Microsoft Unhappy With Beta Testers, Demands Answers (computerworld.com) 355
Freshly Exhumed writes: Microsoft has mandated that the feedback functionality built into Windows Insider Preview beta be switched on -- a change from earlier when testers could block questions from the company about what users thought of specific features. Starting with Build 14271 and newer, the frequency in which Windows 10 will ask for your feedback will be locked to 'Automatically (Recommended)' in the Settings app. This would seem to disrupt what has traditionally been seen as a tacit understanding between corporations and their beta testers/sandboxers in that the latter would volunteer their time, effort, CPU cycles, possible hardware failures/breakage, and more as part of a bargain to receive feedback or to test fly the beta OS with internal software environments in private. Microsoft would now seem to be altering that relationship.
The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh good grief! If you don't want Microsoft to gather information from your beta testing of Microsoft products, don't become a beta tester. I mean, is that what beta testers do, use the product and give feed back as requested? The simple solution if you don't like this policy is to not sign up to beta test Microsoft products if you don't really want to be hassled with feedback, "telemetry", and so forth.
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah..... Bizarre ask a beta tester to give feedback....what's this work coming too? Will someone please think of the children!
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
This.
Seems to me microsoft was tired of people using the beta test as a way to just get early updates.
I don't think it's unreasonable of them to expect feedback.
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Except now the user is the product. With Windows 10, you're paying Microsoft to be sold to companies as advertising targets.
If there was a time to switch to Mac and Linux, it's right now.
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:4, Insightful)
The OS knows more about you than a browser window ever could.
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Which knows more about you, an OS you wont give feedback on, or a website you spill your guts to?
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd say the OS wins every time. It does have access to all your file, you know.
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The OS that watches you spill your guts on _every_ website.
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So you are saying that you can communicate with a web site whilst skipping using a computer operating system, and your modders agree with you, SERIOUSLY. Look there is nothing abso-fucking-lutely nothing you can do on a computer without interacting with the operating system. Windows anal probe 10 whether or not you signed up for the BETA you are giving feedback. I would likely say that BETA testers, power users are feeling that privacy is being uinvaded and in the crudest term possible their collective sphi
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:4, Insightful)
Then don't volunteer to become a beta tester?
You're not being forced to do anything.
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excuse me? a microsoft employee showed up here at the house and held a gun to my head until I clicked YES on the "install free upgrade to windows 10" popup.
he then took my first born and said, "if you ever want to see your child again, do NOT revert back to windows 7."
Playing Devil Advocate (Score:3, Insightful)
Not saying that everyone should or shouldn't give feedback per the term they agree with. But imagine certain group of people like journalists/reviewers, and MS know about them using beta products to gain insight/benchmark and writing review. Obviously you don't want MS to start gaming the system knowing which beta copy they are using and tweak the setting that would work well for particular system/task, but not working well in real life. So, yes, there are certain exception that I would rather have MS no
Re:Playing Devil Advocate (Score:5, Interesting)
But imagine certain group of people like journalists/reviewers, and MS know about them using beta products to gain insight/benchmark and writing review. Obviously you don't want MS to start gaming the system knowing which beta copy they are using and tweak the setting that would work well for particular system/task, but not working well in real life. So, yes, there are certain exception that I would rather have MS not knowing everything, even if those people accept the terms.
"Journalists / reviewers" don't fit the specs for the beta testers Microsoft is talking about. If Microsoft hands you a piece of software for the specific purpose of "beta testing" it and providing feedback, that is fundamentally different than being dishonest and signing up the beta test according to Microsoft's rules for beta testers, even though you know you're going to blow them off and just write some article for your blog or whatever.
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It is not dishonest if those are the terms and yes it is beta software.
They are simply enforcing the terms that were being ignored.
However, what irritates me and most here is MS fired it's QA last year. Literally not a single QA person and this is why it has telemtry and demands feedback. We are the beta testers.
You have references for this? Microsoft employs no QA testers? Unlikly.
