this before.
MS_Spyware (Score:2)
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And that is the problem. The Enterprise Edition is now the only one even worth considering.
Well... (Score:4, Informative)
...if it means M$ stops trying to force/trick people into "upgrading", GOOD!
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I still think Microsoft will just be adjusting their position to force people to pay up after forcing/tricking people into "upgrading".
Exactly. Now MS can control people's PCs, I expect that, unless you sign up to a Win10 rental scheme, the interface will gradually turn into a big button that just says "Buy!". It won't even need a field to enter your credit card details because they wil already have it.
interesting experiment (Score:2)
I am really interested to see how all the activations shake out over the next couple of weeks or months.
Some things I am looking forward to seeing
- Those that grabbed their "entitlement" to Windows 10 then reverted to Windows 7. Will it work out ok when they do upgrade?
- Retail box copies that are not tied to hardware but were used to gain Windows 10 for free. Will Windows 10 move without issue to new hardware over the coming years?
- Those running insider preview builds for the last year. Will they be able
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Another scenario which I am curious about:
- People that upgrade today within the promotion period but then don't full update. Windows 10 will not activate unless it is 100% up-to-date on the latest build so, tomorrow will the activation cost money even though they installed today?
Thank f__king god (Score:2, Insightful)
Now get that god damn icon off my computers.
How many times has this exact thread been asked (Score:3)
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What it's doing is closing apps and logging you out then goes into a modified hibernate/sleep mode. Read up on Fast Startup (Fast Boot for Win8).
It's a nice feature, even if it's lying to you.
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Except Windows-running computers HAVE to be rebooted occasionally, or they'll get slower and slower. I think it's because Microsoft creates a VSS restore point prior to installing the disruptive update, then treats the system like a virtual hard drive mounted from that restore point until you finally reboot. It's been that way ever since Windows XP.
The last (and probably ONLY) version of Windows that you could truly get away with going for weeks without rebooting was Windows 2000 (prior to one of the later
Depends (Score:5, Insightful)
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With 8.1 you can easily avoid installing the back-ported spyware. With Windows 10 it's baked in and mandatory, with no off switch. That's why I'm sticking with 8.1. It's got plenty of life left in it, reasonable variable DPI support and good security.
I had some Windows 7 machines until this year, but there seem to be issues with networking that Microsoft isn't interesting in fixing now. Network shares taking a long time to open initially, stuff like that.
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I hated the windows 10 start menu, it in no way is the same as the Windows 7 version. Like how they went from simple XP start menu to the ugly Windows 7 novice-mode start menu, going to Windows 10 start menu is as big or a bigger change (but not better).
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I have no problems with it..... (Score:2)
I just wish they would bring Media Center back.....
A non-issue, really (Score:2, Informative)
We upgraded at home a while back, and we just completed all upgrades at work. Non issue in almost all cases, and for those few that were at issue at work, we resolved all upgrade issues.
At work, it was a no-question decision, because all business-critical programs are Windows-based (Office, Dynamics AX, SharePoint, etc.) Non-Microsoft options are simply not in the cards for the foreseeable future. I'd love to see a transition to Open Source applications, but they just don't exist when it comes to several sp
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Will Quicken run under WINE?
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Unblockable OS-level advertising (Score:4, Informative)
"limited time" marketing gimmick (Score:2)
It'll be free again. Limited time" is just a marketing gimmick, proven to work on some folks.
I won't decide before Windows 7 servicing ends (Score:2)
There are four Windows machines in active use in the household, all running Windows 7, none being upgraded (one isn't up to it anyway). When MS will stop servicing Windows 7 with security updates, I'll check my options again, independently for each machine. If Microsoft hasn't completely changed its course until then, the top options to be thoroughly checked will be Linux and OS X. Only if it cannot avoided at all for a machine, I'll make the update then. Even a small chance of never having to do it is wort
who cares... (Score:2)
really? I sure the fuck don't.
Windows? (Score:3)
Install and then rollback (Score:2)
After that, you always have an option to reinstall Windows 10 on the same machine if you need any of the new features. In terms of keeping it? I primarily care about a stable client for running Steam and Windows 10 is not optimum because of game-interrupting updates, notifications and other background activity.
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It's not that it does not RUN games, it RUINS games by triggering updates or other nags at inopportune time.
All part of the master plan. (Score:3)
My thought on the subject: (Score:2)
I've skipped Windows since XP (on my personal home computing devices; at work is another matter).
Hooray, we made it (Score:2)
I'm thinking I hope it sends a message that I did not upgrade a single one of mine or my family's licenses. Not that we use Windows, but if we did, I would not endorse the changes they are making and the ugly service and telemetry hooks, as well as the predatory approach with UWP and the Windows Store.
Oh noes! (Score:5, Funny)
Pleased the harassment ends (Score:3)
Free Upgrade To Windows 10 Ends Today: What's Your Thought On This?
I'm very pleased for my friends and relatives that the continual harassment from Microsoft to do "something that sounds scary and sinister" will now end.
