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Windows 10 Release Date: July 29th 374

Posted by Soulskill from the onward-and-upward dept.
Ammalgam writes with news that Windows 10 will be released worldwide on July 29th, 2015. It'll be immediately available for PCs and tablets — their announcement doesn't mention smartphones. The upgrade will be free (within one year of launch) for users running legitimate copies of Windows 7 and 8.1. Another reader notes that users of those two operating systems are now being prompted to upgrade by a message in their notification area (system tray).
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Windows 10 Release Date: July 29th More

Windows 10 Release Date: July 29th

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  • I've already uninstalled the windows 10 nag icon (Score:5, Informative)

    by Kryai ( 976997 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @09:39AM (#49814155)
    To make it easy on everyone else: On windows 7 uninstall update - KB3035583 http://microsoft-news.com/how-... [microsoft-news.com] You literally have to remove a window update to get rid of it - I love how the update when you install it gave you no indication what it actually was going to do. I seriously hate how updates work with windows. I look forward to the hundreds of stories on how no one wants to move off windows 7, and how windows 7 is still present in huge numbers in the year 2025. I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't realize that I don't want my desktop to look and operate like my phone.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by axl917 ( 1542205 )

        Yeah, I need a GPO to block this from Win7 computers where users are local Admins. Yeah yeah, they shouldn't be, but some apps they use require elevated privilege.

        Do your clients not update from a local WSUS server? It isn't available at all there, and would only bee seen if the user clicks the "check Microsoft for updates" link.

        • Do your clients not update from a local WSUS server?

          Our business currently does not. How many Windows PCs would a small business normally be expected to have in operation before purchasing a Windows Server on which to run WSUS?

          • Our business currently does not. How many Windows PCs would a small business normally be expected to have in operation before purchasing a Windows Server on which to run WSUS?

            Small companies don't need to run it on a separate server. It can be running on virtually any other server. It doesn't use a lot of resources, especially in small networks. It's basically free at that point.

            Mine is dedicated, but I also have a Windows Server Datacenter license that lets me run unlimited VM.

      • It appears that domain joined computers are flagged, and the update will not prompt for the upgrade/update notification. This means, you don't have to worry about uninstalling it, as long as everything is joined. Anything not joined, I assume will be a short list of users to contact (preferably none)

      • Yeah, I need a GPO to block this from Win7 computers where users are local Admins. Yeah yeah, they shouldn't be, but some apps they use require elevated privilege.

        Most users who need to be admins are software engineers who are the least likely to update the OS. They need admin rights to install and sometimes run dev tool esoterica, the kind of tools that are the first to break in a new OS.

        This neglects high liability areas like embedded medical or vehicles or military, where tools must be re-qualified on each new major OS release.

        • Most users who need to be admins are software engineers

          Or want to configure a new printer.

          Or disable/enable a wireless adapter.

          Or defrag their hard disk.

    • Re:I've already uninstalled the windows 10 nag ico (Score:5, Insightful)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @10:20AM (#49814469)

      I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't realize that I don't want my desktop to look and operate like my phone.

      So you'll be a fan of Windows 10 then. Oh what you weren't paying attention to the development cycle? The bit where the desktop mode will now be default, the metro menu is gone, the few metro apps that ship with the OS will work within a desktop window?

      What is it you're complaining about again? Why not reinstall your "nag icon" and give it a go before you complain that no one understands you.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kryai ( 976997 )
        Why is the onus on me to be FORCED to try it? Why can't I at least say no thanks I'll look at it another time. If I want to update I'll do so, at this time I have no wish to spend any time migrating to a new operating system where I have to migrate and fix everything I'm doing on my system where I don't even have confidence everything I do now will in fact migrate. The update nag to windows 10 does not let you say no! It remains forever until you uninstall it. Windows 10 may be god's gift to man, but if I

      • I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't realize that I don't want my desktop to look and operate like my phone.

        So you'll be a fan of Windows 10 then.

        There's more to it than making the screen look like a desktop... Not being a Windows 10 beta-testing type, an honest question or two: have they finally gotten rid of all of the 'admin-by-easter-egg' bullshit (e.g. the Charms Bar)? Is the UI actually usable without a touch-screen, or will that still require a few of the workarounds that Windows 8/8.1/9 did?

        Why not reinstall your "nag icon" and give it a go before you complain that no one understands you.

        ...because in an enterprise environment, that nag icon is a bullshit equivalent to spamming (e.g. wasting folks' time with a sales pitch). No other OS bot

        • ...because in an enterprise environment, that nag icon is a bullshit equivalent to spamming (e.g. wasting folks' time with a sales pitch). No other OS bothers the user with 'OMG update your shit because we need the money!' nags every time someone logs into it.

