Windows 10 News and Announcements...

Patch Lady – okay Microsoft, how about you help? Askwoody.com | October 19th, 2019 at 19:22

So the other day the only place I could find solid actionable information about the risk of attacks from the IE zero day was on a Microsoft 365 ATP E5 console called the Threat analytics dashboard. It was the only place that gave me information that assured me that we could wait until the issues with the patches were dealt with and we didn’t need to rush to patch. Today I went to the console and saw there was a new alert. At the bottom of the alert is brand new wording:

© Microsoft 2019. All rights reserved. Reproduction or distribution of the content of this site, or any part thereof, without written permission of Microsoft is prohibited​

Sigh. So there goes another resource that Microsoft is limiting access to just certain paying customers. Once upon a time Microsoft gave actionable information that helped administrators of all sizes to make smarter decisions about security and the risks they face. They told everyone ahead of time on the Thursday before the second Tuesday the types of patches to expect. They had webcasts open to all customers to help all of us understand how to deploy updates better.

Now we have a MSRC blog that just tells us to turn on automatic updates and provides no overall discussion about risks. Thanks guys, but I rushed out that out of band update and spent several HOURS fitzing with printers, updating drivers, removing the update – and in one case had to roll the entire workstation back to the week before to get printing working again. Customers with premier support contracts are the only folks that still get security guidance webcasts. Customers with premier support contracts still get the security patch heads up email on the Thursday before Patch Tuesday.

We’re told by Microsoft that Patching is a social responsibility. Well yes, Microsoft it is. And you have a social responsibility to all of your customers large and small to treat their IT assets with respect. You need to do the right thing and release better patches that don’t break printing (as a recent sample of impact) and you need to release better information to all customers to help us understand the risks of not patching as well as patching. You have a responsibility to all of your customers, and not just those with premier support contracts.

 

The real desktop OS. Wasn't intended for phones or slimy pads as the new and shiny Win 10.


Windows 7 celebrates the official 10th birthday today
good Morning October 22, 2019 19:01

Gosh, it's been 10 years since Microsoft officially released its new operating system. I guess by that time many had already risked a look and were thrilled. As a successor to Vista, for many an improvement

The many Windows 7 mourning you can understand. It was not yet as entangled as Windows 10. You could disable services, make your Windows 7 as you wanted it. But it is now 10 years. A very long time in the software world.

@Mr. Fox +++

 

Excellence never goes out of style, and I have no intention to stop using Windows 7 as long as I can activate it through conventional or unconventional means. I haven't really needed or relied on their "support" since Windows 7 SP1, so the approaching end of their support is inconsequential and irrelevant as far as I am concerned. About the only thing that will eventually make me stop using it is the inability to obtain hardware device drivers. The writing is on the wall and that day will come sooner than I want it to. But, until then, there is no reason to embrace the "modern" trash with open arms.

At it's worst, I will begrudgingly tolerate Windows 10 over Mac OS, and in large part that is due to the hideously unacceptable level of compromise that accompanies that at a hardware level. As the world grows smarter, our tech just keeps getting dumber and dumber. The solipsism of the Redmond Retards and the Cupertino Clown Posse is nothing short of stupefying. Why do so many things in today's tech world have to suck so bad?

 

Some consider it exciting. Go figure.

Another round of Kool-Aid for everyone...

Not sure what they think. Or, even if they do think. But, from where I am sitting it certainly feels like they don't give a rat's butt about anything. Actions speak louder than words.

I'm holding onto both cheeks. We're going on a wild ride on a road that leads to nowhere.

 

Actually this is rather very simple: if you look at MS stock price, about 5 yrs ago it was as low as $40, right now it sits at about $136, more than x3 times higher and this was despite total fiasco with their phone adventure etc It seems to me MS supporting Windows is just a drag on their earnings and there is a reason why it seems like MS is one of the biggest Linux supporters LOL. So yes, it's all about money and as long as that is coming I don't foresee any changes at all. Isn't monopoly greatest thing ever

 

I love it when big companies make a butt-load of money. That's awesome and we need more of them making big money and providing good jobs with nice benefits. Can't hate that. I hope they keep making money hand over fist so that the people that work there can provide for their families and maybe sock away a few bucks for retirement. Keeps huge streams of tax money flowing as well.

What I do hate... vehemently... is when they make big money peddling absolute garbage and get away with it because the limited alternatives suck equally bad, suck worse, or they don't even exist in a suckier format.

