As Windows Becomes a Service, Microsoft Needs To Be Transparent About Issues With That Service To Customers. In Recent Weeks, It Has Failed Miserably at That. (zdnet.com) 158
Veteran technology columnist Ed Bott writes: "Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015, when Microsoft released Windows 10. But after a terrible October, Microsoft's Windows 10 problems continued in November. Yesterday, an unknown number of devices running Windows 10 suddenly lost their activation status; the owners of those devices were told that they no longer had a valid digital license and were running a "non-genuine copy of Windows." Those activation problems are now apparently resolved, but Microsoft hasn't offered an explanation or an apology. A company spokesperson declined to provide any additional details.
[...] In the Windows-as-a-service era, it's perfectly understandable that problems will occasionally crop up. But customers have a right to expect prompt, accurate notification when those problems occur, and Microsoft is failing badly in that responsibility. For its enterprise customers, Microsoft long ago realized the need for timely and accurate status updates. If your organization is experiencing a problem with Office 365, there's a Service Status dashboard where you can find out what's wrong. Microsoft Azure customers have a similar Azure status dashboard and can even check the resolution of previous problems on the Azure status history page. Windows 10 customers have no similar resources.
[...] In the Windows-as-a-service era, it's perfectly understandable that problems will occasionally crop up. But customers have a right to expect prompt, accurate notification when those problems occur, and Microsoft is failing badly in that responsibility. For its enterprise customers, Microsoft long ago realized the need for timely and accurate status updates. If your organization is experiencing a problem with Office 365, there's a Service Status dashboard where you can find out what's wrong. Microsoft Azure customers have a similar Azure status dashboard and can even check the resolution of previous problems on the Azure status history page. Windows 10 customers have no similar resources.
They Don't Care (Score:5, Insightful)
"Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015,
No it didn't.
Re:They Don't Care (Score:5, Insightful)
A shitty idea which has borne shitty results.
Re:They Don't Care (Score:4, Insightful)
Not on the MS business side. They are still shoveling in the cash with a very large excavator. When the buyer is terminally stupid, crappy quality can dominate the market.
Re:They Don't Care (Score:4, Informative)
Viva la Linux! Join The Resistance today and take back control of your computer!
(..no, I'm not joking, I'm dead serious)
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I joined the resistance many years ago. The only time I use Windows is when I want to play a game that cannot work on Linux, which is usually because of DRM or anti-cheat technology.
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Which VM you using? VMWare, VirtualBox, etx?
Re: They Don't Care (Score:2)
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Ah, you're right. For some reason my brain tuned that part out. DOH!
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You may, or may not, see this post.
I virtualized my entire Win7 box with VMWare vCenter Converter
https://www.howtogeek.com/2131... [howtogeek.com]
This included LightRoom and Photoshop (granted, CS3) and I was *stunned* at how well it run as a VM, even on my older Ubuntu PowerEdge 2900 box.
It works, and it works well. Through in a modern system with GPU Passthrough and it'll work even better.
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Didn't care for it. It was either control the VM or the host. I couldn't switch between the two.
Which turned me off since I like using two monitor since I have movies, TV, Discord, or the like on my secondary screen.
Re:They Don't Care (Score:4, Funny)
It's only a matter of time before complaining about Windows 10 problems will be outlawed by the Microsoft terms of service. These will be enforced globally by satellite strikes from low orbit, all authorised by a presidential decree.
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Publish, post, upload, distribute or disseminate any inappropriate, profane, defamatory, obscene, indecent or unlawful topic, name, material or information.
What is an unlawful topic, name, material or information? This doesn't make sense. Can't we legally (in the states at least) pretty much talk about anything we want, beyond talking people into committing a crime and inciting mass panic. (Of course that assumes that the law system isn't cottup I guess.)
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I might be wrong, but "Windows as a service" seems to be about the same thing as the "rolling release" model being used by a number of Linux distributions. In a way, this seems like a good thing, as you'd never need to do a major reinstall to upgrade to a new version.
Of course, the downside is that you also need to be able to trust that the software authors will do adequate testing before putting out updates, which appears to be where Microsoft is not doing so well. Another issue is that there needs to be
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And if fixing it is hard, then they would disable the 30 minute reboot if they cared.
It sucks that it takes so long to load SQL Server, Visual Studio, etc. to start working then you work for about ten minutes then Windows reboots.
