Posted on 04/06/2015 8:03:32 AM PDT by dayglored
Late last month a mysterious patch suddenly appeared as an Optional entry in the Windows Automatic Update chute. At the time I wrote:
Conjecture at this point: It's somehow related to the ability to upgrade directly from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10. But of course, the official documentation doesn't say anything of the sort.
The crows have come home to roost and, thanks to a German researcher named Gerard Himmelein at heise.de, we now have a more thorough understanding of exactly what Microsoft's dishing out (a Google English translation of the post is available). Yesterday Jan Willem Aldershoff at Myce posted an analysis in English, with a Dutch-language screenshot, and this morning Vlad Dudau at Neowin gave us an English-language shot.
Microsoft provides an explanation -- of sorts -- in the KB article:
This update enables additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available to the user. It applies to a computer that is running Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1).That's the entirety of the official explanation.
Analysis shows, though, that KB 3035583 is a shill for Windows 10. As poster rugk on the "eset Security Forum" says, it's "an adware/PUA/PUS/PUP for Windows 10 upgrade."
...
(Excerpt) Read more at infoworld.com ...
bookmark.
Thank you— for the info and the road to “cloud free”. The only thing clouds present is inability to see, and the clouding of thought and creativity.
I’ll look into it. PM you if any questions on the how to/ where etc.
The first step I would recommend is download and burn several different Live CD/DVD distros. Boot each of those and play with them for a while. They won't touch your hard drive, and are perfectly safe. Once you find one that you like and can get comfortable with, you can install it to your hard drive from the Live disc.
At that point, you may need to install wine, but the process to install software these days on Linux is pretty automatic, and you should have few--if any--issues doing so.
I've heard good things about Zorin and PCLinux. However, I cannot vouch for either of them personally, as I use Fedora.
If the Windows apps don't have versions for Linux, there may be equivalent applications for Linux that accept or convert the file formats of your Windows apps, allowing you to move with only a one-time effort.
There are many legitimate reasons why a person might choose to migrate from Windows to Linux (or Mac OS X, or some other OS). But as ShadowAce said, it's not necessarily an easy decision.
Microsoft needs to get through their collective thick skull that not everyone, in every application, is ABLE to be connected to 'the cloud'. Users who CANNOT connect to the cloud (we know who we are) WILL find alternatives.
I'm already on the fence with linux ...
XP, while obsolete, weak on security, and increasingly dangerous to use on the internet, can be run in a captive non-internet environment with decent results.
But 95? Really? I'm hoping you were joking.
Running 95 these days would be like sitting around at age 40 daydreaming about that cute chick you knew back in high-school, and deciding to look her up and ask her out to dinner.
Trust me, 20 years makes a hell of a difference, and in neither situation is it generally for the better. :)
“After all, the Windows 10 upgrade is free for all the Win7 and Win8.x users that this nagware is going to annoy, so what’s the big deal?”
Long before the computer age, my father told me - and I have not forgotten - that there is no free lunch. I got something free once but had to have penicillin shots afterward.
I’m running several Windows 10 Preview machines on my domain as domain admin. No Microsoft Account users or cloud services. I COULD use them but don’t want to as I’m doing some courseware creation.
It only does cloud if you want it to, and not if you don’t. But really, cloud is just another way of saying over the Internet...
> ...that cute chick you knew back in high-school...
The same goes true for "that gorgeous hunk". Just in case you're female, I don't want to make false assumptions... :)
Win 8 doesn’t force you to use Internet services, it just seems like you have to when you set it up for the first time. You can bypass the Microsoft Store stuff and just setup a normal use account.
Win 10 will be more Internet-enabled than any of the previous MS operating systems.
Understood. I didn’t mean to insinuate that you have no choice, but they are pushing users to use more of the cloud-based functionality in the OS. As an MCP, I understand the intricacies in a corporate domain, but the home iterations are a little less flexible.
