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Windows 10 - Overall Review and Modding


TechAngel85

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Several of these comments sound like speculation and rumors of the gossip mill. Please provide links to reputable sources when quoting this stuff so that rumors don't take over the conversation in this thread.

 

As for the programs being called "apps", that started with Windows 8 and was a result of aligning more with the mobile industry.

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Reference for Windows 10 being the last ( hell theres loads of them if you google )

 

arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/05/windows-10-to-be-the-last-version-of-windows-until-the-next-version/

 

 


Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10." That was the message from Microsoft employee Jerry Nixon, a developer evangelist speaking at the company's Ignite conference this week. Nixon was explaining how Microsoft was launching Windows 8.1 last year, but in the background it was developing Windows 10. Now, Microsoft employees can talk freely about future updates to Windows 10 because there's no secret update in the works coming next. It's all just Windows 10. While it immediately sounds like Microsoft is killing off Windows and not doing future versions, the reality is a little more complex. The future is "Windows as a service.

 

 

Reference for Windows possibly locking down the boot up

 

SERIES: Security Now!
EPISODE: #500
DATE: March 24, 2015
TITLE: Windows Secure Boot

But what generated a ton of news stories when people saw this is that, for Win 10 desktop, for the first time, they said it's the OEM's option whether to allow the end user to turn off Secure Boot.  Now, if this stands, and this is subject to change by the time it finally happens late this summer, presumably, but this is a policy change from Win8 because Win8 also used UEFI Secure Boot, had to ship with it enabled.  However, in order to get the logo certification for Win8, the OEM had to allow the end user to turn it off and had to allow them to add their own security certificates to the UEFI Secure Boot database.
 
So this sort of, I mean, this has sort of always been Microsoft's approach is, for example, in XP they added a firewall.  And this was still when the market was selling third-party firewalls; but, oh, not to worry, it's off by default.  And sure enough, it really didn't affect anyone because it was off by default.  But then, of course, famously with Service Pack 2 they turned it on.  And so Microsoft sort of creeps along like this.  Anyway, so the issue is that, if you were to purchase a machine which the OEM had removed the opportunity to disable Secure Boot in the BIOS, then that's a Windows appliance.  You can't put Linux on it.  You can't do anything else with it that you may want to.
 
So actually my memory failed me a little, but the machine has to be setup that way by OEM, I dont think the OS install itself could do this. So watch out for new machines not being able to dual boot in future if you are buying.
Edited by alt3rn1ty
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As a reference for my post about Project Spartan being officially named Edge, here's a page from Microsoft's website with some more info regarding it.

 

https://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-microsoft-edge-pc

Oh, that I knew. I'll update the OP.

 

@Alt

That sounds like a marketing scheme rather than a security feature, which makes more sense when you look at it from that angle. By the sounds of the secure boot bit, the name brand manufacturers could possibly leave it up to the user since they don't reliable on those same certifications to be able to install an OEM version of Windows 10.

 

As for this being the last version of Windows...possibly, but I would suspect they would eventually start development of their next platform, most likely rebranded Windows. That practice is very common in many industries.

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Here Are the Features Windows 10 Will Remove When You Upgrade

 

from here ..

https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/3881/here-are-the-features-windows-10-will-remove-when-you-upgrade

 

 

Note the last one

 

 


Windows Updates. This is the most interesting one. In previous Windows versions, you could control how updates were installed. But those with Windows 10 Home will have updates from Windows Update made available automatically. Only Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise users will be able to defer updates.

 

You lose control over what windows updates get installed unless you are on Pro or Enterprise .. MS says bend over.

Questionable software "updates" like the NSA / GCHQ security bypassing paedo viewer Skype, and Silverlight, wont have to be a toss up between Important or Optional OS updates anymore, MS will just install what it regards are OS updates without giving you a choice to disable and hide them.

 

True Colours of a "free" Windows OS becoming apparent there I think.