Wrong headline (Score:3)
>> In Recent Weeks, It Has Failed Miserably at That.
Nope, not really. I'll correct that :
In Recent Decades, It Has Failed Miserably At That.
(BTW, what's this habit of uppercasing all the words ???)
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Seconded. Also:
No it isn't. There's a thing called erring on the side of caution. Bunch of shitcocks.
Proprietary software will never be "transparent" (Score:2)
I'm not concerned that proprietors don't care to fix problems in the software they distribute, I care that users are prohibited from running, inspecting, improving, and sharing the software they run when that software is proprietary (non-free, user subjugating) software. Whether an OS is a "service" or not is a distraction from this more fundamental point.
Users
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"sounded like a good idea in 2015"?! (Score:3, Insightful)
'"Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015'
Um... no. It was a horrible, retarded idea then and it is now. Also, 2015 is considered in the past now? I've barely accepted year 2005 yet...
Re: "sounded like a good idea in 2015"?! (Score:5, Funny)
Probably because your Windows time service isn't running.
It was NEVER a good idea! (Score:5, Insightful)
"Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015
Oh, HELL NO, this was never a good idea, and it will never BE a 'good idea', it's BULLSHIT. You buy a piece of software (I don't care if it's an OS or an application) it's yours and that's the way it should be.
The more shit like this that Microsoft does, the better I feel about moving away from Windows and onto Linux instead. Fuck Microsoft and their pay, pay, PAY FOREVER bullshit 'business model'.
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Re:It was NEVER a good idea! (Score:4, Insightful)
You buy a piece of software (I don't care if it's an OS or an application) it's yours and that's the way it should be.
The problem with this model is that it gives software vendors no money to maintain software and fix bugs. They’re forced to add new features constantly to entice people to buy new versions to maintain their cash flow. Even if they fix the last version’s bugs, they introduce new bugs with the new features. And because the new features are profit-driven they’re often pointless bling that are of minimal utility to anyone.
A subscription model at least gives the vendor a chance to maintain their products’ security and quality in the long term. I’m not saying that Microsoft is taking that chance.
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That's what support contracts are for. Of course, that would require actually supplying support other than reboot or reinstall.
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Support contracts are just the same as software subscriptions except that they’re optional. Do you really think it’s a good idea to allow people to opt out of security updates?
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If support is just a software subscription, it's a rip-off. When I say support, I mean SUPPORT.
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I said the issue was to find "money to maintain software and fix bugs" and you said "That's what support contracts are for." Call them "software maintenance" agreements if you prefer. The point is that allowing customers to buy your software, especially an OS, and run it indefinitely without software maintenance is not tenable. If the vendor provides patches for free forever, they're going to go broke. If the customer never updates, they're going to be hacked. And being hacked is not purely the custome
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I said SUPPORT and I meant it.
But as for the sustainability of the effort, Bill Gates could fund the next 100 years of security updates just out of his personal funds, imagine what MS could do!
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Security update must be seen has a fix for a defect in the product. It's the same as recalls in the automotive industry. So it must be free. This way, maybe software companies will take twice before pushing defective products on the market.
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You got windows 10? Then you agreed to the windows 10 as a service model. Why do you think Microsoft upgraded everyone for free? You don't have any contractual claim if you upgraded for free, on top of that the EULA language gives microsoft the right to charge any amount they want on any timeline they way (monthly, daily, hourly) for usage of MS windows.
People have been warning about this for years. Valve started the whole steam on linux thing directly because of this. Are you that ignorant that you've igno
They have no reason to care (Score:5, Insightful)
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They really really want you to sign up for it.
Re:They have no reason to care (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, but it crucial to their revenue. Without Windows, you don't have Outlook. Without Outlook, you don't have Exchange. You don't have Visual Studio, etc..
Without Windows, you don't have the Windows mindset amongst website developers. Even fewer websites will be hosted on Windows.
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Note that there have been overtures of starting to have a multi-platform .Net 'core'.
In the short term, it's to try to get MS relevance in the 'server' space, by catering to the 'demand' for Microsoft non-gui software on Mac and Linux (I have no idea who that would be personally, but MS at least hopes the market is there).
