Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by mrpg on Thursday August 02 2018, @05:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the MS-DaaS dept.

Computerworld:

[...] Microsoft is getting ready to replace Windows 10 with the Microsoft Managed Desktop. This will be a "desktop-as-a-service" (DaaS) offering. Instead of owning Windows, you'll "rent" it by the month.

DaaS for Windows isn't new. Citrix and VMware have made a living from it for years. Microsoft has offered Remote Desktop Services, formerly Terminal Services, for ages.

Microsoft Managed Desktop is a new take. It avoids the latency problem of the older Windows DaaS offerings by keeping the bulk of the operating system on your PC.

But you'll no longer be in charge of your Windows PC. Instead, it will be automatically provisioned and patched for you by Microsoft. Maybe you'll be OK with that.

ZDNet:

January 14, 2020 is the last day Microsoft will provide security updates for Windows 7. According to Microsoft's estimates, there are 184 million commercial devices out there (as of April 2018 and excluding China) still on Windows 7. And 64 percent of those devices are more than five years old.

For Microsoft's reseller partners, that's a huge potential opportunity, as they heard repeatedly during Microsoft's Inspire partner show last week. Traditionally, end of Microsoft support for an operating system means more chances for partners to sell customers on migration, provisioning and other services.

At the same time, the way business customers are purchasing PCs is changing. By 2020 -- the same time Windows 7 hits end of support -- 30 percent of all PCs will be acquired via DaaS, or device-as-a-service, plans, Microsoft officials told partners last week.

[...] During the Inspire show, Microsoft execs worked to hammer home the idea that resellers shouldn't simply be selling Windows 7 users a new device running Windows 10. Instead, they should take the DaaS approach and set up a whole platform to lease new Windows 10 PCs to customers.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by ShadowSystems on Thursday August 02 2018, @12:39PM (2 children)

    by ShadowSystems (6185) <ShadowSystemsNO@SPAMGmail.com> on Thursday August 02 2018, @12:39PM (#716170)

    As soon as MS released Win10 & all the crap inherent in that particular turd I decided Win7 was the point where I got off the MS infinite treadmill for anyone else.
    I refuse to accept the telemetry, my Screen Reader is a *Mission Critical* application for me (I can not use my computer without it), & Win10 is unable to provide a stable platform upon which to run it. Every time MS breaks something with a Win10 update & promises to fix it "later" means I'd be shit out of luck until/unless they do. I can't interact with my computer unless/until the reader starts talking & the reader can't talk if MS has rendered my audio subsystem useless. My only fix at that point is somewhere like BestBuy GeekSquad & pay to have them return my computer to a previously working state... Assuming MS hasn't removed that bit of functionality entirely. So Win10 is no longer fit for purpose & I refuse to willingly put my neck in that noose.
    To that end I've been looking at Apple & Linux systems to which I can turn. I'd love to use Linux but have had hair-tearing levels of frustration with E.Speak, Orca, & VIM to the point where I've essentially given up in despair. It's looking like I may be forced to buy an Apple Imac just to get the level of functionality I want (in order to future proof the computer so I don't have to upgrade any time soon) & the ports I require (wired LAN & a headphone jack for starters, not to mention USB3.0 TypeA ports a plenty)... I, a totally blind person whom has no need nor desire to pay for a monitor, has to buy an All-In-One in order to get hardware that isn't straight out of an archeological dig site (Mac Mini's 4th gen Intel? WTF?) or includes the ports I need (I refuse to use dongles) in order to get a useable computer. The real head scratcher & mind twister is the fact that an Imac costs *less* than the Mac Pro "Trashcan" that I would otherwise be interested in getting. *Blink.Blink* WTF? It costs MORE for a computer WITHOUT a 5K monitor built in? *Bangs head in discombobulation*
    Dear Microsoft. You've certainly done an excellent job of convincing me to upgrade. Unfortunately for you it's right the *%$$(# off the MS infinite treadmill & straight into the arms of your competition. I'm not the first, certainly won't be the last, & you have nobody to blame but yourselves.
    *Gives a happy two middle fingers extended wave as I leave*

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=1, Informative=3, Total=4
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 2) by corey on Friday August 03 2018, @05:49AM (1 child)

    by corey (2202) on Friday August 03 2018, @05:49AM (#716567)

    This is a great post, your blink, blink got me chuckling.

    You had me wondering how hard it must be to use a computer blind, something taken for granted by the rest of us. Sorting through Soylentnews comments must be interesting.my Sohe best of luck in reestablishing a workable computer solution, dude.

