Windows 7 and 8.1 Are Gaining More New Users Than Windows 10 (digitaltrends.com) 333
New submitter TroII writes: After Microsoft ended its year-long "free" Windows 10 offer, new installations have slowed predictably. But in an unexpected turn, October saw more new installs of both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 than of Windows 10. Compared to September's numbers, market share increased only 0.06% for Windows 10, while new installations of Windows 7 and 8.1 were an order of magnitude higher at 0.68%. According to tracking firm NetMarketShare, Windows 7 is still by far the most popular version of the OS, installed on more than twice as many computers as Microsoft's latest offering.
Not Surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
It is not a big shock after the tactics that MS has used. They have burned a lot of bridges with win 10 and those of us stuck in the Windows ecosystem are snatching up the best, most stable version, Windows 7. Be prepared for lawsuits though, as it looks like MS is going to try and shove the crappiest parts of Windows 10 on us through bundled updates...
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Who would have thought that Nadella would end up being even more despised than both Gates and Ballmer? I mean, they only shat all over their competitors, but Nadella is making a point to shit over the customers, too.
Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
You know what's funny? That there will almost certainly be someone who is willing and able to develop a tool to get rid of it. Maybe for a price, but people are willing and able to pay that price for their privacy.
MS could have had that money. And far more easily than whoever will develop that anti-spy tool.
Re:Not Surprising (Score:4, Informative)
Haven't tried them but:
https://www.oo-software.com/en... [oo-software.com]
In addition, some domains that can be blackholed on a router/firewall:
https://www.dslreports.com/for... [dslreports.com]
https://forums.untangle.com/we... [untangle.com]
Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is that once a sufficiently large number of people use such a tool, Microsoft will circumvent it, and they have the leverage. They'll just encrypt information vital to the working of the OS (e.g. updates, activation data) together with telemetry.
As much as I hate to say it, this is an issue that requires a juridical, not a technical solution.
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A differential patch means that the offending code is only downloaded if you don't have a current copy of it.
It does nothing to keep the offending code off the system - in fact, it's more likely to re-install it if it was removed.
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They know exactly why people are still using Win 7. Especially when you consider that the update from 7 to 10 was AUTOMATIC for most lay people. The rest of us still on 7 are here because we blocked the update to 10. In most cases, because we didn't want the damn spyware, or the horrible UI, or the lack of control over updates.
The reason they are trying to push telemetry to 7 now is not to find out why we're still using it, but to gather as much sellable data as they can.
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I think I'm one of the very few people who likes Windows 10. Yes, the telemetry features are not a great move, but just disable all of that crap and you're all set.
Windows 10 uses less resources and starts up faster than my previous Windows 7. But the real improvements where on my girl's older laptop, where the update from 7 to 10 worked wonders by greatly improving startup times and no longer locking up randomly when starting or using a browser. HD video on Netflix or Amazon Prime is greatly improved. She
Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Informative)
Disable that crap? In Windows 10 Home (that about 80% to 90% of people have) I would love to see how you do that, and auto-update of course, because that "resets"anything to "Microsoft Standard".
Disabling really all crap is only possible in the "enterprise" edition, that is not available for the normal user. Even Windows 10 Pro does not give you the same amount of control you had in Windows 7 or even Windows 8.1. So - no downgrade to Windows 10 for me!
Re:2017 may be "The year of the linux desktop"! (Score:5, Insightful)
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I've heard the same claim about every Windows version since Windows 95. Every version is faster than the previous version. Let me just dig out a 386 machine, and you can prove how lightning fast Windows 10 is...
Meanwhile, the company I work at is buying everyone new PCs, because the old ones have become too slow since upgrading to Windows 10. Except mine, my PC is still running Windows 7, and is plenty fast for a Windows PC.
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I've heard the same claim about every Windows version since Windows 95
Considering that Windows 10 was designed as a "one size fits all" solution that is intended to run on machine with limited power, it's not surprising that in this case the performance is an improvement. Also they did away with the flashy Windows 7 UI and replaced it with rectangles - another performance improvement that I don't mind. I like minimal, simple things.
