[karajorma]

In a world where Kickass Torrents got closed down cause someone checked their Facebook page and then logged on to iTunes, perhaps that's not as a paranoid a distinction as some people seem to believe.

[jr2]

I hear you.  I use browser extensions like NoScript, AdBlock, Privacybadger, and HTTPSEverywhere.  I turn on Do Not Track.  I clear cookies and browsing history.  I customize security settings in every application I install.  I run EMET.  I've combed through every Windows 10 personalization and privacy setting and adjusted everything I'm not comfortable with.

Sure. And Windows 10 crosses a(n entirely subjective and arbitrary) line for me, because I've used Facebook and I know how the "we've made some small updates to the privacy settings" dance goes, and because it can actually index all my files and searches rather than my interactions with one ****ty website.

You know you can disable the indexing service, right?  Used to be one of the first things I did on Windows XP (for performance reasons).

In a world where Kickass Torrents got closed down cause someone checked their Facebook page and then logged on to iTunes, perhaps that's not as a paranoid a distinction as some people seem to believe.

Excellent point.

In other news, I've read that the Anniversary Update will remove certain group policies and registry keys' effects (you can set the option, but they will have no effect) in W10 Pro, leaving only Enterprise, & Education editions able to shut off these features.

Microsoft removes policies from Windows 10 Pro
by Martin Brinkmann on July 28, 2016 in Windows - Last Update:July 29, 2016  125

Professional editions of Windows 10 ship with the Group Policy Editor that enables users and administrators to make changes to the default configuration of the operating system.

Up until now, policy availability was more or less identical for all professional versions of Windows 10. Turns out, this is no longer the case when the Windows 10 Anniversary Update is released.

Some policies contain a note stating that they only apply to certain editions of Windows 10, with Windows 10 Pro not being listed as one of them.

Note: This setting only applies to Enterprise, Education, and Server SKUs

Furthermore, the corresponding Registry keys are not working either anymore which means that Pro users have no option to make changes to features affected by the change.

Affected Policies

The policies are still listed when you open the Group Policy Editor on Windows 10 Pro or another affected edition of Windows 10.

They do contain the note stating that the policy only applies to the listed editions of Windows 10, and modifying the policy has no affect on editions not listed there.

Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Cloud Content

The big one is the Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences policy. We have talked about the feature previously. It powers among other things the installation of third-party apps and extra links on Windows 10.

So, if you did not want Candy Crush to be pushed to your operating system, you'd disable the policy to block that from happening.

Do not show Windows Tips

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Cloud Content

The change prevents Windows 10 Pro users from enabling the policy to block third-party application installations or links.

Windows 10 may show tips to the user of the operating system that explain how to use Windows 10, or how to use certain features of the operating system.

The release of Windows 10 Version 1607 restricts the policy to Enterprise and Education SKUs.

One option to at least limit the tips is to set the Telemetry level to Basic or below. You find the policy under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Data Collection and Preview Builds > Allow Telemetry

Lock screen

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization

The lock screen displays information such as a clock or notifications to the user of the operating system.

The policy "do not display the lock screen" allowed you to turn the lock screen off so that the logon screen is displayed right away.

The change blocks the policy on Windows 10 Pro systems, as it is only available on Enterprise, Education and Server SKUs after the Anniversary Update.

Similarly, "Prevent changing log screen and logon image" and"Force a specific default lock screen and logon image" are also no longer available on Windows 10 Pro devices.

Disable all apps from Windows Store

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components> Store

The policy allows you to disable all applications from Windows Store. It blocks the launching of all store apps that came pre-installed or were downloaded before the policy was set. Also, it will turn of Windows Store.

The setting applies only to Enterprise and Education editions of Windows 10 once the Anniversary Update is installed.

Closing Words

The changes take away functionality that was previously a part of the Windows 10 Pro edition. It is without doubt an annoyance, considering that Pro users have no option anymore to disable third-party applications, links or Store apps in general on Windows 10 once the Anniversary Update is installed.

Considering that many Pro users won't be able to get Enterprise or Education versions of Windows 10, it is anything but customer friendly.

[jr2]

Ah, looks like AE looses App-V and UE-V (User Environment Virtualization) as well.

[Klaustrophobia]

Can we still "reserve" and not install windows 10, or do I have to have it permanently installed by the end of today to get (and keep) it free?  If I can opt-in so to speak today and not install it until I actually have to, that would be super.

Assuming the mere act of claiming it doesn't open me up to the update pushes and spying right away whether or not the OS is actually installed.

[Phantom Hoover]

Microsoft are now stripping functionality out of some versions of Win10 and putting it in more expensive ones.

[S-99]

No one will be able to turn off cortana on the anniversary update of win10.

[CP5670]

The lock screen change sounds annoying, but I don't seem to get that screen even though I never set that option. In any case, I'm sure people will come up with hacks to restore these features. I don't plan to use any of these major updates until at least 6 months have passed and people have dealt with issues like this.

On another note, I set up a few other tools for making old stuff work: WinHelp (harder to set up than it was on 8.1 and needs third party tools), Coolsoft MIDI Mapper (lets me have the Yamaha SYXG50 as the default device for all programs, just like XP), and Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 (quite hard to find; the 5.6 version on the MS website doesn't work).

[MP-Ryan]

From a user note on the stripping functionality:  frustrating that they'd actually remove functionality, but none of those particular GP settings are anything I've ever bothered using (if anyone out there is wondering if they'd need them).  It appears, from looking at the list of things removed, that this move is less about screwing Pro users and more about forcing businesses/schools to actually use Enterprise/Educational instead of cheaping out with Pro licenses.

On Cortana:  actually, you can still shut her off: http://www.windowscentral.com/you-can-disable-cortana-windows-10

For those of us using local accounts who don't want the full Cortana capabilities, we should be able to continue with that approach.

