Windows 10 Will Soon Let You Opt-Out of Automatic Driver Updates (pcworld.com) 156
An anonymous reader quotes a report from PCWorld: Microsoft is giving users some more control over Windows 10 updates, with a new beta build of its operating system released Monday. The build allows folks with the Windows 10 Professional, Education, and Enterprise versions to defer new updates for up to 35 days. In addition, the company will allow those users to decide whether or not they want to include driver updates when they want to update Windows. It's a move that helps respond to one of the key criticisms of Windows 10: that Microsoft's regime of forced, cumulative updates has caused problems for users with some configurations. This way, users can steer clear of updates they don't want to install yet and dodge problematic driver updates. The newly-minted update changes are just one part of the improvements added to Windows 10 with the build released Monday. Microsoft is also working on making the initial Windows 10 setup more accessible using Cortana. The company's virtual assistant can ask users questions at setup -- when they speak languages that it can understand -- and use those answers to configure devices. A small number of beta users will also begin to see a battery life experiment pop up on their devices. Microsoft is also giving users an easier way to connect to a virtual private network. Once Windows 10 has a user's VPN settings loaded, it's possible to activate the connection with the tap of a button without opening up VPN settings.
I Already Opted Out (Score:5, Insightful)
I already opted out of ALL updates in Windows 10 by opting out of Windows 10!
Re:I Already Opted Out (Score:5, Informative)
Linux is Opted Out (Score:2)
Linux.
Re: Linux is Opted Out (Score:2)
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Don't know.
Probably well because several armies run their battlefield Software on Linux.
About letting us choose everything? (Score:5, Insightful)
What about letting us choose everything we want to update?
Re:About letting us choose everything? (Score:5, Funny)
What about letting us choose everything we want to update?
Fuck you, you filthy child-molesting communist!!
Signed, Satya Nadella
Benevolent Dictator, Microsoft Corp.
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Go back to doing tech support, there you can do less damage, at least I can avoid calling you!
--signed, MS Customer.
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You can't use that slur anymore. Putin thinks Trump is a great guy, so all is now forgiven and clearly the last 3/4 century of fear regarding commies was just a mistake.
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At some point fragmentation causes serious issues. This wasn't a problem when they would release a major release every 5 years and a couple service packs inbetween. Now they're making substantial changes and feature improvements on a bi-annual basis. If most people are 2 years behind developers will have to target 10 different OS configurations instead of 2 (those who are on the latest and those who are deferred for a few months).
Re:About letting us choose everything? (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows 10 has been nothing but issues, failed updates, lost work, and totally ludicrous privacy settings from the start. Whatever their excuse is, it's a bad one. Whatever your apology for it is, it's a shit one.
Re:About letting us choose everything? (Score:4, Informative)
Win10 has reset my preferences for HTML, PDF and JPG files across several updates. Additionally, it takes a LONG time to boot during these updates. I literally walked in to work one morning needing to send an email. After two reboots and logging in, waiting for Outlook to pop up, I finally gave up and composed my email on my phone. No sooner than I got outlook running, the O/S wanted ANOTHER reboot for another queued update.
Now look at this from the perspective of grandma and grandpa who just want to see the grandkids in email..... The IOS devices and even the android devices boot faster and when they do an update you don't even know it because all the apps stay where they were across the update.
And we wonder why Win10 is losing market share?????
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Win10 has reset my preferences for HTML, PDF and JPG files across several updates. Additionally, it takes a LONG time to boot during these updates. I literally walked in to work one morning needing to send an email. After two reboots and logging in, waiting for Outlook to pop up, I finally gave up and composed my email on my phone. No sooner than I got outlook running, the O/S wanted ANOTHER reboot for another queued update.
Sounds like you have a bad install or unsupported hardware. Haven't seen anything like this with any of my systems (4 systems, which 2 are 5 years or older), the 50 windows I support at work or any of my close friends. For the most part most users had very positive things to say about the OS.