No improvement (Score:5, Informative)
Considering that Windows 10 was designed as a "one size fits all" solution that is intended to run on machine with limited power, it's not surprising that in this case the performance is an improvement.
I've run Windows10 and Windows7 on some machines I've upgraded for work. There was no user discernible difference in speed or performance. Maybe there was some minor benchmark difference but it certainly wasn't enough to matter. The boot up times are not meaningfully different, the interfaces didn't speed up, and none of the applications run any better. There might be some under the hood improvements but they certainly aren't obvious.
Also they did away with the flashy Windows 7 UI and replaced it with rectangles - another performance improvement that I don't mind. I like minimal, simple things.
Windows 10 is many things but "minimal" and "simple" are not among them. The rectangle thing isn't easier or simpler, particularly if you are talking about Windows 8... shudder.
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I installed Windows 10 on a Compaq laptop from 2006 that was running XP (and "designed for Vista"). By technical standards, this is an unwise move. But this is a platform that Microsoft claims will run as well on Windows 10, if not better.
It has 2 GB RAM and passed the assessment. With Windows 10, every time I boot it grinds the hard disk for 15 minutes straight, updating Defender and basically using all the RAM on the system for its own purposes. It would also force updates and REBOOT WHILE I WAS USING I
resource limitations (Score:2)
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Also they did away with the flashy Windows 7 UI and replaced it with rectangles - another performance improvement that I don't mind. I like minimal, simple things.
You really think that drawing rectangles is the reason it's faster?
Do you even have any idea what a graphics card is?
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Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, the telemetry features are not a great move, but just disable all of that crap and you're all set.
Just because you think you've disabled it does not mean you've actually disabled it. Microsoft has the sole discretion to completely ignore you, sneak its spyware in through other vectors, or automatically re-enable its spyware at any time it damn well pleases.
Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
Just because you think you've disabled it does not mean you've actually disabled it. Microsoft has the sole discretion to completely ignore you, sneak its spyware in through other vectors, or automatically re-enable its spyware at any time it damn well pleases.
I had several delayed updates on Windows 10 that re-enabled auto updates and re-enabled every one of their spyware settings. And broken things like webcams, audio devices, and ethernet devices. Computer works one day, then the next its pooched. I even got an infinite reboot feature one time.
And a day with Wireshark will show us that W10 appears to ignore the telemetry settings.
I have this weird requirement for my computers. Whatever else they do, they are required to work reliably. Windows 10 fails miserably in that regard. Windows 8 is administrative whack-a-mole. Windows 7? It works.
I have one Windows 10 setup that works. It is a network that isn't connected to the internet - airgapped by maybe 5 miles. No updates.
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A day with wire shark does that the OS talks to MS servers. Nothing more because it's encrypted. Now do you have sooner smoking gun no other experts have been able to produce that shows telemetry info being sent?
10 vs 8 vs 7 (Score:2)
I think I'm one of the very few people who likes Windows 10. Yes, the telemetry features are not a great move, but just disable all of that crap and you're all set. Windows 10 uses less resources and starts up faster than my previous Windows 7. But the real improvements where on my girl's older laptop, where the update from 7 to 10 worked wonders by greatly improving startup times and no longer locking up randomly when starting or using a browser. HD video on Netflix or Amazon Prime is greatly improved. She was very sceptical about the update because she preferred the "nicer" look of 7 compared to 10's spartan look and feel, but has had zero regrets after the update.
I have also had no incompatibility problems with applications and everything worked just as before, after updating. I was actually very surprised about how smooth the update was. I also like how 10 will explicitly ask me before performing updates and not simply decide to shut down and restart whenever it sees fit, like all previous versions of Windows seemed to do.
I don't use Cortana and whatever other privacy invading crap there might be, and as standard Windows installation for gaming and media, I think Windows 10 is better than 7.
I am one of those who voluntarily upgraded from Windows 8 to 10. In fact, in 2014, I got a laptop that had 8 on it, and hated it so much (10 was not out then) that I wiped it out w/ PC-BSD 10.0. I later had a job that required me to have my own laptop w/ Windows, so I got a cheap $250 laptop w/ Windows 8, but upgraded it to 10 at the first available opportunity.