    • (Score: 1) by ShadowSystems on Friday August 03 2018, @11:09AM

      by ShadowSystems (6185) <ShadowSystemsNO@SPAMGmail.com> on Friday August 03 2018, @11:09AM (#716620)

      Corey, thank you.
      It *is* a right pain in the ass trying to deal with a computer at the best of times, even moreso when you're forced to rely on a third party to provide the tool required to do it.
      Windows has a built in reader, Windows Narrator, but it is quite literally The Utter Worst of the tools thus available.
      It says a lot (& nothing good) when your own product can't accurately handle your own OS & the native programs within it.
      I admit I haven't checked back with that particular forum thread to ascertain the current state of functionality, especially not since I plan on stepping off this treadmill entirely, but the last time I did WinNar couldn't even accurately parse Win10's own damned Edge browser.
      Read that again.
      Win10's built in reader couldn't even reliably handle Win10's own native web browser.
      How utterly FUBAR can you get?
      There were similar issues with the Win10 mail client, the calculator, & others such that MS told screen reader users to use third party software to restore those functions.

      Read that again.
      MS had to tell us to use FireFox, Thunderbird, & other products in order to reasonably interact with Windows 10.
      "FUBAR" doesn't even *begin* to cover the epic stupidity/ineptitude inherent in that situation.

      There's NonVisualDesktopApplication (NVDA) which is supposed to be pretty decent.
      It has the added benefit of being open source & thus can be modified by any programmer that wants to try, and free of cost to use albeit they appreciate donations.
      This might be a decent way to go if I hadn't started out using another product that kinda ruined me; I've already gone through one steep learning curve to learn one programs ins & outs & if I have to do that again then I'll wait to learn the one from Apple.

      That leaves Jaws from Freedom Scientific.
      Once you learn the controls to use it it's pretty much the best Windows reader hands down bar none.
      Unfortunately FS knows that & charges Apple prices to get it.
      My original copy of Jaws cost over $1,200 for a single Home user license & included one free upgrade to the next version.
      All fine & good until my computer at the time died & I needed a new computer with Jaws on it.
      FS charged me for a new copy/version on the new machine even though the old machine was no longer operable - kaput, dead, feet nailed to the perch & "pining for the Fjords". D.E.A.D. As a doornail. As a politicians ethics. Done. No more.
      *Cough*
      You get the point. =-}p
      My old computer dead & I need a new one, a new one with Jaws on it so I can use it at all, & FS had me over a barrel. Trigger a charge of $1,200 for the latest & greatest version to go with my "shiny new" hardware (a used Dell desktop nearly 5 years old).
      *Sigh*
      While I might like Jaws' functionality & admit it does a damn good job, I am *not* amused by the ruthless tactics I was forced to endure to acquire the damned thing.
      *Deep, calming breath*

      To add insult to injury, I'm a full Type 1 (Insulin Dependant) Diabetic & do multiple daily finger sticks to test my blood sugar levels.
      All those finger sticks have resulted in fingertip nerve degredation such that I couldn't read Braille even if I had learned it.
      This means using a Braille Writer (essentially a special keyboard with a multi-line Braille "display" that a Braille reader can run their fingertips over to figure out the plain text of the current screen) isn't an option at all.
      (Not that I've got the $5,000 often charged for a basic BW unit. That was not a typo.)

      So I'm stuck reliant on using a TextToSpeech program to read the plain text bits of screen to me.

      Windows 10 isn't stable, isn't fit for purpose, & can't assure me that it won't break everything the next update they ram down my throat.
      Add the insult of getting *advertisements* in an OS I've presumeably paid for when I bought the hardware?
      Hmmmm... let me think.
      *Brightens in a classic "Eureka!" moment*
      Not just no but HELL NO!
      *Laughing in disgust*

      *Blinks & looks around sheepishly*
      Where was I going with all this?
      Oh yeah, I remember.
      It sucks rancid monkey butt.
      I am hostage to a screen reader working to read the screen to me, a reader that can't read until & unless the OS has fully loaded & launched, and *can not* interact with my computer otherwise.
      Since the reader can't load until the OS has, there's no pre-OS-load reader.
      Nothing during POST so I can use a boot menu, nothing during Windows bootstrapping so I can try to switch to Safe Mode, the reader doesn't work in Safe Mode at all anyway, so there's absolutely no way for me to configure, maintain, repair, secure, or do anything with/to my computer unless & until that reader is talking.
      If *anything* goes wrong prior to it talking, I have no way of knowing what went wrong nor any way to try & fix it.
      I've got to take it to someplace like BestBuy's GeekSquad & pay to get it repaired.
      That would be bad enough if it weren't for the fact that, before I went blind, *I* was the guy my family came to in order to get their computer's fixed.
      I can tell that *something* is wrong (because the reader isn't talking), but I have no way of fixing it anymore without grabbing a sighted person & begging them to tell me what's on the screen.
      It's akin to an auto mechanic losing the use of their hands & no longer being able to repair their own damned cars.
      "Frustrating" doesn't even *begin* to describe the kind of hell we're in.
      =-/

      So to answer your question again, yes it's frustrating to be reliant on a third party to deign to give us access to our own computer.
      There's a reason I shaved my scalp utterly bald, it keeps me from tearing it all out by the roots every time Windows decides to break something & leaves me at the mercy of others to restore my computer to working order.

      =-(