Windows 10 wrap-up: free update for most, Spartan revealed, local game streaming, holograms and more

[Uncle Al]

Then, they bill Windows 10 basically as, "the most important internet service in history".
Kidz, if that doesn't sound like subscription Windows coming down the pike, nothing does

Yeah, it totally implies subscription! Specially since internet services are known to have a long history of subscription fees. Look at Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Vine, MySpace, YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, Skype and MSN/Live Messenger, just to name a few. All subscription-based.
Also, if Microsoft were ever to make a subscription version of Windows, they would obviously abandon single-purchase versions as well. Just look at what they did with Office, now that there are 365 subscriptions you can no longer just buy a regular copy of Office 2013.
And I sure hope Microsoft never releases a subscription version of Windows. How dare they offer more options to their customers!
The only thing we can both be sure of, though, is that being cynical beyond justification is very cool.

It's certainly not the first time Microsoft tried to sell the "subscription" idea. On previous occasions the consumers raised such a stink they quickly abandoned it. In fact, for a short time a number of companies tried the subscription idea including AutoCAD, Microstation, and a number of others, but again the consumer called the shots.

Personally, I have found two groups that are continuing to write patches and updates for XP. I've got enough of the old software I just might have to move backwards or finally take the leap to linex. The greed of Microsoft is never ending .... no reason for them not to give it another try!

 

[captaincranky]

WTF are you talking about?

I think that would depend on whether you're talking to me, or, "guest".

 

[TheBigFatClown]

I'm hoping for clarification that Windows itself is NOT going to be a subscription.

If it is, then they may as well install a device on my microwave which disables it unless I swipe a credit card or enable direct deposit for a monthly fee. Then my transition to life-debt slavery will be complete.

It's starting to become more and more unclear who the real criminals are here. Awhile back I seem to remember a type of malware that would lock you out of your system and prevent you from accessing any of your data without paying a ransom fee to be able to access it. Sounds like Microsoft was inspired by this idea of extorting money from people.

I am reminded of a line from an old song by Kris Kristofferson, "Admission is free but you pay to get out."

Windows 10 is free because it's the "gateway application" to the money in your pockets on a regular basis. It makes perfect sense to give it away.

DirectX 12 - good, Spartan with note taking abilities - hell yes, I was trying to do something like this in the past for a friend and never could find a good way.

*sigh* - Well, this settles it. Since it's a free upgrade there's no harm installing it on a second computer or hard drive to check out. Still doubt whether it will be good enough to lay Windows 7 to rest. Windows 10 acting as ransom ware on my computer just isn't very appealing to me.

"We're sorry to inform your Windows subscription has expired. Please enter your credit card number to reactive your subscription to access your personal data. Otherwise, you no see data. tee-hee-hee."

Edit: If they "don't" lock you out of your Windows 10 (SaaS) operating system then I already know what I would do. I would simply re-subscribe every x number of years "or" until a killer feature or upgrade compelled me to upgrade my software.

I just don't see how this is gonna work. Will they refuse security updates without an on-going subscription?

 

[oldikes]

I have a DIR-868L router and tried the Steam streaming with a HTPC 5 meters away with a wall in between -using 2.5 GHz n-mode- and the lag sucked; tried also Gamestream with an NVIDIA Shield using 5 GHz ac-mode and it worked well as long as there was a "line of sight" between the router and the handheld.

1. One of those is on the mail to me ATM. $60 and capable apparently. but ill report back when I test it for myself xP

 

[captaincranky]

It's starting to become more and more unclear who the real criminals are here. Awhile back I seem to remember a type of malware that would lock you out of your system and prevent you from accessing any of your data without paying a ransom fee to be able to access it. Sounds like Microsoft was inspired by this idea of extorting money from people.

I am reminded of a line from an old song by Kris Kristofferson, "Admission is free but you pay to get out."

Either there, or the, "Hotel California". Where you can, "check out anytime you want, but you can never leave".

 

[EEatGDL]

One of those is on the mail to me ATM. $60 and capable apparently. but ill report back when I test it for myself xP

Did you at least read "5 meters away with a wall in between"? Is right in front of the PC, don't you want to stream to a netbook connected to the LAN through ethernet to prove your point even further? Please read a full comment before replying next time.

 

[oldikes]

Did you at least read "5 meters away with a wall in between"?

I hardly see how thats relevant...thats just supporting me

Is right in front of the PC, don't you want to stream to a netbook connected to the LAN through ethernet to prove your point even further? Please read a full comment before replying next time.

I dont understand what you are trying to say. You complained about stream lag and countered me with "well itll lag cause sucky wireless" and I responded with an actual video showing otherwise. Calm yourself.

 

[Guest]

More crap from microsoft unsupported by many techs as they move away from the basics of a typical OS role. Windows as we know it can not do simple hotspot internet sharing meanwhile a iphone can do it easily and effortlessly. How about that stupid narrator useless can not read what you really wanna read. Search is forever dumb and slow, click on the found item and click the back button...And windows dumbly starts the search all over again. Its Garbage products I guess that's why they give it away free now a days...