Re: Playing Devil Advocate (Score:2)
Here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse... [linkedin.com]
Ms thinks that is the old way. Agile and users being qa with tons of telemetry is the way to do things. Firefox uses this method too
Re:Playing Devil Advocate (Score:4, Insightful)
However, what irritates me and most here is MS fired it's QA last year. Literally not a single QA person and this is why it has telemtry and demands feedback. We are the beta testers.
posting A/c to preserve modding. But this comment needed responding too as it is utter BULLSHIT. Microsoft has a shit ton of QA people across all product lines (though it might not seem like it sometimes), last year they got rid of redundant/overlapping areas. If you have information that says they fired them all then I think a citation is in order.
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Oh good grief! If you don't want Microsoft to gather information from your beta testing of Microsoft products, don't become a beta tester. I mean, is that what beta testers do, use the product and give feed back as requested? The simple solution if you don't like this policy is to not sign up to beta test Microsoft products if you don't really want to be hassled with feedback, "telemetry", and so forth.
I agree. I was a beta tester for Microsoft when Windows 10 was in beta. Are there other things that are now being beta tested that I should know about? I did provide feedback about a few apps like News, Movies and TV. Never heard from them
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Win10 has a "Windows Insider" program which gives you access to pre-release builds (remember, Win10 is getting ongoing upgrades, sort of a mini-service pack every few months). People who opt into this program are beta testing the next version of Windows. It may still call itself Win10, but the build numbers are going up and new features are being added.
There's also Win10 Mobile, which *is* still pre-release; they shipped preview builds on a couple phones (Lumia 950 and 950 XL) but the only way anybody else
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Re:The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:4, Funny)
I cannot believe FP was not "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."
WTF is slashdot coming to?
Re:The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Beta test seems like something you do to the OS. Then when preview builds come out you test compatibility. Anyone integration testing on beta is really too far ahead in the cycle
Re:The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft's beta testing is designed to test their software using your environment. Both problems and feedback are expected.
Your beta testing is designed to test your software with stable versions of Windows. In fact, your beta testing should be done with every version of Windows that is supported at the time of your testing. Currently, that means Win7, Win8 and Win10. Most testers do that by having a VM for each version that they need to test. Using VMs makes it easy to roll back the VM to a known good state if problems are encountered, or after testing the installation of your software. For your testing, you should avoid beta versions of Windows.
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
No, you are confusing 'beta testing' and 'evaluation'.
Microsoft makes software available for beta testers who want to help Microsoft debug/improve their software... This is called 'Beta Testing'.
When you want to test Microsoft's software in your environment, with your applications, on your hardware it is called an 'evaluation'.
Beta testers get early access to pre-production software, evaluators get free access to (time-limited) released software.
As noted previously, if you are doing compatibility testing with beta-level software you are testing too early, as beta software is very likely to change from release to release, and you wind up constantly re-evaluating compatibility as the code base changes dear neath you... You are chasing a moving target.
It is perfectly acceptable for MS to require feedback from pre-production beta testers to ensure on-going support/updates to your beta release software.
Re: The solution seems obvious to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows IS now a moving target, CBB has a 6-9 month release cadence so if you're not getting on each build as it's available you're likely to miss something. You don't necessarily CHANGE anything based on a beta release but you can put in a tracking bug to check whether a particular feature is still broken when the release build is available. You only have 4 months after a CBB release to apply it or you have to do an in-place upgrade to the next LTSB to get current again, 4 months is a very tight window for most enterprises hence why many are getting testing in early with the insider builds.
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if you are doing compatibility testing with beta-level software you are testing too early
Spot on. I learned this lesson years ago with windows 95. The API was much bigger and different in a few key places I ended up using than what actually shipped.
The best you can hope for from MS beta is the big picture 'is it going to work'. But do not develop against it.
My guess is feedback diminished to a handful of people giving it with way more installs. If you have less than 1% of the beta testers handing back f
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In other words... when Microsoft releases a new version of the OS there should NOT be any applications available to run on it.
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"Microsoft makes software available for beta testers who want to help Microsoft debug/improve their software... This is called 'Beta Testing'."
Althing in the game industry they call it "Release Edition"
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I'm supposed to Beta test Windows OSes at work to find out if our own apps and development environments will be affected. Telling me to "just not use it then" is rediculous. I HAVE to be a Beta tester, and I don't have time or will to play games with Microsoft over what THEY think I need to be doing to help them.
