Another little Windows Update paper cut



  • Microsoft Office is going to need some updates. So I pop open Windows Update:

    Windows Update screenshot

    ... and click "Find out more":

    Blank Microsoft Update screenshot

    So I wait for the page content to load, and then wait some more because I know Windows Update is a piece of shit that always takes forever to do nothing visible, and then refresh the page, and wait, and wait some more, before concluding that it's never going to happen.

    And then the penny drops:

    Click.

    Microsoft Update screenshot

    Apparently even Microsoft has trouble making shit work with Internet Explorer.



  • That Microsoft Update page looks to me like it usually does. Am I missing something?

    Incidentally, Microsoft Update and Windows Update are not quite the same thing; Windows Update comes standard with the OS, Microsoft Update is something you can download and install. It looks to me like you haven't installed Microsoft Update, and their web app has detected this and is offering to let you do so.



  •  Looks to me as if the point is that he had to switch to compatibility mode to make it load in IE (the little torn paper symbol is now highlighted). Amirite?



  • Ahah! I was missing something.



  • @cyxxon said:

     Looks to me as if the point is that he had to switch to compatibility mode to make it load in IE (the little torn paper symbol is now highlighted). Amirite?

    The Microsoft Update installer is an ActiveX control, so it won't work in anything but IE. This is presumably why the Windows Update control panel item launches IE to get to the Microsoft Update installation site even when you've set your default browser to something sane. So it's a little sad that for people who don't know what the little torn paper thing means (i.e. most civilians) it now doesn't work in any browser.

    I think this might be an IE10 thing, as I don't recall seeing it on IE7..9.



  • Yeah I don't think they've touched the web-based Windows Update since ME.



  • @MiffTheFox said:

    Yeah I don't think they've touched the web-based Windows Update since ME.
     

    THEN HOWCOME THEY USED FONTS THAT DIDN'T EXIST BACK THEN?



  • So I'm looking over those screenshots again to make sure it really is obvious that the first one is from the Control Panel and the last two are IE. I haven't clocked up many hours with IE10 yet, and looking those screenshots I think I'm going to put doing so on my list of things to avoid.

    Fuck, that's an ugly browser.

    WTF is up with that runty little address bar masquerading as a tab title? Why does a deactivated Compatibility View icon look disabled?

    Seeing the Mozilla dev crew go all "Hey! SQUIRREL!" after Chrome was pretty sad. But when IE does it too, and misses the point so comprehensively... well. A pig in lipstick is still a pig, but IE10 is a full blown plastic surgery disaster.



  • @flabdablet said:

    I haven't clocked up many hours with IE10 yet, and looking those screenshots I think I'm going to put doing so on my list of things to avoid.

    If you've used IE9, you've used IE10 but with more gradients. The only things you would really notice are the spellcheck and autocorrect and the fact that, provided the developer didn't do something stupid like assume that all versions of IE suck and therefore should have hacks applied to make the page look right, pages will look like they do in most other browsers.

    @flabdablet said:

    WTF is up with that runty little address bar masquerading as a tab title?

    You can adjust that, or give the tabs their own row. I think the default size is dependant on the resolution of your display, The Mother's 1366x768 display defaulted to something that size when I put IE10 on, whereas my full HD one defaulted to this (obviously that's a full HD image so be aware of that)

    @flabdablet said:

    A pig in lipstick is still a pig, but IE10 is a full blown plastic surgery disaster.

    It looks godawful on 7, but much better on 8 (as per my screenshot). It doesn't help that the fake glass and curved corners etc. now look kinda tacky.



  • @Douglasac said:

    the fake glass and curved corners etc. now look kinda tacky

    When Vista supplanted XP there were lots and lots of things I hated about it but Aero Glass was not one of them. In my view, the kindergarten coloured-paper-cutout look of 8 is a great leap backward.

    It's just so fucking dull. I thought most of Aero Glass struck a good balance between being unobtrusive and pleasant; the Windows 8 window decorations try so hard to step out of the spotlight that they actually end up shouting I AM BLAND.