On the resource consumption question, Windows 8 would have indeed consumed less had they not mucked up the user interface. By tossing in that v
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easy... unplug and turn the PC off then toss it in the trash or disable the network adapters or install it in a vm with no network adapters on {insert favorite linux or bsd flavor}
Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft isn't dying... unfortunately (Score:2)
The weird thing is that Microsoft seems to have adopted suicide as a business model. Their main competitor is Android creeping up with the 'it's all free, in exchange for all of your personal data' business model.
Really? Because nothing Google is doing with Android has replaced a single computer at my office or the office of anyone I know. Some of the kids at the local schools use Chromebooks but that's about it. Android (along with iOS) has the mobile market but there is no evidence that Windows based PCs are going to go away any time soon because of that. Heck the computer I'm typing this on has 6 applications that are critical for my day job which are in no way, shape, or form available on the Android platfor
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they have a Scrooge McDuck pile of cash and a near impenetrable fortress in business PCs. I don't think they are going anywhere any time soon and certainly not about to keel over and die. I'm strongly in the camp that dislikes Microsoft but I'm under no illusion that they are in any real danger of dying.
You need to read Ozymandias:
I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on
Piles of cash (Score:2)
You need to read Ozymandias:
Already read it and it doesn't apply here. Microsoft has enough cash that they could buy BOTH Ford and GM at the same time in cash with money left over if the mood moved them. Unless they are completely idiotic they could simply buy their way into a new industry in the (unlikely) event their current one stops being profitable for them. People have this naive idea that just because Microsoft has a cash cow with Windows/Office that they will never be anything else and that their fate is tied to those produ
Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
The weird thing is that Microsoft seems to have adopted suicide as a business model. Their main competitor is Android creeping up with the 'it's all free, in exchange for all of your personal data' business model. They had a perfect opportunity for differentiating all of their products: you pay for them, but Microsoft protects your privacy and if you don't want to use their cloud offerings then they'll happily sell you the software to run the server parts for your organisation. They even ran some adverts about Hotmail not scanning your mail for targeted ads. Instead, they decided to compete directly with Google in a field in which Google is far more experienced.
The niche that you are talking about seems to have been partly taken by Apple. Only that their laptops are costlier. But Apple does protect your privacy, and it does provide quality software. Only thing - they don't seem to be interested in the Business sector, given the high maintenance that it is, so that is probably where Microsoft could have done what you suggest. Wonder how Satya managed to sell Bill that bill of goods about making things free and selling the data. In fact, Windows 10 is no longer free, so honestly, Microsoft has no valid reason to keep collecting our data, assuming it ever had one
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One of the first things OSX does after you install it is bitch at you about enabling location services and then forces you to create and link an apple ID to even get software updates for the OS. The level of cloud integration turned on by default on ipads is sickening as well.
So claiming OSX/IOS is better than windows as far as privacy is concerned is laughable. Microsoft is obviously playing catchup to OSX here but apple did start this BS first. Its just apple users cra
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but Microsoft protects your privacy
And the coffee meets the keyboard, dammit. If you are going for comedy you should let us know.
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They have burned a lot of bridges with win 10
Speaking as someone who at one time had an MCSE, that's an understatement. I'd rather wrestle with any version of Linux now than put up with something that is literally spyware, and in some ways keeps trying to blackmail me.
Unsurprising (Score:4, Interesting)
As a hard-core MMORPG'er, I got fed up with the wasted resources being hogged up by unwanted crap like Cortana and went back to Win 7, which amazingly enough still runs all of my work-related Rockwell and Siemens stuff just fine. Screw Windows 10.
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...Screw Windows 10.
I'd recommend against that but if you insist.... just remember to use at least two condoms.
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VM's (Score:4, Interesting)
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But you have already installed from scratch, and saved the hard disk. What's the difference between restoring and reinstalling anew? You must be horribly confused.
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Ever heard of restoring a snapshot, installing updates and creating a new snapshot? then you branch off of the latest snapshot for your tests. Jesus, get a clue.
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Yes. magical little devices, those computers.
