Windows 10

[USS KG5]

If they jump to a subscription service, it will likely require opting in, rather than making it all mandatory for those with a standard Windows OS. Honestly, though, they're probably more likely to give away the OS and make some services subscription only, which is where things are heading anyway.

Yeah try buying office licenses - they are pushing 365 so hard its starting to feel like attempted buggery.

 

[Random_Spock]

If they jump to a subscription service, it will likely require opting in, rather than making it all mandatory for those with a standard Windows OS. Honestly, though, they're probably more likely to give away the OS and make some services subscription only, which is where things are heading anyway.

Yeah try buying office licenses - they are pushing 365 so hard its starting to feel like attempted buggery.

Yea it's annoying -_-. If you don't have that then you only have the bare bones Windows Office. I remember when that wasn't around . The good times , back when Microsoft wasn't nickle and diming others.

 

[Amaris]

If they jump to a subscription service, it will likely require opting in, rather than making it all mandatory for those with a standard Windows OS. Honestly, though, they're probably more likely to give away the OS and make some services subscription only, which is where things are heading anyway.

Yeah try buying office licenses - they are pushing 365 so hard its starting to feel like attempted buggery.

Exactly. Eventually, the OS will be free, but if you want Office, that's a subscription. Like Movie Maker? Movie Maker Online is only a small monthly fee and you get more options, and so on, and so on.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The actual vulnerability exploited for the "fappening" has yet to be properly established. There have been hints about secret questions, so I suspect some research and hacking at the password reset system was involved.

The issue exploited for this was a really boneheaded one. Apple has a password recovery API, but they had a version of it meant to be used by certain Apple programs, and while they limited how many times you could use it from the frontend, they did not limit how many actual API calls you could make, or even rate limit them, so the hacker in question simply hammered the API with dictionary attacks until he compromised the accounts. It was not a technically sophisticated attack at all, just one requiring a lot of patience.

 

[JoeZhang]

If they jump to a subscription service, it will likely require opting in, rather than making it all mandatory for those with a standard Windows OS. Honestly, though, they're probably more likely to give away the OS and make some services subscription only, which is where things are heading anyway.

Yeah try buying office licenses - they are pushing 365 so hard its starting to feel like attempted buggery.

Exactly. Eventually, the OS will be free, but if you want Office, that's a subscription. Like Movie Maker? Movie Maker Online is only a small monthly fee and you get more options, and so on, and so on.

I'm not really bothered about paying for office365 given that it works out cheaper than my normal upgrade cycle - the way I look at it - I pay microsoft £12 a year for 1tb of storage and they throw in office, the office ipad apps and 120 minutes of skype calls.

 

[SPCTRE]

IAPs are way more terrifying a proposition than any subscription service ever could be.

I would totally pay $1.99 to unlock the original Mr Clippy skin for Office365 2.0 though.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

This issue has made at least one person I know, representing multiple associated enterprises, opt out of installing the "Windows 10 preview." Microsoft admits Windows 10 preview has a keylogger:

Microsoft is not only tracking how long it takes to open different types of files, or the make and model of device you're using, but it's also logging keystrokes and collecting voice recordings.

This would obviously include passwords.

My personal opinion regarding this is that this is really unfortunate, because it undermines the testing phase of the OS. I expect therefore that this will be a more weakly tested OS [in the pre-release phase] than previous releases. We shouldn't expect people to test processes that depend upon keystroke security, which includes an enormous range of critical processes. How much more weakly tested is really impossible to say right now. Microsoft will be in the best position to know, but I wouldn't expect them to disclose anything like that.

No word out yet on whether the final release will have such a logger, and how we will be able to know that it doesn't, though I have confidence that if such a thing exists, and is enabled, it will be soon discovered.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, that's pretty insane. I get wanting to compile usage metrics but storing all keystrokes ain't the way to do it.

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, that's pretty insane. I get wanting to compile usage metrics but storing all keystrokes ain't the way to do it.

Exactly. I was over on a few tech forums, one of them Neowin, and while Microsoft was saying they were only using it to improve predictive text and spellcheck, one of the users noted his data also included many of his website login details, sans passwords.

Some of the people there were saying not to use passwords, but if you're really testing an OS, you'll want to see how its applications access websites, virtual drives, and other programs that may require a password, so I found that argument silly.

 

[SPCTRE]

10 Days With Windows 10: Is It Worth Installing The Beta?

I’ve spent just over a week with the ‘technical preview’ of Microsoft’s newly-announced Windows 10. This build is unfinished but very much working, and available to all for free, for the time being. Infamously, it was supposed to be called Windows 9, but changed to 10 Because Marketing. Much more than living up to a fabricated number rides on its shoulders, however – can it possibly undo the bad rep of Windows 8?

Well, it’s fine.

N.B. the Technical Preview is not a finished or complete version of Windows 10. Any of the below is subject to change – I’m simply talking about whether it’s worth installing this right now, not about whether you should buy the release version (which will most likely happen late next year.) A ‘Consumer’ preview is also expected for early next year, which may well increase the whizzbang factor. I’ll report again then if there’s more to add.