    All that MS marketing wank about the Windows 8 "design language" and they've ended up with "lorem ipsum". The emperor has no clothes.



  • @flabdablet said:

    In my view, the kindergarten coloured-paper-cutout look of 8 is a great leap backward.

    It's just so fucking dull.

     

    I love its simplicity. It's certainly no duller than classic shell.

    @flabdablet said:

    Aero Glass struck a good balance between being unobtrusive

    que? It's the most in-your-face style ever. Even worse than Ubuntu's super-orange widgets from several versions back. It's not hideous, and one might call it pleasant, but it's not unobtrusive. It's very obtrusive. Win8 is a step forward.

    Nothing beats the pleasantness of the buttons and tabs of XP's default blue skin, though. (only the buttons and tabs)

     

     


  • Considered Harmful

    @dhromed said:

    @flabdablet said:

    Aero Glass struck a good balance between being unobtrusive

    que? It's the most in-your-face style ever.

    I think the idea was that the window decorations would literally fade into the background.

    I still have yet to see someone post a screenshot with something revealing/embarrassing in the glass background, which is disappointing.



  • @dhromed said:

    I love its simplicity. It's certainly no duller than classic shell.

    Agreed. There's a lot I can fault with Win8, but dropping Aero Glass is not on the list. In my mind, the simple, clean look of Win8 is a huge step beyond the tacky, fake-plastic/brushed-metal/candy-icons OSX bullshit that has so thoroughly made UI design hideous for the last decade.

    @dhromed said:

    Nothing beats the pleasantness of the buttons and tabs of XP's default blue skin, though. (only the buttons and tabs)

    The XP blue skin has always looked bad to me. The blue is too intense, the green of the Start button contrasts too much. Then again, the prettiest UI I've ever seen were leaked betas of Windows Whistler. It was basically Win2k, but with a soft white dialogs, instead of the normal gray, and with sky blue window title bars.



  •  Microsoft is a stable sftware company that at random times gets an epileptic fit or pure insanity and produces things like XP's blue skin and the Windows 8 Start Screen on the desktop*.

     

    *) I used to not-dislike it, until I realized that it would devolve very quickly into the typical overloaded icon-splattered desktop and that this is an unavoidable consequence of its design.



  • @dhromed said:

     Microsoft is a stable sftware company that at random times gets an epileptic fit or pure insanity and produces things like XP's blue skin and the Windows 8 Start Screen on the desktop*.

     

    *) I used to not-dislike it, until I realized that it would devolve very quickly into the typical overloaded icon-splattered desktop and that this is an unavoidable consequence of its design.


    Just to recap:

    • All OSes before XP are ugly and unusable
    • XP is ugly
    • Vista is ugly and unusable
    • 7 is ugly
    • 8 is ugly and unusable
    • Blue is …?


  • @dhromed said:

     Microsoft is a stable sftware company that at random times gets an epileptic fit or pure insanity and produces things like XP's blue skin and the Windows 8 Start Screen on the desktop*.

     

    *) I used to not-dislike it, until I realized that it would devolve very quickly into the typical overloaded icon-splattered desktop and that this is an unavoidable consequence of its design.

    My problems with Win8 have more to do with UX. Like, there's a way to modify settings right from the desktop just by moving the cursor to the right of the screen (by the way, I hate toolbars that auto-hide, but whatever). Okay, I'll just click that and..

    Oh, it's a full-screen settings menu. I've never seen one of these in Windows.. What if I want to consult a web page while modifying settings? Oh well, this is a very clean interface, I really like the UI design here.

    Oh, wait, the setting I want isn't here. And there's no "advanced settings" link or button, no way to even get to it. It's just a tiny subset of the options I want. Huh... well, I wonder if the Control Panel still exists..? Well, guess I'll exit this settings screen..

