Windows 10: Windows 10 problems are ruining Microsoft’s reputation

Windows 10 updates continue a pretty embarrassing run for Microsoft and almost every new monthly or feature updates appear to break more things than they fix. In recent times, Windows 10 has been plagued by an alarming amount of bugs.

Windows Update mess kicked off with the October 2018 Update, which introduced a bug that deleted documents, pictures and other files of the consumers.

After the October Update debacle, Microsoft adopted a very careful approach with the May 2019, which was rolled out slowly to avoid a repeat of the disastrous rollout.

While the May 2019 Update itself wasn’t a mess, Microsoft shipped cumulative updates to fix some long-standing minor bugs, but the monthly updates introduced a new bug which caused high levels of CPU usage.

Then another cumulative update was shipped to fix Cortana but it broke the Start menu and even Taskbar. It also broke internet connectivity on some configurations and another hotfix caused audio issues. All these issues were documented and resolved by Microsoft by the end of the year.

After the rollout of the major update, Microsoft launched November 2019 Update, a minor release with only a few changes and many of us hoped that this would offer a bug-free experience. However, users have complained that the update breaks down File Explorer and Microsoft has not acknowledged the issue on its official website yet.

Microsoft has also run into trouble with this year’s first cumulative update. Windows 10’s January 2020 important update has been failing to install and displaying unhelpful error messages.

Why is Windows 10 a mess?




According to former employees, Microsoft has changed its Windows Update testing process and it could be one of the reasons for the mess.

As the ex-Microsoft senior software engineer noted, Microsoft had an entire team dedicated to testing Windows updates in the old days. The software giant’s testing group had different subgroups for drivers or interface, and all the members discussed glitches in daily meetings.

Microsoft engineers tested Windows updates using automated testing and as well as manually on real-world configurations rather than the virtual machines.



In 2014, Microsoft laid off Windows testing team and the company stopped testing updates on real-world configurations for the most part.

In addition to the virtual machines, Microsoft now relies on Windows Insiders, a group of testers mostly consisting of enthusiast and fans.

Many of the users have signed up for the Insider program to test the new features and their feedback are mostly feature requests. Although some testers report bugs, such feedback are buried under a mountain of other feedback or feature requests.

Fundamental changes




Microsoft has been working on multiple changes to improve the quality of Windows 10 updates. Last year, Microsoft stopped forcing Windows Updates and feature updates are no longer installed automatically when you check for updates.

In 2019, Microsoft said they’re working on a new feature that will automatically remove updates that aren’t compatible with the installed version of the OS.



If automatically downloaded Windows 10 updates are not compatible with the device you’re using, Microsoft says it will soon remove “problematic updates” without requiring your interaction.

Microsoft has also updated Feedback Hub to surface the important reports first.



Similarly, the software giant is adding Optional Updates option to Windows Update to help users manage their drivers easily.

In 2019, Windows 10 driver updates also caused endless problems and Microsoft blocked users from upgrading due to compatibility hold.


Image Courtesy: WindowsLatest.com

Hardware makers can now ask Microsoft to block Windows 10 feature upgrades on devices with driver compatibility. This change would stop drivers from trashing Windows 10 and it could significantly improve Windows Update experience.

Microsoft is also reportedly planning to release one major and one minor feature updates in a year, rather than two big releases every year.

The post Windows 10 problems are ruining Microsoft’s reputation appeared first on Windows Latest

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Microsoft Selects Dolby Audio for Windows 10

it would've been great if microsoft added HEVC decoders, LAV filters along with other codecs with Windows 10, and developing WMP to be better than VLC, KMPlayer and such sorts of media players.

Nevertheless, this is good step for microsoft, by far.

 

Microsoft Botches Up UEFI Support for Windows 7 on ASUS Motherboards



Microsoft suggests updating to Windows 10 to patch Windows 7

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• Chris Merriman
• 
  @ChrisTheDJ
• 05 May 2016

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MICROSOFT HAS confirmed a potentially lappy-borking problem that it won't be fixing, because Windows 7.

Woody Leonhard, the respected Windows columnist, points to a problem involving Asus motherboards, which also appear rebadged in a variety of other manufacturers' machines, and the activation of UEFI Secure Boot for Windows 7 in a patch KB3133977.

Short version: install update, welcome to Borksville, population you.

Both Asus and Microsoft acknowledged the problem. Microsoft entitled the article "BitLocker can't encrypt drives because of service crashes in svchost.exe process in Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2", but we prefer to just call it "Trevor for brevity."

The firm's advice was that it's an optional update, leave well alone, you'll be fine, or alternatively turn secure boot off.

Then Microsoft did a silly, silly thing.

It moved the update from 'optional' to 'recommended' and anyone who reads this site regularly will know what happens when Microsoft does this. That's right boys and girls - it makes it automatically install, unless you've specifically told your machine not to.

So now, if you have one of the affected motherboard and you keep your security updates automatic like wot Microsoft recommends, then your machine will stop working properly.

We should add it's not permanently bricked, but it will take some mucking about in the BIOS to fix and that's a pain even for an experienced computer user.

Microsoft has, by offering a workaround, suggested heavily that it won't be fixing the problem, though we have asked the question, so expect a response in about a fortnight.

But the real kicker is this piece of advice: "Note The Secure Boot feature is supported in Windows 10. To learn more about the security advantages of this feature and about the upgrade path from Windows 7 to Windows 10, go to the following Windows website"

Holy toledo, this company really knows how to rub people up the wrong way.

After all - if the advice is to manually avoid the update or move to a version of the operating system where there's virtually no control over updates, then Microsoft is dealing in massive contradictions.

A more cynical site would suggest that it's yet another example of Microsoft running Windows 7 into the ground and adding built in obsolescence to encourage quicker updates. But we're not that sort of site.

Its the patching to force secure boot that is the problem win 7 does not support secure boot
hence it borks systems and well microsofts answer is Cactus >your Asshole > insert

from the inquirer

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

As you may already know, Windows 10 (as well as Windows 8) allow you to log in with a valid Microsoft account, instead of creating a local account that only works on your machine. However, you may prefer to keep a local account for privacy reasons. If you do, though, some Windows 10 features—like Cortana—may not work. Despite the default behavior, the Windows 10 Store is not one of them. You can still log in to your Microsoft account for just the Store without switching to a full Microsoft account. The process, however, is not terribly obvious. To do so, follow these steps:

• Launch the Store from your Start menu.
• Click the user icon next to the search box.
• Click “Sign-in” from the menu that appears.
• Choose “Microsoft account” and log in like normal.
• When the “Make it yours” box appears do not enter your password. Instead, click “Sign in to just this app instead.”

from Lifehacker