As for boot time, my boot time is 8 seconds on my most recent hardware and about 60 seconds on the old hardware. I think something is very wrong with your hardware or drivers.
Now look at this from the perspective of grandma and grandpa who just want to see the grandkids in email..... The IOS devices and even the android devices boot faster and when they do an update you don't even know it because all the apps stay where they were across the update.
Those devices are simpler and are much bette
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Actually he's probably talking about the service release 1 install. That one was a monster and took forever, and yeah if you didn't do it right away there was usually additional post-SP updates waiting for you. It was also a staggered rollout over a month or more so if you were at the end of the rollout, there was almost certainly a handful of additional updates waiting for you.
Most updates are not that bad though. That one was just flat out big.
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At some point fragmentation causes serious issues. This wasn't a problem when they would release a major release every 5 years and a couple service packs inbetween.
There's an idea coming to me here... Something that might work better than pushing out new releases every five minutes... I think... I don't know, maybe there could be a way to still enjoy the kind of stability we used to have... I just can't... No, it's gone. I've got nothing. Never mind.
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If most people are 2 years behind developers will have to target 10 different OS configurations instead of 2 (those who are on the latest and those who are deferred for a few months).
So the argument is that users should not have control of their own computers because it presents a business problem if they do?
I beg to differ.
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The average user treats their computer as an appliance and don't know the difference.
Do you think some one who doesn't know that you can take the door off its hinges easily is smart enough to know windows drivers etc configurations?
Hell I did a system wipe fresh install of Windows 7 yesterday. It took me 4 damn hours to find find the correct Dell network driver as Dell included 8 network card drivers on their restore CD. Why can't windows search subfolders while looking for drivers? Installed one reboo
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The average user treats their computer as an appliance and don't know the difference.
True, but how is the relevant? It is entirely possible to cater to the "appliance" crowd while still allowing people who care about such things to retain control over their computer.
Besides, that wasn't the argument that I was responding to. The argument I was responding to was that letting users have control over their computers creates business difficulties. That may be true, but is a terrible argument. Why should being able to control my own property be restricted just because it makes someone else's bus
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Why can't windows search subfolders while looking for drivers?
As of Windows 7 (maybe Vista--I wouldn't know), it can. There is a checkbox labeled "Include subfolders" right under the text field where you specify the path to search. If they are Dell drivers as you mention, you might want to make sure they're not just EXEs, which you'll need to extract so Windows can find the INF files it scours for matches.
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Look, it's really super-simple. Many people do not want these new "features". They want a stable system to work and play with, without constant fear that some forced update will botch your PC or the software running on it. It's the one and only reason why I am still using Windows 7. I'm making music in my spare time, using plugins with lots of esoteric DRM schemes and low-level audio software that habitually breaks with new versions. Sure, that's the developers' fault, but I'm not interested in attributing
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Even if that were true, which it's not, that is the user's problem.
No, it causes an ecosystem problems. It prevents the vast vast vast vast majority of users from being able to get new features because a few Luddites want to go unpatched.
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How is having the option to go unpatched preventing other people from receiving updates if they want them?
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"Sorry JimBob, until you get your system up to date this here program just ain't gonna run. Everyone else gets to use it but you don't, so get patchin'."
That wasn't hard to work around at all.
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Then I guess the makers of the system should give us a good reason to switch to the newest one and now give us pretty much any good reason in the book not to.
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was supposed to be "not give us"...
where's my coffee?
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On the other hand, we get spyware/adware/freemium/forced updates/forced reboots because the vast majority are laymen noobs who believe that newer is always better.
I follow the old advice of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If an update fixes something that is currently broken or adds a feature that I want, then I'll use it, however I won't risk screwing up the stability, compatibility and customisation of my systems by installing unnecessary updates just because entitled people like you have ADHD and feel
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It prevents the vast vast vast vast majority of users from being able to get new features because a few Luddites want to go unpatched.