That said, if you think that before the users install your "application", they'd nuke their OS and install a fresh one from scratch, then you must be even more confused than i initially thought you'd be. In fact a much more realistic testing scenario would be to make random junk changes to your VM and snapshot those too, intermixed with the occasional update. But i'm not advocating that.
Re:VM's (Score:4, Informative)
The system state will be the same i both cases, but one results in your doing a lot more work.
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Maybe? (Score:2)
Could it be more people like Windows 7 and 8 better than Window's 10? In a free market economy the most popular option should win.
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True "free market economy" do not exist.
Well, in this case, the same company makes both the 'competing' products in question, and one is in their plan to replace the others. So 'free market' ain't the issue here.
The real issue for the companies is that they make a product that's good enough, which results in nobody being interested in a 'better' product if and when it comes along. Granted, this Windows 10 vs 7 argument may be subjective, but then, there's also the case of Intel, where CPUs that they sold 10 years ago are still batting strong,
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Pity you had to explain that to the lad.
Windows 10 is bloated (Score:3)
Why is it a surprise that an OS created for desktop and mobile doesn't run as well as one written exclusively for desktops? Why is it a surprise that small businesses prefer an OS that works better for them than the "upgrade" which removed Pro features? Apple and M$ are both dumbing down their professional offerings. I anticipate the day when I'll have to go full Linux just to have something professional grade, and I'll have a single box for QuickBooks. Alas.
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Honestly, what Microsoft should have done was given the Windows 8 kernel to Windows 7, but otherwise kept the UI unchanged for the desktop version. For tablets, like the surface, they could have gone w/ Metro, but kept to that - don't have a desktop at all. Windows 10 in tablet display mode is what Windows 8 for tablets should have been. Either desktop or tablet mode would have been selected at time of installation, so that one wouldn't end up w/ the bloat.
Only thing - I'd make Windows Defender on by d
That's moronic (Score:3)
You can find great discrepancies between the OS market share reported from different sources, which shows how inaccurate they are. Let's face it, all they can do is guess by the only external method they can find - web browser stats. Only Microsoft can tell you anything even close to accurate as far as usage goes, and even they are limited to computers that are connected to the Internet.
The percentage changes listed in the TFA are going to be dwarfed by the error margin such that it is completely meaningless to try to make any proclamations that a significant number of people are downgrading Windows.
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Microsoft also gets version numbers from Windows Update. There is also a site to which the networking system attempts to connect when determining whether a network has both local and internet services (giving a different status icon in the system tray). You can disable this [itgeared.com], but I wouldn't be surprised if they submitted the Windows version in the HTTP request header.
Well... (Score:3)
... that's because WIn 10 is malware/spyware and is shit....
All MS has is an operting system (Score:5, Insightful)
Clearly, Microsoft isn't really interested in satisfying their desktop users. Instead, they're desperately trying to get into the 'customer as a product' business model, because they sense, (probably correctly), that they're doomed if they don't. That's why they did what they did with Win10 - they want a captive user base whose data they can control and exploit. Bing has been pretty much a failure, and their foray into the mobile market has been a total disaster. They're losing a lot of server business to *nix. They see the likes of Google and Facebook dominating the Web. They see leveraging their desktop presence as the only possible path to the kind of success that others are enjoying, because they no longer posses the imagination to strike out in a truly new direction, and because they're iron-bound by the artery-hardened internal bureaucracy that all big corporations eventually succumb to. Windows 10 was the desperate plan of a dinosaur in its death throes.
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Their primary product is Office. Desktop Windows is a major focus and driver for lock-in, but it sits at about 2/3rds the total revenue of Office, and for many people the face of Microsoft *is* Office. As standalone product lines, only their Server products (most of which host Office components like Exchange, Skype for Business or SharePoint) come close to the desktop Office product revenue.
For a long time Microsoft was aggressive about complete lock in around the Office ecosystem. They've become a lot more
Makes sense to me (Score:2)
With residential PC purchases dropping as people use more mobile (Android/iOS) devices, this makes sense. I'd wager that most new Windows installations are in the corporate environment, where Win7 is still the standard image being installed.
