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Microsoft Windows IT

Microsoft Reopens Windows 10 Beta Testing For 'New Features' and Improvements (theverge.com) 34

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 in October 2025, but the company is now taking the unusual step of reopening its beta program for Windows 10 to test new features and improvements. From a report: Windows 10 already got the AI Copilot feature that was originally exclusive to Windows 11, and it may well get other features soon. "To bring new features and more improvements to Windows 10 as needed, we need a place to do active feature development with Windows Insiders," explains Microsoft's Windows Insider team in a blog post. "So today, we are opening the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders who are currently on Windows 10."

Microsoft hasn't revealed what additional Windows 10 features it plans to test next, but Windows Insiders can opt into the beta channel to get them early. Crucially, the Windows 10 end of support date of October 14th, 2025 is still unchanged. "Joining the Beta Channel on your Windows 10 PC does not change that," says Microsoft.
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Microsoft Reopens Windows 10 Beta Testing For 'New Features' and Improvements More

Microsoft Reopens Windows 10 Beta Testing For 'New Features' and Improvements

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  • God damn. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nightflameauto ( 6607976 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2024 @09:52AM (#64524807)

    Is this because there are too many people clinging to Windows 10 in the hopes that their system won't be taken over by AI data aggregation subroutines that they can't turn off? Because it seems like this is just shoveling all the shitware backwards, rather than letting people use those systems as they already. I suppose there's something to be said about the number of folks blocked from installing 11 because of supposed hardware issues, even with newer systems, but do we really want them backporting all this nonsense to 10?

    What are we gonna do if we can't get our software running under another OS? I have a few critical things I need that I can't get running under Linux. And while I used to be Mac OS X oriented, Apple disappointed me enough to jump back to Windows for the same purposes. Now Microsoft is determined that the system be completely used up by their background processes and fuck you, the person paying for the system, if you want to use it. What's a person that just wants a system to get some work done gonna do?

    It's honestly enough I may just give up on the whole recording thing. Linux works well for the audio aspects, but sucks at the plugin side of things. And while my plugins all work under either MacOS or Windows, Apple is impossible to work with anymore, and Microsoft is determined to do anything but get out of the way of the end-user. So what the fuck is a guy looking for a reliable computer to get some work done supposed to do? Roll back to a much older system just to get something done?

    • Re:God damn. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by omnichad ( 1198475 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2024 @09:57AM (#64524825) Homepage

      It's probably not an intent to backport features to Windows 10 users - that much is likely.

      But they don't have enough testing to ensure stability for Windows 11 features - they have to find Windows 10 users to test the software with. It's not like the software won't work on 10 or probably even 8.

      They think new features is an incentive to update and don't want to release them on 10. Meanwhile 10 users get more and more reasons to stay where they are because they thankfully won't have the features forced on them even with the OS still in the full support window.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      Maybe they've gotten enough traction with the extended support, even with the cost, that they've decided to add more features to it despite the 10/2025 expiration. I continue to use 10 because, in part, it's nice having an OS that doesn't change on me all of the time.

      • This is most likely. Extended support plus features in some future app, perhaps Office, may require these to be present in order to work on Windows 10.

    • Re:God damn. (Score:5, Informative)

      by ByTor-2112 ( 313205 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2024 @11:35AM (#64525091)

      Use a VM. I have customers who are using a virtualized XP machine to run critical process control software that is never going to be updated and they don't want to spend the very large amount of money required to migrate to something else. It will live forever as a virtual machine, isolated from any external networks except for one TCP port for one specific application that only connects to one specific endpoint. If your Windows 10 machine needs internet access, firewall the VM and only allow outbound connections to only the site(s) needed. You could use a transparent proxy that does packet inspection even for HTTPS. If it's doing some custom network stuff, that's more difficult.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      That's what they did to 7. One of the last ditch patches was to backport windows 10 spyware suite into it.

      But that largely failed because windows 7 was opt in to updates, not "fuck you, we're shoving them up your ass and we're not telling you what they even are" windows 10 update model.

      If you still run a win 7 machine, and accidentally ingested that garbage from windows update, here's the uninstall script:

      https://gist.github.com/xvital... [github.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Keep old machines and/or use virtual machines.

  • Its about the only way to use Windows and not get the latest M$ bullshitware shoved down your throat.

    Fortunately there's some good resources out there on how to grab LTSC and activate it.

    • It's amazing .... how many sites i've had to migrate *off* of LTSC because of an IT guy who "knew better" ..... and decided to use it instead of regular mainline Pro/Enterprise.

      Application support, security functionality, games, etc.....