          First off, this is a FREE upgrade; so MS isn't directly benefitting (yet) monetarily from having users upgrade to W10.

          Second, when Apple upgraded from Mavericks (10.9) to Yosemite (10.10) (also for Free), I had to beat the "Upgrade" Notifications off with a stick. I can't remember if I finally got annoyed enough to set them to stop (at least you CAN), or if it finally gave up; but there for awhile, it would pop-up a Notification Bubble every 10 minutes or so, telling me "Updates are Available"...

          So, I

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by PRMan ( 959735 )

          Yes. The charms bar and all that crap is gone. I hate all that nonsense in Windows 8 and I refuse to use it. I love Windows 10.

          Yes. The UI works just like Windows 7. No workarounds are required. It boots to Desktop. I have a Start Menu. I can find everything easily. Hasn't been a problem like Windows 8 was.

          Enterprise environments won't see it because: 1. Domain-joined computers will not be nagged. 2. Enterprise users can already upgrade for free whenever they want.

      • Re:I've already uninstalled the windows 10 nag ico (Score:4, Interesting)

        by StikyPad ( 445176 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @02:35PM (#49816579) Homepage

        The start menu still uses tile-like buttons, and the windows are "Metro" style. I don't particularly care for the look. The "flat" looks with 16 colors are a step backwards, trendy or not, and I include Apple with this. It looks like some sort of accessibility mode has been enabled for people with poor eyesight.

        I've been in favor of every Windows upgrade (aside from ME) since WFW 3.1.

        95 gave us a native TCP/IP stack and DirectX. XP looked a little too "Playskool," but the NT kernel tradeoff was so worth it.

        Vista was a nice visual upgrade and provided fully-baked 64-bit support. The driver issues were largely overblown and non-issues after a few months anyway. The sidebar was useful for displaying hardware usage. My biggest critique was the price and SKU explosion; the introduction of crippleware at the OS level. Market segmentation might be a good business practice, but insulting knowledgeable customers in the process generally is not. Meanwhile, "Ultimate Extras" proved to be a code name for language packs that were useless to many, many people. Still, these were not criticisms of the core OS itself, just the business practices surrounding it.

        Win7 refined the Vista UI and added stability, booted significantly faster, search indexing was improved, and revised UAC (which I had previously disabled) made the feature more acceptable.

        Meanwhile I get nothing in Windows 10 other than an interface I don't care for. If XP had been nothing more than a re-skinned Windows 95 with all the same features, I wouldn't have upgraded then either. I'll stick with 7 until they EOL it or introduce a compelling reason to upgrade. I suspect that they've run out of compelling features to add. It would require a sea change in core hardware that we're unlikely to see in the near future -- 128 bit processors, or quantum computing. The feature set of OSes seems to be mature at this point, much like the core controls of vehicles. At this point it's just change for the sake of change, which is a waste of resources.

    • Heh, yeah, yet another reason why I don't like Windows: the automatic upgrades that always seem to turn up when they are inconvenient and require a reboot. I mean, when I go home, I don't want to leave my PC running, so I have to stay while it does - what, exactly? So, I only start Windows in a VM and I just pull the (virtual) cable.

      Apart from that, it is not uncommon to deliberately avoid upgrading, certainly in the UNIX world. Like for example if your business consists in developing software; as vendor yo

      • Apart from that, it is not uncommon to deliberately avoid upgrading, certainly in the UNIX world.

        Well, of course, if it ain't broke why bother fixing it? Especially since "not broke" is kind of a rare condition for Microsoft software? Plenty of people have been burned by upgrading a perfectly good version of the OS to the latest and greatest. With Microsoft, this has definitely been the case of "fool me once, shame on you...Fool me 4, 5, 6 times, shame on me."

      • Heh, yeah, yet another reason why I don't like Windows: the automatic upgrades that always seem to turn up when they are inconvenient and require a reboot. I mean, when I go home, I don't want to leave my PC running, so I have to stay while it does - what, exactly? So, I only start Windows in a VM and I just pull the (virtual) cable.

        Yeah, I HATE that, too! I shuttle my work laptop back and forth from home every day, and it is MOST inconvenient to have that Update notice come up when I am trying to shutdown and go home!

        I think MS still thinks that everyone still has a desktop computer, and that it's no problem to just "leave it on" and go home.

