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Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Update with Linux and Notepad Enhancements 82

Microsoft is starting to release the latest twice-annual update to Windows 10, featuring enhancements to the longstanding Notepad app and a way to find your cursor in a sea of text. Some of the other features include: Faster and easier connections: We're making it easier and faster to pair your Bluetooth devices to your compatible Windows 10 PC. Now you can take care of everything in notifications (instead of Settings) with fewer steps.
Go passwordless: Did you know -- for improved security and a simple sign-in experience, you can sign in with your face, fingerprint, or PIN? It's easier than ever to enable passwordless sign-in for your Microsoft accounts: just go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options on your Windows 10 PC and select 'On' under 'Make your device passwordless.' Note that this is hardware dependent.
Name your desktops: Now instead of "Desktop 1" or "Desktop 2" you can give your Virtual Desktops more descriptive, clever, or amusing names. Using Virtual Desktop in Windows 10 allows you to expand your desktop beyond the physical limitations of the space, organize groups of related tasks, and easily switch between them. Tackling what you want to -- when you want to -- just got a whole lot easier. Visit this post to learn more on how to access Virtual Desktop in Windows 10.
See gaming in a whole new light: New DirectX 12 Ultimate features provide smoother graphics with increased detail -- all without sacrificing framerate.
Customization and utility at your fingertips: Xbox Game Bar now supports third-party widgets, helping you customize the overlay experience to fit with the way you game.
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Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Update with Linux and Notepad Enhancements

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  • by luvirini ( 753157 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:09PM (#60111502)

    It is again that time of year that our help desk will get a lot more problem reports after upgrades.

    Fast fall it was mostly computers failing to boot after upgrade, I wonder what it is this time.

  • Skip passwordless (Score:5, Informative)

    by sconeu ( 64226 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:16PM (#60111542) Homepage Journal

    In the US, the courts have ruled that you can be forced to provide biometrics to unlock/access your device, but that you can not be forced to divulge a password.

     

  • Go passwordless: Did you know -- for improved security and a simple sign-in experience, you can sign in with your face, fingerprint, or PIN?

    A PIN is *more* secure than a password?

    • Re:Hold the phone. (Score:5, Informative)

      by JediJorgie ( 700217 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:32PM (#60111636)

      You need to read all of their stuff...

      The consider a PIN to be more secure because it only works with physical access to the device so the PIN & Trusted device is more secure than a password because knowing the password will get you into multiple entry points, but knowing the PIN will only get you into that device.

      • Thanks for the info; did not know a PIN is local to a device (on Windows anyway). But as I only have local accounts on my PCs and would never create a cloud/Microsoft account or link my phone to my PCs a password should probably suffice.
      • Re:Hold the phone. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by SimonTheSoundMan ( 1012395 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @02:04PM (#60111814)

        PIN will get reused everywhere as well - phone, voicemail, tablet, house alarm, credit/debit card. You can tell the end user they can use a complex PIN with letters, numbers etc., they just end up reusing a password they use all over the place.

        I'm all for U2F, keycards, 2FA/MFA etc.

        • PIN will get reused everywhere as well

          Whether something "will" or something "must" are two different things. With the standard Microsoft Account you were forced to re-use the login. With the PIN that is now optional.

          Stupid people existing doesn't mean the underlying login system is broken.

          • Whether something "will" or something "must" are two different things. With the standard Microsoft Account you were forced to re-use the login. With the PIN that is now optional.

            You are not forced to do anything even if you are stupid enough to create a Microsoft account. You could create as many accounts as you want.

    • Yes, have you been living under a rock? Passwords are linked to your account, sent over a network, reused across devices, the compromising it is going to make your day suck quite a lot. PINs (can be as long and complicated just like your passwords) are device specific, stored in TPM and backed by its security features, not sent over network, and compromising it is just going to make your day not good.

      You're quite mad to still be using passwords on any cloud enabled windows device.

      • have you been living under a rock? Passwords are linked to your account, sent over a network, reused across devices,

        Wait, you're reusing your passwords across different devices, and those devices also send those passwords over the line?

        Yeah, living under a rock checks out.

