Five fatal flaws in the current Windows 10, and how they’ll fare in the new Creators Update

Topic

New Reply

Take a look at the five worst traits of Windows 10 Anniversary Update – forced updating, snooping, advertising, stability, and hijacked settings – and
[See the full post at: Five fatal flaws in the current Windows 10, and how they’ll fare in the new Creators Update]

Reply | Quote

Replies

I can mute a lot of the telemetry, the privacy issues, the ads, and apps that mysteriously show up on MY PC. But the fact we only get a few months of stability between major releases is what gripes me. Much of the abilities to delay these releases and updates are not available in Home editions of Win 10. You pretty much get what you get when you get it. I don’t see Creator doing much but possibly muting some of this to a point Microsoft hopes will get users adopting Win 10 and selling PC’s. But don’t hold your breath Microsoft because I don’t see any of it resolving anything in the minds of many users. It’s just smoke and mirrors.

2 users thanked author for this post.

PhotM, woody

Reply | Quote

The improvements for Win10 Pro forced update blocking are real and substantive. As for the rest… well, it’s debatable.

1 user thanked author for this post.

PhotM

Reply | Quote

Nice, thorough article. I will wait until the next update at least anyway, I do hope they clear up the interface finally, at the moment W10 just hurts my eyes.

Antec P7 Silent * Corsair RM550x * ASUS TUF GAMING B560M-PLUS * Intel Core i5-11400F * 4 x 8 GB G.Skill Aegis DDR4 3200 MHz CL16 * Sapphire Radeon 6700 10GB * XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 1TB * SanDisk Ultra 3D 1TB * DVD RW Lite-ON iHAS 124 * Windows 10 Pro 22H2 64-bit

Reply | Quote

Woody,
There is another setting in group policy that is useful for blocking automatic updates. It is:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Configure Automatic Updates.

Setting this to “disabled” appears to prevent Windows from even checking for updates. You can also set it to “enabled” to get the old options for configuring automatic updates. Here are the results I’ve been getting in Windows 10 Pro Anniversary Update with my wi-fi connection set to metered.

1. When set to enabled with the option selected for “Notify to download and notify to install”, I get continuous nag messages that updates are available but it never downloads them or installs them until I give permission.
2. When set to disabled, I get no nag messages at all. I have to go to the settings app and manually tell it to check for updates. This is the configuration I’ve been using for a while now.

I’ve seen very few people write about this and I know MS isn’t going out of their way to point it out. Maybe someone here with more advanced skills than I have can test it further.

Group "L": Linux Mint dual-booting Windows 10 Pro.

2 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, Noel Carboni

Reply | Quote

Yep, that disables wuauserv, the Windows Update service. There are people here who can give a much more detailed view, but in general I avoid disabling the WU service. Too many things get clobbered that way.

Reply | Quote

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Configure Automatic Updates.

Setting this to “disabled” appears to prevent Windows from even checking for updates

woody wrote:

Yep, that disables wuauserv, the Windows Update service. There are people here who can give a much more detailed view, but in general I avoid disabling the WU service. Too many things get clobbered that way.

Woody, I don’t think that’s technically true.

In my experience, throwing that particular setting in all prior versions (I haven’t tested 1703 yet) does NOT specifically Disable wuauserv – it merely stops the timed automatic checks that result in installs and reboots (e.g., late at night when Microsoft sees fit).

Note that @bknight721 has stated that he/she can manually initiate a Windows Update at any time by pressing the button in the Settings App. That alone says that wuauserv is not fully disabled, but does its thing when requested.

I think that this setting can still potentially be overridden by Microsoft, e.g., through the execution of one of a number of scheduled tasks, so besides using it I personally also disable the Windows Update service, as well as disable some scheduled tasks. THAT has, so far, has placed me in complete control. When I want to go through an update cycle, I re-enable the service, reconfigure my firewall to allow the update sites to be contacted, and initiate a Windows Update manually through the Settings app. In practice it’s not a lot of work at all.

-Noel

5 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, bknight721, Elly, woody, PhotM

Reply | Quote

Interesting. Can anyone else confirm?

Reply | Quote

woody wrote:

I avoid disabling the WU service. Too many things get clobbered that way.

So far the only two side effects I’ve encountered on W10Home have been
1) Windows Defender no longer getting updates
2) No longer being able to download anything in the Store.

Curious what else you’ve had clobbered (besides updates 🙂 )

Reply | Quote

Woody, I read your article and I must tell you how good of a journalist you are. I am always impressed by the quality of what you write, the deep research, the facts, how clear everything is presented despite the obscure reality behind. I also appreciate you can be very factual for the essential technical information but insert a personal opinion here and there while leaving users with the facts to make up their own mind. I know some people think journalists should be completely neutral, but I appreciate having both if the line is clear enough and the opinion don’t seem to color the facts. You talk to your readers like they are smart people.

I think you should create a forum for 1703 and have a topic “what needs to be fixed once you upgrade from 1607 to 1703” so people can post what gets changed and might need to be retweaked after an upgrade, not a clean install. It would make it less painful to upgrade knowing all you need to know that can be changed is saved in one topic and you can upgrade knowing you won’t leave something out thinking it is still set like you did in 1607 or that you didn’t know they added that new capability you probably don’t want activated…

Within the time frame from CB to CBB, we would accumulate enough knowledge to maybe make a quick deployment tool to fix many annoyances.

Reply | Quote

Good idea…. Done!