The Technical Preview is basically a pointless update from Windows 7 in its current build, but fine. For the most part, it’s rolling back the miserably short-sighted mistakes of Windows 8, even more so than the 8.1 update already had, but to the average eye it’s now very hard to ascertain just what it does differently to or better than trusty old Windows 7. (If you’re still on XP, it’s a much more meaningful step on).

Under the hood, it does mean we get Windows 8′s improved and faster codebase, and perhaps some greater degree of future-proofing, but this is fairly nebulous stuff. DirectX 12, if it proves to be exclusive to Win 10 (this has not been announced one way or the other as yet), may make the difference, but right now I cannot point to a single element of Windows 10 that would cause me to say “you should upgrade from Windows 7 because of this.”

I’m not sure I could say “you should upgrade from Windows 8 because of this” either, as most of that particular whipping boy’s ‘hey, let’s just randomly mash desktop and tablet UIs together because no-one in their right mind uses a traditional PC these days, right?’ misfires have already been remedied by third-party applications. If you’ve been resistant to those for any reason, then yes, you may well have a comfortable time if you upgrade from Windows 8/8.1 to the W10 Technical Preview.


That said, I quite like Windows 10, and I’m pleased to find that the free-to-all (for now) ‘technical preview’ has proven rock solid and thrown up zero compatibility errors so far. I’ve also played a wide selection of games on it with no issues whatsoever (but again, only so far). If you want to take a punt on it for a no-strings (financially, at least) sample of what post-7 Windows is like, I’ve found no reason at all not to, bar the faff of potentially backing up and reinstalling stuff. Give it a spin for fun, basically.

Here’s what I like:

It feels fast. Not lightning fast, but just a little faster than 7 and maybe even 8. However, I think some of this is a beauty-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder thing. It looks more modern than its predecessors, in terms of going a little further with the flat UI ethos that Win 8′s ‘Metro’ approach uses, but dialing down the somewhat garish colours, and that modernity may be encouraging me too think “ooh, whizzy-fast!” The Metro stuff is more in the background now, trying to steal attention less. I probably couldn’t tell you without the assistance of a psychoanalyst whether this really is that it’s ‘more modern’ or simply that it’s a) less familiar and b) more coherent. I am pretty sure it’s quicker to boot up, however. There have been no stability issues as yet either.
Er, I basically already said this, but it looks a little prettier. Buttons are subtle, there’s a pleasant use of straight lines and transparency, and all told it doesn’t do that ‘ugh, Windows‘ thing that most XP and beyond versions of the OS elicit from anyone with even a faint fondness for visual style.
So far, it very much seems to have broken with Windows’ long tradition of a whole bunch of software and drivers being initially incompatible with a new version of the OS. Almost everything has Just Worked, and there have been no games issues whatsoever – even the Oculus Rift has been happy on W10.
I’ve had only two niggles so far, one of which was that drivers for my Radeon card wouldn’t install via the executable – I had to do it via device manager manually, then install the Catalyst Control Centre separately. Subsequently a new beta driver came out, and that installed OK, however. K-lite Codec Pack, which I used for watchin’ ma movies, also didn’t work until they shoved out a special W10-friendly beta. That’s it so far though, which really isn’t bad going.
No more Start Screen, at least not unless you want it. This feels like a pure-blooded desktop OS again, not an awkward touchscreen hybrid. ‘Metro’ apps continue to exist, but can now be seen and resized on the desktop, rather than necessating switching to a counter-productive fullscreen view. This does raise a question of their purpose – e.g. why isn’t Windows Mail just a standard Windows program? – but I suppose you’d fullscreen them and swipe between them if you did have a tablet or touchscreen monitor. Again though, the overall sense is Microsoft stepping backwards rather than forwards. It was the smart thing to do, but frankly it doesn’t leave Windows 7 looking more outdated.

Virtual desktops work pretty easily, though perhaps need a slight menu overhaul in terms of sending apps to a different desktop or making stuff ‘snap’ into position. It’s something that’s existed in third-party programs for yonks, but it’s good to have it built-in at last. I find this particularly useful since I stopped using two monitors a few months back (it just felt a bit oppressive, basically), as now I’ve got a desktop dedicated to email, RPS chatroom, Twitter and that sort of thing, which I can quickly switch to when coming out of a game to check that the world hasn’t exploded. Unfortunately, Windows 10 doesn’t remember your virtual desktop setup upon a reboot, which is an enormous oversight, and one I hope is fixed before full launch.
It installs very quickly and easily. The days of XP’s long-winded, question-strewn installs are long gone by this point.
The Start Menu’s back. It’s impossible not to feel relieved. I know there’s an argument that those who prefer start menus to start screens are simply set in their ways, but there is a fundamental difference between calling up a menu and calling up a whole new screen when you’re looking for a program. Additionally, this no longer feels like you’re being taken off into a completely different operating system. It’s part and parcel again now.
The mother-lovin’ Charms are gone. The settings menus that could only be reached by rubbing the cursor against the far right edge of the screen have been banished in favour of in-app drop-downs. Again, really it’s a rewind, but it’s a vital one.

