Microsoft Pulls Windows 10 October Update (zdnet.com) 139
Amid reports of users facing a number of issues after updating their computers to Windows 10 October 2018 Update, Microsoft said Saturday it was pausing the rollout of the latest version of its Windows 10 desktop operating system. ZDNet: In a support document updated today, October 6, the Redmond-based OS maker said it took this decision after users complained that v1809 had deleted files after the update. We have paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809) for all users as we investigate isolated reports of users missing some files after updating. Microsoft employs a gradual rollout scheme, and not all Windows 10 users have received its latest bi-annual OS update. The October 2018 Update is no longer available for download, and Microsoft urges users who manually downloaded a Windows 10 installation package to wait until new installation media is available. "We will provide an update when we resume rolling out the Windows 10 October 2018 Update to customers," Microsoft said.
The right thing for Microsoft to do (Score:3)
shame that it took them so long.
Re:The right thing for Microsoft to do (Score:5, Insightful)
The right thing for Microsoft to do would have been to stop at Windows 7 and stop pushing a tablet-like GUI for desktop and laptop users.
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The right thing for Microsoft to do would have been to stop at Windows 7 and stop pushing a tablet-like GUI for desktop and laptop users.
Well I agree in theory, it's a bit late for that.
Now the right thing to do would have been QA, but that's not happening either it seems.
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I'm sorry, but I have to disagree.
I quite liked the Windows 3.11 GUI.
I hated the 95 GUI.
I hated the 98 GUI.
I hated the XP GUI.
I hated the Vista GUI.
I hated the Windows 7 GUI.
As for the Windows 8, well, I never used it.
But Windows 10... I think this is the first time I actually enjoy using Windows. As for the GUI design goes, Windows 10 is the best Microsoft has ever done. But that is unfortunately only a pretty cover; what is under the cover is still a horrible mess, Microsoft-style.
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I'd rather have the simple control panel brought back with its one word names and sensible collections of settings in a higher layout density. Win10 took what started to go bad in vista and made it worse. Low density oversized panels belong on tablets..
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Of all the complaints I have about Windows 10, trying to make it support touchscreens well isn't one. If they want Windows to survive, Microsoft has an obligation to move towards a faster release model and to have touchscreen based features. Computers without touchscreens are going to be very rare, very soon.
Re:The right thing for Microsoft to do (Score:4, Insightful)
And nobody's ever going to use a "mouse", said people when the Mac launched...
And we'll stop printing documents on real paper, said people three decades ago...
Etc.
Supporting touch screens is not the same as pushing a touch interface on everyone, even those who don't use touch screens.
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Depends what you mean by progress. A mouse allows much quicker and precise navigation. It's just not very portable so we put up with touch screens where portability and simplicity are more important (eg an atm).
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A mouse allows much quicker and precise navigation.
Which is of small comfort when waving it around while standing in a train. Computers are changing. Just because you use yours at your desk or on your lap doesn't mean everyone does.
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Which fanboys? I am not saying there hasnt been a single instance where someone was attempting to defend Microsoft against legitimate claims at any given point, but the vast majority of these "discussions" do not involve such fanboys but people to whom "keyboard warrior" really can be attributed and who - for whatever reason - seem to have a blind hatred for Microsoft and use every possible occasion to exercise that.
I am sure Microsoft did not release that version without proper testing. Alright there are s
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The right thing to do is to roll back ALL Windows 10 to Windows 7.
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Jesus asshat, I do that with each of my Windows 10 devices.
Boots directly to the desktop, even on my Asus b121 tablet.
Just because you are too stupid to understand how to do basic configuration, doesn't mean it is not possible.
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Functionality wise, I can't think of anything they've added to Windows 10 that I miss when I go back to Windows 7. Well, there's that handy right-click menu on the Start button - I guess they could port that back.
What they need to do is drop the Windows 7 GUI on top of the Windows 8 kernel with the driver support in Windows 10. And then stop messing with Windows because they would have reached perfection at that point.
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But they already said there was no problem with this update.
NO!!! Not the right thing for Microsoft to do (Score:1)
NO! Emphatically no. Thinking that this was the right thing to do is akin to thinking it's nice when a bank robber, who after taking hostages and shooting one, then graciously allowing a doctor that happens to be among the hostages to treat someone that he shot.
Microsoft has put into place a draconian mandatory update scheme that attempts to take away from every user the ability to vet updates and choose which ones to apply. Not only th
No surprise (Score:5, Insightful)
As MS has now delegated almost all testing to the user, even catastrophic bugs like deleting user data come back. They are not getting better, they are getting worse. Typical effects of a near-monopoly.
Watch you get flamed/modded down (Score:5, Interesting)
By the pro-Microsoft trolls that lurk around here.