    Huh. Doesn't appear there is any kind of exit or close button, or any way out at all. Hits ESC Hmm. I can't even get to a web browser to Google how to get out of this screen. Well, this sure is frustrating! hits Windows button

    Oh, hey! That took me back to the Start screen. Okay, and to get to the desktop from the Start screen I just hit the Windows key again.. No, that just took me back to that inescapable Settings screen. hits Windows key again Start Screen. hits Windows key again Settings screen. hits Windows key again Start screen...

    Okay, well, I can get back to the desktop by clicking "Desktop" from the Start screen. But now what happens if i hit the Windows key? Oh, back to the Start screen.. and again? Oh, now it takes to me to the Desktop.. it seems the Settings screen is no longer brought up by that key. Odd.

    Okay, well, let's get to the Control Panel. Now, I know the Start menu is no-more, but Sony has helpfully installed their own POS replacement which mostly just takes me to VAIO bloatware I wish wasn't installed in the first place. It seems Microsoft has still not learned what a disaster it is to let OEMs "customize" Windows with shit like this.

    a few minutes of fiddling later Well, it seems like the only way I can find to get to the control panel is by opening a search box and typing "Control Panel". And while that's convenient in some ways, it's counter-intuitive in others. I doubt most people will ever think to do that..



  • @Ben L. said:

    Just to recap:

    • All OSes before XP are ugly and unusable
    • XP is ugly
    • Vista is ugly and unusable
    • 7 is ugly
    • 8 is ugly and unusable
    • Blue is …?
     

     

     Sounds about right.


  • Considered Harmful

    @Ben L. said:

    @dhromed said:

     Microsoft is a stable sftware company that at random times gets an epileptic fit or pure insanity and produces things like XP's blue skin and the Windows 8 Start Screen on the desktop*.

     

    *) I used to not-dislike it, until I realized that it would devolve very quickly into the typical overloaded icon-splattered desktop and that this is an unavoidable consequence of its design.


    Just to recap:

    • All OSes before XP are ugly and unusable
    • XP is ugly
    • Vista is ugly and unusable
    • 7 is ugly
    • 8 is ugly and unusable
    • Blue is …?

    I used to think XP was ugly enough that it compelled me to break many of my programs and cripple my system performance to try and correct it. Aero I can live with though.



  • Oh, hey, here's a pop-up telling me Windows is going to restart to install updates in 15 minutes, or I can restart it myself. Well, I'm right in the middle of a Very Important Video Conference, so I'm going to hit "Close" so it doesn't install those updates right now. I will install them later, at my convenience.

    five minutes pass Oh, hey, now the pop-up is back, telling me it will restart in 10 minutes. Didn't I already click "Close" on you? reads message more thoroughly Hmm.. looks like "Close" is the option I want, so I'll hit it again.

    a few minutes pass Oh, hey, now it's telling me it's going to restart imminently. Surely there's a way to get this to go away for 30 minutes so I can finish my Very Important Video Conference!

    a couple more minutes pass Oh, shit, now it's restarting right in the middle of me talking on this Very Important Video Conference. What the fuck, Windows? I was talking here. Well, at least it will restart quickly--oh, no, it's configuring updates. Now I have to tell my conference attendees to please wait 7 minutes while Windows figures out its shit, and since these aren't Win8 users they just think I'm too incompetent to figure out how to defer updates for a few minutes. Jesus Christ.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Oh, hey, here's a pop-up telling me Windows is going to restart to install updates in 15 minutes, or I can restart it myself. Well, I'm right in the middle of a Very Important Video Conference, so I'm going to hit "Close" so it doesn't install those updates right now. I will install them later, at my convenience.

    five minutes pass Oh, hey, now the pop-up is back, telling me it will restart in 10 minutes. Didn't I already click "Close" on you? reads message more thoroughly Hmm.. looks like "Close" is the option I want, so I'll hit it again.

    a few minutes pass Oh, hey, now it's telling me it's going to restart imminently. Surely there's a way to get this to go away for 30 minutes so I can finish my Very Important Video Conference!

    a couple more minutes pass Oh, shit, now it's restarting right in the middle of me talking on this Very Important Video Conference. What the fuck, Windows? I was talking here. Well, at least it will restart quickly--oh, no, it's configuring updates. Now I have to tell my conference attendees to please wait 7 minutes while Windows figures out its shit, and since these aren't Win8 users they just think I'm too incompetent to figure out how to defer updates for a few minutes. Jesus Christ.