 

[TheBigFatClown]

Windows 10...lol...that name should be illegal. Deception in advertising. Renaming a product like it's 2 generations ahead of where it's really at...if were gonna start naming stuff this way, they should have named Windows 8 to Windows 6 for taking 2 steps backwards. Then the release of Windows 10 could be called Windows 7 2nd edition. Back to where we first began.

 

[Burty117]

I wonder how much a single license will cost? I also wonder if they'll be adding back in things like built-in DVD playback?

 

[Nobina]

Ok, so Windows is going to be an internet services now rather than operating system? **** no. If they start requiring internet in order to use Windows and if I can't make a local account I'm not using it. Also if they make Windows subscription based it will just make people pirate it more if someone cracks it.

All this new features like Xbox, Spartan, DX12, Cortana and whatnot are completetly useless to me. They should focus on making OS better not some 3rd party programs and apps.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

"We think of Windows as a Service – in fact, one could reasonably think of Windows in the next couple of years as one of the largest Internet services on the planet.

And just like any Internet service, the idea of asking “What version are you on?” will cease to make sense – which is great news for our Windows developers. With universal Windows apps that work across the entire device family, developers can build one app that targets the broadest range of devices – including the PC, tablet, phone, Xbox, the Internet of Things, and more."

Scary stuff. Asking what version I am on will cease to make sense huh? How so? Your making DX12 a Windows 10 exclusive. What will DX12 be called in 5 years...DX12 still? What if I don't want to pay to use Windows 10 in 5 years? What if I am happy using DX12 for the next 5 years?

I think Microsoft has illusions of grandjeur that will just not work in the real world. I predict epic disasters. But that won't deter them from their unwavering attempt to control your computer from the cradle to the grave I suppose.

You expect everybody on planet earth will always be on the same version of Windows huh? How will that work for businesses who don't want to install updates 36 hours after you release them because they will be as buggy as hell? Oh my God. What about consumers who wanna skip a year of updates and just play games with the "current" version of Windows they paid for?

I am going back and forth on this. One minute Windows 10(apart from the name) sounds good the next it sounds like something straight out of hell.

The last of my worries anymore are whether or not theres a start menu.

 

[Guest]

One step closer to holodeck porn!

 

[Ronald Yates]

I really don't see the point in streaming from a XB1 to a PC. Generally, a console is located at a key space at home where there's enough comfort to sit and play [usually from a distance].

I liked his explanation from the video: If him and his wife are watching TV and his son wants to play a game, he can go to the computer and play it and they can still watch TV. I think it's a neat feature.

 

[oldikes]

Windows 10...lol...that name should be illegal. Deception in advertising. Renaming a product like it's 2 generations ahead of where it's really at...if were gonna start naming stuff this way, they should have named Windows 8 to Windows 6 for taking 2 steps backwards. Then the release of Windows 10 could be called Windows 7 2nd edition. Back to where we first began.

they named it windows 10 because one of the older OS's is referred to in some sort of coding as windows 9 and it would cause massive compatibility issues with many apps and developers and etc.

 

[EEatGDL]

I hardly see how thats relevant...thats just supporting me

I dont understand what you are trying to say. You complained about stream lag and countered me with "well itll lag cause sucky wireless" and I responded with an actual video showing otherwise. Calm yourself.

If you can't understand the statement (look for the router I mentioned), there's no point in replying any further. The sarcasm of the ethernet cable is due to the "best-case scenario", similar to the wi-fi connection at the shortest distance. If that video is fine for you, go ahead and get disappointed; but wi-fi is not magic.

I hardly see how thats relevant...thats just supporting me

I dont understand what you are trying to say. You complained about stream lag and countered me with "well itll lag cause sucky wireless" and I responded with an actual video showing otherwise. Calm yourself.

What I exposed was a more "real case test scenario" and not an ideal one. Consider the over-saturation of 2.5 GHz wi-fi channels nowadays [I have the least overlaped channel selected], the decay of the connection quality over the distance and obstacles, and other random interference at those frequencies. Only then you may understand my sarcasm with the ethernet cable and my own case (a realistic one); if you're streaming inside the same room... what's the point.

 

[toooooot]

But the important question is will I be able to go back to win 7 for free if I dont like 10?
I thought I would use win 8, but it was not as stable as I expected it to be. I dont believe, I would be safe from that with win 10.

 

[pmcardle]

I read some of these comments and I'm truly amazed on how smart some of these posters are; they just seem to know everything...

I wonder what it's like to be a know-it-all, they must have crystal balls or something.

 

[Guest]

"free upgrade from Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 7 for the first year."

And then they charge you yearly for the rest of your life.

 

[gderreck]

My goodness. Did you 4 olds finally have to eat your spinach? Never seen a worse bunch of vitriolic claptrap in my life. Run...run...Microsoft is destroying the world!

MS made a major marketing error with 8. For the most part, it is better than 7; especially the plumbing. That got lost in the mistake. 10 will be better than 8. 10 will be better than 7.