But I bet you want any problems that arise fixed in the next patch.
Obligitory (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft would now seem to be altering that relationship.
Pray that they don't alter it any further.
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Came here for this - good day!
Re: Well what did they expect? (Score:2)
Uhh...those come after beta and would be more polished. Alpha and prealpha are the least polished stages of dev.
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You didn't read the book, I take it.
Oh Brave New World (Score:2)
that has such OS features in it!
Deltas or Epsilons (Score:2)
Maybe Deltas or Epsilons lack the cognitive skills to operate anything as counter-intuitive as Windows 10?
Not Star Wars enabled (Score:5, Funny)
"I am altering the deal . . . pray that I don't alter it any further" has nothing to do with praying to the Abrahamic Deity.
It has more to do with telling Microsoft that their "sad devotion to that ancient religion has not conjured up" a stable release of Windows 10.
If you don't participate in the beta test the right way Microsoft will "find your lack of faith . . . disturbing" and start choking you over an open port on your PC . . .
Less altering, more enforcing (Score:5, Insightful)
Less altering the relationship I think than enforcing it. Too many beta testers were, it sounds like, treating the beta test as a sneak preview or early-access program and taking advantage of the offering without providing the feedback that's their part of the agreement. All Microsoft's doing is taking out the switch that lets them avoid being bugged for the feedback they agreed to give. It'll annoy people who were giving feedback but aren't having problems with those particular areas, but they're heavily outnumbered by the people who weren't giving feedback at all. Yet another case of the greedy breaking things for everybody, I suppose.
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Re:is this really still an OS anymore? (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. I know linux, and use it on servers. ChromeOS seems to me like a bad idea, just trading one giant corporation for another. Apple drives me crazy enough on my iOS toys, and I'd rather not pay their premium.
Re:is this really still an OS anymore? (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm a fan of Linux but have to say:
1. There are plenty of people who have over 500 Steam titles, so that's not necessarily a good trade-off (losing over half my library?). Also graphics drivers are still pretty hit-and-miss on Linux unless you're lucky to have specific hardware.
2./3. Libreoffice is great for personal use, but if your whole company/job doesn't use it then you might be stuck with whatever they use for formatting and compatibility reasons. Hopefully it's Google Docs/Sheets/etc. or you're stuck back on Office for Mac or PC. In general the alternatives, to OS-specific software, are always going to be lacking one or more features the original program has even if they have a bunch of other great features added.
4. There is an efficiency involved in using the tools you're experienced with, especially for those who are using a tool on Windows or Mac OSX that doesn't play nice with other operating systems.
"#1 point" Really not sure where that's heading, but you could say the same about Mac OSX and Chrome OS, as well as Ubuntu or the GNOME interface. Pretty much every modern operating system except perhaps some more advanced variations of Linux and BSD will "insult your intelligence" by making assumptions that are meant to improve work-flow.
The privacy stuff going on with Windows 8+ is probably the same as what already happens with the Google Chrome OS, but still worrying.
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Serious question: does LO handle tracked changes correctly yet? That was only the most obvious deal-breaker feature the last time I tried to switch of MS Office entirely, but it was a really obvious one. At work, we use tracked changes all the time.
Of course, we also have very complicated template files at work, which render correctly in Word 2010 - 2016 but which I would be impressed if they were correct in Libre/OpenOffice
Re:is this really still an OS anymore? (Score:5, Insightful)
1. But I use windows for gaming! Steam has more than 200 titles that run just fine in Linux
It does. But like 90% of everything, most of them suck. There's a handful that are good. Games aren't fungible - it may be that just a single, specific title not being available on Linux is enough to keep certain people on windows.
Personally, I run a linux machine and a windows machine, with a kvm switch. I game on windows, and do everything else on linux. Works for me.
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Ditto. Same here even though I rarely games, but I do use both depending on whart I need to do. I also use Macs.
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yes, it is for many many people (Score:5, Insightful)
Interesting points, and I fully agree with you when it comes to tech people like us.