    Linux version:

    Oh look, it lets me update all of the software on my computer in one three-word command! And there's no reboot needed unless it downloaded a new version of the kernel and I want to switch over immediately. That's so… normal.



  • @Ben L. said:

    Linux version:

    Oh look, it lets me update all of the software on my computer in one three-word command! And there's no reboot needed unless it downloaded a new version of the kernel and I want to switch over immediately. That's so… normal.

    Two commands. Never forget to apt-get update before you apt-get upgrade. It's like git commit without a git pull first. It breaks stuff bad.

    Also: God forbid the software has an updated config file in the package... hope you like diffing two 400-line config files by hand!



  • @MiffTheFox said:

    @Ben L. said:
    Linux version:

    Oh look, it lets me update all of the software on my computer in one three-word command! And there's no reboot needed unless it downloaded a new version of the kernel and I want to switch over immediately. That's so… normal.

    Two commands. Never forget to apt-get update before you apt-get upgrade. It's like git commit without a git pull first. It breaks stuff bad.

    sudo yum upgrade does both, because yum likes to keep its repo information up-to-date.



  • @Ben L. said:

    sudo yum upgrade does both, because yum likes to keep its repo information up-to-date.

    Oh, my mistake. Linux has meant Ubuntu (or other Debian) for so long it's odd to see another distro.



  • @Ben L. said:

    Linux version:

    Oh look, it lets me update all of the software on my computer in one three-word command! And there's no reboot needed unless it downloaded a new version of the kernel and I want to switch over immediately. That's so… normal.

    Software updates on Linux are like slutty fat chicks: easy*, but who was asking for that?


    (*And that's assuming the software you want is in the repo and doesn't have some obscure compatibility problems with other libraries or software on your system. As annoying as Windows updates can sometimes be, they never required me to recompile a kernel to get some software to work.)



  • @MiffTheFox said:

    It's like git commit without a git pull first. It breaks stuff bad.

    What the hell are you talking about? I git commit all the time without pulling. Hell, it's one of the really, really nice things about git is that I can make tons of local "checkpoint" commits without giving a shit what anyone else is doing.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Ben L. said:
    Linux version:

    Oh look, it lets me update all of the software on my computer in one three-word command! And there's no reboot needed unless it downloaded a new version of the kernel and I want to switch over immediately. That's so… normal.

    Software updates on Linux are like slutty fat chicks: easy*, but who was asking for that?


    (*And that's assuming the software you want is in the repo and doesn't have some obscure compatibility problems with other libraries or software on your system. As annoying as Windows updates can sometimes be, they never required me to recompile a kernel to get some software to work.)

    What software have you used that requires a kernel recompile?



  • @Ben L. said:

    What software have you used that requires a kernel recompile?

    Last time I had to recompile the kernel was trying to install any sort of wireless card a few years ago. Now it seems that kernel modules are mature enough to be dynamically loaded.

    As for more modern software, does mono sill require a kernel module? Last I checked it tried to install one so you can invoke CLI executables like you would any normal native one or #! script.



  • @Ben L. said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ben L. said:
    Linux version:

    Oh look, it lets me update all of the software on my computer in one three-word command! And there's no reboot needed unless it downloaded a new version of the kernel and I want to switch over immediately. That's so… normal.

    Software updates on Linux are like slutty fat chicks: easy*, but who was asking for that?


    (*And that's assuming the software you want is in the repo and doesn't have some obscure compatibility problems with other libraries or software on your system. As annoying as Windows updates can sometimes be, they never required me to recompile a kernel to get some software to work.)