        So instead, I get to wait while it does a System Restore Point (the majority of the time it takes), then do the install and Reboot (goodbye 30-45 minutes), or "suicide" my laptop by holding th

        • So instead, I get to wait while it does a System Restore Point (the majority of the time it takes), then do the install and Reboot (goodbye 30-45 minutes), or "suicide" my laptop by holding the power button, then, the next time I Startup, suffer the bitching and moaning about "Windows was not shut down properly", and then the "Windows needs to Restart" (which pops up when it pleases, and simply HAPPENS if you aren't there to DEFER it, then ANOTHER Reboot (which results in ANOTHER 1/2 hour of virus-scanning), right in the middle of the workday.

          Or you could just change Windows Update settings so it doesn't do that any more, ever again.

    • Re:I've already uninstalled the windows 10 nag ico (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01, 2015 @11:02AM (#49814749)
      After you uninstall KB3021917 [microsoft.com], KB3035583 [microsoft.com] and KB3022345 [microsoft.com], you also need to disable two tasks in Task Scheduler.

      There are two tasks under TaskScheduler > Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Application Experience, "Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser" and "ProgramDataUpdater", that will continue to contact telemetry servers even if telemetry is disabled. These tasks run and phone home even if CEIP is opted-out of. Reproduce (on Win7 Pro) by:

      1) Opt out of CEIP.
      2) Remove patches 3021917, 3035583, and 3022345.
      3) Set up your IDS to block/report rundll32.exe overnight, and observe logs.
      4) Wait a day or two. You will see (failed, if you've blocked rundll32.exe from talking to the interwebs) DNS lookups to settings.data.microsoft.com and telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com in both the IDS and in the Event Log.

      The two scheduled tasks will continue phone home even if the above mentioned patches are uninstalled. You must manually disable the tasks "Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser" and "ProgramDataUpdater" in order to stop the phoning-home behavior.

      • Interesting, thanks.

        It turns out that I don't have several of those patches installed anyway. Some time ago, I switched my default policy to only applying security updates, ignoring anything else in Windows Update even if Microsoft marks it "important". They have abused that mechanism so many times now to try to install junk that is in no way necessary or in my interests that I simply don't trust them any more and only install non-security updates if I have a specific reason for doing so. So far, this has c

    • I'm running Win 7 Enterprise on my home desktop....no nagging update for me! Though now I need to hit up /r/Microsoftsoftwareswap to get a Win 7 or Win 8.1 key really cheap so I'm eligible for the upgrade.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by PRMan ( 959735 )
      Well, then obviously you haven't seen Windows 10. It doesn't make your desktop "look and operate like your phone".

  • Free Upgrade (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01, 2015 @09:41AM (#49814169)

    But how much does the downgrade cost?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PRMan ( 959735 )
      Actually, I know you are trying to be funny, but since it goes through Windows Update now, you actually CAN uninstall it.

  • What after one year? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Aethedor ( 973725 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @09:45AM (#49814197)
    The upgrade will be free for one year after the release. But what after that year? What will it cost? Can I download the upgrade and use it later (after one year) and than still use it for free?

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by hyperar ( 3992287 )
      I really can't believe there's still people that need this to be explained. You get one year to update to Windows 10 for free if you have Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, after that year, it will no longer be free.
      • I know, that was not the question. But how much will it cost?
        • If you do not upgrade with the first year (July 29, 2016), you will have to purchase it. Leaked doc from Newegg says $110.
          If you DO upgrade within the first year for free, it is free forever.

        • $109.. if you can believe Neweggs *already up* "Windows 10 Home"... http://www.newegg.com/Product/... [newegg.com] .. If MS is gonna give it away free to Win7/8 current users, *why* is NewEgg thinking people are going to pay *them* $109 for it... oh wait.. I think somebody famous once said "A sucker is born every minute".... Guess that answers THAT question...

          • Because that isn't the upgrade version. That's a new license and someone building a new machine from parts they bought on NewEgg still needs to buy a valid Windows license.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by PRMan ( 959735 )
            Because that's an OEM version. When you build a system, you need to buy an OS. You could buy 7 or 8 and upgrade, but people would rather just pay $10 more to start with a clean Windows 10.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by quetwo ( 1203948 )

      As already stated in the comments a few times, it will be free "forever" after you upgrade, since you already had a license. You still keep downgrade rights to the version you upgraded from. New PCs, if you wait longer than a year, and rebuilds where you don't have a license anymore, etc. will have to pay for a full license when it is out.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by halivar ( 535827 )

      The upgrade will be free for one year after the release. But what after that year?

      After that, you'll have to free-upgrade to Windows 11.

    • And what's the cost for XP or new Windows users? Not everyone already has Windows 7 or 8.

  • Windows Media Center (Score:4)

    by Tokolosh ( 1256448 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @09:50AM (#49814235)

    Does it have WMC? I use this computer as a home theater system.

