W10 - new features due soon.......

[Heathrow Harry]

New features due soon in W10 - you have been warned......

https://www.techrepublic.com/article...a-cheat-sheet/

[BEagle]

I read that they're going to 'retire' the HomeGroup feature....

So typical - I use it quite frequently between 3 private computers to update folders etc. Not all of which I want to save to some 'cloud'.

So I guess I'll have to go back to faffing about with copying to USB sticks and uploading from those. Which will take about twice as long as just letting the computers connect to each other.

Why oh why can they not STOP FIDDLING!

[Capn Bloggs]

I read that they're going to 'retire' the HomeGroup feature....

You read right!

Originally Posted by tech republic

•the removal of the HomeGroup feature.

I've never been hot on networking, but I have 3 W7 computers networked here, not using the Homegroup feature. Don't ask me how though!

[FullOppositeRudder]

When I 'upgraded' to W7, I discovered this HomeGroup "feature". I was able to ignore it somehow, and network back into my remaining and still protected XP devices at that time.

It would be nothing short of stupid and irresponsible for M$ to drop a networking capability now or at any time in the future. I'm expecting that they have just dropped the HomeGroup thing and left the facility to network in there as before.

As for the rest of the 'upgrade'? I can't see anything worth getting excited about. It seems now that the Windows operating system is destined to be like the home created Basic programs of old - never quite finished. always something which can be touched up or fiddled.

Thanks for the warning ....

FOR

[old,not bold]

Oh God, here we go again; I am still restoring my W10 laptop after the soft reset that the last big update made necessary.

[Basil]

What a PITA!
The interface for Outlook 2013 is rubbish cf 2007.
Oh, yes and Win7 worked OK.

[Guest 112233]

Windows 10

Microsoft seem to have lost direction with windows 10.

There have been changes of senior personnel at management level recently.

Windows 10 as a project seems to be now unrepresented at board level within the organisation - please feel free to correct me if I'm incorrect here.

The evolution of the consumer product seems to be fixated on peripheral features such as Cortana. This is a response to their revivals voice recognition products, but who really cares. Virtual Reality ! - OK gamers are a special group and I'm not forgetting the importance of the contribution "Game Programming" to the development of computer science.

I want an operating system that's reliable, secure,easily (and seamlessly ) updated: that does not require an eight core CPU and 64 GB of RAM to run.
Cut and pate to work and have proper integral system back up/ restore capability. The "Cloud" yes too where appropriate.

CAT III on his elderly ACER Aspire 1; not running its original XP O/S.

[Guest 112233]

Reply to Old not Bold

I'm not a Windows 10 user because of the threat posed by the 6 Monthly, major update releases. The down time associated with these activities can run to several hours in some instances; but may be dependent on internet download speeds and PC Spec. Win 8.1 is not great either.

There are something like 1.5 Billion Windows PC's in use worldwide so its an achievement that the updates work as they do.

The problem lies in the scope of the operating system updates - A lot changes with each iteration and the sheer complexity of the code base means that bugs will occur.

Microsoft keep introducing changes for cosmetic reasons. Of course security updates/improvements are essential by the way. The "Start button" fiasco ! - remember that.

But getting rid of the "Home Group" facility (if true) is an example of poor judgement as was near complete removal of the facility to make a System Backup/Restore from within Windows in Win 8.1 - Win 7 Pro still has the option by the way.

Personal Computing devices have come a long way from the idea of the original PC and its dependence on Windows. - Business use is more complex in this respect but still there's a big change happening.

CAT III

( One Win 8.1/ One 7 Pro and an Acer Aspire one running Mint XFCE )

[old,not bold]

Thank you CATIII-NDB; interesting if I got it right; you don't recommend W10 because the updates will always be troublesome. Are we sure that MS is unable to remove bugs from its software because it's so complex? I'm not so ready to forgive; who created the monster in the first place?

I was stuck with W10 when I bought an ASUS laptop with that installed. I have and will have for the foreseeable future W7 on my main work machine, in which I have just had every component except the HDDs replaced with newer and better hardware (M'board, PSU, cards, processor etc.) But I, a simpleton, was advised that if the Asus was developed for W10 going back to W7 was not an option. So I didn't.

All I can do now is not use the laptop between 2200 and 0400 UTC, I think it is. That's the only time the system will do an automatic update on booting up, as set by me. You can't set a shorter period. In my simple way I believe that this defeats the update, but I expect someone will tell me that's nonsense.

[Beavis_]

I want an operating system that's reliable, secure,easily (and seamlessly ) updated:

- you ever considered Ubuntu Linux? https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

Linux has came a long way in the last few years, gone are the days where you needed to be a nerdy hacker to install and use linux, its pretty easy to setup (dual boot if you need Windoze as well), and easy to run. Updates are pretty easy to.

I've previous worked (as a nerd) for the one major [but ****e] British airlines and it was all Linux and Unix machines. The [mis]-managers, of course had high specification laptops, and used MiroSwipe windows for their dump spreadsheets and also to send out moronic emails.

