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Microsoft has now released three cumulative updates for Windows 10. These updates combine security fixes with non-security bug fixes, and so far, Microsoft hasn't done a very good job of describing the contents of these cumulative updates. While the security content is quite fully described, explanations of the non-security fixes have been lacking.
Many, including your author, feel that this is undesirable and that a key part of the Windows-as-a-Service concept, in which Microsoft releases a steady stream of fixes and functional improvements, is a clear explanation of what those updates are. This is a new approach for Microsoft, and it seems like reassuring users and administrators that issues are getting fixed—and that functional changes are clearly described—should be important.
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Unfortunately, it does not seem that the company intends to change this approach. Company representatives told The Register that while the company "may choose" to perform "additional promotion" of new features depending on their "significance," there's no intention of providing full release notes. This means that future patches are going to continue to say nothing more than "This update includes improvements to enhance the functionality of Windows 10."
Anybody want off the Microsoft train yet?
(Score: 2) by darnkitten on Tuesday August 25 2015, @06:40PM
Most people just aren't aware that there are alternatives and that they don't have to put up with it.
As far as they know Windows is synonymous with "computer," just like they assume that iPad/apple (or Android, depending on which one they got their hands on first) is synonymous with "tablet," Word/Office is synonymous with "word processor/office suite" and the Big Blue "E" is synonymous with "the internet." If they are even aware of a choice, it is on the order of using Chrome instead of IE, trading one set of corporate product/spyware for another.
And they won't ever be aware--because We Are Not Good At Publicity. We assume that good products will automatically catch on; and so we rely on individual evangelists, rather than using mass advertising, like the big proprietary companies do. When MS has a new product version, it is EVERYWHERE. When was the last time you saw Mint, Ubuntu, LibreOffice, VLC or GIMP (which itself may be taken as an example of terrible public branding) advertised in National Geographic or People Magazine? Or on the side of a bus? Or on television?
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tl;dr - The public ain't gonna jump (the proprietary) ship if they don't know there's a (free, open, safe and convenient) life raft.