Microsoft Reaches 800 Million Windows 10 Devices (cnbc.com) 80
Microsoft's Windows 10 is getting bigger. The operating system for desktop PCs, internet-connected devices and other systems is now running on more than 800 million devices. From a report: The total is up from 700 million as of September last year, and it suggests that the newest rendition of Windows could now be the most widely deployed version of Windows, ahead of Windows 7 and other versions. Although Microsoft -- the most valuable publicly traded company in the world -- has shifted to focus more on cloud and third-party platforms under CEO Satya Nadella, Windows is still a key element of the company, contributing almost 15 percent of total revenue in the fourth quarter. It's also a notable contributor of operating income, as former CEO Steve Ballmer pointed out last year.
Wrong Headline (Score:5, Funny)
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Shouldn't it say Microsoft Windows compromises 800 million devices? :-D
I retired my last Windows 7 laptop. No more. Not for everybody, but I'm quite content being Windows free (at home).
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"How did they get so many installs?" Unwitting 7 users stepped away from their computers during Windows Updates. Those not fooled by round 1 got it again every month on Tuesday for half a year. Old people are easy to trick!
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Get off my lawn!
I intentionally installed Win10 on two of my machines as soon as it was available... the both came with Win8, which was awful.
I'd use something else, but I like to play games when I have time, and if you do that on a computer you still need Windows. Yeah Steam has a bunch of Linux support now, but I've got a pile of games I want to play that are Windows/Mac only, and Apple hasn't made any good hardware in ages.
Other than the games, pretty much everything else I use is portable, so switching
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Re:Wrong Headline (Score:5, Informative)
From the number above, it seems like they were 100 million new PC's sold.
I know my workplace is upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 soon. But for the most part Windows Sales are from it being the default OS in Most PC's which are sold. For most vendors which still offer a Windows 7 "downgrade" option. Not too many people will choose this, unless they are solid reasons to do such.
Also being that Windows 10 is now on a constant upgrade cycle, this means we are going to be stuck with Windows 10 for a while, and in general inflate Microsofts numbers.
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Among them: (1) Windows 10 is generally just awful. And (2) it's dog slow compared to 7. Personally I see no benefit to 10 over 7, except that new software is designed to use it. And 7 performs much better.
Re:Wrong Headline (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably. But there are far too many people with Stockholm Syndrome where Windows is concerned.
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Probably. But there are far too many people with Stockholm Syndrome where Windows is concerned.
The geek has been peddling this excuse for the success of Windows since the launch of Slashdot. But never quite gets around to explaining why the plain-vanilla Linux product never gained traction in retail sales. While Google with Android and Chrome found a market.
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People with Stockholm Syndrome never realize they have it. You are a nice example. Also, what does Linux and Android have to do with Windows being bad? Nice fallacy you have there. Means you are not capable of rational argument in addition. Side note: Chrome is not an OS, but that idea is probably beyond your mental grasp.
We need more finely grained stats... (Score:3, Interesting)
Like how many of them meant to install it in the first place and wouldn't just continue with 7 until 2038, given the choice and not forced into the fire from the frying pan...
Since MS is collecting this data anyway... (Score:1)
What are their names? How often do they use their favorite applications, and for how long? What websites are they visiting most? You know, since your telemetry bullshit is collecting all this by default, you might as well use it right?
The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. (Score:5, Informative)
If Microsoft was smart they would make LTSC avaliable to the masses to replace their Windows 7 fleets. But Microsoft will probably let hundreds of millons of Windows 7 machines flounder and we will see more wannacrys instead.
Ransomware is installed by end users just as easily on Windows 10 as it is on Windows 7.
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If Microsoft was smart they would make LTSC avaliable to the masses to replace their Windows 7 fleets. But Microsoft will probably let hundreds of millons of Windows 7 machines flounder and we will see more wannacrys instead.
Ransomware is installed by end users just as easily on Windows 10 as it is on Windows 7.
Factually incorrect as every Win10 box comes with a decent AV installed and running by default. It is actually much harder to infect a Windows 10 system than a Windows 7 box. Say what you like about their Fischer Price looking OS but they have come a very long way in the security department, especially on Enterprise versions with Credential Guard enabled.