But if you think that your comments are scalable, then you probably have not dealt with non technical people, who are just trying to get work done(tm)
For instance:
- girlfriend works in some marketing/accounting/business unit and needs to finish some documentation at home during the weekend because of a late request
- grandma wants to see her grandchildren photos, which are embedded in that powerpoint. Background music is important.
- Non-Tech father needs to rework some documents done in the universal tool of all Lords, namely Excel, which office people bastardize via macros and whatever to serve a schizophrenic life of being spreadsheet, text editor, database, time planner, bug tracker, and version control tool all at once.
- Friend want to install password manager, tax program, adobe lightroom/Picasa, iTunes, pick non-web-based program, etc. and doesn't feel like learning anything about wine unless he/she is going to drink it.
So if you truly believe what you wrote, then you are either too young, or you work in a small technical company, or are a freelancer, or are one of those people expecting the world to change and learn to think and behave like us.
My heart is with you. I even use Linux (Xubuntu) as my daily driver at home, and I used to think like you trying to change the world. But as you have said yourself, times have changed and I have learned the reality. And even I need to dual boot to Windows every once in a while.
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It's utterly ridiculous to claim Windows is easy to use. Its popularity is self-reinforcing. People learn all the cumbersome ways it works because it is common, and it stays common because many people have learned how it works.
Windows is incredibly DIFFICULT to use. It's got a million crufty old and non-intuitive weird things people need to know. Not even a nice friendly app store (or repo) from which to point-and
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Windows is incredibly DIFFICULT to use. It's got a million crufty old and non-intuitive weird things people need to know.
I agree. Even the new stuff is difficult/non-intuitive for the average user to figure out. For example, the new control panels/settings changed several times during the Windows 10 beta period.
But then, by the same token I've always felt Mac OS X was a huge regression from Mac OS 9 in terms of how easy it was for the average shmoe to use it properly.
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People learn all the cumbersome ways it works because it is common, and it stays common because many people have learned how it works.
Windows has changed it's interface and general way of operating more than Linux has. "Common" is one of the words I would not use to describe it. "Integrated" I would since all Microsoft products end up with the same look feel and user interaction.
Windows is incredibly DIFFICULT to use. It's got a million crufty old and non-intuitive weird things people need to know
No it doesn't. Windows has a million cruft old and non-intuitive weird things that nearly all computer users don't know, never need to know, and just don't care about. We are tech people. We use these difficult crufty old non-intuitive weird things to get our OS t
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netbooks were utterly useless,
As a person writing this on a gen 1 netbook (an eee 900, pre Atom) I respectfully disagree.
Yes, it's a non-free OS. Always was. (Score:2)
Yes, Windows is a non-free operating system as it always was. What inconveniences its proprietor puts in a user's way is up to the proprietor as it always was. You're right to point out free software options, and thanks for doing that! But Windows, Chrome OS, MacOS, GNU/Linux, and some BSD variant are not equivalent alternatives to each other on the grounds of giving users freedom from proprietary oppression. You might as well add the Amazon Swindle [gnu.org] to that list too, for all the freedom to read that device [defectivebydesign.org]
Re: is this really still an OS anymore? (Score:2)
Counter point: Open source software is the only source of hard crashes (where the system had to reboot) that i've seen in almost 20 years. I suffer no "abuse" from MS because the user experience has been flawless for me, but if you want to keep making up scarecrows, just know you clearly aren't familiar with the MS-home user experience, anymore.
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AutoCAD?
Get lost. (Score:2)
For those still running windows, and not Chrome OS, Mac, Linux or BSD consider this...an intervention on behalf of the slashdot community. im sure you have some immediate concerns -- reasons perhaps -- that you cannot part with your abuser. ill try my best to assuage your fears.
The Linux evangelist arrives at your door unbidden like the Seventh-Day Adventists. But shy a tenth of the humility or respect for their hosts.
1. But I use windows for gaming! Steam has more than 200 titles that run just fine in Linux.
and 6,000 games that run just fine under Windows. Steam Reaches 6,000 Games [gamespot.com] [August 2015]
2 I need it for office documents.
3. well its what my office uses so...
LibreOffice is the stand-alone office suite of the 'nineties, which not much to offer in terms of extensions, templates, and other resources.