How is that? My decision about whether or not to install any particular bit of software does not extend to other people's machines.
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Now they're making substantial changes and feature improvements on a bi-annual basis.
Ah, so like Intels Tick-tock then? It's been a very long period of substantial changes, are we going to switch to feature improvements soon?
Windows 10 needs a lot of feature improvements to get anywhere near usable, and even more for users to become productive.
But didn't you see? They're introducing another sweeping UI change with Transparecncy and Blur!!!
Yeah, that'll fix EVERYTHING. You'll see...
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What if they later add that option to the updater, but you marked not to update the updater?
(Yes, programmers think like this.)
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What about letting users opt-out of ALL of the spying and "telemetry"? And how about letting users opt-out of having all of their privacy settings reset to what Micro$haft wants with every update? What about letting users opt-out of having Non-M$ software replaced with inferior M$ software? Or letting them opt-out of M$ just deleting their paid for non-M$ software, claiming its a threat?
I have opted-out of using M$ operating systems and software...totally. Free at last! Free at last!
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You mean I don't have to replace Firefox with Edge to gain up to 75% more battery life any more? Well, that's a relief!
Sent from my Windows 7 workstation.
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Re:About letting us choose everything? (Score:4, Interesting)
The big problem here is that Microsoft took away a pile of options when they came out with Windows 8 / 10 and haven't learned their lesson. I have an all-in-one in my kitchen and regretted Windows 10 within a few weeks because I'd come down in the morning to read the news while having breakfast and it wanted to update or it was finishing an update from the last time it interrupted me. Or I'd use it in the evening around dinner time and it suddenly rebooted on me for the same reason. It seemed like it was constantly disrupting my ability to use the system because of updates, it was extremely frustrating and since I outright disabled the Windows Update service my life has been peaceful.
Innovative ideas for updates
- Allow you to schedule updates to occur at a specific time.
- Not interrupt you the next time you use your system if that specific time was missed.
- Allow you to update when you shut down your computer.
- Prompt you to update your computer every once in a while.
I believe if you upgrade to Windows 7 you can gain all of those features.
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Innovative ideas for updates?
- Allow the user to install only essential security and stability updates.
- Apply updates transparently so that any affected parts of the system transfer near instantaneously to the updated version without needing to restart the entire system or disrupt anything else that is running.
I believe if you upgrade to certain other operating systems you can gain all of those features.
The sad thing is that despite the vast resources at their disposal, Microsoft hasn't designed any of the
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It does all of this, though it'll eventually force the issue with regard to your second point if you tell it to postpone too many times.
Look at your windows update configuration. Chances are you have your active hours set to something dumb.
My biggest issue with windows update is that it happily kills unsaved work. It really shouldn't force a reboot if its unable to close any program that has a visible UI window until the user has had a chance to deal with it, given that a large majority of the time the re
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>> What about letting us choose everything we want to update?
Use Linux :)
too late, boys. (Score:2, Interesting)
Consoles with keyboards (Score:4, Insightful)
When will MS just up and admit that they aren't in the business of desktop computer software anymore?
Windows 10 is just an XBox with a keyboard and mouse. You have the same amount of control over the OS (basically none) and they're used for the same purpose (playing games and watching TV)
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They won't because they keep selling more licenses.
As long as the majority of software built for corporations and enterprises runs on Windows you won't see a decline. The web took a big bite out of Microsoft Windows revenue stream and another big innovation will be required to see a continued decline. Better cross platform support of everything is key for this to happen.
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And running decades worth of business software that isn't available or easy to port to Linux or Mac.
And frankly most people don't give enough shits to go through the hoops of setting up Linux and then Wine just so they can run something that they could have plugged in and ran without any hassle on the pre-installed OS that came with their computer.
About time (Score:1)
Updating my recent drivers with outdated drivers is not cool.
Mmmm (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd prefer an opt-out of the UI 'improvements'.
