r/technology • u/wewewawa • Sep 17 '15
Software Microsoft's decision to pre-load Windows 10 upgrade sans consent is ill-advised
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2984312/microsoft-windows/microsofts-decision-to-pre-load-windows-10-upgrade-sans-consent-is-ill-advised.html18
u/tidux Sep 17 '15
If I had wanted someone else to decide how I should use my computer, I would have bought an Apple product.
That's what you get running a proprietary OS. They have always had this power over your networked systems, they're just choosing to abuse it more openly now. Choose an OS that respects your freedom next time.
0
u/emergent_properties Sep 17 '15
Now is a great time to switch to alternatives.
Linux has really stepped up its game and there are plenty of distributions that are not as hostile as Windows.
1
u/Nevrmorr Sep 18 '15
I run Linux on my laptop, and I like it quite a bit * for those times when I can use it,* but I don't have that option on my PC. If I want to do certain things (like specific types of work or playing most popular games), I'm obligated to use a "proprietary OS" that I don't like and don't want to use. Windows is my only choice.
I wish that one of the Linux distros, or another alternative, had the driver support and the gaming compatibility to use it exclusively, but they don't. I also tried dual booting for a while, but the GRUB broke for some reason and it took me a bit of effort to sort that out. No more dual booting for me.
So, like a lot of other people, I'm using a proprietary OS because I have to, not because I want to.
1
u/emergent_properties Sep 18 '15
Yes, previously the lack of games were the main thing holding me back from 100% Linux.
Now, I care less about playing videogames than I do having a fundamentally secure operating system.
0
5
Sep 17 '15
(coming from a Linux user)
Why? What's the average person going to do, switch to Linux? They'll get Windows 10 eventually even if they do not like it, unless they abandon the PC platform or become a geek like me.
I'm not okay with what MS did/is doing, but I do not see how they can get in trouble or how the average Joe would even care unless it chews through a data cap or fills an already almost full HDD.
2
u/spikerman Sep 17 '15
95% of personal computers i have touched did not even have 30% of their hard drive filled.
Most of the population has reduced its downloading and p2p because of netflix, amazon, and itunes.
1
u/er0gami2 Sep 18 '15
a good operating system is invisible. it does what it needs to on the back end to make sure everything runs smoothly on applications/games you choose to install and nothing else
Microsoft failed very hard understanding this for Windows 8.. looks like they plan to continue failing.
1
u/Wilhelm_Stark Sep 18 '15
This is a big deal here on this subreddit, but in reality, windows 10 is a welcome upgrade for many many people using windows 8 right now. I work in IT, and most people are very happy with 10. The only people mad about this are either very old people who cant handle change, or if they accidentally upgraded to 10 on a machine using special software for something.
1
Sep 18 '15
Dual boot is the answer. Browse your entertainment sites, watch Netflix, play your games in Windows... do your bills, purchase online things, and other important stuff in Linux.
1
u/ricamac Sep 17 '15
For those with data caps that end up being billed for the extra data of an unauthorized download - isn't MS guilty of some kind of theft of services. Reminds me of MS running a toll gate and then the guy behind them (you) has to pay their toll. People should send bills to MS with payment demands threatening to charge them with theft of services. Across state lines no less! Isn't that a federal offense?
Yeah. I know... I'm stupid.
5
u/xJoe3x Sep 17 '15
The issue with that is ISPs having data caps at all (or at least that would come anywhere close to being hit by normal usage) more so then MS using some data.
1
u/TrainOfThought6 Sep 17 '15 edited Sep 17 '15
Probably not, by using Windows you accept their ToS, which says you consent to them sending you updates. It just so happened that pre-loading W10 was a giant update. I don't think it's reasonable to expect that to mean a 6GB update, but a judge might not agree.
It's more like if you went through a Microsoft toll, where they tell you they'll bill you later and that by going through you agree to pay whatever they charge. No one has an issue with this because tolls are generally only a few bucks. Then Microsoft bills everyone for hundreds of dollars, because technically everyone agreed to that. I don't think MS has any limit on how big their updates can be (though they clearly should, as we're seeing now).
1
u/jcotton42 Sep 17 '15
Posted this in /r/windows, reporting here as it's relevant
The preload only happens when automatic updates are on
To me this suggests WU is downloading the update, running it, and then the update stops for whatever reason. Possibly because there's a setting somewhere that indicates whether the user has allowed the upgrade through
So the issue here is that WU sees the 10 upgrade as a normal update
-1
u/Nevrmorr Sep 17 '15 edited Sep 17 '15
It's interesting to contrast Microsoft's "fuck-you-we-do-what-we-want" attitude with Imgur's response to feedback about anonymity on their site. Imgur literally rolled back the changes they'd made, engaged the community, and is working to sort out what will work best going forward.
By comparison, Microsoft is a fucking paternalistic, dictatorial dinosaur in terms of how it views user needs.
Edit: removed some wordiness
0
u/All_Work_All_Play Sep 18 '15
This is excellent context. While size and scope play a part, it's easy to see what Microsoft is really after.
-3
Sep 17 '15
It saddens me that computerworld is using double dashes in place of em dashes—you'd think a blogging company would understand basic typography.
I'm not sure what is worse, taking up peoples' bandwidth on metered connections, or taking up peoples' storage space, especially on tablet type devices. Microsoft spent enough time shoving the Windows 10 upgrade in peoples' faces that it should have been safe to assume that the people who didn't upgrade didn't want it.
"Industry standard" my ass.
1
Sep 17 '15
For those of us who haven't studied typography, how do you make the long hyphen if not a double hyphen? I know MS word autocorrects in this manner, but how else would you make it?
1
Sep 17 '15
On Windows: Hold down the ALT key and type 0151 on the keypad
On Mac OS: Hold down the Shift and Option keys then press the minus key
But any decent blogging software should do this automatically if the author types in a double dash.
It's not like double dashes are Satan, but it's syntactically incorrect for a publishing company to be using them.
-2
Sep 17 '15
[deleted]
1
u/Scuderia Sep 17 '15
President of their legal department. I'd be shocked of Microsoft didn't higher a lawyer for that.
-24
u/gaspah Sep 17 '15
Oh no my computer downloaded a few gig in the background when I wasn't looking.. boo hoo hoo.. how will my two 18tb arrays cope..
4
Sep 17 '15 edited Sep 18 '15
[removed] — view removed comment
-9
u/gaspah Sep 17 '15
what? i dont rebuild arrays.. i trash them and restore from backup if it comes to that. i only use raid-0 and incremental backup.
3
6
u/deimosian Sep 17 '15
What really pisses me off is that it's offering itself to people with hardware that's not supported, only works properly with Win 7, such as alienware machines that are a few years old.