Windows 10?

[9876543210]

Rick Danger,

Well now, that was a pretty disturbing article. After reading it I tend to wonder why anyone would even think of upgrading using MS's criteria and forcing upgrades down our throats.

This really is beginning to look like MS could be on the verge of imploding. If this goes bad (and it sure looks like it has every indication it will) we really could see a major change at MS (if not just a total failure).

Gee, wonder if the government will figure they're "too big to fail" so we all wind up bailing them out.

[Misrule]

Originally Posted by Misrule

I can confirm that the update to Win 8.1 that adds the Win 10 app is number 3035583. Details here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583

It also seems to add the app to Win7 with IE11. What if you don't use IE; do you escape?

Follow up to this: I checked my two other machines (both running Win7 Pro) and discovered that this update had been installed in early April. Uninstalled them without difficulty. IE is not installed on either machine, and the update has not re-appeared on the list, so far.
Can someone confirm that they uninstalled this update and it re-installed? Is IE installed? If so, which version?
Thanks

[Rick Danger]

Breaking news from ZDNet.com. An IT buddy of mine alerted me to this.

An apparent outbreak of sanity in Redmond.......A major victory for Windows users !

Microsoft releases tool to hide or block unwanted Windows 10 updates

Windows 10 testers who've complained about mandatory updates in Microsoft's new operating system might have a solution at hand. The tool, available as an optional download, lets you hide or block any update for Windows or a hardware driver.

By Ed Bott for The Ed Bott Report July 27, 2015 -- 05:42 GMT (22:42 PDT)
Topic: Windows 10

One of the most controversial decisions Microsoft made in its design of Windows 10 is a fundamental change to the way Windows Update works.

Windows 10 Home offers no way to block security updates and new features. And even the Pro edition has only limited control over updates.

That's sparked an outcry from Windows 10 testers (including my ZDNet colleague Adrian Kingsley-Hughes) accustomed to years of being able to pick and choose from a menu of updates each month.

I've heard isolated (but legitimate) complaints this week from Windows 10 testers complaining that an updated Nvidia driver was causing havoc with their systems. One such tweet, from a longtime Windows tester, even managed to catch Gabe Aul's attention.



When Windows 10 arrives this week, Windows Update won't include that option, but Microsoft does have a well-hidden troubleshooter package, KB3073930, which allows you to hide or block Windows Updates and, crucially, driver updates.

The package was digitally signed on June 15, and the accompanying Knowledge Base article is dated July 7, just a few weeks ago. The package is labeled for use with the Windows 10 Insider Preview, but based on its performance on the final (10240) preview build, it looks like it should work with the final release beginning July 29.

Here's what the troubleshooter looks like when you download and run it:



And here's the interface for hiding specific updates. If you've already determined that a Windows update or a driver delivered as part of a Windows Update package is causing problems, you need to uninstall the defective update or remove the problem driver. Then select its entry from this list.



Clearly, one of Microsoft's goals in changing the behavior of Windows Update in Windows 10 was to drag customers, kicking and screaming if necessary, into the always-up-to-date world, in the process removing many of the most common vectors for malware, unpatched systems.

I would imagine most people who are concerned about the possibility of a defective update will still grumble over this solution, which requires more intervention than current Windows Update options, which allow you to delay, block, and hide updates at will.

But it's definitely a solution.

By the way, if you find this utility intriguing I recommend one additional Windows 10 tweak. By default, System Restore has been turned off on every system I've tested throughout the preview program. If you re-enable this feature, Windows resumes the practice of automatically creating a restore point before installing each new batch of patches from Windows Update, making it easier to roll back an entire batch of updates while you investigate which one is troublesome.

I'll have step-by-step instructions for that option later.

[Rick Danger]

Originally Posted by Rick Danger

So, is it possible that Windows Media Player is part of the base Windows 10 product ? [06-19-2015, 08:29 PM]

As I mentioned back on June 19th, I have years of music and playlists that I have cataloged using Windows Media Player. With all the back and forth about Wednesday's impending rollout of Windows 10, I had lost track of this question.

Researching this question further, I came across mention of a free app called "Groove Music". I queried Microsoft.com and came up with this on their Answers Wikipage, authored by Andre Da Costa, MVP:

GROOVE, PHOTOS, MOVIES & TV, Groove music app and Movies & TV apps feature significant improvements that I can safely say, it’s time to retire Windows Media Player (which is still bundled with Windows 10) and forget about using third party apps like VLC. The great thing about Groove in particular it actually looks and works like a modern juke box. Of course, its touch optimized, but it feels right at home on the desktop. Groove is of course part of Microsoft’s Cloud mantra and the app integrates with Microsoft’s Cloud Storage OneDrive, you can sign in and access your synced music library from OneDrive itself.

Blah, blah, blah. More propaganda. In rebuttal, our friend Woody Leonhard offers this review in his "Where Windows 10 stands right now" article on InfoWorld.com:

Groove Music and Movies & TV are working, but they don't do much besides play your music and videos, and steer you to where you can spend money. Playlist support in Groove Music is barely up to Neanderthal standards. Any connection between the TV app and what you would want from a TV app is purely coincidental.