 

Why is Windows 10 a mess? Ex-Microsoft engineer blames the culture of 'made-men'
Windows 10 could be better if only Microsoft got rid of its layers of made-men, according to a former Microsoft distinguished engineer.

Zdnet.com By Liam Tung | October 24, 2019 -- 13:17 GMT (06:17 PDT)

Tired of boring, buggy Windows 10 updates? You can blame them on Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's failure to eliminate the company's legacy of appointing "made-men".

 

I've blamed him all along. He's more of a dufus than Balmer ever was. Things have been on a downhill slide since Gates stopped calling all of the shots. "Forward thinking" is nice, but only when the forward thoughts are not stupid. Yeah, they are making more money now than before, but there are more stupid people now than there used to be, too. Birds of a feather... And, recent history has taught us that if something is super-popular, it probably sucks. Facebook, turdbooks, etc. Power to the sheeple.

...and, it's very true.

 

To MSFT and others, catering to Enterprise and new Buzzwords gain more money than focus on consumer SW.
I wonder if W10 will be merged with Azure Cloud platform if they deem W10 isn't worthy anymore!

 

This isn’t an Enterprise OS version. But a coming OS from Redmond for notebooks

https://hothardware.com/news/windows-10x-leak

According to the leaked details, it appears as if Windows 10X will also come to traditional notebooks as well. Twitter user and frequent Microsoft leaker WalkingCat discovered the documentation online.

X for Extreme?

 

Another edition to keep track of!

 

X for extreme bloatware edition

 

Hmm. Seems like Extreme feces to me. With merely one look at it, and without any need to bother trying to use it, I am instantly ready to permanently condemn that utter filth. Mr. Conehead sums it up nicely... unacceptable.

 

^^^ and coming next: Windows 10 XP ! No store, no ms account stuff, zero crapps, minimal telemetry, no onedrive, no forced updates, open shell (acquired by ms), 10 years security support etc, the fastest, lightest, most stable, best OS ever released...

Ah sorry, just woke up, had this dream full of hopes about a never-to-be fine future.

 

This man lives on the moon and without contact with the outside world.

Bill Gates: Without competition, Windows Phone would have won
Published on November 7, 2019 by Günter Born

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Bill Gates' thesis: If there had been no US antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in the early 2000s, we would call today with Windows Phone devices instead of Android.

 

Balmer was the man!

 

Ha, what the hell was going on there!? Looks like he took some illicit substances before going on stage! Was that dancing or just excited pacing, I'm confused?!

 

Here's this video from 2011. He just has a passionate and energetic personality.



Steve Ballmer takes excitement to new levels of crazy | CNET - April 29, 2017

Steve Ballmer is still very hyped | The Verge - July 24, 2019

 

Oh man, I dunno, I'm not sure I can take your word for it, those levels of excitement are something else! May his heart stay in one piece for one more day!

 

Just think how great things could be with Micro$lop and computing in general if the industry was dominated by technology leaders with those levels of energy and passion.

Things suck from the top down. It shows in Windows and most of the hardware it runs on, and the alternative (crApple) is even worse... not to mention the end users that are so content with the pathetic broken garbage the are consuming.

 

Windows 10 1803 - Support ends today (12.11.2019)
good Morning November 12, 2019

Once as a last note: Who is still on the road with the Windows 10 1803 (April 2018 Update), will receive the latest update today. Because the support ends with today's Patchday.

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.NET Framework Repair Tool has been updated
good Morning November 12, 2019

In a nutshell: Microsoft updated its netfxrepairtool.exe repair tool for the .NET Framework to version 4.8.04072.0 Release 1.4. New in this version is that the support for .NET Framework 4.6.2 to .NET Framework 4.8 is now available. The tool can be started directly in case of problems, used via command line or offline. The command prompt commands are well detailed on the page. The offline installers for the .NET Framework are there as well.

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Windows 10 November 2019 Update Is Officially Out to the Public!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/windows-10.762434/page-568#post-10965831

 

As I said many months ago... Micro$oft chickened out and was too scared doing major changes (aka implement new bugs) for coming 1909. This because a lot of Win 7 users/companies will have to migrate over from Win 7 now as its near EOL in January.


