Windows 10 the Good the Bad and the OS

Microsoft released this update with the intent of fixing the mistakes of windows 8 and 8.1. There is the start menu that has seen a merge between 8.1 and 7. There is the UWP (universal windows platform) that removed the weird tablet feel in a non-touch desktop. Those silly charms have been removed. I feel that all of these steps are in the right direction, but there are a lot of features I don't want bundled into this pack.

Microsoft, believe it or not, heard a lot of the complaints about windows 8 and 8.1. As you can see above they did make some great strides towards improving there system. But there were things that Microsoft heard, and wasn't quite ready to accept. Windows 8.1 had noticeably reduced privacy for the user, with settings being throw up to the cloud such as whenever you connected to a service your information regarding your ID. When you use Bing your searches are being thrown up into the cloud (Which is a regular trend of search engines). Microsoft tries to push you to login with a Microsoft account so they can get more detailed information about your habits. There is also Smart search that keeps records of everything you search on your computer and sends information to Microsoft, such as emails, sms texting, taxes, Projects, etc. Keep in mind all of these settings are enabled by default. These aren't questions, when you hit express settings, you are telling Microsoft, "My computer life is now an open book!" When you even hit turn these off, security updates or other important updates will turn them back on. Kinda like how if you uninstalled the GWX update Microsoft would send out another update to remedy the problem. I am sure Microsoft is using this data with pure intent, but even if they are, anyone can access your information. They are honey potting your information into a big box that says, "Hey lots of important information in here!" There is more on top of this but the point is, there were privacy concerns now, and they didn't get any smaller moving on.

Windows 10 goes on to collect even more data! I found a great article about France and their investigation about windows 10 collecting data... "Irrelevant or excessive data collected: The CNIL found that the company was collecting diagnostic and usage data via its telemetry service, which uses such data, among other things, to identify problems and to improve products. To this purpose, Microsoft Corporation processes, for instance, Windows app and Windows Store usage data, providing information, among other things, on all the apps downloaded and installed on the system by a user and the time spent on each one. Therefore, the company is collecting excessive data, as these data are not necessary for the operation of the service. Lack of individual consent: An advertising ID is activated by default when Windows 10 is installed, enabling Windows apps and other parties’ apps to monitor user browsing and to offer targeted advertising without obtaining users’ consent. Lack of information and no option to block cookies: The company puts advertising cookies on users’ terminals without properly informing them of this in advance or enabling them to oppose this." Please if you have time go look at the original statement, I do not want to take credit for something I did not make, but I wanted to get my point across. The links will be found at the bottom. And also you cannot turn off all of the privacy settings. They are either deeply embedded or merely silenced. Take a look at this article: http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/08/microsoft-windows-10-privacy-not-what-it-seems/

I believe Microsoft's tactics for upgrading user's to windows 10 is barbaric. I understand that they need to get the quota, but you also have to understand that at least from a users perspective, a software company should build trust. If a company tells me there is an update and it doesn't BREAK or SLOW DOWN my computer to noticeable speeds, then I usually can trust a vendor to provide me with updates at their discretion. But when Microsoft released cumulative updates that break windows update, it would make me lose faith in their updates. And what does Microsoft do to fix this? FORCE UPDATES. That is right, don't trust us? Don't think we provide you with great updates on day 1? Well you can just download them and install them anyway.

Now as an OS I believe windows 10 is far better than 8 and 8.1 and with these cons about privacy it makes it a level playing field for windows 7 in my opinion. When I think of the big picture for windows and the issues I still feel like Microsoft has fallen short. When I think of Window's issues I think of the registry not cleaning itself, I think of startup programs freely adding themselves, I think of the lack of features that require users to turn to third party software to places like adobe flash, adobe reader or Java. I also still don't like that Microsoft has different tiers of windows. I believe in the future you should just be able to buy one copy of windows and get all the features you need. For example, bit locker and encryption client is disabled until you buy pro, which by today's standards you should be encrypting everything for safe measure. If Microsoft really needed the money from the extra tier of windows you would think they wouldn't just give windows 10 to the masses. And still there are drivers that aren't just built into windows. There should be a standard driver for all hardware when using Windows, might no work as well as the manufacturers driver, but it should allow you functionality of the hardware.

I believe Microsoft wants windows in everyone's hands because they will use it as a way to take more money from you. I mean any business would think like that right? Perhaps through selective advertising or creating the windows store to try to bypass software distributors such as, amazon, steam, etc. But I have believed from day one of the release that Microsoft will implement a plan to provide user's with less functionality or no feature updates unless they pay a subscription fee. From day 1 Microsoft has been a little cloudy with how windows 10 licensing works and how user's are given their keys and how the free upgrade works. I would just like for someone to come out and say, "Yes, everything is free if you update now and this will be the model we are sticking with until windows 10's shelf life is over." or, "We plan on keeping user's computers updated with the latest security patches." I just have a sick feeling Microsoft could strong arm it's customers kind of like the tactics they used to update everyone to windows 10 and say, "We need more money for the free operating system." They are now charging enterprises money for a subscription based windows with office bundled in. "Windows 10 Enterprise E3 for CSP is for business customers of any size (including one person) to get enterprise features and functionality on a per monthly/per seat cost," a Microsoft spokeswoman said via email. "This new subscription model is not associated with our current upgrade offering or applicable to the Windows 10 consumer edition." Yes, this is not related to customers, YET. Much could be said when the free upgrade period is over and customer's have had their backups deleted after 30 days.

In my own opinion, if you are on windows 8 or 8.1 the update should be a no brainer. You will receive a better quality platform while still giving away and missing out on a lot of the same opportunities. Now if you are on a windows 7 platform I would recommend taking a good hard look in the mirror. Ask yourself, "Is it worth it? Giving up my privacy, giving up my desktop? Does my platform do what it needs to do? Am I willing to pay $100 to upgrade later? What alternatives do I have when Microsoft no longer provides security patches?"

Windows 10: CNIL publicly serves formal notice to Microsoft Corporation to comply with the French Data Protection Act within three months: https://www.cnil.fr/en/windows-10-cnil-publicly-serves-formal-notice-microsoft-corporation-comply-french-data-protection

Yes, Windows 10 subscriptions are coming, at least for enterprise http://www.pcworld.com/article/3094785/windows/yes-windows-10-subscriptions-are-coming-at-least-for-enterprise.html