I'm putting this in GD to ensure everyone that might care sees it.
According to news on Steve's GN (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I28QYyhIZuo) MS are about to kill new Win 10 licences. No, not killing off updates to existing installs but, as I understand it, killing off being able to buy new W10 licences for new builds .... unless you can find retail copies in stock somewhere.
This has apparently already happened, as of 31st Jan 2023.
Personally, not impressed, to put it mildly.
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
AGTDenton (02-02-2023),neonplanet40 (03-02-2023)
It was always going to happen eventually. I know Windows 10 has a reputation of being "good" in the good-bad windows cycle, but it's not in my opinion. It tries to take control away from you at every opportunity. Is windows 11 that much worse? (genuinely I don't know - I haven't used windows 11)
AGTDenton (02-02-2023)
That's a yes. What did you expect?Originally Posted by Jonatron
They still haven't sorted out their control panels (Metro UI can still only do about 70% of stuff), but the most annoying "let's take control away from users because we know best" is that all windows are now combined into icons on the taskbar even - and this hard to understand - there is plenty of space. So unless the window you want is recent when Alt-Tab'ing or Win-Tab'ing you have have to mouse hover over to get to the window you actually wanted.
Not much else to report really. Still mostly broken I guess (I already mentioned Metro & old control panels) and I think they made the Windows Explorer worse again. I'm still annoyed that tab'ing between panes hasn't worked properly in Windows Explorer for ages - I hate having to reach for the mouse all the time!
Do we know how long Win 10 is supported for? I still can't bring myself to "upgrade" to Win 11 even though it's free and I keep getting prompts and full screen shenanigans from Microsoft with different button layouts to try and trick you to install it.
I have Windows 11 on my main rig, but all I do on that is a bit of surfing and some gaming, I upgraded from Windows 10 because I could, and I tend to do a reinstall once a year at least.
We still run 10 at work though due to some issues with Kenwood software and drivers for programming stuff and I imagine it'll stay that way until we are forced to upgrade, hopefully by then 12 will be out and we'll have changed the UI back to how it should be rather than, as mentioned above, Metro's 70% ability, and back onto a 'good' version on the good/bad wheel..
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/li...0-home-and-pro
As usual it won't just magically fall apart on that date. I continue to use XP & 7 in some circumstances and it hasn't blown apart or been hacked etc... Of course you have to make sure your network/router are up to scratch and not visit naughty websites. Continue to use it as you see fit imho and not be pressured into upgrading. Treat it like an old car that is a health & safety liability but an old friend you don't mind taking care of
Iota (04-02-2023)
Does Windows 11 insist on a Microsoft login? That worry has been holding me back.
I'm running 10 Pro on my home PC, but it's only a game launching platform for me as I do real work in Linux. I probably shouldn't be so prickly on the subject, after all I have to log into my phone with my Google account for it to be properly useful and once in Windows 10 I log Chrome in as well to share bookmarks etc. It just feels like logging into Windows does nothing really positive for me, though I can see what's in it for Microsoft.
I don't have a Microsoft login for Windows 11, it runs from a local account.
Though not sure if I needed mine for setup. There are ways around that though(as long as those methods still work).
Think I used mine for setup then changed to a local account after install.
Jon
DanceswithUnix (02-02-2023)
I keep declining it on my PC too. My laptop is too old anyhow. The work laptop* is on 11 though and that has a MS account.
I was considering saying yes to the nag screen upgrade offer but then though a full backup of the boot driver might be a good idea - or even clone the boot drive and say yes on only one.
* That work laptop performs pretty poorly though (and this is more a Alder Lake rant) with some SQL queries taking over twice as long as on my own old Haswell laptop. A bit better if I disable the E Cores. Throttles too on a 65W supply so it's a "U" chip which wants 90W? No idea what "U" means for Intel nowadays. Even tried that SQL query with MSSQL2022 just in case the legacy (2016) we use doesn't like Intel hybrid but it was the same.
DanceswithUnix (02-02-2023)
Do you mean this week, or last week?
It seems to be a moving target. Last time I checked, you "can" dodge the MS account (and yes, that definitely isone reason I don't want W11), but they're making it harder almost weekly, it seems.