Microsoft Says Windows 10 1909 Service Pack-Style Update Is Likely A One-Off
You may have noticed that installing the November 2019 Update for Windows 10 went quite a bit quicker and was hopefully less problematic than some of the prior feature updates Microsoft has rolled out. There a few reasons for this. One is the nature of the update—unlike past feature upgrades, the November 2019 Update...

 

Microsoft Warns of Uncommon Windows 10 Thunderbolt Issue bleepingcomputer.com | Nov 28, 2019
Microsoft has released a support bulletin that warns users of a new issue in Windows 10 that could cause Thunderbolt devices to stop working under certain situations.

According to the bulletin, this issue is occurring to users running Windows 10, version 1909, 1903, 1809, 1803, or 1709, have Fast Startup enabled, and have multiple devices plugged into a Thunderbolt dock. Yet another reason Fast Startup feature is junk! @Mr. Fox +++

 

Mine seems disabled by Dell due to faulty PD chip or something. Mine doesn't work at all! Only Ubuntu detects it but I haven't been able to get it working.

 

Is this fast startup aka hibernation? If so, that thing is broken since at least Win7, maybe even win xp, doesn't matter it was called hibernation back then, same thing. It was corrupting my HD on dual boot computers, always first thing I disable since then.

 

"Windows 10 features we’re no longer developing"

- Each version of Windows 10 adds new features and functionality; occasionally we also remove features and functionality, often because we've added a better option.

- Below are the details about the features and functionalities that are no longer being developed in Windows 10...

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/planning/windows-10-deprecated-features

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Snipping tool was one of my favorites.

 

Yeah, the idiocy of the Micro$loth Monkeys never ceases to amaze me. Seems like everything they do that is valued because it is useful or admirable ends up being deprecated or removed. Their intelligence is questionable, to put it nicely.

Snipping Tool is one of the very few things that got better with Windows 10. Snip & Sketch has a few extra features, but it is clunkier and has too much of a bloated feel about it. The extra features detract more than they add. The sheer simplicity of the Snipping Tool makes it a preferred tool for me. When I actually have a need for something with more useful features for screen snipping and annotation I use SnagIt instead.

@jclausius -SnagIt...

 

Windows Notepad is removed from the Microsoft Store Winaero.com

Microsoft pulls Notepad from the Store, making it a bundled app again. Microsoft was about to update it independently from the OS, but this plan has been cancelled. Every small steps can help "get rid of the Store".

 

Windows 10 V1903: Settings / Apps no longer open after Windows 7 Upgrade
Published on December 8, 2019

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[ English ] When upgrading from Windows 7 SP1 to Windows 10 version 1903 (probably the same with version 1909), problems can arise afterwards. The Settings page and the Windows apps can no longer be opened. There are many suggestions on the internet, but they rarely work. A blog reader has sent me his findings that may help further...

 

Seen this? @Mr. Fox +++ From worse to even more worse. Micro$lope's sleeping partner's can't make the change going fast enough.



Nvidia changes the graphics driver downloads to DCH drivers - no more standard drivers
good Morning December 14, 2019
Anyone who has previously selected and downloaded their Windows 10 graphics driver via the Nvidia download page will notice a change. So far, if you could choose between the standard driver and the DCH driver, which one you want, you now only get the DCH driver...

 

Oh, ok, I'm with you. Good thing is you can still get the standard drivers, and I get them the same way I always have anyway since year 2009 (from the Beta & Archive section):
https://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-uk

You get to the above link by clicking on "BETA Drivers and archive" link at the bottom of this page (so you can see how I got there):
https://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk

 

Yeah, I know we can do that. But what you just saw is just the beginning on the end.

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Microsoft's new Windows 10 search feature is just a way to force Bing and Edge on to users betanews.com | Dec 17, 2019

Bing is a godawful search engine. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but on the few occasions when I do use it -- when writing about the new Chromium version of Edge for example -- I find the results it returns are rubbish. In a blind usage test I can instantly spot the difference between it and Google just by the quality -- or lack of -- of the results.

In what it describes as a bid to bring "convenient, fast web results directly to the search bar in Windows" Microsoft has baked (yet more) Bing searches into Windows 10, including a brand new visual search....

 

Bing is only good to search for porn images.. Apart from that I use bing to search for Google so I can search properly. Bing sucks

 

Choosing between Bing and Google is simply a decision about whether you want to give your browsing data to Google or Microsoft free). You may want to consider combination of DuckDuckGo and a good VPN.