OH THANK YOU (Score:5, Funny)
OH THANK YOU my benevolent overlords from Redmond!
Please, let me lick your boots for granting me this unprecedented freedom!!
The sign that you are a software slave: (Score:4, Insightful)
The software doesn't allow you to do what you want.
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Super Mario Brothers didn't allow me to jump over the flagpole. Did that make me a slave? No, you idiot. The term "slavery" should NEVER be used in conjunction with software. Your boy Stallman started that craze. It's demeaning to those who are actually enslaved and it's just plain wrong.
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The obvious difference is that SMB was a game, run solely for entertainment purposes and which has no impact on your daily life or productivity. We play games with the understanding that we're engaging in interaction with the software under a particular set of rules for the purpose of creating a challenging experience.
A computer is a tool and the OS is part of its utility. An OS that imposes artificial limitations on what the user can do is akin to a tool dictating how its wielder can use it. People usin
Nope (Score:1)
Nope.
All changes to my system have to be OKed by me, with full disclosure of exactly what those changes are. Nothing gets a free ride to do as it pleases.
Mickeysoft have made themselves a legacy OS out of their unwillingness to remember who's computer it is.
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I don't know whether I should ridicule you for Mickeysoft or for who's.
Decisions, decisions...
Don't be a moron!! (Score:2)
Yes, I've been burned with a bad video driver once and a bad wireless card driver a couple weeks ago. Shit happens.
If you can't deal with it, then there are a few options:
1. Fall back to the Slow Ring.
2. Do a clean reinstall and stay on Release Preview.
3. Quit the Insider program altogether and do a clean reinstall.
I've used Home Single
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Or you can alternatively use an OS that allows you to pick what you want to install.
Sorry, but this is not enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Nearly every home computer is running Windows 10 Home. So this means that most of non-education non-enterprise users still don't have the ability to turn off the automatic forced updates, and reboots. Jebuz, Microsoft, why can it be so hard to the way it used to be in Windows 8?
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EXACTLY. Microsoft is so damn desperate to keep control so much so that it's tanking this OS' popularity.
If Microsoft wants to stay relevant it needs to get it's collective head out of it's ass and get people their freedom back. One half way decent competitor could easily kill them in less than a decade with this continued unpopular OS design choices.
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One half way decent competitor could easily kill them in less than a decade with this continued unpopular OS design choices.
Except that nobody really wants to compete. The Linux community cannot seem to be bothered with desktop user GUI concerns and all of the support headaches that come with them. They're too busy building the ultimate server appliances from the command line. Apple is basically the iPhone company these days and despite Tim Cooks protestations, it's clear that they have been neglecting the MacOS and desktop computing market. So that leaves Microsoft as the only major tech power that's still interested in buildin
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Apple is basically the iPhone company these days and despite Tim Cooks protestations, it's clear that they have been neglecting the MacOS and desktop computing market.
I know it seems that way from the outside; because the mobile side of the industry is still relatively young, and thus it is much easier to show fairly substantial gains year-over-year for both hardware and software, versus the "traditional" desktop/laptop hardware and software, which at this point have been honed to a fairly fine edge. This gives the overall impression that Apple is focusing 90% of its development efforts in the mobile space; which is really not the case.
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>> Nearly every home computer is running Windows 10 Home.
Nope. approx 10% of the home computers I know of run Linux.
Another 15% run MacOs X.
Microsoft Should Shove Auto Updates Up Ther Ass (Score:2, Insightful)
Microsoft should shove all auto updates up their ass.
Why?
They have no problem shoving them up everyone else's ass.
Not today, lamestream media (Score:1)
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I was about to write some really snarky prose until I read the rest of the article and realized that the headline was a dog whistle specifically for me. There's some good stuff there, for the poor souls who accept such limited control over their computer.
Wait, someone on /. RTF?!?!?!?!?!
My life is complete. I could die today in complete peacefulness, knowing that all is right with the world.