As for me, I couldn't care less .... I use only Linux for my day-to-day needs (the only gaming I do these days is Tetris and Mahjongg), though I keep a copy of XP in a VM for those rare occasions I need to run a Win32 app. I have Doom 3 installed on a real metal WinXP somewhere here .... never finished it ..... got bored by all the dim lighting ..... maybe I'll finish that one day. At least it didn't "require a Steam connection", and therefore Internet connectivity.
I thought about buying a copy of Win7 Pro while you still could (well it is quite a nice product if you can get it at a reasonable price), but in the end just couldn't face the continual struggle with Microsoft's dirty tricks department over whose PC it is. They made it perfectly clear they would bolt on telemetry to Win7 & 8.x, and would try ever tricksier ways to force download the Win10 files over my link onto my hard drive, and fool me into starting the upgrade, which were only circumventable by switching off all security updates and maintaining constant hyper-vigilence. I have enough stress in my life, without that nonsense. F*ck that. Out here, we are free, and the air smells good.
So I say hooray for the end of free Win10 upgrades :)
.... (sorry - wrong link, I know, but it'll do)
"And tap into America ! [youtube.com]"
Re:Long done (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks! Your check is in the mail! Oh, just a heads up: our typing records say your password for hotmidgetongoataction.com is pretty weak. I think you should add another exclamation mark to the end of it.
Thanks again,
Microsoft
Re:Long done (Score:5, Insightful)
So can you tell us how you feel about the data logging, the changes coming to available settings with the Aug 2 update, etc?
Re:Long done (Score:5, Insightful)
Yea, hurry up and get the free forced updates, free advertising in your start menu and in the notification center, free removal of policy options, free violation of the hosts file for Microsoft/NSA privacy invading domains, etc. You could get all that and more and pay absolutely nothing! I liked Win10 when it was still pre-release. I despise what Microsoft is doing with it now. I regret updating my personal machines to it. My work machine may become Linux just because of the forced updates with reboots. It's one thing if it keeps me from gaming for a bit, it's another if it prevents me from getting work done. Yea, fine.. Enterprise may be safe from a lot of that for now, emphasis on "for now". They switched Lync over to Skype for Business and what a pile of crap that is.
Re:Long done (Score:5, Insightful)
...Those who have a pathological hate for MS will never switch, those who believe the haters and refuse to switch to Windows 10 get what they deserve, and those on the fence about switching to Windows 10 better move quick or risk paying for what they could have had for free....
What about those, such as myself, who actually had liked Windows in the past, and upgraded multiple licenses with every release (except Vista and Windows 8), starting at Windows NT?
.
I've stated here in the past that I would be willing to continue to upgrade my Windows licenses, even paying for the privilege of doing so, if I could turn off the egregiously excessive data harvesting that Windows 10 performs.
However now, that I've already moved one computer from Windows to Linux, I'll add one more condition for me to stay with Windows... I'm still willing to pay for the upgrade license, but in addition to being able to turn off the egregiously excessive data harvesting, I would also want my computer not to become just another screen that advertisers (including Microsoft) can use to show me advertisements.
Re:Long done (Score:4, Insightful)
Just because a version is out of support doesn't mean you can't legally use it. Your license doesn't automatically terminate (yet - this policy will change when it's a subscription service).
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So with your year of experience and all that you could share based on that, you choose instead to bitch about other peoples choices?
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All the privacy violations mean Windows 8.1 us the last good version. Maybe if France forces them to do a privacy enhanced version it might be worth another look.
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Do you really think such a thing would be made available where it wasn't required by law?
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It would likely be adopted as a European thing. If it violates French data protection laws, and those laws are harmonised over the whole EU...
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My girlfriend is a DDS.
She was upgrading her office computers and asked me for some advice. I told her to make sure she ordered them win Win7 (or failing that 8.1), but DO NOT GET WINDOWS 10.
It's a HIPAA violation waiting to happen.
Re:A no-brainer... (Score:4, Interesting)
MY "hardware driver requirements" are VERY specific.. Such that NO MS product will EVER touch MY hardware ever again.. I supported/used MS products from 1991 to 2010, at which time I retired.. At that time, all of my home systems were moved to Linux.. and thats where they'll stay...
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Shit... IF I want bash, I'm gonna be using Linux or one of the 'BSDs... FUCK MICROSOFT and the bus they came in on.....
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It's highly unlikely that they will revert to previous Windows pricing once this free upgrade period is over. ... I fully expect to see a low-cost upgrade option available soon.
No, it will be a rental model. Those who have taken the free offer will find themselves being left behind with future updates unless they sign up to rental at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Let's bookmark this page for future reference to see who turns out to be right.
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"All those billions of normal people out there"?
Are you forgetting all the Apple users? All the Chromebook users who have been popping up like weeds on university campuses? All the tablet and smartphone users?
They are trying to lock people in because the desktop and laptop market is shrinking.
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I don't believe it until I see it for real, and the push for Win 10 had made me wary of any update from Microsoft.
I just worry that they will release an "update" that cripples Win 7 soon.
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MS lied to you? For shame.
Please provide details – I have not heard of this happening to anyone else, ever.