      Why are people so bloody fixated on using windows embedded (Or POSReady or Industry Pro or $insert_name_here) which is tooled for ... essentially, single application kiosk purposes, as a desktop OS? It's not fit for purpose.

  • Fix Bugs! Don't add Shitware! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2024 @10:15AM (#64524877) Journal

    There are bugs that have been documented for several years yet not fixed. Work on those BEFORE adding new crap that nobody wants. People use Windows for compatibility, NOT toys.

    • Such as not registering every mouse click. W10 is rife with this issue and Microsoft completely ignores it.

    • Oh did you think the features were for their users? That's a nice setting you got there, would be a shame if someone were to revert it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by chrish ( 4714 )

      Nobody gets promoted for maintaining software or eliminating technical debt, only new features and/or new monetizations are valuable to companies. Fixing bugs is done on an emergency basis based on customer complaints (if the customer is large enough), it's not included in any planning.

      Asking teams nicely to address a form of technical debt is basically my day job, so yay.

  • 240 Million devices could be sent to landfills (Score:5, Interesting)

    by NormAtHome ( 99305 ) on Wednesday June 05, 2024 @10:46AM (#64524965)

    I read an article either here on Slashdot or someplace else months ago that governments were begging Microsoft to extend Windows 10's life because the EOL date would cause over 240 millions devices that are in otherwise good working condition to be sent to landfills "prematurely". I'm sure in general governments don't want to pay for more support but likewise some are calling the end of Windows 10 an "ewaste apocalypse" with an estimated equivalent to 320,000 cars suddenly needing to be recycled: https://interestingengineering... [interestin...eering.com] or https://www.lgnetworksinc.com/... [lgnetworksinc.com] so I hope Microsoft has a change of heart and adds a couple years so that a slower migration to newer devices can take place.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Gavino ( 560149 )
      Well if they are old, they probably suck more electricity than a modern PC/laptop, so maybe they should be recycled. The ones that aren't that old, it is possible to install another OS on them, like Linux. For the people sticking with Windows, I think the big shame is that ARM64 isn't in widespread use as of now, but hopefully it will be by the time Windows 10 goes EOL, because ARM64 will most-likely be more power efficient than X86_64.

    • I read an article either here on Slashdot or someplace else months ago that governments were begging Microsoft to extend Windows 10's life because the EOL date would cause over 240 millions devices that are in otherwise good working condition to be sent to landfills "prematurely". I'm sure in general governments don't want to pay for more support but likewise some are calling the end of Windows 10 an "ewaste apocalypse" with an estimated equivalent to 320,000 cars suddenly needing to be recycled: https://interestingengineering... [interestin...eering.com] or https://www.lgnetworksinc.com/... [lgnetworksinc.com] so I hope Microsoft has a change of heart and adds a couple years so that a slower migration to newer devices can take place.

      And Microsoft listened. That's why, for the first time ever, regular users like you and me (and small companies too) can enter the (paid) Win10 ESU program. That will keep our Windows 10 machines ticking with 22H2 until Oct 2028.

      Meanwhile, medium and large companies (and Goverments) have it even better, they are spoiled for choice:

      * Not only those companies can enter the ESU, they can also choose to use Win10 LTSC 2021, keeping their machines secure until early 2027 at no additional cost (again the ESU is

      • "* Not only those companies can enter the ESU, they can also choose to use Win10 LTSC 2021, keeping their machines secure until early 2027 at no additional cost (again the ESU is paid)."

        LTSC is not something we at medium/large companies use. My business unit is only 40,000 users out of our company. LTSC is expressly forbidden, from both a management and security perspective.

        LTSC is allowed *on embedded devices* that we manufacture. That's it. Nothing else.

        LTSC should *never* be used as a general purpose des

  • Only a few years ago, we would all be referring to this as spyware, searching for every way to turn it off or even uninstall it. Cybersecurity folks would be looking long and hard at it because it is a major attack surface and full of juicy data, because it would be keeping records of PII, HIPAA, CUA, and any other acronym you can come up with to describe sensitive data that cannot be disclosed without going through appropriate controls... never mind what it would do in a classified environment.

    It sure see

  • So, are the adding Recall to Windows 10 ? That will get people off Windows 10 quickly.

  • I smell a rat. "New features"? Windows 11 has struggled to even retain the same features Windows 10 had. Now it seems they want to push Windows 11 features to Windows 10 so that Windows 10 will suck just as hard, and users will have even fewer reasons not to upgrade.

    • That's not the reason. Call me paranoid, but I believe it's a push to get all possible computers monitored to a certain level, in a group effort between the government and the rich.
  • We must F up everything that people like!

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