"Automatic Driver" (Score:1)
At first I thought this was a self-driving-car-AI story. Windows 10 driving cars, what could possibly go wrong?
"Officer, um, Windows crashed, and I with it."
Doesn't help me (Score:2)
Re:Doesn't help me (Score:4, Interesting)
Wait, your Windows asks you? Mine just shuts down on me and takes all my work with it to the depths of Hades. Unless of course I want it to.
That comic [commitstrip.com] says it better than I ever could.
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Use Linux instead :)
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Use Linux instead :)
If I only used a computer to run an operating system I would give your suggestion a try. Unfortunately, I use a computer to run applications, and many of the ones that I run are not available under Linux. I also support other people and so have to be able to run the programs that they run, not some Linux GPL app that has some of the same features. It isn't realistic for those people to try to use Linux (I'm not even sure that it is realistic for me to do battle with the Linux OS, and
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'don't have these problems here. Plenty of software available here.
No mastering problems.
"Improvements" (Score:5, Insightful)
Nice Newspeak(TM) spin there.
It's not an improvement. It's a fix, to a facility they broke in Windows 10 -- namely, the ability to control the update system.
And if we're being perfectly honest here, it's not even a fix. It's a workaround to a facility that never fscking worked in the first place , i.e. installing device drivers through Windows Update. Never. Worked.
And deploying this workaround serves as tacit admission by Microsoft that they they haven't the remotest clue how to fix it. Even after locking out those terribly pesky, annoying users and arrogating all administrative control to themselves with Windows 10, it STILL. DOESN'T. WORK.
Why were the updates problematic? (Score:5, Interesting)
Were they untested or something? Years of automatically accepting updates on Linux (kernel and otherwise) across varying hardware and it's been extremely rare that I've experienced any issues at all...
Is all the software/drivers on Windows considered bleeding edge? Is the hardware not abstracted such that it would cause a complete meltdown with no user interaction possible? Are recovery options insanely complex for the user?
Re:Why were the updates problematic? (Score:5, Informative)
Easy. Because device drivers can include bugs in bleeding edge releases especially for new games and hardware. An example you're running solid on say the 6mo old nvidia or AMD video drivers, a new game comes out. The new drivers are "optimized" for that game. So, windows decides to install those new drivers and breaks all your old games in the process. Because there were fundamental changes in the drivers. Now you get to have the fun and enjoyable part where you: Uninstall the driver, run the special MS 'deferment' upgrade for the driver they have in the standard release channel. Then install the old driver that was working fine, but shaved off a few FPS for that new game. It gets even worse when Windows will install an older driver over top of a new one. One of my friends had a problem where Windows 10 would install the 15.6 or 15.6 AMD catalyst drivers over top of the 16.xx drivers on every update and not even their "deferment tool" would stop it from happening.
The real problem is that windows has been able to botch driver upgrades since ye olde days of windows 98 and the first gen of PnP(or plug and pray as it used to be called) and brick a windows install to the point where a format and wipe is the only solution. That's either the problem of the hardware manufacture, or something going wrong with windows. That's not even touching on the clusterfucks with minor hardware revisions from companies like Realtek(most motherboards use their chipsets for audio or network connections). And one driver release can work, and another completely breaks the device to the point where you need to remove every single backup instance as well.
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Yep. Not to mention when it destroys lan drivers. Then you're stuck with finding the old Mobo software to reinstall the right one since you're no longer on line.
Sounds completely backwards (Score:1)
Optimizing drivers for games? That sounds completely backwards. Drivers should be optimized for the hardware, and DirectX should handle any optimizations that need to be passed on to the driver. Is DirectX not doing its job? And all the game should have to worry about is talking to DirectX. It seems pretty straightforward. Why in the world should drivers have to worry about what one specific user application is doing?
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You are one person. For a specific person to experience an error with 0.001% chance of happening is extremely unlikely.