    What software have you used that requires a kernel recompile?

    The auto-reload-on-config-file-change version of httpd, which requires inotify.

    And usually the flow is something more like "omg, you need to compile this from source because the only .deb is 3 years old" which then leads to "omg, you need some obscure, older version of libXXX which isn't in apt, so you need to compile that from source" which ends up at "omg, libXXX is only compatible with glibc 0.17.π.030-moose-and-squirrel which I'll now have to compile from source! does anybody have a pre-ANSI version of pcc???"



  • @MiffTheFox said:

    Last time I had to recompile the kernel was trying to install any sort of wireless card a few years ago.

    I recompile the kernel a lot, but then again I'm using a source distro so that's kind of the point.

    @MiffTheFox said:

    Now it seems that kernel modules are mature enough to be dynamically loaded.

    I still occasionally run into a module that will only run as a built-in or as a dynamic module, and not any other way. However, I stick with built-ins whenever I can and actually don't even have loadable module support compiled in right now.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Oh, hey, here's a pop-up telling me Windows is going to restart to install updates in 15 minutes, or I can restart it myself. Well, I'm right in the middle of a Very Important Video Conference, so I'm going to hit "Close" so it doesn't install those updates right now. I will install them later, at my convenience.

    five minutes pass Oh, hey, now the pop-up is back, telling me it will restart in 10 minutes. Didn't I already click "Close" on you? reads message more thoroughly Hmm.. looks like "Close" is the option I want, so I'll hit it again.

    a few minutes pass Oh, hey, now it's telling me it's going to restart imminently. Surely there's a way to get this to go away for 30 minutes so I can finish my Very Important Video Conference!

    a couple more minutes pass Oh, shit, now it's restarting right in the middle of me talking on this Very Important Video Conference. What the fuck, Windows? I was talking here. Well, at least it will restart quickly--oh, no, it's configuring updates. Now I have to tell my conference attendees to please wait 7 minutes while Windows figures out its shit, and since these aren't Win8 users they just think I'm too incompetent to figure out how to defer updates for a few minutes. Jesus Christ.

    Apparently you can fix this via group policy.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I LIKE COMPILING COMPILING IS GOOD

    Summarized that for you



  • @ekolis said:

    Apparently you can fix this via group policy.

    Or you could pay attention to the icon that says it's going to reboot for a FULL THREE DAYS before it actually forces one.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Or you could pay attention to the icon that says it's going to reboot for a FULL THREE DAYS before it actually forces one.

    But my Minecraft server... oh, the humanity!



  • @ekolis said:

    Apparently you can fix this via group policy.

    Thanks. I figured there was a setting to turn it off, but was flabbergasted that it was now the default behavior to force a restart.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @ekolis said:
    Apparently you can fix this via group policy.

    Or you could pay attention to the icon that says it's going to reboot for a FULL THREE DAYS before it actually forces one.

    In my case, I hadn't touched the laptop in a week, so I had no idea it needed a restart. I have no idea what warnings it gave before then, but it insisted the restart had to happen right in the middle of my video conference. Thankfully, nobody really cared if they could see me or not (I don't know if I should be insulted..)



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    In my case, I hadn't touched the laptop in a week, so I had no idea it needed a restart. I have no idea what warnings it gave before then, but it insisted the restart had to happen right in the middle of my video conference.

    You didn't spend even 30 seconds before your video conference checking on the laptop? Feh.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    In my case, I hadn't touched the laptop in a week, so I had no idea it needed a restart. I have no idea what warnings it gave before then, but it insisted the restart had to happen right in the middle of my video conference.

    You didn't spend even 30 seconds before your video conference checking on the laptop? Feh.

