Patching survey: Business — 2020

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PATCHING SURVEY By Susan Bradley What do IT pros and consultants think about the current status of Microsoft updating? Based on our just-concluded sur
[See the full post at: Patching survey: Business — 2020]

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woody, AlexEiffel, abbodi86

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It would be a good thing if Microsoft would conduct a similar survey. How well established are the contacts with Microsoft?

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Simon_Weel wrote:
It would be a good thing if Microsoft would conduct a similar survey.

Or – here’s a thought – maybe they should just read the survey results (and other feedback) Susan sends their way?

In other words, until Microsoft reaches the point where their vaunted “AI” is actually smart enough to make regular monthly patching simple & uneventful & boring, maybe Microsoft should have the good judgment and humility to also consider other (more traditional) sources of (product) intelligence?

Hope this helps.

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doriel

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I didn’t partake in the survey because (a) we were in the middle of moving our office and had other things to think about, and (b) I wouldn’t use a Microsoft application for anything.  I do use Windows 10, largely because some business applications run only in Windows — I haven’t had time to experiment with Linux at the office.

I’m okay with the update cycle, since we only have four workstations and one server, but I do agree that the way MS forces timing is unacceptable.  The point of a “personal computer” is that it’s MY computer, not Microsoft’s — things should be done entirely on my schedule.

(What could be done to improve the process?  They’d have to revamp Windows entirely for that: turn it back into an operating system instead of an operating environment.  In other words, emulate Linux rather than iOS, and get rid off all the baggage that has nothing to do with operating the computer.  Leave just enough to allow an interface.  Maybe they should split back into two forks, like Win9x and NT — one for business and one for conusmers.)

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doriel

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dsliesse wrote:

is that it’s MY computer, not Microsoft’s

It is YOUR hardware not OS. The OS belongs to Microsoft to do whatever they want with it.
Microsoft has remote access to your PC can install stealthily system components and apps. Microsoft can remove software you have installed. Microsoft can flag HOSTs entries that block access to Microsoft’s servers… All appears in the (illegal) EULA you have signed where you gave Microsoft full control.

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doriel

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So its “public secret” as we say in czech republic. Everybody knows it, everybody knows, that its somehow against law, everybody knows that this is wrong. But nobody can do something about it, or these who could do something – wont, because there are lot of money involved. Everybody knows that its somehow monopol, but nothing will ever change until users start to leave that c****y Windows 10. Windows 7 were simply fabulous. This hybrid is not worth a penny.

Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

PRUSA i3 MK3S+

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True.  Enforcement means a lot when it comes to contracts’ validity when one party is noncompliant.   MS claims all that (illegal, as you mentioned) nonsense about Windows, then does virtually nothing about it.  They even allow you to install unregistered  unpurchased copies of the OS with some features disabled, nag screens, etc.  It’s very possible, with a legal copy of Win 10 to block most if not all the telemetry, remove apps, etc., takes a huge amount of effort but results in an actually fast OS.

Why this paper tiger act by MS?  IDK.  Curious users tend to focus on things they find in the product and their perceptions of the manufacturer.  Having worked for years in some giant monolithic corporations, when a product is very successful, at some point the product itself doesn’t matter anywhere near as much as maintaining/increasing its revenue.

Windows works, it’s been functional for a long time, MS is off making money growing cloud services and insanely priced business software, leaving Windows to Tier Two at MS for fiddling, introducing silly broken features, generating insulting nonsensical marketing verbiage centered on the abused word “experience”, constant restructuring of their fat organization, etc.; Windows is a de facto monopoly cash cow on which their actions have no effect.

I’ve been forever chopping away at Windows, browsers, pretty much any software that treats me like they’re my customer and will continue to do so.  I bought the stuff, they threaten me with largely ignored stilted language, then usually do nothing to enforce it.  If they do, the product’s uninstalled.  I know Linux well.  Honestly, it’s nowhere near as friendly online or with installed software as Windows but it’s definitely good enough.  If MS begins to block what I do to their Pro versions, bye bye time.

No. 1 rule of fast driving: always have an out.

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 MS claims all that (illegal, as you mentioned) nonsense about Windows, then does virtually nothing about it.

I’m not an attorney but I understand that if one has a road his property that he/she normally allows the public to use, every so often, he/she needs to reestablish property rights, usually by closing the road for a day or two.  Otherwise, the road becomes a public road eventually and he/she loses ownership of it.

I wonder if this applies to copyrights as well.  It would be a hoot to see a federal judge tell Microsoft to pound sand one day…

 

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When I look at the numbers your survey came up with, I’m appalled!  When I look for a product on Amazon, I look at it from the standpoint of how many 4-star and 5-star reviews vs 1-, 2- and 3-star reviews it has.  If the ratio of 4 + 5 stars vs 1 + 2 + 3 stars is less than 80%, I won’t even consider the purchase.  And, I also expect to see more than 100 reviews before I even consider the product.  With Microsoft, apparently that’s not even an option.  I stayed with Windows 8.1 for something like 8 – 10 years until upgrading to Win 10 last year.  And, I’ll still use MS Office 2007 until they break that.  Then, I may go with Google Docs or Libre Office…still neither as good as MS Office 2007 but it’ll have to do.

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[MHCLV941]

In some cases, the quality of Office patches is not an issue — it’s the unexpected “enhancements” that users grumble about. In part that’s because Office doesn’t have a Win10-like once- or twice-yearly features upgrade. With MS 365, changes may show up in any of the regular updates — and they’re often not well documented. That was the gist of this comment:

“I’m frequently called into the boss’s office to explain where some feature or tool went. The way he’s done things for years just changed, and the new way makes no sense to us. (It might have, to somebody.) But our only choice is to accept the changes and move on.”

There is no better example of this than MS’s moving the search bar in Outlook 365 from the top of the message list to the application title bar.  Microsoft got thousands of comments, the mildest of which just asked for the change to be optional, most of which questioned Microsoft’s sanity; the “obvious” lack of any user testing or review; Microsoft’s penchant for breaking things that work perfectly well and a number of “AMF Outlook, we’re going to another email client”.

The response from Redmond?   We changed the search functionality and can’t put the search bar back where it’s been pretty much forever.

If they were half as smart as they claim to be, they would figure out a way to put it back, at least as an option and even with some/all loss of the “new” functionality.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by MHCLV941.

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f they were half as smart as they claim to be, they would figure out a way to put it back

Sure they know. They just dont want to. They do not listen. (Or they listen very carefully with all this telemetry). And why should they listen, they sit on trunk full of gold coins.

Its a kind of immortal bussiness – does not matter, that user are furious and nearly every IT admin and enthusiast is disapointerd. No matter what MSFT does, money will still flow in. Cause enterprise customers are like hostages – there seems to be no alternative.

Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

PRUSA i3 MK3S+

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MHCLV941

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Sure they know. They just don’t want to.

My thoughts exactly.

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Having collected, compiled, and summarized this information what are the further plans for it? Is it to be presented to Microsoft or other corporate entities? Is it to be filed for further reference and comparison with other surveys? Will it have a place on a website. as a one-page summary, pinned where everyone may view it?

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doriel

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