MS Office is one component of an office system that scales to an enterprise of any size --- and it remains the gold standard for clerica
To much of something is a bad thing (Score:5, Insightful)
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They asked for more and I started giving them none.
Same. I'd be surprised if anyone felt differently.
The prompts are a nuisance, and they tend to be asking me about things I haven't really thought deeply about. But by popping up a prompt when I'm in the middle of doing something, they seem to be saying they want an answer right away, and I don't really have one.
In other cases, the questions just plain sail over me. Q: What do you think of such-and-such new capability in Cortana? A: Just haven't got into the habit of using Cortana for anything yet, sorry.
Re:To much of something is a bad thing (Score:4, Insightful)
In other cases, the questions just plain sail over me.
Q: What do you think of such-and-such new capability in Cortana?
A: Just haven't got into the habit of using Cortana for anything yet, sorry.
And that's the real issue here. I've ignored the feedback requests because I know damn well there is no option for "Cortana is useless shit, get rid of it" and "The entire Windows 10 UI is a fucked up mess that is significantly worse than Windows 7".
And even if there was, those responses would be ignored.
I offered quite a lot of feedback from Windows 10 (Score:3)
I really did offer a lot of feedback on Windows 10 during its testing period, using several methods that were made available for that purpose. As far as I'm aware, none of my feedback was reviewed or commented upon and some of the issues I reported were still problems in the shipping releases of Windows 10.
I'll admit that I was testing Windows 10 more for my own professional needs than for the benefit of Microsoft or the final product, but why should I offer feedback at all if it will fall on deaf ears and be met only with inaction?
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To be fair just because a bug is a big issue for you doesn't mean that it rated high on the list of bugs/changes to be processed for release. If I have a bug that causes crashes or that a 1,000 people reported I'm going to work on that before something that 25 people report that doesn't cause crashes.
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Beta testing Windows 10? (Score:2)
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Pushed out for everyone (Score:2)
So when is this going to get pushed out for everyone?
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Back in the day we would crack patch beta (Score:2)
by getting it from Astalavista.
Blame the testers, not the recipients of feedback! (Score:5, Interesting)
"With Windows 8 we hear your negative feedback but we don't care for it since we know what's better for you and you're going to like it. Or not use it. It's your choice."
As someone who's been beta testing and feedbacking Microsoft products since they had beta tests, I threw in the towel with Windows 8 because they ignored the feedback concerning actual bugs and typographical errors.
Screw you Microsoft, you should have listened when people cared more than you claim to.
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"With Windows 8 we hear your negative feedback but we don't care for it since we know what's better for you and you're going to like it. Or not use it. It's your choice."
Sounds a lot like Linus when someone proposes a fix he doesn't like...
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Sounds a lot like Linus when someone proposes a fix he doesn't like...
Really? There was no profanity at all.
Re: Blame the testers, not the recipients of feedb (Score:2)
Maybe before they found it easy to believe that voices like yours, although vocal, were not representative enough of "typical" users and not worth the cost/benefit ratio to fix.
But with ubiquitous telemetry, and mandatory feedback, those sorts of denials will become impossible.
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with windows 10 they ignore you if you don't follow their agenda
Isn't that the same with every other beta program in the world? When you ask a customer, do you like the flavour of the Apple juice you ignore any answer that isn't yes / no, such as "WHY HAVEN'T YOU RELEASED CHOCOLATE YET!!!!"
Unfortunately based on what people are writing the latter is much of the feedback they would have received.
Also this is not related to IT. This is related to human work interaction. We love what is stable and what we know. We stick we the way things were and hate when things change, e
Microsoft modus operandi (Score:2)
The Deal Has Been Altered... (Score:3)
Beta Testers: Hey, Microsoft, Windows 10 is OK, but the telemetry is fucking evil.
Microsoft: It's not evil. Otherwise, how is it?
Beta Testers: It's really fucking invasive and evil.
Microsoft: Outside of the telemetry, focus! focus!
Beta Testers: Umm.. your software is evil as shit...
Microsoft: I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.