If you have been using Windows a long time and don’t have tech skills, don’t go with Linux.
If you want to use Windows apps, don’t go with Linux. There are office apps but they are different.
Linux is great if you are really technical and don’t mind learning new things or you are a complete neophyte with computers. Linux is perfect for old folks who don’t use computers so they don’t have to relearn things.
“OK- FReeper with tech super skills”
It is always useful to have those skills, but Linux has progressed to the point that it is generally easier to install than Windows, and quicker too. You don’t have to compile anything or even know Unix to install or use Linux. I treat it as the poor man’s version of Apple’s OS and approach it with the expectation that it should be simple to use just like Apple. Yes, I have cut and pasted a few Unix commands to the OS prompt, but that is rarely necessary.
I recommend you try both Ubuntu and Linux Mint. Both offer a Windows XP-like desktop environment called “Mate”. Download a Linux image file, burn it as a bootable DVD and give your PC a test with that version without any danger to your Windows system. If you like it, you can immediately install it, replacing Windows altogether. You can supposedly install Linux in a separate hard drive partition with some versions of Windows, but be sure to back up your Windows data first, just in case.
Rather than try and run Windows programs on Linux, search for equivalent Linux programs instead. They won’t be identical to their Windows counterpart, but are certainly usable. I found Linux 4 or 5 years ago and never looked back.
You are going to hear many different answers, but believe me: Get another box. Just find a used or free Vista or Win7 era box with a dual core processor and at least 4g of ram. You may even have one sitting in a closet somewhere. Make it your project box, treat it as volatile (don't save anything important on it), and be free to make mistakes, knowing that a brand new Linux installation is just 20 min's away. Just use it to learn and become comfortable in the Linux environment.
And begin finding crossover software - programs that run in both, and begin using those in Windows, gradually moving away from things that won't work in Linux. You may well NEED some software that won't be replaceable on the Linux side, which will determine your eventual final installation method (you can use several methods to be able to have both on the same machine).
But for now, find another box, install Linux, and play. By the time you are ready for realz, having already converted to cross-platform software in Windows, and having already become comfortable with the Linux environment on your project box, the actual change will be painless.
You may find that you can migrate 90% of your computing requirements over from Windows to Linux, but that the last 10% that won't convert are essential. If so, an option is to run a "virtual machine" (VM) of Windows as an application within Linux, and run those apps in the VM. There are a number of free products (VMware Player, Virtual Box, Xen) that allow you to run a full copy of Windows within Linux.
The benefit of doing so is that you only use the Windows virtual machine when you absolutely need a Windows-only application. Of course, you need to have a Windows license in the VM, but I presume you already have that, being a Windows user. If the license only works on certain vendor-specific hardware, you may be able to convert your physical Windows machine to a VM using a "physical-to-virtual" (P2V) converter program; these are typically also free.
So even if you can't escape Windows entirely, you can accomplish a near-total migration, and only use the Windows VM when you need to. A lot of FReepers are doing that these days; ask for help and you'll get it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware_Player
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtualBox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xen
Yep, I've had days like that. Not in recent years, thank God and old age.
> And a way to create restore media. I would hate to have to reinstall 8.0 and take a few days to upgrade from there back to 10... lol
It wouldn't be 8.0, since all 8.0 installations have to be upgraded to 8.1 (I assume you know that?).
I haven't heard about restore "media" for Windows 10, but get a copy of a good imaging program, such as Acronis True Image ($25 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Acronis-True-Image-2015-PC/dp/B00O66G2UQ) and you're better off than if you have restore media, IMO. You can take an image at any stage of the process, multiple images if you want, and you have the best possible backup capability for the rest of the time.
Acronis is not the only such product out there, but it's my favorite (and no I'm in no way associated with that company or product other than as a satisfied customer).
I’d take a 37year old woman over a woman-child any day.
Well, that’s a good point, too...
I’ve removed this from my Microsoft Updates and told my offspring not to download it either.
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