Stop whining about Microsoft

[David Baxter PhD]

DISCLAIMER: Woody Leonhard and the rest of the crew at Computerworld have a longstanding hate for anything Microsoft, going back years to the days of Woody's paid newsletter which I used to get. If it weren't for the fact that they sometimes have useful advice (sadly less and less frequently) I would read their columns at all.

Here's an example:

This month’s Windows patching debacle gradually comes into focus
Woody Leonhard, Computerworld
April 15, 2019

April 2019 Windows patches wreaked havoc on many PCs, with crashes linked to Sophos, Avast, and Avira products and debilitating slowdown reports on Win10 1809 machines. Who’s testing this stuff? Ends up the answer isn’t all that simple.

Really? "Wreaked havoc"? "Debilitating slowdown reports"? Note the lack of sources for these claims?

My system is noticeably faster since I applied the 1809 update.

Win7 and 8.1 machines running Sophos antivirus products frequently refused to boot. The dragnet has since expanded, with both Avira and Avast now admitting their products are having problems, and rumors are swirling about many other antivirus manufacturers.

Aren't Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 at end of life? And if third party antivirus software doesn't work correctly, is that the fault of Microsoft or the antivirus software coders?

Microsoft says

Microsoft and Sophos have identified an issue on devices with Sophos Endpoint Protection installed and managed by either Sophos Central or Sophos Enterprise Console (SEC) that may cause the system to freeze or hang upon restart after installing this update.

Woody says

Which is a bit disingenuous. In fact, Sophos, Avast and Avira have all reported problems with various combinations of those patches. I’ve seen an anonymous report that the Win7 patch interferes with McAfee virus definition updates. Nobody knows what to think because there's been no clear advice from Redmond.

Again, older versions of Windows are at or approaching end of life. Kudos to Microsoft for continuing to patch them. Why aren't third party paid antivirus software manufacturers able to keep pace?

Woody says

Clearly, there was some change in those six patches that broke a long-standing entry into the internals of Windows. Clearly, at least some Sophos, Avast and Avira products used the now-broken hook. Does Microsoft have the right to cut off a hole in Windows, even if it’s being used by antivirus vendors? Certainly. Do the antivirus vendors have a right to know about — be explicitly warned about — changes that are coming that’ll break their products? I would answer yes. Should everybody — Microsoft and the antivirus vendors — be testing this stuff before it’s released? Absolutely. We’re talking about major AV products here, with millions of users.

Why weren't the antivirus makers aware of the broken hook(s)? That's the burning question for me.

Microsoft has an Insider's Program that anyone can you, including you and me, which will give you access to early releases of updates.

WordPress, Mozilla, Xenforo and other major software manufacturers all have similar programs.

I don't subscribe to any of these because

1. I don't like running beta software on a production machine or production website; and
2. I don't create third party addons that will need to be updated sooner or later.

But reputable coders who do create third part software (or hardware) can and should be subscribing to these insider programs so that they can prepare and have ready any needed updates to their software. This is standard practice in most software companies.

I'm tired of all the whining about Microsoft. (And Google for that matter.)

Get with the times, Woody. You're a grown man. Your parents no longer have control over you and they are no longer responsible for feeding and dressing you and reminding you of your appointments. And Microsoft is only responsible for ensuring full compatibility with their own products, not products over which they have no control.

When Microsoft falls down on the job and breaks compatibility with Office, you and everyone else has a perfect right to be outraged, assuming those products are not end of life... it is not reasonable to expect Microsoft to keep patching Office 2000 (released in 1999) in 2019. (Although surprisingly, Word 2000 still runs along happily under Windows 10. I don't recommend it but it still works.)

 

[GaryQ]

Aren't Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 at end of life? And if third party antivirus software doesn't work correctly, is that the fault of Microsoft or the antivirus software coders?

Windows 7 EOL is set for Jan 2020. many organizations have thousands upon thousands of windows XP and 7. Yes they have no reason to expect it to be updated after EOL cycle although they offer enterprise extended support cycles for those situations. BUT it shouldn't break anything. Also the main reason they stick to Windows XP and Windows 7 is because they worked and worked well for the intended application use and did not need to worry about windows as a end user tested software full of spyware that you can't prevent regardless of the hacks you make to the OS and THEY not YOU decide when they shove a new version down your throat even if it doesn't work.