    I probably had it open for a minute or two beforehand, but my response to the "Windows will reboot in 15 minutes" message was to click "Close" with the intent of doing the restart later. I didn't realize it would for a reboot; I assumed the behavior would be what I was familiar with, namely continuing to nag me periodically until I did it. I'm not saying it ruins Win8, but I don't understand why they changed it from a "periodic nag" to a merely informational message that your system will reboot, whether you like it or not. Was the thought of somebody going a couple of hours without applying updates really so horrid? I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation that I be able to defer reboots until a time that is convenient for me and my work.

    Regardless, it's a minor annoyance and one that's easy to remember for the future (or just modify through group policy, apparently).



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Well, it seems like the only way I can find to get to the control panel is by opening a search box and typing "Control Panel"

    Yes, there's a certain sardonic amusement to be had from watching the Windows UX design team concluding that a good GUI is all too hard and falling back to a CLI instead. They'll be re-inventing tab completion next. Can't wait.

    Snark aside: the whole push-the-mouse-to-the-corner thing is a complete pain in the arse when the corner in question actually belongs to a remote desktop window, which is why I was so pleased to find that IObit's Start Menu 8 works as well as it does. It looks just like the Windows 7 one, it can be configured to replace Metro at startup, and it even has a menu item for the control panel labelled "Control Panel".

    I'm not generally a fan of adding third party stuff to make up for gross deficiencies in basic distro functionality - I usually just pick another distro that works better for me - but you can't really do that with Windows, and the Windows UX with Start Menu 8 installed is just so much better than that without it as to make it a no-brainer choice.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    *a few minutes of fiddling later* Well, it seems like the only way I can find to get to the control panel is by opening a search box and typing "Control Panel". And while that's convenient in some ways, it's counter-intuitive in others. I doubt most people will ever think to do that.
     

    Oh, try right-clicking the invisible start button in the corner pixel.

    You're welcome.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @morbiuswilters said:

    Oh, hey, now it's telling me it's going to restart imminently.
    You could always disable it. Oh, wait, it's even worse than that.



  • @flabdablet said:

    Yes, there's a certain sardonic amusement to be had from watching the Windows UX design team concluding that a good GUI is all too hard and falling back to a CLI instead. They'll be re-inventing tab completion next. Can't wait.

    Yes, this is the exact same CLI we've had since the 60's, where the only way to show the control panel is to directly enter Control Panel into the search box. Nothing else will do it, and you'll never have a hint otherwise.

    Everyone will tell you to "read the fucking manual" but the manual won't give you a lick of help unless you already know the magic word.



  • @PJH said:

    it's even worse than that.
     

    When you said "even worse" I expected something really bad.

    Instead you give us this wet sock article.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @dhromed said:

    @PJH said:
    it's even worse than that.

    When you said "even worse" I expected something really bad.

    Instead you give us this wet sock article.

    I, for one, really hate wet socks. It's not really in the same league, but I don't care much for Windows Update.



  • @flabdablet said:

    When Vista supplanted XP there were lots and lots of things I hated about it but Aero Glass was not one of them. In my view, the kindergarten coloured-paper-cutout look of 8 is a great leap backward.

    It's just so fucking dull. I thought most of Aero Glass struck a good balance between being unobtrusive and pleasant; the Windows 8 window decorations try so hard to step out of the spotlight that they actually end up shouting I AM BLAND.

    All that MS marketing wank about the Windows 8 "design language" and they've ended up with "lorem ipsum". The emperor has no clothes.

    I never got the complaints about Aero. I found XP downright hideous, and classic no better at all (other than it took your RAM usage waaaaay down.) I love Aero, and dearly miss it. Or, I would, if I had upgraded. I'm glad they did such a good job with 7, I think I'm going to be using it for a long while yet.


  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @dhromed said:

     Microsoft is a stable sftware company that at random times gets an epileptic fit or pure insanity and produces things like XP's blue skin and the Windows 8 Start Screen on the desktop*.

     

    *) I used to not-dislike it, until I realized that it would devolve very quickly into the typical overloaded icon-splattered desktop and that this is an unavoidable consequence of its design.