Microsoft releases a patch to the whole world. Let's say a hundred million devices download it across the globe. Suddenly that 0.001% becomes really friggin' common to hear about.
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Yes, but you MIGHT be able to understand how frustrating it can be when you get hit by the BSOD-hammer, reinstall your OS only to have it "updated" again with no chance to avoid the "update".
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I ny case the OEM driver is simply stupid.
I have a Lenovo laptop with 3 buttons next to the touchpad. I prefer using the center button as just button 3, same as clicking the mouse wheel. The default simple mouse driver included in Windows works just like this.
However Windows 10 will detect that there is an "enhanced" Lenovo provided Synaptics driver and insist on installing that. This driver changes the center button to some "scroll" mode, hold the button and swipe the touchpad and it will send scroll event
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Were they untested or something?
The problems are rare but not unprecedented in any OS. I had a kernel update cause panics in relation to a HighPoint RAID controller back in the day. Comparatively I've never had a WHQL certified driver get delivered through windows update cause a computer to crash (though I did get pushed the unethical and indefensible FTDI driver and rolled that back just because I wasn't certain it wouldn't cause a problem).
The issue is with the number of computers in the world running the amount of code that it runs wit
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"Is all the software/drivers on Windows considered bleeding edge? Is the hardware not abstracted such that it would cause a complete meltdown with no user interaction possible? Are recovery options insanely complex for the user?"
Absolutely. Microsoft and Linux vendors have released updates in the past that could cause if not a meltdown, then at least some discomfort. When the pending updates show up on my Windows 7 PCs, personally I prefer to install only the security updates immediately, and that is only i
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I don't get why the driver suite has its own built in update mechanism if Windows Update can do it... but if Windows Update can do it then I don't get why it doesn't update the entire suite too (or all of the other software installed). It sounds like a very disjointed experince that is not well thought out... and if MS plans to take user agency out of the equation then naturally things will get messed up. They really should be more aware of the actual user experience and plan their software and services acc
TELEMETRY == No, Thanks! (Score:3, Insightful)
Given the forced telemetry, Windows 10 doesn't even exist for me.
And forced driver updates is so absurd!
Forced anything is wrong!
The privacy cost of telemetry greatly outweighs the savings in QA. The stability cost of forced driver updates greatly outweighs the benefits of making all Windows installations synchronized (making the PC a predictable target, like a console/phone).
It is so sad that people at Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Unity, Apple, etc., can accept the immorality of some of their data collection efforts. And it's especially sad when the justification basically amounts to, "everybody else is doing it".
When a user uses a service which explicitly requires the user to volunteer information essential to use the service (e.g., user enters search terms in to a search engine), there is transparency. But beacons on every web page, and browser fingerprinting, and ultrasonic sounds from web page to microphone, and sending every keystroke in an address bar or every spoken word to Microsoft/Google/Apple/Canonical/Amazon/LG/Samsung/Sony is very wrong.
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Choosing true software freedom is truly the only way to send a message to these people that you won't go along with their bullshit.
That's nice (Score:3)
I've already opted out of their damn mandatory updates.
The tablet I use ( Wacom Studio Pro ) simply isn't allowed to connect to the internet. I transfer all files I create on the tablet to my main system via USB stick or just upload it to the local NAS. I do not, and will never, allow a Windows 10 system to talk unrestricted outside of my local network.
As such, the tablet performs flawlessly and I don't worry about some untested bullshit Redmond pushes out that will deny me use of my hardware. In the event I ever load software that requires a periodic connection to a server, I'll simply block everything except the server address ( or the address block of the company that owns the software, Eg: Adobe ) let it say hello, then go dark again until the next hello is required.
When MS starts getting fined or slammed with lawsuits for releasing shoddy updates, they may be a bit more stringent in their QA testing before they release it.
How 'bout opting out of data harvesting? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How 'bout opting out of data harvesting? (Score:5, Funny)
You know, this starts to remind me of an old GDR joke. You have to know that toilet paper was in short supply back then and politicians promised anything and everything but never once mentioned toilet paper with but a word.