It's unfortunate that they don't recognize that Microsoft has the largest footprint in the OS world and that their screw ups have a disproportionate effect on the population at large and will generate more anecdotes/anger than something like OS/X or Ubuntu.
I suspect that many of the people who are pro-Microsoft actually work at Microsoft because when you are flamed, it tends to be by ACs.
So, for all you pro-Microsoft people/employees/trolls instead of attacking people for pointing out Microsoft's foibles/missteps/fuckups why don't you put the pressure on Mr. Nadella to get things right in the first place?
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Call MS things that it deserves to be called, but don't lie about the issue. Microsoft has in fact grown under Nadella. Semi-forcibly extracting additional value from users does in fact do wonders to company bottom line if users lack the meaningful alternative to company's products.
Re:No surprise (Score:5, Insightful)
It will be funny when they start charging for Windows as a "service" for the privilege of testing it and ironing out the kinks at the customer's double expense.
Well, it's started and I'm not laughing.
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The problem is that the insider previews are all tested around windows update, not installation by other methods AFAIK.
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Typical result of adopting agile methodology. You get rid of your test organization and leave the testing to developers and customers.
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The weirdest part of the whole is forced updates, which are now watched by something like three separate processes who seem to just monitor Windows Update service and re-enable it if its disabled in versions aimed at consumers.
So it's not enough that you screw over everyone with forced updates, the few who figure out they'll just enable update service when they're ready to update and got enough data on the newest updates to believe they're not going to screw with their work are increasingly out of luck. Tha
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Not just MS. Many companies are doing this too. :(
What a freakin mess (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft is so incompetent anymore its not a company you can trust to get it right. Especially twice a year upgrades, they should go back to two years at best. Or at least give everyone a off switch for upgrades. The other disturbing part of this, is that Insider's reported this problem through Feedback three months ago.
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You've gotten your derogatory terms mixed up. The population referred to as 'sand monkeys' typically aren't Hindu.
Re:Crybabies (Score:5, Insightful)
This is true. However, why is the upgrade process even touching user files at all?
Even if the OS upgrade completely fucked up to hell and you end up with an unbootable system, there is NO REASON the process should have touched the user's files.
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Restore points are based on file extensions on the Monitored File Extensions list. If by some software problem the wrong files were in that list, documents could technically be affected by an upgrade (since I believe a restore point is always created before an upgrade). No idea if that's the case here, just saying it's possible. More info [superuser.com].
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Wouldn't accidentally including user files in a restore point just accidentally make a backup of the file rather than deleting it?
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there is NO REASON
There are plenty of reasons an OS upgrade would touch user files. Changing of file system (has happened in the past) and changing of folder structures for user accounts (has also happened in the past) are some of the noteworthy ones. With the difference between nuking the entire system or upgrading the OS, or upgrading the OS while removing applications now essentially being nothing more than a variable set during the install/upgrade process it stands to reason that a bug like this could appear.
Project planning (Score:5, Insightful)
Now it's Development < > End users
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Unfortunately, this seems to be the facts these days.
I will not say what company I work for or who I am for obvious reasons, but upper management has literally cut out our internal testing cycle. Not completely, but very effectively.
Our process was:
Development -> Internal test -> Customers
Now it's:
Development -> Customer + Internal test (In parallel)
Many of us on the development team feel that the internal test will be cut out completely instead of being run along-side the public release. At leas
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Or considering the Windows Insiders in between, Development -> End users -> End End users.
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Yep. Many companies are doing this. Other SQA testers and I are unemployed because of this. Companies need to stop being cheap! :(
The system worked! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Microsoft tax is negative (Score:2)
If PC makers pay Microsoft a substantial royalty for OEM Windows licenses, then what makes Linux laptops from System76 so much more expensive than entry-level laptops from bigger names? And why does the exact same laptop from Dell cost more with Ubuntu than with Windows?
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Offtopic but I can answer the question for you:
The Windows tax is around $80 USD. Or $0 if the tablet screen is under 9 inches https://www.theverge.com/2014/... [theverge.com] but there's other much more important charges laptop manufacturers make versus System76. On a Windows laptop you pay the Windows fee and the manufacturers for all the parts just gives you the binary blob drivers for Windows as part of the motherboard/chip costs (or in other words, for free). On a System76 laptop, those drivers are not actually gi
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What I don't get here, this problem is wide spread enough that the upgrade has been pulled, and this isn't the first time. Yet it's not like the Insider group is small. By some accounts there's over 10 million people in the insider program, so how is it that this wasn't noticed?
Did the insiders report and MS ignore?
Did the insiders not have an issue due to luck?
Did the version shipped to insiders and the version released to market differ significantly?
Microsoft at its best! (Score:5, Funny)
1. Relentlessly push average users to store all their valuable data in a few well-known default locations, and make it an on-going fight to store it elsewhere.
2. Take the same approach to updates. Every time Microsoft gets access to a Win 10 computer, they reset everything to default...which means automatic updates for people who don't know how to turn them off and keep them off.