For now they are half-hearted and are holding back any GUI support, but I wouldn't be surprised if they brought over some of that to squeeze out just a few more percent for the total addre
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As a website developer, the only mindset I have about Windows is "Ugh, now I have to test everything with Edge and hope nothing breaks".
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The question is.... ...would you use it?
The idea is intriguing, sort of the best of both worlds, but given MS's track record since WinXP....I"m sure it'd be a pile of garbage.
Windows as a Service is for LUDDITES. (Score:1)
Modern app appers use Appdows 10 S as an App!
Apps!
Windows as as service only has one effect. (Score:2)
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A. I want to complain.
B. You want to complain? Look at these shoes. I've only had them three weeks and the heels are worn right through.
A. No, I want to complain about...
B. If you complain nothing happens, you might as well not bother.
A. Oh.
Windows as a service... (Score:5, Insightful)
... is proof our species is a race of idiots.
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Indeed. Stupidity of the crowds at work. Not the only indicator though.
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Hardly. It's simply proof that most people don't care about things that don't interest them. As long as their computers boot and they can do activity x then they ultimately don't give a shit what model they have, especially when they aren't being charged for it.
It's called marketing. You call it Windows as a Service, the users only hear: Free updates!
That doesn't make them idiots, that makes them ignorant, and willfully so.
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No it does make them idiots because they impact the future development of technology in negative ways that costs everyone more.
Two things:
1. It's not up to third parties to care about your desires. For the vast majority of users computers are considered good enough and it's not their responsibility to drive technology for others.
2. Your comment is a load of crap. People adopting one OS has no influence on technological development.
Now THAT's what I call a news headline (Score:4, Funny)
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Bonus points for not even caring that it's too long to even fit in the browser title bar.
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Too long to fit in YOUR browser's title bar, you mean?
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Putting your opinion straight into the headline and calling it news, that's how you do it. No fucking around, not even pretending to report neutrally. Love that kind of journalism.
You came here expecting journalism? You do know what site you're on, don't you?
Windows 10 as a disservice (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows 10 is like a window company that doesn't sell but only rents windows to home owners.
A window company that embeds non-removable cameras in the frames to monitor the window and what's inside.
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A better comparison would be that if you stop paying rent, the windows stay there but open automatically and stay opened until you pay your rent.
Need to be transparent? Bullshit (Score:1)
Microsoft owes no one anything. They've been working for decades to get to this point and now that they run the show, you'll like it. Who are you going to go to? Apple? Their hardware is years behind a Windows machine and at least 50% more expensive. Not to mention Apple products don't work well on a network (yes, there are exceptions).
Linux you say? Oh please. Keep your day job if that was supposed to be a joke. Linux barely works now without having to continually tweak something. Sure, the server e
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" Their hardware is years behind a Windows machine and at least 50% more expensive." Software should be free, yes? If I have to run Windows or Linux or some Unix variant just not run on expensive Mac hardware (and they aren't years behind or "at least 50% more expensive"), then I'll opt for Macs. Nothing is worth me running Windows for, and I do not need any software that only runs on Windows, although some are in this position. Linux is getting there but I still do not feel I should become a Linux technici
Re:Need to be transparent? Bullshit (Score:4, Funny)
I hope this helped convince yourself.
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End consumers are increasingly fond of Android.
Google could easily afford to make Android a desktop OS. I find it suspicious that's not happening.
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ChromeOS is adding support for Android apps (and Linux programs) but it's not advertised yet as a feature and still in testing and sometimes requires going out of your way to enable it, so in a roundabout way it's happening.
Re: Need to be transparent? Bullshit (Score:3)
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Why didn't you tell me this in 2005, just before I switched to Linux full-time?
Windows server 2019 is STILL MIA (Score:3)
Windows server 2019 is STILL MIA.
With no news about an ETA of an re-release time frame.
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Hmm (Score:5, Insightful)
The article is unclear on what it means by "Windows as a service", and also on how the problems described would relate to that.
Are Windows 10 home users paying via subscription or something? That's what I would think of as "Windows as a service".
There have always been Windows activation issues, auto-update issues, etc.
So - yes, Windows bad, etc. But because "Windows as a service"? If anything, the article itself sort of implies that business customers (who often/usually are effectively "Windows as a service") have it better (comparatively, anyway) than Windows home users.
Not a good idea for consumers (Score:1)
" "Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015 "
Yeah, a good idea for shareholders. A more efficient method of extracting capital from consumers.
