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Windows 10 Pro Edition Loses Some Group Policy Settings; Microsoft Sued Over Win 10 Upgrade Tactics

posted by takyon on Sunday July 31 2016, @09:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the and-another-suit dept.

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Edition Will Have Some Group Policy Settings Removed

number6 writes:

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

MrPlow writes:

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.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3101396/windows/microsoft-faces-two-new-lawsuits-over-aggressive-windows-10-upgrade-tactics.html

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @09:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @09:11AM (#382542)

    I remember visiting the bookstore ( Barnes and Noble, I think ), and saw a Kindle ( or was it a NOOK?). It was such a nice looking machine, and the salesman really wanted to seal a deal to get me one. However, the more I played with it, the more I felt I was playing with a lock. It wasn't gonna let me *do* anything.

    Its job was to look pretty and tell me no, but nicely.

    It was a "HAL9000" to me. ( "I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that".) It was programmed to carry out someone else's agenda at my expense. By the time I had completed my examination of the device, I had placed its value to me below zero, meaning if they had flat given me one, all I felt I could really do with it was maybe salvage the battery and power supply - that is if I took it at all.

    The one handed to me would not even browse the web.

    In my case they did not need to keep them behind the counter... if I had found a brand new one on the sidewalk, I would have left it there. I do not believe it was useful for a thing but enforcing the purchase of licensed and controlled content.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday August 01 2016, @10:19AM

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Monday August 01 2016, @10:19AM (#382560) Journal

    I have one of the earlier version kindles - a 2010 or 2011 2nd gen kindle DX. It's a proper ebook rather than a tablet. Slow-refreshing B&W epaper with no backlight, a physical keyboard & wifi, battery life measured in weeks (even after however many years I've had it) It even has a fairly primitive web browser on it.
    I was reluctant to use ebooks when they first came out (mainly for DRM reasons) but I was converted within minutes of opening this one. It's great. You can buy DRMed books direct off the amazon store if you want, but you can also acquire your own non-DRMed material and transfer it by email or USB. Works beautifully with Calibre, to which you can add seamless DRM-stripping functionality.

    Just searched ebay for a similar model, interestingly they seem to have maintained or even increased their value from when they were first launched.