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Factually incorrect as every Win10 box comes with a decent AV installed and running by default. It is actually much harder to infect a Windows 10 system than a Windows 7 box.
AV has been around since the beginning of time. Microsoft's is far from the best and all only protect against known malicious software in its database.
Unless you are willing to lock the system to approved apps blessed by the king it's trivial for a human adversary to bypass.
Say what you like about their Fischer Price looking OS but they have come a very long way in the security department, especially on Enterprise versions with Credential Guard enabled.
Given neither myself nor any other normal user is even able to purchase Enterprise version even if we wanted to it isn't clear why this version matters?
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Factually incorrect as every Win10 box comes with a decent AV installed and running by default
Every Windows 7 box post Service Pack 1 has the same default settings for AV as Windows 10. It will monitor that an AV solution is installed. It will default to an enabled windows defender if no other option is running on the system, and it will alert you, annoy you and bug you unless you specifically disable that alert if no AV solution is present. Completely identical to Windows 10.
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Releasing LTSC to the general public would be the right thing to do. Not releasing it unfortunately is the smart (=money making) thing to do.
The only goal of all the crap going on with Windows 10 is to create a walled garden, like Android/iOS, combined with a Facebook/Google-style surveillance technology, in the hope they can bind their cattle^H^H^H^H^H^Husers and milk them out.
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Will do the same once the Win7 on my laptops goes out of service. Performance should be just fine and Linux gives a real firewall in addition.
What I would love to know (Score:1)
is exactly how much data Microsoft collects on Windows 10 (and 8 and 7) users, and how much money they make by selling it.
Will have to move to that trash as well (Score:3)
Since I play games and no, Linux is not (yet) a real alternative. But I will be using a gaming only Win10 installation, no email, no browsing, no nothing else that the creeps in Redmond can spy on. For everything else, I already have a nice Linux box and a KVM-switch.
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Sorry, I do not have any interest in crusades like that. Both Vulcan and mobile gaming will pretty much ensure Linux gaming in a few years. As soon as most engines support it there really is no good reason to not have a native Linux release anymore. Quite a few indie-games that already include Linux as a platform demonstrate that support is not an obstacle, and hence even a small percentage of additional sales will make this worthwhile. And unlike Windows, which seems to have started a downward spiral with
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Both Vulcan and mobile gaming will pretty much ensure Linux gaming in a few years.
I like your optimism. 2020 will surely be the year of Linux on Desktop.
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I, for one, am jumping to Linux from windows 7 on my desktop pc. And I intend to play games on it using Steam and Wine and such.
Of course....I am not getting rid of my xbox. So I guess I am not truly escaping from Microsoft.
They have done a great job of making it hard to abandon them.
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So I guess I am not truly escaping from Microsoft.
They have done a great job of making it hard to abandon them.
Indeed. The only good job they ever did of anything.
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Check out Proton, it's working, it's done for you and it's Wine on Steam. https://www.protondb.com/ [protondb.com] Another list with supported games straight from the Steam store: https://store.steampowered.com... [steampowered.com]
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Not yet. But in the 2nd half of this year I will have a new zen-2 system and nothing prevents me from dual-booting Win10 and Linux on it and check on the state of Linux gaming.
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I wish we could run 2+ OSes at the same time, it should be possible since many CPUs have hardware level virtualisation but of course there is also the GPU etc to consider. I've had dual boot before but always found the 2nd OS just sat there rotting because switching between OSes takes too long and requires closing everything.
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Virtualization will eventually get there, but it is not yet ready yet if you want gaming. I currently use a 2nd system and a KVM switch. That 2nd system is not a gaming system though.
But how many are voluntary? (Score:3)
Just on guts I'd say the real number, taking all the above into account, is less than half. Maybe even less than a third.
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How many of those 800,000,000 were voluntary installations or upgrades?
Who cares? They were upgraded. Thats all the metric says. Stop trying to read shit into it.
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Not caring, is still voluntary.
In the world of the internet, and of common news articles talking about alternatives, not knowing is still voluntary.
If you were forced into the upgrade way back when, and you're still using it now, you're doing so voluntarily.
I know it blows the minds of Slashdot users, but these days 100% of Windows 10 installs are voluntary (well except for the windows 10 machine I was given at work, I don't have any option but to use that if I want to continue to get paid).
As for the lies
M$? (Score:1)