Beta Testers: *Gasp!* * Choke!*
Demanding answers is foolish (Score:2)
You get what you pay for (Score:3)
Microsoft is pushing a lot of testing onto early and non business users. What did they expect actually?
Secondly, Microsoft has moved to a rolling release style of development, while also pushing hard on features people aren't all that excited about. What do they expect?
If they really "demand answers", maybe they can fund the internal testing, etc... needed to get them, so their "beta" program may actually then deliver more meaningful feedback.
Tired of MS Shenanigans (Score:2, Interesting)
I think this beta tester thing is overblown on the part of the testers. If you want to be a beta tester, provide feedback. But... MS has been very ugly in how they are using Windows 10 and other software onto users in a most Orwellian manner. I really think it's a hideous mistake to not honor customer settings on privacy and then "undo" these privacy settings with the next update. I saw Windows 10 for what it was long before it hit mainstream, as Windows 8.1 wasn't much better. This is not the OS to use sho
Hey Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Unlike most here on slashdot I do actually want to use and learn your products. I really do as an IT professional I need to be up to date and I have the power to recommend your products and give you more money too.
Here is what everyone including myself think and why you are receiving negative feedback.1st off I want to say job well done with Windows 7. It brought me back from Linux as my main desktop as I know have linux stuff in vm's. What we liked was it was rock solid, stable, well tested, and worked and was well tested with the enterprise environment.
Windows 10 is very very flakely and loaded with privacy concerns since you fired all your QA. I tried last week for the 4th time to install Windows 10 on my desktop as a fresh upgrade. Too many bugs. What is unique as all 3 times I received a different bug. DNS issues, graphical artifacts, names cut short like c:\users\ti, drivers for Samsung pro SATA replaced by MS making system unbootable, etc. Corporations and inviduals have privacy concerns too. Make the pro version not track so you can monetize. Many businesses (all of them) process credit cards. How do you know that info is not being sent?? Not everyone is a big enterprise who buys the enterprise edition just for your information.
Hire some QA back and address privacy and give options for paying customers to have no tracking instead of relying on users and I may recommend 10.1 or 10.2 after redstone and all will be forgiven just like after Vista, 7 fixed things.
It is a shame because I started liking your products recently.
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If "recently" is Windows 7, then you're well behind the curve as there have been 8, 8.1 and 10 since. Apparently you like one of their older products, you can't call Windows 7 their most recent one any more.
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How do you know that info is not being sent??
That is always a concern with Windows, regardless of version. There is just no way to know what its doing behind your back, even if you can spend the many man-lifetimes needed to reverse engineer every circumstance that could possible lead to a transmission back to Microsoft.
You're always better off not using Windows.
Re: Credit Cards on windows 10 (Score:2)
Even if it not personally identifiable it still is unacceptable. ALL business takes income. Income gets paid by credit card. That is a fact as I do not see cash only businesses.
It is problematic as let's say a hacker knows and targets your company. Mine is being targeted now with fake invoices etc. If the hacker knows the IP addresses then he can just watch traffic going to them and viola! Keystrokes with passwords, credit cards, secrets, etc. Sure not identifiable but still data worth millions
Since When? (Score:2)
I mean judging from the outcome of the product.
Re:Since When? (Score:4, Interesting)
Graphics on my laptop great with Windows 10 until the an update. Since then it will not drive an external monitor. Reported it about 6 months ago. Machine is dual boot so windows 7 runs fine on the same hardware so I know the graphics card is fine, Will they let me roll back to older driver? No. They have a working driver, just let me install it.
Why give feedback when it will just be ignored.
I had over 100 upvotes on insider feedback last time I checked.
Re:Since When? (Score:4, Informative)
Control Panel -> System -> System Properties -> Hardware -> Device installation settings and disable driver updates in there. Some KBs will still spuriously install drivers as part of some "hot fix" or whatever, but since disabling this I had much less issues with devices suddenly misbehaving.
Keeping drivers on auto update in windows is downright crazy now, as microsoft for some inexplicable reason decided to stop QA vetting drivers and push whatever garbage they get their hands on.
I'm altering the deal (Score:2)
Pray I don't alter it any further.