        The only part of what you said that was true is that passwords are linked to an account. Which is perhaps not insightful.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by znrt ( 2424692 )

        Yes, have you been living under a rock? Passwords are linked to your account, sent over a network, reused across devices, the compromising it is going to make your day suck quite a lot. PINs (can be as long and complicated just like your passwords) are device specific, stored in TPM and backed by its security features, not sent over network, and compromising it is just going to make your day not good.

        so this windows update comes with a free tpm for my machine?

        oh wait:
        https://www.microsoft.com/secu... [microsoft.com]

        Adding a passwordless phone number Microsoft account to Windows.
        Passwordless sign-in to Windows for the first time with the Microsoft Authenticator app.
        Windows Hello certified as a FIDO2 authenticator for passwordless sign-in on the web.

        looks like it does get out to the network, actually into the blazing web, because it is actually a microsoft account in the cloud you just trust more ... to prevent physical access to your device. neat. this new generation never ceases to amaze me :)

        You're quite mad to still be using (...) any cloud enabled windows device.

        ftfy

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • so this windows update comes with a free tpm for my machine?

          You don't have TPM? It's a standard feature in most laptops and a standard feature in all AMD CPUs these days. So you don't have a secure hardware storage then PIN is no worse being on your local machine than passwords.

          oh wait:
          https://www.microsoft.com/secu... [microsoft.com]

          Adding a passwordless phone number Microsoft account to Windows.
          Passwordless sign-in to Windows for the first time with the Microsoft Authenticator app.
          Windows Hello certified as a FIDO2 authenticator for passwordless sign-in on the web.

          looks like it does get out to the network, actually into the blazing web, because it is actually a microsoft account in the cloud you just trust more ... to prevent physical access to your device. neat. this new generation never ceases to amaze me :)

          I

          • by znrt ( 2424692 )

            Why do you make it so difficult for people to use features of their device?

            hush, sweetie, you can play with your device however you want.

      • Re:Hold the phone. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @02:04PM (#60111808)

        You're quite mad to still be using passwords on any cloud enabled windows device.

        You are quite stupid if you "cloud enable" a windows device...

      • Yes, have you been living under a rock? Passwords are linked to your account, sent over a network, reused across devices, the compromising it is going to make your day suck quite a lot.

        Transmitting a password over a network even a "secure" network is inexcusable security fail. There is no excuse for failure to use secure authentication protocols. It's not the passwords fault Microsoft still to this day insists upon using insecure authentication methods.

        PINs (can be as long and complicated just like your passwords) are device specific,

        No evidence PINs would be any more unique across devices than passwords.

        stored in TPM and backed by its security features,

        So what?

        not sent over network, and compromising it is just going to make your day not good.

        Secure authentication does not require transmitting passwords over a network. (e.g. zero knowledge proof)

        You're quite mad to still be using passwords on any cloud enabled windows device.

        You're quite mad to still be using any cloud enabled

        • Transmitting a password over a network even a "secure" network is inexcusable security fail. There is no excuse for failure to use secure authentication protocols. It's not the passwords fault Microsoft still to this day insists upon using insecure authentication methods.

          Microsoft doesn't use insecure methods for login.

          No evidence PINs would be any more unique across devices than passwords.

          Well given the former gives you no choice at all, and the latter does, and we can safely assume that not 100% of users are stupid, yes the PINs would be more unique. And even if they were common to your devices that's still better than being common with your Microsoft account, which if compromised renders any security feature of your device such as the ability to remotely lock it down useless.

          So what?

          So you don't care about security so why are you even replying?

          Secure authentication does not require transmitting passwords over a network. (e.g. zero knowledge proof)

          I nev

          • Microsoft doesn't use insecure methods for login.

            You just described an insecure method in order to assert PIN is better and now you are saying Microsoft doesn't use insecure authentication methods which completely undermines your own argument.

            **HINT: Sending a password over a channel for authentication even if that channel is "encrypted" constitutes an INSECURE authentication method. Challenge response schemes are also INSECURE because they enable offline brute force vector which most passwords are unable to withstand.

            The fact of the matter is Microsoft

    • Yes, a PIN is more secure. A PIN has numbers - none of that alphabet stuff. Numbers are used for mathematics, while alphabets are used to write poetry. Therefore a PIN is more scientific and much better than a password.
    • This is a marketing blurb, the entire summary is a marketing push. Don't confuse the marketing of a product with what you will actually get.

  • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:38PM (#60111676)

    This update revives Bluetooth A2DP sink so you can finally use your laptop/PC to play music from a bluetooth device again. Yay Windows 7 features returning.

  • by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:44PM (#60111702) Journal
    So if my face shows up in the camera's field of view, and it is clearly alive, not dead, not an image, not a hi-res monitor showing the image of my face etc etc, *it is still just identification*. **It is not an authentication** to unlock anything.

    It is so messed up. Think about the concept of "Identity theft". Why should the knowledge of my SSN or my mother's maiden name or the name of the pet of the neighbor across the street when I was in fourth grade be considered an authentication by me? My identity is my identity, it can not be stolen, it can be known to the whole world. That is the whole idea of identity. "This is me".

    The US financial industry especially the lenders want to lend before the impulse to borrow passes. So they want to lend on identity. In most other countries it is not this easy to masquerade as someone else and borrow money on other people's identity. They have messed it up so much, conditioned the whole country so much, people constantly confuse identification with authentication.

    Why cant you support github markdowns, slashdot?

  • Windows has gotten less and less usable over the last 5 years or so. This continues the trend.

  • by neurocutie ( 677249 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:48PM (#60111740)

    I remember Notepad from Windows 2.11, that was 1989, over 30 years ago. It was essentially the same simplistic little program -- hardly any change at all. It probably was even in Windows 1.0. Its hilarious that over the past 30+ years they deign to make these tiny micro "improvements" to Notepad.

    • So true- it's hadrly changed from ver 1.0.

      It was barely serviceable then, and it's worthless dreck in these days.

      Improving Notepad is like fluffing the pillows on the Titanic.

  • Notepad++ (Score:5, Informative)

    by polyomninym ( 648843 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:57PM (#60111788)
    Once I found Notepad++, I was very happy. Been using it for years :) https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ [notepad-plus-plus.org]
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Whenever I cannot avoid Windows, I am using that one too. Maybe if MS improves notepad for another 1000 years or so, they will get anywhere near that level of usability. But I sincerely doubt that. MS is fundamentally incapable of reaching that level of usability. They have a cut-off point far, far lower where they believe everything is perfect.

      • Metapad is also pretty good for text editing. Single file, no install, but I think it might not be quite as full-featured as Notepad++.

    • Indeed I do as well. However I'm not going to install a new program to edit a text file on everyother machine when I'm helping a person, so the minor tweaks to Notepad for the systems that rarely if ever edit a text file are very welcome.

  • Notepad (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cygnusvis ( 6168614 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:59PM (#60111790)
    Microsoft is wasting its time with notepad, nobody who works in plain text for more than a few minutes will use it.
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Well, my guess is they have nothing else to offer. On basically any other changes, they would have to admit they screwed up.

    • Yup. Notepad is beyond dreadful, it's user-hostile.

      Notepad++ or Metapad are so much better than Notepad that they're not even on the same scale.

    • They already have visual studio code, which is excellent. Changes to notepad aren't likely meant to entice plain text workers away from the two dominant plain text editors microsoft already releases lol.... this comment is so off base.

      • Visual studio code is not installed by default, notepad is.
        You would be surprised how many people still use notepad, mostly because they don't know any better.
        I would also like to point out that where I currently work Notepad++ is put on all production servers, but I have worked at places that did not allow it and I had to use fisking notepad to edit stuffs. So an update to make it even slightly more usable would be very very welcome.
    • I use it all the time. In fact, I write stories in Notepad because I don't want to be annoyed with a piece software trying to tell me what to do.

      Because it's so simple is what makes it useful. You want more, go with Notepad++. You want simplicity, stay with the original (well, what used to be original).

      • If you want to lose all your work in Notepad because Windows reboots whenever the hell it feels like it, then continue using Notepad.
    • Microsoft is wasting its time with notepad, nobody who works in plain text for more than a few minutes will use it.

      Most people don't ever work in plain text for more than a few minutes, so it actually hits a use case for the majority of users.