I don't think they are "new installs" (Score:3)
One possibility occurs to me to explain the increase of Windows 7 installs. For a year, users of 7 and 8.x were allowed a free upgrade. (and let us not forget the shenanigans Microsoft pulled in "persuading" users to upgrade.) Thing is; none of those upgraded users received a physical copy of the Win10 installation media or a license key. So if a hard drive dies or the install gets corrupted badly enough, the user is going to have to reinstall whichever version they had been using previously. (I won't get into the stupidity of having ones physical copy of the OS actually be provided by a hidden restore partition on the root drive)
As far as I know NetMarketShare is just counting installations based on what peoples user agent strings are reporting during normal web surfing. I don't know of any way to determine an OS date of install from a user agent string.
Is this any surprise? (Score:5, Interesting)
I did a trial of some Lenovo laptops with Windows 10 enterprise at work. When the Anniversary update came out, they all got hosed. One was completely unrecoverable so I trashed the whole thing and put Windows 7 on it. The rest managed to back out, but still lost a day of productivity in the process.
Microsoft has demonstrated quite clearly that they do not have the ability to successfully update their own OS without causing all hell to break loose.
And to make matters worse, Home and Pro users cannot opt out of updates and telemetry. Microsoft even disabled the group policy elements for it.
And meanwhile, Apple *could* be raking in marketshare from Microsoft's screwups, but unfortunately they appear to have their own collectives heads shoved up their asses as well.
So now Linux is starting to gain popularity. Between Chromebooks and machines being pre-loaded with Ubuntu, I really hope Linux tightens the screws on all these old guard companies that have lost their way.
Recovery Partitions? (Score:2)
I'm guessing a chunk of these are people reverting back to their originally installed OS by performing a system recovery.
Sure, the Windows 10 upgrade was free for a while, but if the computer was wiped or reset, all the user could do was install the original OS.
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And I'm sure you have a driver for my Asus sound card (that will make it work in 7.1 instead of just stereo), for my gaming keyboard, a way to make the mouse work (it doesn't in Mint for some odd reason, even the alleged fix doesn't make it work, and I'd already be happy if at least the main buttons worked, I don't even insist in all the other ones), to get TrackIR to work properly, as well as the Thrustmaster Warthog (I'm willing to configure it in Windows if you refuse to create programming software for L
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as well as the Thrustmaster Warthog (I'm willing to configure it in Windows if you refuse to create programming software for Linux for it (no, doesn't work in Wine), but I would at least want to USE it).
It's not Linux's fault that Thrustmaster is a bitch. Yank the electronics out of there and slap in a mini Arduino Mega.
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Yes it is, and that's exactly the point, you fucking fanboi. You want to know why people aren't adopting Linux on the desktop? GP just answered that question.
Because they're too stupid to look at a hardware maker's history and recognize that they are shit at software? Thrustmaster has been creating shitty programming interfaces for their game controller since time was time, literally from the very beginning with their original POS HOTAS that, let's face it, worked for shit. It was totally unreliable and it would just fail to send keystrokes sometimes when you were using emulation mode. And what the fuck is up with the springs on the F22 pro? They couldn't design
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*unless you can't actually do it, but then you're stupid for wanting that.
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Don't blame the hardware manufacturers for what the distro writers didn't implement.
Microsoft does not implement a lot of the drivers either. They are sourced by the PC vendor who then integrates them into the MS Windows installation that you get when you buy the box. A vanilla Linux install will, generally, do far better at supporting hardware than a vanilla MS Windows install.
So: the problem is often with the hardware manufacturers who do not make the specs available for Linux people to use.
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If all you're going to do is Netflix and games, a console might be a better computer for you.
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what an opportunity to demand ODF [wikipedia.org]!
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Amazing how many Trolls jump in to make sure that everyone else can't have a discussion about the topic. What a bunch of losers.
Re: Which Windows will help me get nubile girls? (Score:5, Insightful)
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There is a large number of scientific studies ...
Quotation needed.
Firstly, it's [citation needed], if you were a real nerd you would know that. Secondly: here you go. [psychologytoday.com]. Thirdly, try this site [grindr.com] the sooner you sign up the better you'll feel when you finally break out of the circle of denial.