Edited by alt3rn1ty
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I did read that somewhere on a Microsoft page. However, I agree with their decision on that. If you think about it, most users of the Home edition are everyday users who aren't tech savvy. It would make sense to force updates on these systems. I've had many computer repair visits while freelancing which simply required me installing the Windows updates to fix the issues they were experiencing. Most tech savvy users already have versions of Windows 7/8 which would get them the Pro upgrade. The only ones that don't most likely have pre-built systems.

 

As for losing Media Center, that isn't any loss in my opinion. VLC. DVD play back...again, who is using the built in Windows players? The rest aren't really losses, but rather replacements.

 

EDIT:

On another note, I finished installing STEP:Core. I have yet to run the game though. Have to turn in for the night. The only issue I ran into was the Bashed Patch log didn't display, saying "page not found", after building the Patch in WB. The Patch built fine, but the log didn't display.

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I tend to agree with Tech on this point. Users of Windows Home aren't going to know one end of an update from the other, most couldn't tell you how to access the Control Panel if you asked them. This makes perfect sense to me.

As for the software that isn't being installed as per previous versions? No big loss, plenty of superior alternatives around.

 

So far the biggest issue I have with the state of it, is the poor Spartan/Edge reviews. I so hoped MS had gotten it's act together and made a good browser, sadly it appears not to be so.

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I held off on buying Windows 8 Pro (running the Windows 8.1 upgrade) because I didn't see anything missing from it besides mostly Management features. (ability to join a domain, group policy, etc.)

 

With Windows 10, I wonder if it will be important for gamers to purchase Windows 10 Pro? (if they didn't have a Pro equivalent edition already) Generally I've never had any issues with automatic updates, but if Windows is now picking and choosing more of them for me, will that be causing potential problems with drivers related to gaming? (among other issues)

Edited by Kessno
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alt3rn1ty, I don't want to troll you or anything, but are you from America by chance? The amount of paranoia in your posts in this thread is sky high.

I don't really care one bit if Microsoft stuffs the system with NSA backdoors (but I don't believe for a second there are any, because if it was the case, they would have been doing it for decade(s) already), because I don't have anything to hide. Be my guest to see what music I have on the disk and what kind of porn I download. I don't care.

 

All I care for is better design (the interface is horrible and I will never forgive Microsoft for Metro) and the ability to customize the system so that I can at least switch off the junk I don't want.

Edited by Octopuss
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alt3rn1ty, I don't want to troll you or anything, but are you from America by chance? The amount of paranoia in your posts in this thread is sky high.

I don't really care one bit if Microsoft stuffs the system with NSA backdoors (but I don't believe for a second there are any, because if it was the case, they would have been doing it for decade(s) already), because I don't have anything to hide. Be my guest to see what music I have on the disk and what kind of porn I download. I don't care.

 

(..)

[spoiler=Off Topic]

 

The number of backdoors at present known by the data security sector is so high that no one in his right mind considers a networked system safe. They exist in programs, operating systems and - worse - within the hardware that is meant to protect your data.

 

Many backdoors were added by programmers not out of nefarious reasons: they were convenient during development and stayed helpful to assist clients. Other backdoors are the result of sloppy coding, plenty are bugs. Some are in there from the start, others are added with updates or by third party tools, plugins, apps etc.

 

Intentional as well as accidental backdoors are discovered by organizations and individuals with a wide range of motivations to know about their existence. Some intentions are reputable, many are not.

 

In the past decade, organized crime has grown into a major concern with regard to networked systems, very little data can still be secured. Those organizations explore vulnerabilities themselves, or pay others to do so - or simply buy information from: underpaid data entry monkeys, disgruntled or greedy employees, vulnerable agents and executives, and so on and on and on.

 

Even if - for some reason - you think that government agencies have the right to ignore the privacy and data security of every single person on this world, no matter where and when - the methods used are far too valuable to not excite the curiosity of other parties that you definitely don't want to be interested in your data or - rather - the data that is linked to you.

 

So, what?, you might ask.

 

 

Realize this: that data creates a persona of you, it doesn't reflect you, it isn't you. But every single agency that deals with data associated with that persona will evaluate you, the person, by its values.