    "Some apps sold separately; vary by market."

    • Re:Windows Media Center (Score:5, Informative)

      by Tokolosh ( 1256448 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @09:54AM (#49814263)

      To answer my own question:

      "Feature deprecation section

      If you have Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, or Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center and you install Windows 10, Windows Media Center will be removed.
      Watching DVDs requires separate playback software
      Windows 7 desktop gadgets will be removed as part of installing Windows 10.
      Windows 10 Home users will have updates from Windows Update automatically available. Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise users will have the ability to defer updates.
      Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Hearts Games that come pre-installed on Windows 7 will be removed as part of installing the Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft has released our version of Solitaire and Minesweeper called the “Microsoft Solitaire Collection” and “Microsoft Minesweeper.”
      If you have a USB floppy drive, you will need to download the latest driver from Windows Update or from the manufacturer's website.
      If you have Windows Live Essentials installed on your system, the OneDrive application is removed and replaced with the inbox version of OneDrive."

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Be warned though, the new Microsoft Minesweeper is a POS. It only runs full screen, so you can't have a sly game while pretending to work. It's no replacement for the classic.

        Personally I'll keep a Windows 7 VM around just for Minesweeper.

      • Windows 10 Home users will have updates from Windows Update automatically available. Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise users will have the ability to defer updates.

        So Windows 10 only gives you the "install ALL updates automatically" option. Wow. Great. What an improvement! Especially with Microsoft's flawless update history.

    • Re:Windows Media Center (Score:5, Informative)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @09:54AM (#49814265) Homepage Journal

      Media Centre is gone, it sucked anyway. I suggest XMBC as a replacement.

      • They rebranded as Kodi a while ago Kodi. [kodi.tv]

        If you're still using a media center PC I would suggest getting an Amazon Fire or other small Arm box. Ours handles everything just fine.

        • If you're still using a media center PC I would suggest getting an Amazon Fire or other small Arm box. Ours handles everything just fine.

          O RLY? How, pray tell, does an Amazon Fire or whatever run my TV tuner cards (which is the primary purpose of an HTPC)?

          • Well. You could get a Networked tuner card like those from SiliconDust. [silicondust.com]

            Or you could do away with them. Rather than fiddling with tuning cards and editing of commercials it's much easier to just use SickBeard [sickbeard.com]/SickRage

            My FreeNAS server downloads them in the background and they just show up. As much fun as fiddling with TV Tuner cards sounds I'd just get the 720p rip from a group that does this all the time.

            HTPC

            The primary purpose of a Home Theater Personal Computer is to run a home theater.

          • It looks like it should work pretty well if you use the upcoming HDHomeRUN DVR software. You do need to use one of their tuners but you might already be using one. If not you can get an OTA or cablecard 3-tuner for $90-95.

            Support is being added to NAS boxes, so you could switch out a power hungry PC for a low powered NAS drive, and then watch live or recorded TV on a Amazon FireTV, Roku, Smart Phone, Tablet, etc.

            https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1275320038/hdhomerun-dvr-the-dvr-re-imagined [kickstarter.com]

      • I found XBMC doesn't handle live TV nearly as well as Media Center. That's the big reason I like it. That and the interface is really clean. I haven't found a good skin on XMBC either.

    • Use PLEX. It's free (with some premium features) and works like a charm.

  • It's an "alternate" release, so I'll bite and install Windows 10. Historically, pretty much every second release of Windows was worth the effort of installing, with the "in between" release being a total screw up that never got deployed anywhere except for being pre-installed on devices.

    Do you know of anyone who voluntarily ran Windows 8? Or paid for it as an upgrade?

  • Free.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by koan ( 80826 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @10:04AM (#49814353)

    I dunno, I like to be in control of the situation and this freebie sounds sketchy, do we get to keep the upgrade for offline install?
    My history of windows use has always reinforced the idea of "clean install" over upgrade, not sure if that's still true but I imagine it is still the better route.

    The price of the Win10 pro is absurd, $250, or $149 for OEM if you can handle your own support *snicker*

    • I dunno, I like to be in control of the situation and this freebie sounds sketchy, do we get to keep the upgrade for offline install? My history of windows use has always reinforced the idea of "clean install" over upgrade, not sure if that's still true but I imagine it is still the better route.

      The price of the Win10 pro is absurd, $250, or $149 for OEM if you can handle your own support *snicker*

      $250 is absurd? Since when?

      I can still find Windows 7 Pro selling for that much. Seems to be the usual price for a full version, and their "free" offerings are about as zero-cost as others turn out to be.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 0123456 ( 636235 )

        $250 is absurd? Since when?