-get your start menu back (wah! It doesn't look like 7)
-no controller dropout (wah! If Microsoft hadn't have screwed it up they wouldn't have had to fix it)
-you get automation with Cortana (wah! I want Siri)
-if you have 7 or 8; it is a free upgrade the first year. They want early adoption to simplify support (wah! Micrsoft wants all my money forever! They're going to invade Muncie Indiana!)
-what about the HoloLens? (wah! You can see through them! They're defective! M$ can't get anything right!)
-directX12 will mean improved gaming, using fewer resources (oh yeah? Cool! no wait wah! I hate crooked numbers! They should have named it directX111! They're taking away everything I love!)

I'll bet most of you are reasonable individuals of above average intelligence. Why you revert to blind, pre adolescent ranting, is beyond any observing adult.

Sell your PC gear. All of it. Buy a Mac. Then you can go and fix Apple. No...wait...they're perfect! What will I do?!?

 

[Railman]

"free upgrade from Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 7 for the first year."

And then they charge you yearly for the rest of your life.

That statement could be read in another way. It could mean that the upgrade is only available during the first year of the introduction of W10. Either way it will make sense to read the small print.

 

[Railman]

I wonder how much a single license will cost? I also wonder if they'll be adding back in things like built-in DVD playback?

Unlikely. Us folks with DVDs seem to be a growing minority. Personally I much prefer physical media.

 

[ITdan]

"free upgrade from Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 7 for the first year."

And then they charge you yearly for the rest of your life.

This seems to be a common sentiment in this thread as well as elsewhere on the internet. Here's the thing. Microsoft had a dickens of a time killing XP. XP was an excellent OS . . . 10 years ago. They extended support for it for years longer than they wanted to because too many people were still using it. Even after granting that stay of execution and giving end users a year of warning when they were finally killing it, the world made quite a stink about it.

Microsoft has wasted tons of money over the years making sure all their applications and features work in outdated OSes, as well as providing security updates for issues that the original designers of the old OS could never have anticipated. That is why they wanted to kill XP so badly. MS was already getting money for their newer OSes with new PC sales, but they had to keep making everything WORK on XP.

By getting everyone to upgrade to 10 for free, they can kill 7 many years earlier than otherwise. That's their worry - people will expect MS office, IE, and Halo 9 to work on Windows 7 in 2021. With this move, they let us all temporarily do what users of Linux-based OSes do all the time - use the most recent OS that works on our hardware, minimizing compatibility issues across the board because even the 3rd party software and firmware developers only need to worry about coding for the latest system.

 

[captaincranky]

This seems to be a common sentiment in this thread as well as elsewhere on the internet. Here's the thing. Microsoft had a dickens of a time killing XP. XP was an excellent OS . . . 10 years ago. They extended support for it for years longer than they wanted to because too many people were still using it. Even after granting that stay of execution and giving end users a year of warning when they were finally killing it, the world made quite a stink about it.

I still use it. When Vista was released, it was a clunker. M$' own "upgrade adviser" told me I couldn't move to it.. So what if Vista was a "free upgrade for the first year"? I couldn't have taken advantage of it anyway.

Microsoft has wasted tons of money over the years making sure all their applications and features work in outdated OSes, as well as providing security updates for issues that the original designers of the old OS could never have anticipated. That is why they wanted to kill XP so badly. MS was already getting money for their newer OSes with new PC sales, but they had to keep making everything WORK on XP.

Aw, poor M$, having to service what they sell. And as for wasting "tons of money", Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, so I'm betting he cries about it, in the passenger seat of the armored truck he most likely should drive to the bank.

By getting everyone to upgrade to 10 for free, they can kill 7 many years earlier than otherwise. That's their worry - people will expect MS office, IE, and Halo 9 to work on Windows 7 in 2021. With this move, they let us all temporarily do what users of Linux-based OSes do all the time - use the most recent OS that works on our hardware, minimizing compatibility issues across the board because even the 3rd party software and firmware developers only need to worry about coding for the latest system.

This forum doesn't really get all that many shills for "poor M$", welcome to Techspot, I suppose.

As for Linux distros, you're welcome to them. The majority of us Plebeians couldn't give a rat's aZZ about them. I'd say it sounds like they keep IT guys as you purport to be, busy writing new code to humor them. Job security, maybe?

 

[captaincranky]

I read some of these comments and I'm truly amazed on how smart some of these posters are; they just seem to know everything...

I wonder what it's like to be a know-it-all, they must have crystal balls or something.

And I've read most of your 104 posts, and they all seem to be just troll bait. To which extent, I'm your guy.

Here's a riddle, how can someone tell, that everyone else "thinks they know it all"? Easy! That person thinks they know it all, and then some.

Now, I've even seen you troll you own posts, which is the style I'm inclined to find you most entertaining.

Now, if the mods have any questions thispost, let's tell them I couldn't find any content in the post I'm quoting, that was actually on topic. Shall we?