    • by mabinogi ( 74033 )

      That's the POINT. If you just want somewhere to copy-paste some text, or quickly look at a text file, then you don't need anything more than Notepad.

      No one has ever suggested it was meant to be a universal text editor, code editor or word processor.

    • by Akzo ( 1079039 )
      Notepad is great for stripping hidden characters and formatting
      • I used Notepad for this all the time, and for this purpose it's absolutely perfect.

        If you have to work with terrible WYSIWYG editors like Atlassian's Confluence you will need to use Notepad or some similar dumb-as-bricks text editor a lot.

  • by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @02:27PM (#60111922) Journal

    "Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Update with Linux and Notepad Enhancements"

    Can you imagine that headline 10 or 15 years ago?

    Microsoft touting Windows and Linux in the same breath...will wonders never cease.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Wow, virtual desktops are finally enabled on Windows and only 27 years after this was a standard feature on my HP Apollo workstation. That was a slow "embrace", Microsoft.

  • by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @03:49PM (#60112320) Journal

    While I did read over the changes to Notepad, were they really necessary? I know some on here will whine, but I use Notepad because it's dead simple. No worrying about formatting text, no worrying about it doing something you don't want it to do. You type, it puts down characters. Nothing more, nothing less.

    I'm beginning to see a pattern. Apparently simple isn't good enough. It needs to be bedazzled simple.

    • Some developer wants "revamped tired old Notepad into a vibrant, diverse product" on her resume. Who cares if the proles suffer? She has a career to manage.
    • There's nothing bedazzled about a text editor that allows you to zoom to read tiny text, or has a find and replace function or the ability to quickly see if you have unsaved changes.

      Breath, relax, it is still very much the simplest dumbest text editor in Windows.

      Sometimes things can be too simple. A car with no brakes is simpler than a car with brakes, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to use one.

    • by WallyL ( 4154209 )
      Yeah, but has it gone full Gedit [slashdot.org] yet with feature/button loss?
  • Am I the only one worrying this update will take even longer than the current version to configure it as a usable desktop?

  • So I won't have to deal with GNU shit anymore.
  • by Billly Gates ( 198444 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @06:07PM (#60113012) Journal

    Microsoft Linux kernel has gpu acceleration, docker containers, 20x file access speed, wsl Visual Studio Code integration and you can use this with any distro off the Windows Store including Duuvan, Debian, Side, Kali, and Linux all without a reboot. Xorg support should be simple to port now. Basically it now achevies parity will the MacOSX development.

    Gamers will notice a ,30% to 40% fps boost with wddm 2.7 compliant drivers with Raytracing in directx mode. This will help games be Vulcan/doom like in quality and spec wise

  • by ad454 ( 325846 ) on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @06:13PM (#60113044) Journal

    A way to completely remove Microsoft bloatware from the OS including: bing, cortena, & store.

    Operating systems should be as clean as possible.

    If anyone want this or any other crap, they should download and install it.

    • Yes, definitely, and no.

      What was the no? The store. The Microsoft store should be fixed, the shit removed, and opened. The idea of having a centralised software distribution from within the OS is a good one, and the Store should be removed just as much as Apt should be removed from Ubuntu, which is to say not at all.

      E.g. having a central managed update system for apps is infinitely preferable to every program creating a damn system service to check for updates.

      The only problem with the Store at present is i

      • The idea of having a centralised software distribution from within the OS is a good one

        No, it's a horrible idea with enormous opportunity costs.

        and the Store should be removed just as much as Apt should be removed from Ubuntu, which is to say not at all.

        Linux has serious problems. The answer to everything Linux is source code. It's impossible to package non-trivial software without Micro-targeting specific versions and distributions or creating a parallel system. The packages managed by distros are often morbidly outdated and have unsustainable dependency graphs so complex they have to be managed by sat solvers. There is no useful baseline that software can assume exists.

        E.g. having a central managed update system for apps is infinitely preferable to every program creating a damn system service to check for updates.

        There is nothing wrong wi

  • These are "features?" They're more like minor tweaks to minor apps. Certainly nothing to make me jump on this -- think I'll wait for inevitable gotchas to come out.

  • I just hope to god that the new notepad isn't some slow as wpf crap, the current notepad may suck, but it sucks really really fast.

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