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A whole thirty five people! Penile girth as a measure of homophobia?
Well if you find other men sexually attractive there is bound to be a reaction in that region of your anatomy and if you are also a rabid homophobe, like you seem to be, .... well, ... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to add those two facts up.
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This is a terrible study design. They group people into homophobe and not homophobe with a survey, then they show gay porn to the homophobes and straight porn to the non homophobes. This proves what? That people who answer as homophobic are more prone to penile enlargement? Show the homophobes BOTH gay porn AND straight porn and see if there is any DIFFERENCE in enlargement. Then do the same for non homophobes. THAT is how you design a real study. But since they didn't test this, all they managed to prove was that homopbobes are more prone to penile girth enlargement. Heck just the fact that their penis is being measured could be the enlarging factor - YOU DON'T KNOW BECAUSE IT'S A SHITTY STUDY DESIGN.
But I expect no less from that branch of pseudo-science called "psychology".
I'll ruin this by you one more time and maybe you will understand. If you are (A) a homophobe, (B) you get an erection from homosexual porn and (C) homophobic men disproportionately often get an erection while watching gay porn while non-homophobic men show little or no reaction then it is safe to conclude that homophobia is a product of uncertainty in homophobic men over their own sexuality. Usually these individuals have been raised to believe that 'homosexuality is a sin and the wages of sin are death'
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What you call insecure is what they call tempted by the devil and their own feelings their inner demons. If you are not tempted by evil, you're not threatened by it. If you are tempted by evil, you do feel threatened by it and as long as you think homosexuals are instruments of evil then homophobia is almost rational in context. If they hear "give in do the dark side" when you say "trust your feelings" you're whispering the devil's words in their ear. That's kinda the basis of the whole religion, we're rele
Re:Which Windows will help me get nubile girls? (Score:5, Funny)
There is a large number of scientific studies ...
Quotation needed.
There is a large number of scientific studies ...
There you go.
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Nope. You are not rubber.
This is the EXACT kind of bullshit that caused me to flip to Republican this year. You nit wits all act like a bunch of commies. They were big on the group think and re-education camps.
Re:surprised (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm quite fond of the feature where the OS doesn't decide to reboot at arbitrary times without asking permission after installing an update I didn't approve.
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Windows 10 had that too. It asks you when to reboot, and warns you an auto reboot is accredited when your computer is set to. Arbitrary in this context is translation for "I don't know what I'm doing"
Re:surprised (Score:5, Informative)
How about when it informs me that it scheduled an update in an hour and I'm not at the computer, so I don't get to see the popup and I lose my open documents?
How about when I want to reboot because my Wacom driver has stopped working and I don't have 40 minutes to sit through an update install I wasn't aware of because I'm in the middle of actually trying to do some work?
How about when I've delayed the update install a couple of times and now Windows decided I don't get a choice when to reboot and just shuts off?
So now I have the update service disabled and I'm not getting any updates installed instead of installing them at a convenient time like I do on 7.
Re:surprised (Score:5, Insightful)
According to Microsoft, you job is not to use your computer for work, instead your job is to look at the advertisements so that Microsoft makes more money.
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Microsoft considers my Windows machines to be vehicles for their updates, they think I only purchased the PCs for that purpose. The Windows 10 machine breaking the dual-boot Linux installation should be actionable - it is probably time to restart the monopoly anti-trust proceedings.
Re:surprised (Score:5, Insightful)
The most important "feature" is the UI. And the UI of Windows 8 and 10 is a horrendous clusterfuck of bad design. There are a couple of third party programs that fix some of the problems, but why bother? Why not just use the version that is good right out the box and isn't constantly trying to fuck you.
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Re:surprised (Score:4, Insightful)
However, windows 10 is still ugly and unclear (which window has foxus? I can't see it quickly on that excuse for a GUI) and windows 8.x also looks not nearly as nice as the classic view on windows 7. MS did it right with windows 95, then improved on that in 98 and 2000. After that, it became childish (XP default look), ugly (win10) or schizophrenic (mixing a phone GUI in 8 and 10).
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The coloured ones, the only one with a different colour compared to the others. It's amazing that everyone in the world can figure this out quite easily except for you.
