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Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Edition Will Have Some Group Policy Settings Removed
For their forthcoming Anniversary update, Microsoft have decided to remove some Group Policy settings from all editions of the operating system except for Windows 10 Enterprise. These Policies affect your ability to control "Cloud Content", "Personalization", and "Windows Store".
The corresponding Registry keys for these policies will also be removed. Manually adding those keys back into non-Enterprise editions of Win10 will have no effect.
Looking at the list of Policies to be removed, many home/power users of this operating system will almost certainly be up in arms and annoyed at this move, but it seems they are just innocent bystanders in a bigger game/pressure-tactic Microsoft is playing out with the corporate and business world.
Unfortunately for home/power users, purchasing a license to use the Windows 10 Enterprise edition is all but impossible. Divorcing from the MS Windows ecosystem may end up being the only palatable option for many such users.
Here is the list of Policies to be removed:
- Cloud Content > "Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences" -- personalized recommendations from Microsoft ...notifications about your Microsoft account.
- Cloud Content > "Do not show Windows tips" -- may see contextual popups ...Microsoft uses diagnostic, telemetry and usage data to determine which tips to show.
- Personalization > "Force a specific default lock screen and logon image"
- Personalization > "Prevent changing lock screen and logon image"
- Personalization > "Do not display the lock screen" -- before signing in, users will see their selected tile and must dismiss the lock screen using touch, keyboard or mouse drag.
- Store > "Disable all apps from Windows Store" -- turns off launch of all apps from Windows Store that came pre-installed or were downloaded; also will turn off Windows Store.
[Continues...]
Microsoft faces two new lawsuits over aggressive Windows 10 upgrade tactics
Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
Microsoft is facing two more lawsuits over the company's questionable Windows 10 upgrade tactics. Both suits are seeking class-action status.
The first suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Florida. It alleges that Microsoft's Windows 10 upgrade prompts "violated laws governing unsolicited electronic advertisements," as reported by The Seattle Times . The suit also says Microsoft's tactics are against the Federal Trade Commission's rules on deceptive and unfair practices. The second suit was filed in June in Haifa, Israel alleging that Microsoft installed Windows 10 on users' computers without consent. Microsoft already paid out a $10,000 award in a previous U.S. suit over similar circumstances.
(Score: 5, Informative) by stormwyrm on Sunday July 31 2016, @11:51PM
Sadly with UEFI Secure Boot even that may soon end. I would much rather not pay Microsoft a single cent for their misbegotten software, and the fact that laptops untainted by Windows 10 are becoming harder and harder to come by is really pissing me off. I'd buy gear from System76 or some other similar manufacturer but getting things like that shipped to Manila is a big headache and cost. Maybe I'll buy one next time someone I know at company HQ in Denver travels here, or if I travel there again soon. Failing that, a Mac laptop is becoming more and more attractive. Much as I dislike Apple they are beginning to look increasingly more attractive an option.
ReactOS? Last I heard they weren't even alpha quality. If you really needed to run Windows software your best bet is still Wine on GNU/Linux. Dunno how well that runs on the BSDs though.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @01:03PM
Something funny I found out about Apple/OSX is that in spite of the walled garden, it's hilariously easy to pirate software on it. Easier than Windows even.
My girlfriend recently got a used Mac pretty cheaply. She likes OSX. She has a total moral flexibility toward software piracy. I do too. In a couple hours of work, I got about $600 worth of various "office" and "photo editing" software for her for free. No torrents or cracks either. They're legit versions of the software that I just found ways to get to work fully functionally with library preloads and other hacks I put together myself. Even with the "time == money" argument, it still proved to be worthwhile.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Monday August 01 2016, @01:08PM
PC-BSD is still a little dodgy in my opinion, but it has a lot of customized stuff builtin for WINE, at least, for gaming purposes. I got Payday 2 running pretty nicely without really touching anything configuration wise. Of course, they put out a native Linux client two weeks after I did so, but so it goes.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!