3 ms·
The notion of "Developer editions" and "Power User editions" of windows really bothers me. I discovered a love of computers and IT from having my own computer w
by Sir_Substance 9y ago
The notion of "Developer editions" and "Power User editions" of windows really bothers me. I discovered a love of computers and IT from having my own computer with windows 98 and just fucking around on it.
I destroyed the OS on that computer at least twice by doing stupid things like deleting DLL's in the windows folder because 8 year old me decided he "didn't need them" and bypassed the system file protection, but apparently that's part of learning to use and understand computers. Certainly it taught me how to install a new OS, which opened up a world of new OS's to me, which brought me to VM's, which inexorably lead to experimenting with hosting services, which lead to sysadmin skills, and so on.
Considering Microsoft is operating in and even leading an industry that alleges it is slowly starving to death from lack of new talent, creating versions of the OS with anything less than 100% control seems like a really stupid long term move. How are people supposed to form an intuitive grasp of the potential of general purpose computers if they grow up with machines that say "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"?
- monochromatic 9y agoAn administrator account can still do all that.
- HelloNurse 9y agoI understand you stopped using Windows several versions ago.
- monochromatic 9y agoNope. I'm on 10. What are you not able to do as an administrator?
- HelloNurse 9y agoWindows 7 is already full of magical folders and processes that an administrator is supposed to leave alone.
- monochromatic 9y agoYou can take ownership of any folder and do whatever you want to its contents. The fact that Windows tries to protect you from doing something dumb (but gets out of your way if you're sure) is probably a good thing.
- jasonkostempski 9y agoI guess destroying the OS is one way of stopping telemetry and updates.
- digi_owl 9y agoSadly it is a notion that is creeping into the FOSS world as well. Just look at the antics of certain desktop projects. Basic thing is that power users and "security" do not mix. And yes, there is a small aspect of protection from external threats in there. But just as much it is about paternalism, and, in the case of Microsoft, about shoring up revenue streams.
- ksk 9y agoYeah, that bothers me too, and its actually scary to think that in the future, we could all be locked out of our own machines. As it is, looking at UX trends, it seems like everything is slowly being diluted to the lowest common denominator. Soon there will be no more "pro" devices - because who needs all those ports, and who needs to upgrade the ram/hdd/etc - but hey, atleast it will be shiny!