2 ms·

It’s been standard since the days of windows 2000 if not NT to manage business installs of Windows with group policies. There’s no way a business choosing to ru

It’s been standard since the days of windows 2000 if not NT to manage business installs of Windows with group policies. There’s no way a business choosing to run Windows should be calling GPO “obscure” - how else are you setting policies on your business windows machines all this time? > Until you cannot use your system at a critical time because MS decided you needed an update. Then the cost may be anything between what you paid, and the total value of your entire business. Which could also happen if you put off a year’s worth of updates and get exploited. > it should be my prerogative to never update if I so choose. MS released a feature update a year ago, you’ve been unable to find a time to install it all year, now it’s being pushed on you. This is a reaction to the previous state of the world where windows machines all around the world never installed updates and we all suffered when they got malware and became spam bots, DDoS sources, bot farm members and worse. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. > If I am not on a metered connection, I should not have to use settings relating to that to manage when my computer updates. No you shouldn’t have to. But whining “there’s no way to stop it this could cost me my entire business!” Then given a way to stop it you say “I don’t want to” is ridiculous.

wizzwizz4 6y ago
> There’s no way a business choosing to run Windows should be calling GPO “obscure” - how else are you setting policies on your business windows machines all this time? Not all businesses are big.
Nextgrid 6y ago
There are many small businesses that have a handful of machines with local accounts that used to be on Windows XP, Vista or 7 (Professional/Business editions) and worked fine for a decade. They do not need, and don't have the resources to install and manage an Active Directory domain and Windows 10 Enterprise licenses, and yet still deserve their workstations to work predictably and not get in their way. Accepting the idea that you need to invest in Active Directory, Server and Enterprise licenses and an entire IT team to manage all that just to have the privilege of your computers not constantly getting in your way is nuts.
- jodrellblank 6y ago
  > worked fine for a decade. Lots of things which worked fine for a decade, don't work now, or aren't good ideas now. If they want to reject the present, and in this context reject updates, they can still use XP. It's also a bit weird to say Windows 10 which is on something like a billion computers worldwide, doesn't "work fine". And it's a bit weird to suggest that a small business with a handful of machines, is extremely disadvantaged by having a Windows Feature Update once a year, after being prompted for it and ignoring it for months. > "don't have the resources to install and manage an Active Directory domain" If they have an internet connection, Azure Active Directory[1] starts at $Free. > and yet still deserve They deserve more and different than the contract they entered into says? > their workstations to work predictably What exactly is unpredictable about this? It's not voodoo or random, feature updates have come out every Spring and Fall for the past five years, as it was documented that they would, and the Autumn one is a long-term-supported one. > "just to have the privilege of your computers not constantly getting in your way is nuts." Describing a predictable, short, /controllable/ reboot once in months as "constantly getting in your way" is nuts. Has Microsoft really done nothing else worth frothing at the mouth about that it's come down to "they install updates" these days? [1] https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/active-directory/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/active-dir...
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    > a bit weird to say Windows 10 which is on something like a billion computers worldwide, doesn't "work fine" A operating system that spies on you, constantly nags you to use Edge/Login to a Microsoft account/etc is not one that "works fine" in my opinion. > If they have an internet connection, Azure Active Directory[1] starts at $Free. And now you're introducing a third-party dependency, a dependency on the network, a dependency on a service that might be shut down or the pricing model changed, and turned a single local computer that worked fine for a decade into what is essentially a distributed system. Not to mention the admin overhead of setting all of it up. > What exactly is unpredictable about this? I'm talking less about updates in this case and more about the other nasty features such as the spying/telemetry, random bugs that weren't there (start menu search is broken despite being fine in Windows 7), advertising/Candy Crush in the start menu, constant nags to use Edge, etc, and whatever else the new update might bring (if it doesn't outright make your system unusable or delete your data). > Describing a predictable, short, /controllable/ reboot once in months as "constantly getting in your way" is nuts. Look at my previous point. But regardless of all the other features, if the user has a reason to not install updates, it should be his right to do so. He paid for that computer & Windows license, he's paying for the power and bandwidth. It should be up to him to control how his hardware operates.

wizzwizz4 6y ago

> There’s no way a business choosing to run Windows should be calling GPO “obscure” - how else are you setting policies on your business windows machines all this time? Not all businesses are big.

Nextgrid 6y ago

There are many small businesses that have a handful of machines with local accounts that used to be on Windows XP, Vista or 7 (Professional/Business editions) and worked fine for a decade. They do not need, and don't have the resources to install and manage an Active Directory domain and Windows 10 Enterprise licenses, and yet still deserve their workstations to work predictably and not get in their way. Accepting the idea that you need to invest in Active Directory, Server and Enterprise licenses and an entire IT team to manage all that just to have the privilege of your computers not constantly getting in your way is nuts.

jodrellblank 6y ago
> worked fine for a decade. Lots of things which worked fine for a decade, don't work now, or aren't good ideas now. If they want to reject the present, and in this context reject updates, they can still use XP. It's also a bit weird to say Windows 10 which is on something like a billion computers worldwide, doesn't "work fine". And it's a bit weird to suggest that a small business with a handful of machines, is extremely disadvantaged by having a Windows Feature Update once a year, after being prompted for it and ignoring it for months. > "don't have the resources to install and manage an Active Directory domain" If they have an internet connection, Azure Active Directory[1] starts at $Free. > and yet still deserve They deserve more and different than the contract they entered into says? > their workstations to work predictably What exactly is unpredictable about this? It's not voodoo or random, feature updates have come out every Spring and Fall for the past five years, as it was documented that they would, and the Autumn one is a long-term-supported one. > "just to have the privilege of your computers not constantly getting in your way is nuts." Describing a predictable, short, /controllable/ reboot once in months as "constantly getting in your way" is nuts. Has Microsoft really done nothing else worth frothing at the mouth about that it's come down to "they install updates" these days? [1] https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/active-directory/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/active-dir...
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  > a bit weird to say Windows 10 which is on something like a billion computers worldwide, doesn't "work fine" A operating system that spies on you, constantly nags you to use Edge/Login to a Microsoft account/etc is not one that "works fine" in my opinion. > If they have an internet connection, Azure Active Directory[1] starts at $Free. And now you're introducing a third-party dependency, a dependency on the network, a dependency on a service that might be shut down or the pricing model changed, and turned a single local computer that worked fine for a decade into what is essentially a distributed system. Not to mention the admin overhead of setting all of it up. > What exactly is unpredictable about this? I'm talking less about updates in this case and more about the other nasty features such as the spying/telemetry, random bugs that weren't there (start menu search is broken despite being fine in Windows 7), advertising/Candy Crush in the start menu, constant nags to use Edge, etc, and whatever else the new update might bring (if it doesn't outright make your system unusable or delete your data). > Describing a predictable, short, /controllable/ reboot once in months as "constantly getting in your way" is nuts. Look at my previous point. But regardless of all the other features, if the user has a reason to not install updates, it should be his right to do so. He paid for that computer & Windows license, he's paying for the power and bandwidth. It should be up to him to control how his hardware operates.