2 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, JohnW

Reply | Quote

Woody, for Windows 10 Home users, should the current WU blocking mechanism (ie. metered Wi-Fi setting) still work in 1703?

Reply | Quote

Yes, the metered Wi-Fi setting will still work in Creators Update. And in 1703 there is a setting to configure your Ethernet wired connection as metered as well. So far, it looks like that and wushowhide will be the primary ways for Home users to block updates. But be aware that the metered connection may impact updating of other applications as well.

For Pro Users, 1703 will have a settings in the Settings App to delay quality and feature updates for 30 days and 365 days respectively.

 

2 users thanked author for this post.

JohnW, woody

Reply | Quote

Looking at the big picture playing out… Y’know what worries me?

Stability of the initial version of 1703 won’t be great until millions of unpaid testers take a swing and Microsoft declares 1703 CBB.

What if something I really need / want from Windows – I dunno, maybe something like being able to make good, reliable System Image Backups; or long-term (months) ability to run without reboot; or the ability to multitask deeply on heavy duty hardware; or some feature only found only in Pro/Enterprise that only professionals would use – just is NEVER tested by millions of Home version beta testers playing games.

Is there any remaining system verification testing going on at Microsoft? Besides what the applications programmers do on their desks for 5 minutes before claiming they’re done, I mean.

If, after CBB is declared, I were to discover a crash I have this sinking feeling that reporting it would do little good unless a mass of users (other professionals?) were to chime in and say “me too!”

The fundamental flaw is that Microsoft thinks a world full of typical users will work out kinks in an operating system that matter to professionals.

-Noel

1 user thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer

Reply | Quote

I see your point (except the need to run for months without reboot), but this assumes that no Pro users will update to a new version at first availability. It could become normal for business users to wait for CBB, but I don’t think CB will ever be Home users alone. In large enterprises, many businesses will test during CB as Microsoft advises a pilot phase.

2 users thanked author for this post.

AlexEiffel

Reply | Quote

I think the biggest question related to Win10 is, do people really want to jump through all these hoops to have the new flavor of Windows kind of behave like all the old flavors of Windows? And if so, is it really worth it in the end?

If anything, I have to give MS credit for 1 thing – they certainly made the decision to try out (and swap to) Ubuntu MATE (or a different flavor of Linux) a lot easier.

Reply | Quote

zero2dash wrote:

do people really want to jump through all these hoops to have the new flavor of Windows kind of behave like all the old flavors of Windows? And if so, is it really worth it in the end?

Microsoft is straddling the line between “want” and “need”. Nobody wants to have to work hard to coax the remaining goodness out of the system, but some do anyway because they need to continue to use Windows, or at least need to know it can still be done.

And you’re right, I’ve personally judged it not to be worth it, so far.

That’s why I’m running a well-tuned, stable Windows 8.1 setup on hardware powerful enough to delight me for some time yet. I will re-evaluate each new release in virtual machines and will continue to do so until either Microsoft creates bona fide OS features I can’t live without, and/or makes some policy changes. What will happen to me potentially after a few years of holding back like this? I have to say honestly that I can’t yet see out that far. I really don’t imagine myself moving to Linux or Apple or Google or Amazon… Dave Cutler’s virtual memory OS design really is what I would like to base my future on. Windows 10’s specifics just aren’t good enough. Yet (I hope).

-Noel

Reply | Quote

The first screenshot at InfoWorld appears twice for no apparent reason.

2 users thanked author for this post.

PKCano, woody

Reply | Quote

Good catch.

Reply | Quote

Thanks!  fix coming…

Reply | Quote

“It’s a service, as in Windows as a service, and the first part of that service, after the beta test, is to spread millions of copies out to see what’s wrong.”

Releasing a known unstable OS sounds more like a disservice. In the ’70s and ’80s, Detroit tried letting the paying customers finish up the development work on their products. It didn’t work out so well for the US industry, but it surely helped Honda and Toyota.

It’s as though MS is saying, “You’re just a home user, and we don’t think you need an OS that works.”

And to business customers: “Obviously you don’t have enough to do, and we’re going to make you remove live tiles one by one. Then, when we bring them back without warning, you can take them out again. And since we want to keep your users entertained, we’re going to distract them with as much non-work-related software as possible.”

2 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, Noel Carboni

Reply | Quote

anonymous wrote:

And to business customers: “Obviously you don’t have enough to do, and we’re going to make you remove live tiles one by one. Then, when we bring them back without warning, you can take them out again. And since we want to keep your users entertained, we’re going to distract them with as much non-work-related software as possible.”

Administrators have full control over what appears on users’ Start menus:

Customize and export Start layout

Reply | Quote

I am wondering what is so complicated in creating app groups in the list that MS only allows it for tiles…

Antec P7 Silent * Corsair RM550x * ASUS TUF GAMING B560M-PLUS * Intel Core i5-11400F * 4 x 8 GB G.Skill Aegis DDR4 3200 MHz CL16 * Sapphire Radeon 6700 10GB * XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 1TB * SanDisk Ultra 3D 1TB * DVD RW Lite-ON iHAS 124 * Windows 10 Pro 22H2 64-bit

Reply | Quote

b wrote:

Administrators have full control over what appears on users’ Start menus:

In Win10 Pro, many items cannot be unpinned. Perhaps this functionality is limited to Enterprise or Education versions, as implied by the Technet instructions? Once again, we have a “Pro” version that is not suitable for business use.

Reply | Quote