Joe

 

Yeah, they're trying to push the DCH version and get 'everyone' on the DCH version.

 

Microsoft at it again, advertising Gmail in Windows 10 Mail points to Outlook
By Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 12/17/2019 10:28 AM

Perhaps you already have noticed it, Microsoft has started select advertising in the Windows suite. For example, in your Windows 10 mail app, you'll now see 'Get Gmail on your phone'. As if that by itself isn't already annoying, Microsoft is falsely advertising up-to a level that could be seen borderline acceptable.

 

"Microsoft gets ready to roll out the new Edge to Windows 10 via Windows Update"

- Beginning January 15, 2020, Microsoft will be delivering its new Chromium-based Edge browser automatically to Windows 10 users via Windows Update, unless its Edge Blocker Toolkit is applied.

- They also said in early November that the new Edge will be bundled with Windows 10 right after the general availability date, though this will happen in a staggered/staged manner.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/micro...he-new-edge-to-windows-10-via-windows-update/

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Glowing like the metal on the EDGE of a knife!

 

Am so happy to still be happy with 8.1...

https://betanews.com/2019/12/17/non-removable-ads-windows-10/

 

Thank God there is LTSC..

 

How to Block Windows 10 Update Force Installing the New Edge Browser
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...es-index-post-1.779394/page-103#post-10976316

 

What would be a decent replacement browser? Chrome seems to be a ram hog and with the hidden services and all.

 

Look at Brave Browser

Ram hog ain’t the big problem, it’s the unwanted changes in Chrome.

 

Will have to read up on this, haven't installed anything on the LTSC build. Brave sounds like a good choice, not trying to datamine my telemetry etc.

 

And with support for extensions coming in 2020 it seems like a viable option over chrome

 

I really like Brave. I started using it about a month ago and it's really good. Has the Chrome UI that I love, but doesn't need all of the third-party plugin crap to block ads, trackers and what not.

https://www.sordum.org/9312/edge-blocker-v1-5/

 

I don't believe in blocking ads, I don't believe we should 'break' the internet. A lot of reason a lot of stuff is free on the internet is due to ads. Some sites are horrible with ads, but not many and I don't tend to use those.

 

That's fine. My efforts are to block any and all content unrelated to my purpose for visiting a given URL. Ads, trackers, scripts... don't really want any of that bullcrap. I trash cookies daily and block third-party cookies.
Consequently, I am oblivious to a lot of the content most users see, 99% of which is rubbish. When I use someone else's computer I am always amazed at how much extra garbage there is that I never knew existed on web pages I visit daily. In all the years I have been using the web, I cannot remember paying any attention to ads or clicking on one except by accident.

 

I just went through this on a new Windows 10 install, and I thought I saw options to disable that Mail advertising as well as a number of other advertising points, split across a number of places in Windows 10 settings and externally on their website:

How to remove those nagging ads from Windows 10
Everywhere you look, ads are all around, even in Windows 10. But you don't have to just accept it — in this guide, we show you have to remove them.
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-remove-advertising-windows-10

That's from last year, so there should be a newer treatment of the subject, if you find a good one, please post it.

I also use Winaerotweaker that consolidates ad removal:

Yup, and that makes browsing so much faster, there's no background tabs refreshing to display ad's chewing up bandwidth and CPU, and the constant distractions that ruin focus are gone. I also use suspend tabs extensions, but it looks like it's being built into browsers now too.

Using browser extensions like ublock origin, youtube ad blocker (also facebook), along with privacy defenses from Decentraleyes, Privacy Settings, Ghostery, Privacy Badger or Privacy Possum, Disconnect, Https Everywhere and others.

If you haven't tried it Edge Beta will take Chrome Extensions, so you can either load the Microsoft Store extension or skip those and load the Google Chrome Store extensions. I use it only for hires video for Netflix 4k and Youtube 1080p and above:

https://winaero.com/blog/chromium-based-edge-to-support-4k-and-hd-video-streams/

Opening sites up that you want to is easy, and by default you get protected not only from ad's but lots of spam and malware too.

 

Open up for decent websites. None should support Trash pages with $$££€€

 

Yeah, I don't even see the ads anymore...I mean they're there on my screen but my brain filters them out. I probably click on an advert about twice a year, lol!

Yeah, that's another way of doing it, and you're targeting your revenue and support then.