[Heathrow Harry]

Note the words "pretty easy" from a self confessed nerd... Doesn't fill me with confidence TBH

[Guest 112233]

Reply to Beavis & Heathrow Harry

Hummmm. I've used Ubuntu since Ver 8.4 - I possess a Dell Running Mint X86 in a VM (with some problems - Sound is unreliable ) and an ancient Acer Aspire One that ran XP originally; then Ubuntu 12 .??, briefly Ubuntu 16.04 & then Lubuntu.

I've installed Mint 18.3 - 32 Bit (not Xfce) on the Acer: it runs well. My main Ubuntu Box is awaiting a new HD - The Seagate Barracuda failed at 3 & a half years old. Grrrrr !

I like Win 7 Pro (X64) - its fully functional on an old updated Vostro, after a very difficult start with Win 7 Updates.

Edit:Ubuntu usually works well - The only problem for me was acertain wireless adaptor.

CAT III

[le Pingouin]

Harry, provided you're happy to accept the default installation it's easy to install - the hardest bit is getting the computer to boot from DVD or USB.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...mUSBStickQuick

Updates are a doddle.

[BEagle]

So, apart from hogging my computer for an hour or so, destroying my 3 computer network and adding a few pointless gimmicks for nerds and kids, what benefits has the latest Win10 update actually provided?

Answers on a postcard to wanqueurresofseattle@micro$hite.com

[cavuman1]

Windows Spring Update, version 1803

I spent two hours last evening downloading an installing the aforementioned. It has all kinds of features that we'll never use and, horror of horrors, our game folder has disappeared, never to be heard from again! Our ten-year-old Toshiba laptop, which has served us well and which we call our "five hundred dollar deck of cards" no longer has solitaire, free cell, and chess. Is Microsoft telling me to get a life? I'll need Haldol and beer to survive game withdrawal...

- Ed

[cattletruck]

Microsoft seem to have lost direction with windows 10.

I've just become a Windows 10 user at work and this statement is very true. I had these issues in the first two hours.
MS-Teams decided to update itself and crashed (with a Java error of all things) and incapacitated itself.
MS-Edge refused to allow me to close the browser when it was on a Sharepoint page.
When trying to set the colours I had to revert to high contrast mode to be able to chose colours. Then the text box field decided to stop letting me paste in my colour values.

A reboot and it all came good.

A recent issue I found with MS-Outlook is that the monthly calendar in mail mode doesn't highlight the days that have scheduled activity but if you switch to calendar mode the very same calendar does have them.

Thinking about why we now have even poorer quality software from Microsoft the answer is simple. Microsoft's best engineers are working on cloud components (their "future") which leaves the development of the legacy Microsoft components to the dregs including outsourcing the code development to those that cannot even afford a decent monitor like yours or mine.

[Tocsin]

Originally Posted by cavuman1

I spent two hours last evening downloading an installing the aforementioned. It has all kinds of features that we'll never use and, horror of horrors, our game folder has disappeared, never to be heard from again! Our ten-year-old Toshiba laptop, which has served us well and which we call our "five hundred dollar deck of cards" no longer has solitaire, free cell, and chess. Is Microsoft telling me to get a life? I'll need Haldol and beer to survive game withdrawal...

- Ed

Try winaero.com for a fix for the games

[cavuman1]

Thanks for Your Suggestion, Tocsin!

Re: loss of games in Windows v. 1803 - I am familiar with Winaero and had been using their add-on for games since earlier versions of Windows 10. Though those subroutines are still resident on our hard drive, I am unable to perfect their installation on this new (un)improved version of Windows.

If you or others come across another solution, you have my sincere thanks in advance. Perhaps Sergey will release a compatible version soon. In the interim, I may be forced to carry on intelligible conversation with my wife (shudder!)

- Ed

[FullOppositeRudder]

My three w10 machines have gone through the 'update' over the past few days. As far as I can see, they've all survived, and seem to be usable in much the same way as before. Of course I'm not necessarily aware of or using many of the 'features' of W10. I use Classic Shell as the main operating interface, and I persisted with setting up these installations as networked machines in my existing W7 (and up until recently XP) devices, so the disappearance of the Homegroup facility goes un-noticed.

I brought a new Dell i7 Win 10 desktop machine into the system about a week ago and setting up permissions for disk and folder access for this one seem much more complicated than previously. However I fumbled and blundered through the process with frequent calls upon Google, and it seems to be OK. It's nice and fast, which is what I was hoping for.

I'm almost sorry that I denied my W7 machines the offer to 'upgrade' to W10 when it was free, but having heard the tales of woe from friends who did so - only to find that printers and other peripherals were no longer usable - well, perhaps I made the right decision.

Regards

FOR

[Octane]

My laptop updated yesterday. Initially it was a real slug but after a reboot is ok. I haven't gone searching for fresh junk to delete yet. I'm sure there's stuff there though, was last time...