Source Please (Score:2)
"Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015,
From where did you get that idea seriously ?
Why should they, they have a monopoly... (Score:2)
And it shows nicely what happens with monopolies: Bad and worse quality.
Needs To? You're Fucking Adorable. (Score:1)
Please tells us why you think Microsoft needs to do anything, let alone be more transparent.
What negative impact do you imagine Microsoft has suffered from their "miserable failure"?
Did it impact their sales in any negative way? Nope.
Did it impact their stock price in any negative way? Nope.
Do they care in any way? Nope.
Do they think they should care in any way? Nope.
Will anything more than this Slashdot whine come out of the sum total of their "miserable failures" for the entire year of 2018? Nope.
Oop. Hol
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The real question is, why isn't it impacting them on these points?
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That's the best question in this thread. I would argue that the financial and business markets both believe nobody has an alternative.
We hear a lot of about in these kinds of threads about how Linux is a great alternative on the desktop, but if that was actually true, wouldn't we be hearing about more large-scale desktop migrations, or the markets punishing Microsoft when they make mistakes with Win10?
Re: Needs To? You're Fucking Adorable. (Score:2)
W10 should be named "Windows as a disservice" (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't agree (Score:2)
Tell that to Ford, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes... (Score:1)
Perfectly understandable? (Score:2)
Why is it perfectly understandable? Because they're Microsoft and you just know they're going to screw something up once every month, or because of some other unknown reason?
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Why is it perfectly understandable? Because they're Microsoft and you just know they're going to screw something up once every month, or because of some other unknown reason?
Because Windows 10 is a piece of shit. Microsoft is incompetent, and admits they do not test updates.
That's completely understandable.
That probably wasn't what the shill meant though.
Wat? (Score:2)
No it didn't
Ummmm, no it did not... (Score:2)
"Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015
I didn't like it from the first time I heard Microsoft utter those words.
I don't remember what movie this was from ... (Score:2)
A line from a movie (that escapes me at the moment) comes to mind ....
"Sometimes ... I told you so just doesn't quite cut it ...."
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A line from a movie (that escapes me at the moment) comes to mind ....
"Sometimes ... I told you so just doesn't quite cut it ...."
I, Robot
Windows 10 Non-Genuine (TM) Edition (Score:2)
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Wait ... you're not all on Linux blades? (Score:2)
Wow, talk about fuddy duddies.
Get with the 2020s, grampas.
No (Score:3)
"Windows as a service" sounded like a good idea in 2015, when Microsoft released Windows 10.
No, it fucking didn't. At no point has having an OS as a service EVER made sense. The whole concept is idiotic and nothing more than what it has panned to be: A cash grab that dramatically increases the costs of owning the OS with zero benefit in exchange.
The only reason they even got away with it is because they have a captive monopoly.
This is why Apple's computer business is booming even though they can't make a keyboard to save their lives. Suddenly there is renewed interest in making Linux a viable desktop. More and more people are jumping the Windows ship cause they are finally fed up.
Turning Windows into a service-when-not-a-service is Windows finally jumping the shark.
If Windows were truly a service (Score:2)
I should get a refund for all the downtime they're causing with ill-advised 'updates'.
WAAS sounds good? WTF? (Score:2)
No. No it does NOT.
Not sure what sort of lack-wit thinks renting your OS month to month "sounds good".
But they need to have their heads checked.
Makes sense if Windows 10 users are the product (Score:2)
The summary mentioned Azure and Office 365 as examples where Microsoft gives some form of status dashboard to their customers. In those two cases, it seems rather apparent that Microsoft considers people that use those products as Microsoft customers.
However, given the initial free upgrades from prior Windows versions and the telemetry (or rather, spyware) that Windows 10 incorporates, one can argue the point that, much like Facebook, Windows 10 users are not considered Microsoft's customers, but a Microso
Re:Something doesn't make sense, follow the money (Score:4, Insightful)
Hanlon's Razor
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Re:Something doesn't make sense, follow the money (Score:4, Funny)
Stupidity does not adequately explain Microsoft, and hasn't for decades.
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Yep. And since they do not bleed customers with their current bad product, why should they improve anything? In fact, many of those getting screwed over still claim to love having that done to them.
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Stupidity called, it asked that you stop insulting it with your Microsoft example.