It went from "choose", to "choose, if you spot the tiny link", to "did you remember to turn wifi off and disconnect LAN before starting", to "we won't give you the option but if you use non-existent email/phone several times, we'll eventually concede and offer a local account".
What winds me up is detecting the trend isn't hard.
It's almost like a bear trap .... good to avoid and not (yet) that hard, prviding you're looking before you start. So ... how long before they close off all the 'hacks' that can get you a local account, if you really are determined (and I am).
Even more worrying is :-
- they have a habit of changing things 'on-the-fly' via updates, and
- this thread already has mentioned their "MS knows best, do it our way" ethos, over UI.
Another bugbear of mine (I might have mentioned it before) is the forcing of the menu bar to the bottom. I'd guess that's where most people want it anyway, so would barely notice let alone care. But I've had it on the top since, dunno, Win 3/x?
I'm used to it, dammit. Yes, I could actually find things on the bottom but no, I don't flippin' want to, MS.
What especially frosts my conkers, and at the same time, exemplifies the MS attitude, is it's always been optional. Default t bottom by all means, BUT .... if, like me, you want iit on the top, unlock, move, relock, job done. But MS have explicitly gne out of their way to stop me setting up the screen on MY PC/laptops how I always have, and want to.
With that in mind, how long before they get serious about uutterly stopping peole from using local accounts? Dunno.
NOTE 1. Yes, there are tools to un-remove the menu bar lock, and move it to the top (etc). I shouldn't have o install those.
NOTE 2. Yeah, my argument about on-the-fly updae changes kinda undermines the "not going to W11" argument, as MS will likely do the very esh-heaitch-one-tea I detest in W11, to W10 via on-the-sly, sorry typo, fly() updates.
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
DanceswithUnix (02-02-2023)
You can move the menu bar by editing the Registry but yes have certainly made it less user friendly to do
Jon
Since GEM Desktop in my case, but I've adapted to a bottom feeding menu now and just accept it.
Played with GEM, but I bypassed DR entirely in the end, straight to Windows. from DOS. I think I said Win 3.x but I was using it from, IIRC, Win 2.something. I just can't remember for sure where the menu bar was. But wherever it was, and whenever it was locatable at the top, that's when I did it. My first actual home computer, as opposed to merely programmable calculators like the TI model I have somewhere, was an Apple II Europlus. I went rhrough the Tandy (TRS 3 and TRS 4, possibly 2) machines and others like Sirius and even Apricot, to PC. That was in the sort-of Amstrad 1512/1640 (*) if I remember the designations but I missed those and my first PC was a Dell 286. But I'd been using mainframes for about 13 or 14 years by then. Still got that Apple II, BTW. Ah, those were the days, config and autoexec, QEMM for memory management, and so on. Given all the faffing about just optising memory usage, I'm surprised I ever found tme to get work done. Found plenty of time for playing Wizardy, Commander Keen, Castle Wolfenstein (and, years later, RTCW of course) etc, though.
(*) I even remember asking an "expert" in a certain high street chain about Amstrad, only to be told that you needed the bigger hard drive for colour to work.I never bought a PC in that store from that date forward, largely due to that lying (or, if I'm being charitable, ignorant) up-selling <bleep>.
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
My first delve into PC's was an Apricot F1e. Then a Tandy 1000TX with a rather expensive hard drive in it. Originally went to buy a what was known at the time as a "hard card" but it was too big for Tandy case so got the hard drive instead. Years later when I opened the case I found they had strapped it to the side of the case with duct tape because the drive spaces were full with 5.25" and 3.5" drives
Jon
I remember "rather expensive hard drives"very well. I started with two 20MB, then went to an 80MB. From that to a 338MB (which was HUGE, in capacity, price and physically beig full-height) and that 338MB drive was £1500. Second hand. And for any youngsters used to GB and TB, yes, I really do mean MB in all the above.
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
My first drive was actually 20MB, cost hundreds. Well my parents anyway. One of my friends dads worked at IBM and were lucky enough to have a PS/2 at the time. Times have certainly changed.
Jon
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