Speaker: Comrades! In only 5 years, everyone will have his own three-room flat!
Man in the crowd: Yeah, but what about the toilet paper?
Speaker: And comrades! In only 10 years, everyone will have his very own car!
Man: Ok, but the toilet paper?
Speaker (enraged): Kiss my ass (literally: Lick my ass!)
Man: Typical, they have a solution for party members but what about us?
"Monday"... you mean, "today"? (Score:1)
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Use Windows 10 LTSB (Score:3, Informative)
Did you know there’s a version of Windows 10 that doesn’t get big feature updates, and doesn’t even have the Windows Store or Microsoft Edge browser? It’s called Windows 10 LTSB, short for Long Term Servicing Branch.
Re:Use Windows 10 LTSB (Score:5, Insightful)
http://www.howtogeek.com/273824/windows-10-without-the-cruft-windows-10-ltsb-explained/
Did you know thereâ(TM)s a version of Windows 10 that doesnâ(TM)t get big feature updates, and doesnâ(TM)t even have the Windows Store or Microsoft Edge browser? Itâ(TM)s called Windows 10 LTSB, short for Long Term Servicing Branch.
Did you know there are other editions of Windows that give the exact same feature list you provided?
It's called Windows 7, or XP, or 2000.
And you know what those also have in common with Windows 10 LTSB?
You can't fucking buy any of them!
I included your linked article in the above quote, purely to copy/paste from your own helpfully provided article:
Unfortunately, thereâ(TM)s no legitimate way for the average Windows user to get it. Thatâ(TM)s no surpriseâ"Microsoft doesnâ(TM)t even want businesses using Windows 10 LTSB for most of their PCs
Even the enterprising company I work for is a couple hundred employees shy of the 1000 minimum employee requirement to qualify for enterprise licensing.
Not to mention the $2k/month fees and the $200/user account charges that come with enterprise licencing even if you qualify.
But have fun with the yearly audits by Microsoft lawyers that threaten to sue you for buying licenses and then using your software exactly as the licence dictates!
(From a different company I worked for before, I have a scanned letter from a court where Microsoft tried to sue us for having 12 users authorized on a SQL server that had 40 user CALs with receipts from their own "Open Licencing" store, and another letter a month later dropping the lawsuit. They did the exact same thing two years later. It cost us an additional $60k in legal fees each of those years for following the law!)
Enterprise licencing can and does cost you over a million dollars a year for the smallest of networks and user bases possible once you include the yearly legal fees.
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Awesome! Sell one to me!
What do you mean, you cannot?
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It's called Linux.
About that helpful VPN activation... (Score:2)
And soon everyone will be living in paradise! (Score:2)
Where have I heard the "soon we'll have..." bullshit before... right, in the speeches of politicians.
Sorry, but announce it when it's here. Until then, why the fuck are you waking me again with stuff that simply is not newsworthy?
Win 7 (Score:3)
Make windows great again!
Re: (Score:2)
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Slashdot Poster (Score:2)
Micro$oft did a thing! It's a thing we asked for previously, but it's still bad because it's M$!
Win 7 Win 10 (Score:1)
This Christmas I built 2 brand new PC's and both run Windows 7. I control the schedule of when and what I want to update. Windows Update and GUI were the deciding factors in my decision. You can still purchase legitimate unused OEM keys from 3rd party re-sellers for about $30! I was skeptical but indeed they were valid. I don't really want to advertise but I got them from Kinguin. The difference in price between home and pro is only $8 so I was like eh why not lets go for Pro. Only problem is they're
gpedit (Score:1)
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Is that why my XPS13 turned into a BSODing doorstop when the internal WiFi is connected to anything?
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You've been watching the development for a while now, what makes you think they did?
A fool is the man who does the same thing and hopes for a different outcome. A fool, or a user of MS Windows.