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My 7-to-10 upgrade did not have the "show color on title bar" option enabled at the very bottom of the colors tab at the bottom of the theme control panel turned on by default, so every single window was the same color, focused or not.
Thankfully someone here took pity on me a while back and told me what I was missing when I complained about it, instead of insulting me.
Re:surprised (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, I strongly prefer an UI like in Windows 7 and want to be in full control of updates. The last point is the most important, because various Windows 7 updates in the past would have destroyed my installation if I hadn't checked before (not) installing them. I'm especially worried about "accidental" problems with dual boot systems, which happened two times in the past.
Apart from that, yes, of course, an OS is good if you don't need to know or care what it is actually doing. It should mainly provide a link to the library programmer and the application programmer, not to the end user. If Windows 10 didn't force updates and had the ordinary look and feel you'd expect from a desktop OS, or allow me to configure it in that way, then I'd be happy using it. A good OS should give you the same desktop experience all the time, with only minimal changes where they make sense, not force you to learn new ways of performing the same tasks every 3-4 years.
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I'm half with you. I like where they are going with Windows 10's UI (I don't care that it still feels half baked) but want to have the final say on things like updates.
I don't even care if disabling updates takes a bit of hackery... regedit, powershell, cmd.exe, etc. Preventing botnets by raising the bar is a good thing. But if I take deliberate steps to switch it from its default state of being a home PC OS to a professional configuration that I fully control, I shouldn't have my efforts reverted by the
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Well, I strongly prefer an UI like in Windows 7 and want to be in full control of updates.
I completely agree with you, but full control over updates is no longer a selling point of Windows 7. Microsoft has moved to a single monthly rollup package [microsoft.com] for Windows 7 which always includes all previous updates and is only all-or-nothing. So, for example, the November 2016 update that comes out next week will include all updates from the August 2016, September 2016, and October 2016 update packages.
It's a step backwards in every possible way and exists solely to make it easy for Microsoft to shove what
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In Windows 8, Microsoft changed the kernel - moved to a more micro-kernel like platform. Couldn't they have changed just the start button from a Windows Flag to their Windows, but left the pull-up menu unchanged? The Metro interface was something for a new platform that did not as yet exist, and it never made sense making the same OS for a phone. If they wanted to make the Windows 8 kernel the same basis for Windows Phone, they could have done that w/o touching the desktop OS.
In short, can't a company
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In short, can't a company change the version number for just overhauling the underlying kernel, even if the UI remains the same? It's already the case in Linux and BSD - I can go from PC-BSD 10.2 to 10.3 w/o changing the look of Lumina
You're someone who runs PC-BSD and has unix in their username, so you're probably someone who knows (or, at the very least, has some self identity associated with pretending to know) about operating systems. If someone advertises a new OS based on kernel features, you'll probably look at it and say 'those are good and useful features that are worth an update'. You are not even slightly representative of the general public. If the UI doesn't change, they won't believe that there are significant new featur
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Essentially you want Windows 7 with longer support, but can Microsoft honestly charge hundreds of dollars for that?
Actually, I wish they had done something very much like that. They would have a commercially viable way to continue support for a good product indefinitely, and the rest of us wouldn't have to put up with either fighting them to keep our systems working the way we want or switching to an alternative that for some reason we consider worse than what we had before.
For critical software like an OS, I think it's reasonable to expect a certain amount of support (say, bug fixes plus security updates for the realis
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(Supposedly) you can't buy 7 & 8 after Oct 31 (Score:3)
So few people use features specific to 7,8,10. To general user its arbitrary.
I'm working with a production tool from Nordic for flashing/burning and testing their IoT devices in mass production.
It's software development environment (necessary for testing the peripherals you added to your board) is only supported under 7, 7-pro, 8, and 8.1. (I've since heard that 7 Pro 64-bit is still available for a while but haven't checked that, or whether they really went ahead with the threatened shutdown this time.)
Mi
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I don't think that a lot of people said that Windows 7 sucked when it came out. Actually, they mostly praised it, and said how much of an improvement it was over Windows Vista.
Likewise, Windows 10 seems like a huge improvement over Windows 8.