I joined the window Insider program... (Score:3)
Learned of it from a /. article back in Jan-Feb 2015, joining was a job in itself -as- I have a Hotmail account which half or more of the sites I frequent have as my e-mail address which is then forwarded to Gmail to POP.
I can't access Hotmail; I've tried just enough to not lose it, nor would MS take it for the Insider program so I created a new account which damn if it didn't match itself to my hot mail account.
Hours later I downloaded Win10, read the ToS and couldn't agree to it, refusing to install Win10 and never logged back into the insiders program. I was to allow total access to my computer and it's peripherals, the LCD Cam was one specifically addressed.
I figure the Win10 archive was removed from my system and I don't delete anything. I haven't come across it since.
Feedback? Run to the back of the house and ask in a low voice "Cortana can you hear me now?", send report.
Ironic/the hell!, I have Win10 on a small laptop now, it request that you sign into Microsoft, using any email address including Hotmail.
Never going back to Microsoft and the Insiders was a precaution due to an error on my part - I tried to set up a POP3 account with my new MS e-mail address so Goggled the POP3 ports for MS, who knew there are separate ports for Outlook, and another two for everybody else! I do now, always figured two ports for all e-mail.
The ports I used hardwired my insiders new email handle into my Emailer Forte Agent's From: entry and I have yet to find out where - it can only be in the Agent directory, as the system has seen many fresh installs since.
One nightmare I could and should of avoided.
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Headline is hilarious. (Score:4, Interesting)
It makes it sound like Microsoft is Angry with their insiders over something they did or something they didn't do, and demanding an explanation from each one of their beta testers about their lack of feedback, or else....
In reality, it's nothing of the sort.... they have just decided to remove the ability of Beta testers to Opt-Out of annoying nag screens.
Fiction (Score:4)
Well, we give you all the answers you need, MS... (Score:3)
You just don't fucking listen.
Insider build on phone, but feedback too soon (Score:4, Insightful)
Windows Phone itself? Has been fine, I actually like it, but was a little too locked-down for my use and is of course lacking in apps.
Same Experience on Desktop (Score:3)
I have beta tested a number of Windows OS versions.
I don't recall what version of Windows (7, or 8), but I remember in the Beta I would click on a feature to try it out, and immediately I would get a dialog asking how did I find the design and the functionality of this feature. I would click off the dialog, then try out the feature and I wasn't allowed to bring the dialog back up to comment. I did have a section I could bring u
Staying alive (Score:3)
While some of Microsoft's moves are irritating, they are probably the only way for them to stay relevant as a major OS market player long term. Pushing users to update to Win 10 is their best hope to retain developers who would otherwise focus on low fragmentation iOS first. Since Windows hardware is fragmented as well, they can't hope to compete with stability of all-in-one vendors without extensive telemetry and feedback. Also, users are no longer accustomed to paying for OS updates, since OSX/iOS/Android/ChromeOS have free updates (and the last two are also free for OEMs). So the only ways to make money is keeping users on Bing/Edge, getting everyone to update to OS version with Windows Store, pushing cloud services like Office 365 and experiments such as lock screen ads.
They could do everything we want them to and become a minor player like Blackberry in 5 years. I guess I don't blame them for trying to stay relevant, especially when we have other choices from vendors who chose a different business model.
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Offtopic as hell....but....
Illegal to use? No. Illegal to distribute? Maybe.
Re:Hardware failures? (Score:5, Funny)
Over the years: 1 mobo, 1 hard drive, 2 graphics cards, 1 monitor all due to betta testing NT4.0
Bettas are notoriously aggressive. Although it was probably the water that killed your hardware.
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Amen! It's why I dropped out already. With current management, they have a BIG MOUTH and only teentsy ears, which they're selective about using.
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Windows Server 2016 (beta) is surprisingly useable desktop though.
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Oh, I'm confident you're both testing it and sending feedback to M$. The issue is, DO THEY LISTEN? The answer is generally clear: Those folks in Redmond think they're smarter than you, so your opinions don't really matter. They just select the stuff they like, and share it with their investors to pump the stock.
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And it's a good way to make people not becoming any future beta testers. Annoy them enough and they will just come up with a "F You" and do something else.