        $250 for an operating system is insane when you can buy a decent tablet or a low-end PC for less than that. And, guess what? You get a free operating system, thrown in!

    • My history of windows use has always reinforced the idea of "clean install" over upgrade

      Agree on this one ... there have been lots of "you can buy this upgrade for your current" which haven't always worked, and then you end up without proper install media for the version you're running.

      I won't run a version of Windows for which I don't own the install media for. Because it basically leaves you at the mercy of hoping nothing ever goes wrong.

      And that, in my experience, is a dumb idea with any software.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      You get a .iso that you can install again as many times as you like, indefinitely. You also get a license code that you can use, according to Microsoft, for the lifetime of Windows 10.

      $149 for OEM Pro is the standard price that Windows has been forever. The only people who get it cheaper are OEMs with special deals. Anyone selling it cheaper has bankrupt stock or something like that.

  • I ask again, ... does anyone know. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by AbRASiON ( 589899 ) * on Monday June 01, 2015 @10:57AM (#49814699) Journal

    How does it all work?
    If I install Windows 10 on my personal desktop, with valid key.

    Then trash the machine, re-install from a brand new original Windows 10 media DVD. Does the Windows 7 key work for Windows 10?
    Even if another user signs in?

    Is the Windows 7 key tied to my "Windows account" (they seem to be pushing accounts / logins now.... my Windows 10 test machine I literally login with my Microsoft live account) or what was once called live...

    I own at least 3 machines with genuine Windows 7 keys but I administer / work on / help with at least 30. I do NOT want to have 30 unique Windows 10 "accounts" with MS.

    So is it literally a flag in the DB "this key is now Windows 10 and Windows 7"?

  • Windows 8.2? (Score:3)

    by binarybum ( 468664 ) on Monday June 01, 2015 @11:53AM (#49815259) Homepage

    I still don't really get what 10 is bringing to the table. It seems like such a minor upgrade - skipping two version numbers is such a farce. The video on that page that highlights 10's new features is such a laugh. It flashes to the same start screen like 8 times with a mouse icon just about to click on a microsoft word icon (brace yourselves!). I can tell from the flashy music that this windows 10 experience must be intense, but saw no objective evidence that it does anything new whatsoever.
        I actually want to see microsoft do well - I think the Surface is an incredible piece of hardware, and it would be great to see the OS and the app store catch up, but 10 just looks like a skin package for win8.

    • skipping two version numbers is such a farce

      Back in the days of Windows 9x some installation packages used the long OS name to detect what version was running. So looking for Windows 9* would return true with Windows 9 which would cause applications to think they are running Windows 9x. That's bad practices but MS prides itself on being as backward compatible friendly as possible. There's also the whole marketing side of things. There's really no harm in skipping the version. I just hope they stick to the numbering method from now on.

      but saw no objective evidence that it does anything new whatsoever

      That video does

  • Seriously, it exists [cnet.com]. Not that I actually used it, I basically booted it up once after purchase to be sure it worked (I didn't go through the setup crap), turned it off, upgraded the RAM and immediately put Kubuntu on it (now replaced with Netrunner).

    Starter edition - the (rightfully) forgotten Windows 7.

  • From TFA(screenshot): "There's also an all- new browser designed to get stuff done online."

     Admittedly, getting stuff done online with IE could be painful. Glad they saw the light.

  • Click the menu icon in the top left of the upgrade reservation thing, then pick Check your PC. On my VERY new Sony VAIO Flip 15, which came with Windows 8, I get the message "These devices aren't fully compatible with Windows 10" -> Intel(R) HD Graphics Family -> You'll experience problems with your display.

    So what does this mean? If I let the upgrade happen on July 29, my screen goes black after that? How can such a new video "card" be unsupported? (It's the built-in display on the Core i7-4500U this thing has). Is it because I also have the Nvidia GeForce GT 735M on here, with that GPU-switching technology (Optimus?) that so many new laptops have now?

  • Whoah! Did you see this? (Score:3)

    by strikethree ( 811449 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @06:03AM (#49820663) Journal

    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us... [microsoft.com]

    I quote:

    Device Guard requires:

            UEFI Secure Boot with 3rd party UEFI CA removed from the UEFI database

    Note the part that I bolded.

    No more dual booting. The next step in the "destroy all others" is being taken. You will not be able to dual boot, even with the distros that tried to play along with the TPM shenanigans.

    If you want control over your computing environment, it is paramount that you not upgrade to Windows 10. "Right to Read" will mostly likely come to pass, but the longer we delay it, the more chances we have to prevent it.

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