Windows 9 is... Windows 10

[thepiney]

I haven't done anything with it yet.

[Midas]

• Windows Terminal

For anyone interested, Windows Terminal is also available from https://github.com/Microsoft/Terminal. (Windows 10 only)

Looks like Windows Terminal is getting big updates:

betanews.com/2020/06/19/microsoft-windows-terminal-preview-1-1/

[webfork]

I also just completed the latest installation of Windows 10,i also just completed the latest Windows installation. At the beginning, I planned to upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7, but I tried it many times and it was not successful.

While I am surprised you had difficulty, one of the nice things about portable freeware generally is that it moves easily from from operating systems. As such, I don't think I've done an OS upgrade since like 2005. Plus Windows has a tendency to leave a lot of junk behind so maybe a fresh install is best.

[SYSTEM]

Microsoft made a bunch of changes in a new insider preview build. Most notably, the calculator now supports graphing.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperi ... ild-20161/

[thepiney]

Nice, that real time view of the graph changing as the input is changed is cool. I stopped doing the Insider Preview some time ago but hope that stays in the final build.

The last few systems I upgraded to Windows 10, I just did a clean install and used the Windows 7 Product Key or clicked on the option to get that later and after install did the activation and I haven't had any issues. My experience with Windows 10 has been for the most part very positive as I haven't had an critical issues due to the OS.

[Midas]

A review of a Windows 10 upgrade. Educational.

Was the whole exercise necessary? Of course not. If only there was a reward at the end of, I could be a happy little nerd. But there isn't any, just the unbearable lightness of being, except this one isn't written by Milan Kundera.

@ www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-10-build-2004-upgrade.html

[h3kt0r]

Windows 10 Bug Corrupts Your Hard Drive

[Midas]

Yep, I came across the same recently.

Microsoft to fix Windows 10 bug that can corrupt a hard drive just by looking at an icon
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/15/22232589/

[webfork]

I've not posted anything about Windows 11 both because I haven't seen anything interesting, but also because this is entirely what I expected from the next OS version: a fully cloud-based PC. They've been seeing money in cloud for years now (Office 365 is not cheap) and it only makes sense that they'd move more and more services to a cloud environment.

It's basically an ongoing PC rental rather than buying an upgraded one every few years.

This might be good for portable freeware in the sense that you will still be able to run programs independent of Microsoft's web-based OS, but it also might be the case that some editions require all downloads from Microsoft Store. Hopefully that's not the case.

Microsoft Windows 365 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-365

[Andrew Lee]

Actually, even with Windows 10, with each new major release, they are making it more and more obvious _they_ own the software; you don't own anything.

From the random manner in which they update/reboot the PC for you,

From initially obfuscating the creation of a local user account to now _requiring_ you to sign in to a new PC using Microsoft account,

Trust me, if they can figure out a way to make every app installation go through their app store, they would!

[Midas]

Microsoft sticks yet another slight to its users:

Mozilla also implemented its own workaround to quickly and easily set Firefox as the default browser on Windows 10 and Windows 11 in a single click. It’s a feature that Microsoft limits to its Edge browser. While Mozilla’s workaround is available in the version of Firefox you download from the web, if you download Firefox from the Microsoft Store then the default browser workaround is missing.

@ www.theverge.com/2021/11/15/22782802/microsoft-block-edgedeflector-windows-11

[webfork]

... if you download Firefox from the Microsoft Store then the default browser workaround is missing.

It's almost as if there was a lawsuit about this affecting Microsoft's browser some years ago that might put them off this kind of thing.

Maybe more interesting is that this is (I believe) the first time anyone's said anything on the site about Windows 11. I don't know for sure because it just doesn't seem important, but I believe yet another unwelcome foray into experimental user interface territory. Hopefully they'll let me reverse the changes so I can continue trying to forever revert my desktop to Windows 2000:

[Albert90]

My biggest worry now is if Microsoft forces users to update to Windows 11 in the near future, despite stability issues and bugs that still persist. Totally agree with what was stated above - THEY own the software, not you.

[Midas]

And... the reaper is now coming for Windows 10 -- time to ponder the alternatives yet again...

Windows 10 reaches EOL on October 14, 2025. [...] I have gone dark already using my Dark Island strategy, which means that I'm using Windows exclusively in Offline Mode, with all forms of communication to the public internet disabled. I never allowed it to reach the internet from the very beginning, including during the installation stage. I only play Offline Single Player DRM Free Games, so this strategy works for me, and it also means that the EOL status of Windows 10 will have no consequences for me. I'm basically using Windows like a N64 or Gameboy, which is why I sometimes call this machine a Wintendo. I never needed internet for those systems then, and still don't today, yet I can still use and play those games decades later. Going dark years before the EOL, gives me plenty of time to make sure that I backup everything that I need, to reproduce my environment post EOL. If you are interested in my Dark Island strategy, you can read the next section. Furthermore, I will be exiting Windows development completely for newer versions of Windows. I will continue to maintain Cactus/Singling/Etc for Windows 7 and 10.

https://github.com/fearedbliss/Cactus#w ... -supported

[juverax]

My solution for preserving my Windows 10 system (applicable to any system), whatever Microsoft will will be up to ....

I use https://www.californiapc.com/core/media ... dyGtXvOyIA
to clone my hard drive on a regular basis. And I have a couple of HD clones ... of course.

What you need:
- a hard drive of the same size or larger size (I have never tried with different sizes though)
- a USB to SATA cable
- the Live CD by Apricorn based on the Symobi operating system https://apricorn.com/ezgig (Apricorn has removed the download link). Archive at: https://archive.org/details/apricornezg ... forwindows

Of course there are other ways for cloning an internal HD, but the Apricorn combo - if you can put your hands on it - is convenient and straightforward to use.
I got mine from Bestbuy but they no longer have it, same for amazon, and eBay will be a more reliable resource!