Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/03/11/microsoft-spams-corporate-user.html
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Microsoft Derangement Syndrome. Fantastic.
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GWX Control Panel blocked this for me, I think.
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I second the GWX Control Panel and Ultimate Outsider
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Once again, slightly sensationalist writing from Cory with an axe to grind…
It seems if you’ve already blocked kb3035583 (Update installs Get Windows 10 app in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1) then the nagware is still blocked. If anyone can point to anyone claiming otherwise, feel free.
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Windows 10 is free? That’s weird… I assembled a PC last month and a Windows 10 license cost the same as always.
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The funny part is the only real problem Microsoft has is how they’re marketing all of it. Apple has made a number of “upgrade or else” moves in the past with OSX and iOS, and their OS is just as willing to phone home as W10 is.
But no one talks about that, because it happened slowly over time. But Microsoft? They did it all at once and put it all in your face with no way to ignore it and suddenly it’s armageddon.
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The real problem that Microsoft has is that OSX is not a corporate IT client system. Windows is. If this was only happening to a cheap “home” edition of Windows I wouldn’t care. But Microsoft is now actually trying to get users mobilised against their IT departments - like those pharma companies that infiltrated sufferer groups to try to get them to put pressure on health authorities and insurance companies to fund treatments that were actually pretty useless.
As it is I have still got one W7 ultimate box that is needed to do certain things. It will not run W10 due to motherboard issues. I should not have to devote time and effort to stopping nagware to “upgrade” it to something that won’t work.
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Enjoy that computer while it lasts. Microsoft has claimed that the upcoming version of Intel chips will work only for Windows 10 and not for 8.1 or 7. Eventually you will have to move to 10 or to some other operating system.
Post the evil update’s KB number in the article text, please!
I had to turn off automatic updates last year to prevent the horrible Windows 10 ads appearing. I saw the big update blast appear this week, and was wondering which of the dozen ‘security updates’ they would hide the evil bastard in this time. Slashdot told me that it was the IE11 patch.
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I really don’t follow that. One of those new CPUs won’t fit the motherboard anyway. The actual usage of this particular machine is <1%, it just runs certain programs that are Windows-only. I imagine when it dies there will be other options. My complaint is that while it runs, I should not have to put time and effort into stopping nagware telling me to bork a working system that does the job perfectly, nor should I have to put time, money and effort into replacing the computer simply because someone in Redmond is on a bonus to make a certain target of installs.
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+1 for nagware!
But it has a valid purpose, surely. Microsoft has almost nagged me enough to get me to install Linux.
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One of the BIGGEST things I hate about Microsoft is that they do throw the people that support their systems under the bus more often than not. Several years ago, during one of the biggest hacks that came out – one that Microsoft had known of the vulnerabilities for over year and decided not to do anything about because some of their corporate partners relied on shitty programming that used these vulnerabilities to their own advantage – instead of owning up to the fact that they were responsible, the minute they got hacked they released the fix at 6PM on a Friday and had dozens of PR flacks across the country go on news shows Monday morning telling the world that those of us that were supporting these systems were 100% responsible.
I managed the IT operation in addition to a few other areas in my organization and I stayed around all weekend to get everything patched. HOWEVER watching the news Monday morning and seeing them go out of their way to blame the techies for their f**k up made me realize I’ll never knowingly pay for their products again. With the exception of the Xbox. And then the next Xbox. And probably the next one. BUT OTHER THAN THAT…I’ll never give them money again!!!
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Yeah, my wording is awkward.
Here’s a good write-up:
Doesn’t the DMCA criminalize circumventing access controls? If this installed on machines using WSUS, it seems to be circumventing the access controls put in place by the domain admin.
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Except:
a) The DMCA protects creators, not users.
b) If you put the right ‘access control’ in place (blocking installation of kb3035583, that has been available and blockable for ages), nothing gets circumvented.
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Not if you don’t want to.
They’re saying that only Windows 10 or later will support new chipset features, like USB-C. Just like Windows 7 has no built-in support for USB 3, but Windows 10 does. Many PCs with USB 3 ports were still shipped with Windows 7.
PCs running Skylake and later processors will stop receiving security updates for Windows 7 and 8.1. If you want to run an older operating system, you have to choose between running on older hardware OR being insecure.
On EXISTING computers, Windows 7 will be fully supported until Jan. 2020, and Windows 8 will be fully supported until Jan.2023. That’s over ten years of full support.
Not fully supporting new hardware that came out five years after the OS was released, while still fully supporting the old hardware for 10 years, is vastly better than what you get in the Apple world.
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Seems to me whether it works on this or that chip is irrelevant – MS will just cease supporting everything older than Win 10 in a few years (months?), and we’ll have to switch to something else if we want to at least be somewhat secure.