There is no reason an update should cause conflicts with existing hardware or software in any way shape or form. It's not a new version upgrade it's an update and should improve things not make them worse.

Sure Windows 10 has some cool features and a lot of annoying things also. With Windows XP and 7 you can still somehow prevent and roll back updates in windows 10 if you have the pro or up version you can delay it for a while toll joe home version user has found all the bugs for Microsoft that end users encounter then you can delay it until you need to connect to the internet because sooner or later you will need an activation check and that's only done online. Log on and it starts the upgrade process. Stop it and you're up sh*t creek.

Sure they gave free upgrades or nobody would have bought it even with the free upgrade millions upon millions reverted to their previous version of Windows because it was not worth the free upgrade. Corporations don't get free upgrades as they have volume licensing and the cost f upgrading to something that is now meant more for the gamers than for productivity is not what I would want in my enterprise. Also having it log and send through telemetry everything I do, open, search is nothing less that spyware. You can pretend you're limiting it but even in basic mode it still logs pretty much everything you do. it's about respect of privacy. Just because I'm not doing anything wrong sitting in my living room does not mean you have a right to walk on in and log everything I do.

Windows 10 is the OS version of Facebook and Google. Track, log and stuff advertising down your throat more and more. Upgrades barely add anything anymore except incremental advertising and logging.

End of rant.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

You can disable all the ads, by the way. And the tracking. And the logging.

And even with the Home version you can delay or (at least temporarily) disable updates if you wish, although I don't know why you would want to do that.

And if an update goes wrong you can still roll it back. You posted that you did that yourself recently.

My primary computer (a Gateway) is aging. It doesn't even have USB 3 ports. But it's at least 6 or 7 years old now and it has been a workhorse for me, which is why I've been reluctant to upgrade. One of my sons who is a gamer updated to a top end gaming machine last year and when the time comes I will transfer everything over to his old one, which is still about 5 years (or more) newer than mine.

The Windows 10 Feature updates are frustrating but really how long should we be expecting Microsoft to support (and test for) aging technology?

And, to my main point, why is Microsoft getting blamed for the failure of third party antivirus products to do their due diligence in upgrading before the releases go public? Not to mention that nobody needed those crappy antivirus resource hogs any more anyway. These are the same companies that resort to stuffing their products into other software or on to new computers hoping to fool people into thinking they need to extend their trial versions when they expire. I have zero sympathy for them.

I have been using Windows Defender and a bit of common sense since Windows 7. The single time in all those years that any malware slipped by was when I did something really stupid and clicked yes when I shouldn't have. It wasn't a virus, just a nuisance, but I'm not going to blame Defender for my own carelessness.

 

[Daniel E.]

and reminding you of your appointments

Haha. Goes to show some people need app-based reparenting

Some trivia for the folks at home:

By 2016, Chromebooks had become the most popular computer in the US K–12 education market.

Chrome OS - Wikipedia

 

[Daniel E.]

Historical perspective with OS/2:

A project was launched internally by IBM to evaluate the looming competitive situation with Microsoft Windows 95. Primary concerns included the major code quality issues in the existing OS/2 product (resulting in over 20 service packs, each requiring more diskettes than the original installation), and the ineffective and heavily matrixed development organization in Boca Raton (where the consultants reported that "basically, everybody reports to everybody") and Austin.

That study, tightly classified as "Registered Confidential" and printed only in numbered copies, identified untenable weaknesses and failures across the board in the Personal Systems Division as well as across IBM as a whole. This resulted in a decision being made at a level above the Division to cut over 95% of the overall budget for the entire product line, end all new development (including Workplace OS), eliminate the Boca Raton development lab, end all sales and marketing efforts of the product, and lay off over 1,300 development individuals (as well as sales and support personnel). $990 million had been spent in the last full year. Warp 4 became the last distributed version of OS/2.

OS/2 - Wikipedia

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Not much has changed, it seems.

IBM created the Phoenix pay system for federal employees which has been an ongoing debacle since it was released in April 2016. It still isn't fixed.

 

[Daniel E.]

Regarding Healthcare.gov:

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart notably lampooned the HealthCare.gov controversy during an interview with Sebelius. He jokingly challenged her to an online race: "I'm going to try and download every movie ever made, and you're going to try to sign up for Obamacare, and we'll see which happens first."

HealthCare.gov - Wikipedia