Hummm "....significant improvements" and "....time to retire Windows Media Player" versus "Playlist support.....barely up to Neanderthal standards". Somebody is smoking the BIG PIPE......... wanna guess who ?

I am happy to see that indeed Media Player is available in Windows 10. My question is for how long ?

Microsoft of course has been pumping up Edge, it's new browser. Again, referencing Mr. Leonhard's article:

Edge is turning out to be a lean, fast contender in the newly revitalized browser wars. Edge doesn't replace Internet Explorer -- to date, IE still lurks, but it's buried in the Start > All Apps > Windows Accessories menu's list. Edge is, however, the default Web browser. IE continues to use the old Trident rendering engine, while Spartan has the newer Edge.

If Edge is so great, why continue with Internet Exploder - err, Explorer ?

Boy, this crap continues to be confusing........ any wonder why I don't want to play in this sandbox ?

Maybe Woody Leonhard would consider running for President ???

[9876543210]

Misrule,

Originally Posted by Misrule

Follow up to this: I checked my two other machines (both running Win7 Pro) and discovered that this update had been installed in early April. Uninstalled them without difficulty. IE is not installed on either machine, and the update has not re-appeared on the list, so far.
Can someone confirm that they uninstalled this update and it re-installed? Is IE installed? If so, which version?
Thanks

Well, I am sure I uninstalled the update on my Win 7 machine and also reasonably sure I went to Win Update to hide the update. Only to find it had been installed yesterday. I am absolutely positive, this time, that I uninstalled the update and went back to Win Update to hide it again (for the second time). Will it come back for the third time? We shall see.

And I do have IE on my machine but I'm not sure which version as I never use it.

[Rick Danger]

Originally Posted by a435843

The only acceptable scenario is to be able to see this list of updates prior to installing them, and have the option to review those updates, and head off updates with issues until the problem is fixed. Period. Full stop.

I concur. The hope is that Microsoft has seen the light and will take this first step all the way to a complete solution.

[Rick Danger]

If you have an updated browser product, Edge, included in Windows 10, why would you include the still vulnerable Internet Explorer ?

Why ?

HP's ZDI discloses 4 new vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer

ZDI went public after extending the disclosure deadline twice with no fix forthcoming from Microsoft

InfoWorld - Jul 23, 2015

HP's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) doesn't cut much slack with its 120-day disclosure policy. When ZDI knocks on your door and says you have a security hole, you get 120 days to fix it or risk full public disclosure. That's what happened -- again. With ZDI and Microsoft -- again. Over Internet Explorer -- again.

Rather than spilling all the beans, ZDI offers a tantalizing hint at what the problems entail. If the ZDI whistleblowers successfully walk the fine line, they'll spur Microsoft to take action without supplying information to the bad guys. All the while, of course, ZDI offers its own protection against the vulnerability, so it's hardly a zero-sum game.

The timeline published by ZDI in this case looks remarkably lenient. ZDI notified Microsoft of the first vulnerability on Nov. 12, 2014. It extended the disclosure deadline to May 12, 2015, then extended it again to July 19. "The vendor [Microsoft] replied with an expected build, but not a date." With no fix forthcoming, ZDI went public on July 22.

Here are the vulnerabilities, as reported by ZDI:

ZDI-15-359: Microsoft Internet Explorer CTableLayout::AddRow Out-Of-Bounds Memory Access Vulnerability

ZDI-15-360: Microsoft Internet Explorer CAttrArray Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

ZDI-15-361: Microsoft Internet Explorer CCurrentStyle Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

ZDI-15-362: Microsoft Internet Explorer CTreePos Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

The general advice is to avoid using Internet Explorer. Bet you've heard that one before.

UPDATE: Sources close to the fray confirm that three of the four vulnerabilities only appear in the mobile version of Internet Explorer. One, ZDI-15-359, did affect the desktop version, but it's already been patched.

[jimboy51]

Excuse my ignorance here,but why is there the need for Microsoft to keep updating,especially as windows 7 works perfectly?

[Buschi]

Originally Posted by jimboy51

Excuse my ignorance here,but why is there the need for Microsoft to keep updating,especially as windows 7 works perfectly?

200 years ago people thought her horse drawn carriage was perfect but now we all have cars. This is called progress. There are so many things changed since win 7 came out. New technologies and new hazards came up and Microsoft has to react on this. There is a famous quote: "If you don't go forward, you go backwards."
And after all we must not forget: MS has to earn money like every other firm too.

[Buschi]

I respect ur opinion. I was very skeptical if it came to changes too. I used Win XP for 10 years till last year without one bluescreen in the whole time. Then the support run out and i bought a new PC with Win 8.1 To my surprise it runs pretty well even my old printer made no trouble. Maybe this is one reason i think that Win 10 will not be a bad thing.
I am a normal PC user with not much knowledge and i have to say that i never had problems so far with any MS product. For me it is not important that all PC specialists like MS or not. For me it is important that a product is easy to handle and does what i want. And this was the case with any MS products so far that i used. If that makes me a "fanboy" i can live with it.