So yeah, Windows 10 is fine. Obviously this is an unfinished version, so Exciting New Additions may turn up further down the line (by all accounts, Microsoft are currently much more focused on convincing Windows 8-phobic businesses to upgrade than they are consumers, so there may well be more in the wings) but right now it’s fine in the way Windows 7 was fine – i.e. nothing is brazenly wrong-headed.

The trouble, once again, is that it’s so focused on undoing the mistakes of Windows 8 that reasons to upgrade from 7 are hard to come by. The main takeaway, I suppose, is that if you’re in the market for a new gaming machine next year, you don’t need to run screaming from ones that have W10 preinstalled. Indeed, once DirectX 12 is doing the rounds, this may well become the go-to OS – much as such exclusivity wouldn’t be a noble move. Let’s just hope that the Consumer Preview in a few months offers more reasons to add a digit or two (or three) to our Windowses.

The Windows 10 Technical Preview is available for free (if time-limited) download now – you can upgrade to it from Windows 7 or 8. A consumer preview will follow early next year. The final release date is TBC, but likely to be in the latter half of 2015.

 

[Random_Spock]

This issue has made at least one person I know, representing multiple associated enterprises, opt out of installing the "Windows 10 preview." Microsoft admits Windows 10 preview has a keylogger:

Microsoft is not only tracking how long it takes to open different types of files, or the make and model of device you're using, but it's also logging keystrokes and collecting voice recordings.

This would obviously include passwords.

My personal opinion regarding this is that this is really unfortunate, because it undermines the testing phase of the OS. I expect therefore that this will be a more weakly tested OS [in the pre-release phase] than previous releases. We shouldn't expect people to test processes that depend upon keystroke security, which includes an enormous range of critical processes. How much more weakly tested is really impossible to say right now. Microsoft will be in the best position to know, but I wouldn't expect them to disclose anything like that.

No word out yet on whether the final release will have such a logger, and how we will be able to know that it doesn't, though I have confidence that if such a thing exists, and is enabled, it will be soon discovered.

... I think I'll pass on Windows 10 for now. Keylogging isn't the way to go, Microsoft.

 

[Kemaiku]

"Windows 10: It's not shit!" doesn't sound like a winning slogan, but that's all it's got going for it right now?

Oh they better produce some killer apps in the next very near damn shortly or Windows 7 is going to have to have it's support life lengthened considerably until they make a decent replacement.

 

[{ Emilia }]

I don't really see any potential for new killer apps that are exclusive for Win 10 at this stage.

The next version of DirectX is probably the closest it can get to that and it's not like everybody is going to care.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, the next version of DX will only matter if Win10 obtains wide enough adoption for game developers to target it. Same thing happened with Vista/7. Few games went exclusively DX10 until Win7 had some serious penetration.

 

[Count Zero]

So, after reading that article I have to ask - are codec packs really still a thing? I gave up on them way back when VLC came along.

 

[CorporalClegg]

For anyone who doesn't use VLC, yes. Not that I know anyone who doesn't use VLC.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I gave up on codec packs a while ago for VLC, too.

 

[USS KG5]

The actual vulnerability exploited for the "fappening" has yet to be properly established. There have been hints about secret questions, so I suspect some research and hacking at the password reset system was involved.

The issue exploited for this was a really boneheaded one. Apple has a password recovery API, but they had a version of it meant to be used by certain Apple programs, and while they limited how many times you could use it from the frontend, they did not limit how many actual API calls you could make, or even rate limit them, so the hacker in question simply hammered the API with dictionary attacks until he compromised the accounts. It was not a technically sophisticated attack at all, just one requiring a lot of patience.

Oh that really is dumb!

 

[FPAlpha]

Which is why the whole cloud idea is so dangerous because companies can not be trusted to really develop a safe service because everything can be hacked if it's on the internet and the payoff is worth it.

People are just too trusting and too lazy nowadays to look a little bit more indepth at these services. They're easy to use and very convenient but putting highly sensitive data like nude pictures in them is very dumb (especially if you are a well liked celebrity).

Now as to Win10:

Well, my company is only now beginning to phase out WinXp for Win7 (for which i'll be very grateful once it happens) so i don't see them using Win10 anytime soon (or at least for the time i plan to be with this company). Given how complex these OS's are it's afe to assume there will be security risks and any IT department wil do suqat to install a new OS in their company without the worst being fixed. With an established (old) OS they know the workings and have experience so new systems are usually met with scepticism at best and usually the bosses are loathe to spend money on a system if the old one runs well enough.

Personally i'll wait and see what happens with Win10 once it's fully released and people had time to really test it. Win8 was utter garbage and i cursed quite a few times when i had to install it on my dad's new netbook so i gave this one a wide pass.

I'm very happy with Win7 on my machine though i also had no major problems with Vista or XP.

 

[Maxillius]

Nothing I've read here makes me want to even *try* W10. I miss 7 but had to go back to XP because I lost my 7 install disk in a move but I can't get rid of that XP box. Still, even 98 sound better than 10. Is Microsoft *really* trying to push people onto dumb terminals?!?