 

Every survey and processing error is potentially harming you, every modification by unknown parties, whatever the reason for it, has definitely a potential to harm you.

 

Worse, you have practically no power over the data that creates the persona that is used to judge you, because you have almost no knowledge and definitely no control whatsoever of the data in all the networked systems.

 

Everyone who has ever had his identity stolen, for example, knows that the consequences last a lifetime, which makes those people victims three times over. And there are more every year.

 

You - we all - are subjects of such systems, not partners, not clients, not citizens. Definitely not its sovereign.

 

As you can see, the validity of the argument, that you have nothing to hide, is based on the wrong presumption that what is known about you is what is true.

 

But it's wrong for more reasons than that:

 

- the argument suggests that an interest in privacy is motivated by criminal intentions, and someone without those can do without privacy. However, don't you have other motivations to keep something private? Do you never do anything embarrassing or intimate that should only be known to you or the people you choose to trust?

 

Privacy secures dignity.

 

 

- the argument also reverts a centuries old basic assumption of the state of law: that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. "Nothing to hide" suggests that everyone is - at least - a suspect until proven innocent. The police, of course, works under that assumption, and with good reason. But we have a name for countries that treat their citizens like the police - and that name is not democracy.

 

 

- Even if you have indeed nothing at all to hide - that doesn't mean you have nothing to fear. Whenever you have no control about an influence that has some serious impact on your life, you depend on the good intentions of unknown parties, as well as their responsible behaviour and respect for your interests above other ones.

 

 

- You should also be wary about the impact on behaviour of citizens within a system where nothing is hidden: How should anyone blow the whistle about abuse of influence and power without at least temporary anonymity? How should journalists still work with sources when their identity is known? How should anyone do anything politically inconvenient with fear of repercussion? If nothing can be hidden, self-censorship supplements or even supercedes outside control.

 

Even if everything known about you is absolutely true and doesn't leave out any valid information, that doesn't mean, it can't harm you, because you might deal with someone whose interests are furthered by (ab)using that truths against you.

 

 

The ""nothing to hide"- argument up-ends another basic rule of democracy: that governments need to be transparent while the citizens are their well-informed sovereign.

 

 

 

Edited by z929669
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I don't live in America. This is not a concern for me.

Seriously, the wall of text you produced is exactly the same thing Alternity posted, only much more paranoid. Bring up the tinfoil hat! just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you :P

Edited by Octopuss
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I take it you have never worked in the, well, data security sector?

 

One example of known backdoors in routers

 

An article about this backdoor and some more

 

Europol's 2014 iOCTA (Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment)

 

NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others

 

The problem is not to point out vulnerabilities and their (ab)use, the problem is to stop once you get going, because there is already so much known, even to the public. The vulnerabilities demonstrated in symposia of experts are often astonishing and not often closed.

Edited by thommaal
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::D:  I resemble those remarks

After Edward Snowden the word paranoia = Healthy suspicion imho

Anyway, Facts, not paranoia, but thanks for the personal pickup Octopuss, it expanded on the awareness somewhat more than I ever would have bothered to do in contributing to the knowledge of a free Windows 10 potential "features".

 

Other parents who may also be concerned with future developments for their children may read this topic too, whether you care or not is irrelevant.

 

//offtopic hopefully

Edited by alt3rn1ty
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I find it funny how none of the posts thus far explained any backdoors in Windows 10, or in Windows in general. All of the paranoid posts were about things that are completely irrelevant to the actual OS.

But hey, I'm not trying to take your tinfoil hat from you. If you are an american, you might as well need it, because apparently the government spying, censorship and whatever is much, much worse there than in Europe.

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You lose control over what windows updates get installed unless you are on Pro or Enterprise .. MS says bend over.

 

Like others are saying - tech savvy users will probably not get the Home edition.  Forcing updates on what are most likely non-tech savvy users will help to prevent oblivious users' computers from becoming hacker resources.  Good idea - force immediate security updates on the sheep that get preyed upon.

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