[S-99]

I am not going to necessarily say it was strange of ms not to have functional parity with ios and android cortana versions as it is usually understood that win10 could have gone through a few more release previews before release.

That does explain cortana use and intent better now. But, my thinking comes in here like this. Is it like a lot of other apps that claim to be non-functional but are still very much so? Cortana was designed as the new windows search engine and computer assistant. It takes in keyboard and audio cues. Also, cortana is only part of the win10 spying problem.

Just because it's not signed in doesn't mean it's not still gathering and broadcasting info.

I recommend uninstalling cortana. Install a third party start menu afterward.

Fun stuff time....
Working under the theorum that spying still happens and is cortana just not simply sending off random statistics to ms anyway. This article i quoted about uninstalling cortana had an interesting quote from someone in the comments, "Fayetracker has proved the link between searchui.exe and “edge”. As a result, desactivate Cortana won’t stop the leakage of our computer’s information toward microsoft servers … the culprit is “Edge”".

While i admit that is juicy, i have yet to find "fayetracker" on the net, and his "supporting" research. So far, all i find is this quote all over google at different web sites posted. Anything defining has yet to pop up

So far, i am of the opinion that any of us willing to deal with win10 in it's post installation configuration, whether to just personalize, or defeat spying, that perhaps people just enjoy the challenge.

[Klaustrophobia]

Seems like the easiest solution might be just an IP blocker always running with a Microsoft list.  I wonder if I can find one for PeerBlock.  The P2P lists probably cover it, but I'd rather have something specific to MS spying for when I don't want to unnecessarily lock down other stuff. 

Win 10 is now installed on my laptop because despite giving the impression it was just downloading the files and I would get to choose to install it later, I started the download, went out, and came back to a windows 10 welcome and configuration screen.  It does look a little nicer than 8.1.  I'll play with it more when I have time to do the research on privacy settings.  For now, I have turned everything that it asked about in initial setup off except smartscreen filter.  Annoyances so far are the fact it reset all my default programs and lost the network setup to my win 7 desktop.  When trying to get there manually, it asked for username/password, which I have not set up on my network so I don't know WTF is going on there.

[Phantom Hoover]

It appears, from looking at the list of things removed, that this move is less about screwing Pro users and more about forcing businesses/schools to actually use Enterprise/Educational instead of cheaping out with Pro licenses.

You say this like it's a reasonable technical decision rather than simply scummy profiteering.

[Luis Dias]

Whatever it is, it's terrible business strategy.

[S-99]

It appears, from looking at the list of things removed, that this move is less about screwing Pro users and more about forcing businesses/schools to actually use Enterprise/Educational instead of cheaping out with Pro licenses.

Fun way of saying it's not about what it's about; screwing pro users.
Like you said, this move is less about screwing pro users, and more about getting businesses/schools to use enterprise/educational licenses instead of cheaping out with pro licenses.
I understand what you're talking about, ms needed to find a way to monetize enterprise better, by screwing pro users.

With all the quarterly earnings coming in at the end of the year, that'll really get ms's blood pumping in an ever increasing frenzy for their goal of being the first to be completely risen among the global community (and, man are they in some serious competition with phone giants and banks on a similar path). It will be by the stroke of every rate increase, that they achieve their objective, to blow their load all over the world covering everybody and everything with it. Almost everyone will nary have a realization of what actually happened, other than this thought in the back of their head that they are somehow guzzling. They will finance the cigarette afterward similarly.

I once tried to get a build of Ubuntu running on my old ****box Dell just to get a stupid penguin item in Team Fortress 2.  Many hours of frustration and pulled-out hairs later, the basic desktop environment still ran like a snail because (as far as I could tell) my video card drivers never managed to play nice.  Once was enough for me.

1. Like any software, choose stability. Ubuntu means only the lts releases. Debian means only debian stable. Fedora means centos or redhat. Windows means wait to till sp1 comes out, etc. As with stability comes things working as advertised more of the time.
2. Check hardware compatibility, it is a different os.
3. Sorry that's how your first time went, that would discourage most. I and many others had similar problems with 6 month release model distributions (they are common for immature features over stability), it was found better not to use them (also where a lot of fud comes from). New users certainly do not want to install ubuntu and are much better off trying pclinuxos or mx linux. Just as much as ubuntu has been a waste of time for you is as much as it has been for others.

2007 was when i dropped ubuntu for reasons that installing the non-free nvidia graphic driver disabled ethernet (just stupid ****), which meant i was stuck with a non-accelerated slow desktop to have internet. I hopped ship right there to mepis (it is unfortunately discontinued). Then i constructed my own distribution that i run on all of my devices since i got tired of being at the whims of everyone elses release schedule, end of support life cycle, and minimizing post install configuration. The reason i never dropped linux in spite of some malfunctions was because i greatly appreciated the many extra capabilities that windows didn't have, or somehow still doesn't have, a lot of it is free, the possibilities of what could be done were great, and i was having a lot of fun.

 

[MP-Ryan]

With all the quarterly earnings coming in at the end of the year, that'll really get ms's blood pumping in an ever increasing frenzy for their goal of being the first to be completely risen among the global community (and, man are they in some serious competition with phone giants and banks on a similar path). It will be by the stroke of every rate increase, that they achieve their objective, to blow their load all over the world covering everybody and everything with it. Almost everyone will nary have a realization of what actually happened, other than this thought in the back of their head that they are somehow guzzling. They will finance the cigarette afterward similarly.

I am genuinely at a loss for words.

[S-99]

I guess you enjoyed the joke

[AdmiralRalwood]

Nah, see, jokes are funny.

[Luis Dias]

Stop being so jokenormative Admiral, S 99 was just transjoking there into creepykin.