    My problems with Win8 have more to do with UX. Like, there's a way to modify settings right from the desktop just by moving the cursor to the right of the screen (by the way, I hate toolbars that auto-hide, but whatever). Okay, I'll just click that and..

    Oh, it's a full-screen settings menu. I've never seen one of these in Windows.. What if I want to consult a web page while modifying settings? Oh well, this is a very clean interface, I really like the UI design here.

    Oh, wait, the setting I want isn't here. And there's no "advanced settings" link or button, no way to even get to it. It's just a tiny subset of the options I want. Huh... well, I wonder if the Control Panel still exists..? Well, guess I'll exit this settings screen..

    Huh. Doesn't appear there is any kind of exit or close button, or any way out at all. Hits ESC Hmm. I can't even get to a web browser to Google how to get out of this screen. Well, this sure is frustrating! hits Windows button

    Oh, hey! That took me back to the Start screen. Okay, and to get to the desktop from the Start screen I just hit the Windows key again.. No, that just took me back to that inescapable Settings screen. hits Windows key again Start Screen. hits Windows key again Settings screen. hits Windows key again Start screen...

    Okay, well, I can get back to the desktop by clicking "Desktop" from the Start screen. But now what happens if i hit the Windows key? Oh, back to the Start screen.. and again? Oh, now it takes to me to the Desktop.. it seems the Settings screen is no longer brought up by that key. Odd.

    Okay, well, let's get to the Control Panel. Now, I know the Start menu is no-more, but Sony has helpfully installed their own POS replacement which mostly just takes me to VAIO bloatware I wish wasn't installed in the first place. It seems Microsoft has still not learned what a disaster it is to let OEMs "customize" Windows with shit like this.

    a few minutes of fiddling later Well, it seems like the only way I can find to get to the control panel is by opening a search box and typing "Control Panel". And while that's convenient in some ways, it's counter-intuitive in others. I doubt most people will ever think to do that..


    That pretty much summarizes my entire experience with 8. Flying around fullscreen shiny menus looking for shit that wasn't there, using an OS made for a phone or tablet device on a pair of 27" screens, full HD. Absolutely hideous UI, horrible UX, and the reason I won't be upgrading to 8 any time soon.


    The one shining light in the whole thing was I found an app on their version of AppStore that can disable the new start screen entirely and just give you a start menu. So, if I am forced to upgrade, I have options. In the meantime, though, I'm happy with 7.



  •  Microsoft Update is now a setting for Windows Update in Windows 7, which is what that page [i]should[/i] have told you.  It should be somewhere in the Windows Update "Change settings" dialog... I'm at work and we're still stuck on Windows XP until later this year so I can't tell you exactly where. :/

    So, the real WTF here is that compatibility mode makes it think you're running XP.



  • @powerlord said:

    we're still stuck on Windows XP until later this year

    You... are so lucky, we are stuck with XP for the foreseable future, when I mentioned that XP is going out of support, the boss said: "We are good, we negotiated for more time on extended support". Fuck, it will not die! Of course there are reasons for not upgrading like legacy apps but we have been promised that the new (and maybe better) version will come out this year for like 5 years now...



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I recompile the kernel a lot, but then again I'm using a source distro so that's kind of the point.
     

    Gentoo?

    Kindly shave your teeth.

    I recompiled a new version of openssh for an older CentOS distro using the "rpmbuild" commands the other day - the first time I'd built something that I could rpm-install.

    All worked painlessly, surprisingly. Was dead exciting.



  • @ekolis said:

    Apparently you can fix this via group policy.
     

    Why isn't this an easy-to-use option? What terrible UI experience! See, just reaffirms my belief in open source shitting all over the end user and not caring.



  • @Cassidy said:

    @ekolis said:

    Apparently you can fix this via group policy.
     

    Why isn't this an easy-to-use option? What terrible UI experience! See, just reaffirms my belief in open source shitting all over the end user and not caring.


    Where can I find this "open source Windows"?


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