3. Push out a defective update that wipes data in the default locations.
Do I have that about right?
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Make that
1. Relentlessly push average users to store all their valuable data on OneDrive.
However, changing the defaults really isn't any harder than changing anything else in Windows. It's only a right click and a couple tabs away.
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I never claimed it was a good solution, I only posited it as Microsoft's motivation.
You're welcome beta testers! (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember when the new MS CEO announced they were cutting the QA department and everyone was like, "that's a bad idea" and then the software got worse? Congratulations, beta testers! More beta software is coming soon to your PC!
Don't thank MS, you've earned your data loss through your stubborn determination to stick with Windows no matter what! ;)
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Don't thank MS, you've earned your data loss through your stubborn determination to stick with Windows no matter what! ;)
What makes you think data loss is out of the ordinary for Windows users? If anything this is a trip down memory lane :-)
But not before (Score:1)
forcing it onto a few million users. You simply cannot have any important data or work on a Windows 10 machine. It either gets erased, or hoovered up by Microsoft, U.S. intelligence agencies, or some petty hackers who have learnt of all the back doors inserted into the OS.
Windows machines are best used for just playing games which you can just click to download and reinstall.
Is it just me or is this happening a lot (Score:3)
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Neither do I remember that many Win7 updates getting pulled...
But it is not only /. covering them more, these bugs are also reported elsewhere. It seems to me that the quality of Microsoft QA is slipping. Especially with Windows 10. With Windows 8 the GUI was super annoying, but the foundation seemed as solid as in 7.
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The update was released early as a publicty stunt. (Score:3)
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Windows 7 EOL is 2020, 8.1 is 2023.
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Also businesses are getting quite fed up with the Windows 10 update train and are going back to Windows 7
[Citation Required]
Lost access to settings and update (Score:3)
The same laptop is now installing Ubuntu. It's been about 12 years since I last ran a Linux install. If the Steam Linux client is as good as I'm hearing, then Windows has finally reached a point of no return.
Wy do people put up with this? (Score:2)
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Various reasons:
* Stockholm syndrome
* Ooooh Shiney!
* To stupid to know better
* To ignorant to know better
* To lazy to learn something different
Because US stores carry no Linux laptops (Score:2)
Laptop PCs sold in Walmart and Best Buy stores come with Windows, not X11/Linux. The only thing like to change this is the release of more Chromebooks that support Crostini, the container for running X11 applications on verified Chrome OS.
Chalk another up to Microsoft [lack of] QA (Score:3)
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No.. all that Telemetry was to spy on users and generate Microsoft a new revenue stream. Improving the product.. Listening to the Users.. that was a cover story to placate the dumb fanboys.
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I have tried searching for statistics and analytical publications from Microsoft based on the gathered Telemetry from Windows 10 users.
But I can't find any. Is this data not public?
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Sure, users might grumble, but MS is not getting negative feedback through the one data channel that matters, the revenue stream, so why change?
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that means bad software has to get out into the wild first
So, for the past couple of years, there hasn't been enough bad software released by Microsoft for them to realize that they have a quality problem?
Put it on two machines already... (Score:2)
I make all my income from M$FAIL anyway, so I can't say this is bad news...
I heard they're renaming Win 10 to WinUWP (Score:2)
"Whoops, our mistake!" (Score:3)
You idiot, I told you to write the update so that it copies users' personal private files and sends them to our marketing department for analysis and sale, not delete them! You've ruined everything, do you realize how much money in lost data sales we've just lost?
For me, it's a feature! (Score:1)
I oversee a college PC lab with about 115 Win10 PCs. The Build 1809 update installed on all of them through Windows Update. No problems reported yet.
Since these are student PCs in an open lab, the last thing I want is students leaving files on the PCs! (We use these for exams in some classes.) While I haven't seen this bug yet, I would not mind having a "delete all user files since date x" option in Windows.
And the Clipboard history is a great move forward IMHO.
The SnippingTool.exe is moving to a new ap
Dupe! ... Wait what? (Score:2)
I swear this was a dupe. I mean it's not like a company like MS would not learn and be forced to pull an update twice [slashdot.org]
Oh I guess they didn't do it twice.
Thrice! [slashdot.org]
Microidiots (Score:1)
Just using customers as beta testers (Score:2)
April, October!? What idiot thought that one up? (Score:3)
Here in the USofA, April 15th is the "normal" deadline for tax filing, with October 15th for "deferred" filing.
How much of an idiot, or asshat, does one have to be to push Windows 10 "feature" updates, which, IME, ALWAYS leave the resulting system unstable (as do many "normal" updates) in April and October?
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Interestingly, major updates to Ubuntu also drop at the same time. Though with Ubuntu, they aren't forced and even if you do upgrade it will likely be without drama.
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