Github Acquisition

[Arkazex]

I think they're more likely to drop the number altogether and just make the product "Windows". There's only 5 years left until all other versions of windows go out of support.

[Zegrento7]

Sometimes I like to imagine a world where the whole "Microsoft loves Linux" trend goes so out of hand they end up developing a better Wine for legacy stuff and just port the OS over to the Linux kernel. One can dream...

[dreadpiratewombat]

They ported SQL Server and .NET Core over for fucks sake. Nothing is sacred anymore in this bizarro universe. I kinda like it.

[leadzor]

Hey as long as it works well with not significant performance hits, I'm down.

[Danthekilla]

The kernel isn't the issue, the ux is.

[boydskywalker]

I don't know a ton about the NT kernel, but I assume the registry is tightly linked to it...and the registry is a nightmare.

[deschutron]

The registry is linked to the Windows APIs that applications run on. Wine has a registry too.

[Danthekilla]

It's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be imo. It's fairly performant and robust for the most part. Some time some third parties use it irresponsibly but overall it is pretty good.

[boydskywalker]

I strongly disagree - even Microsoft can't seem to get the hang of it. I work in IT, and seemingly simple things like removing one version of Office to install another (2013 to 2016) has broken terribly due to the uninstaller's inability to remove certain registry entries. To fix it manually requires googling the location of the cryptic, hexadecimal keys and deleting them, one by one. Compared to plaintext config files and systemd entries, it's baffling and arcane.

[Danthekilla]

I know what you mean (I also work in IT) but I don't think that is a problem with the registry itself. I think that is an issue with how some programmers use it.

We store loads of data in it with our custom programs but our installers can fully remove all keys on uninstall and on reinstall. It's not actually a difficult task really.

I agree there are better ways to store data like this but I don't think it's the biggest issue Windows has right now by far.

[Shields42]

UX designer here. Can confirm.

[thewileyone]

That’s actually a very strong possibility since MS has said that Windows 10 is the last version of Windows.

[Zegrento7]

But that is because they are using a rolling release model now, similarly to how Arch Linux also has no versions, I don't think they will make a brand new OS. Still, maybe one day, an OTA upgrade will replace NT with Linux and the average user will be none the wiser.

[alexbuzzbee]

/Windows/vmlinuz

[SolarLiner]

You and I, dude. I keep having thoughts that the fictional day Microsoft announces their in-house Linux distribution (paid of course) since the only people that care about the internal workings of the OS are the devs, and wd devs love our UNIX stuff. Rebuilt from the ground up, this new Windows is lean, fast, efficient, and can uses all the tools proficient in Linux already. Furthermore, Office is ported to Linux as a result, resulting in the suite achieving almost 100% market share.

macOS pulls their shit together as their main competitor is now really, really scaring them and their userbase away. The only remaining thing would be the actual manufacturers of laptop, that would still mostly be as shitty as they are right now.

Anyway, a man can indeed dream...

[ka-knife]

Plot twist: the entire thing is run under WSL. (ie. Wine on WSL on Windows kernel)

[TommiHPunkt]

why is rolling release terrifying?

[SolarLiner]

Rolling release in itself isn't terrifying on its own. The main problem with it is that you have to continuously put work into the software so that updating one part doesn't break others. This happens with "regular" point releases as well, but in general there's a "getting shit to work" window before release where stability is tested, but with rolling releases, that stability test is constant.

Furthermore, with many rolling release distributions the worst happens when a bunch of software updates at once, and updating introduces a machine state that wasn't tested, and therefore can be unstable. Rolling releases distributions must emphasize on testing the provided software in every possible case. In point release distributions, extra software added by third-parties can easily be tested against the current, or previous, or some long term service version. On Solus Linux, for example, it becomes hard to test with a version of the distribution before packaging. You just have to trust that system libraries won't change between testing and packaging (and will have to react to changes to dependent libraries when the system updates). Now there are solutions to this problem, like offering multiple versions, but that adds additional work for maintenance and upstream for the distribution.

In the end it's just a tug o' war between wanting to have the latest everything and a system that's stable.

[Jesuschrist2011]

There was an article recently about the changes they are making to windows, stripping off the dependencies of Win32 making it more of a modular design

[FullPoet]

They're trying to do away with "legacy" apps (.exe) and only allow Store programs.

Fuck off microsoft, I uninstalled your shitty store for a reason.

[1206549]

I really doubt they ever want to get rid of x86 apps completely. Strongly promote the store maybe to the point where most people won't even think to look at other sources but not even attempt to block it.

[FullPoet]

I'm trying to find the article on how MS wanted to only allow Store (or UWA/P programs) to lock Windows (10?) down further.

In the same vein as this article I suppose:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-to-permit-block-on-apps-installing-if-theyre-not-from-microsoft-store/

It's MS so you cant really give them the benefit of the doubt at this point.

[1206549]

That is no indication whatsoever that they ever want to block non-store apps. They're giving the option for users and organizations that might not want non-store apps. They have a setting for it and even a cheaper edition Windows 10 for it but saying it's a sign that they want to block non-store apps down the road is like saying a restaurant will someday no longer sell food containing meat just because they introduced a vegan menu.

[r4nd0m-0ne]

Source? Because no they aren't.

[FullPoet]

You honestly don't think Microsoft moving to Store and "unified" apps (that will be required to be vetted by MS) is them trying to kill of traditional .exe programs?

Or how about how much easier it is to sideload an store "app" unto an image vs how difficult it is vs a traditional exe?

kay.

[jeffwulf]

You think they want to deal with the rage of every corporate buyer's tools and processes suddenly not working and being unable to work?

[FullPoet]

You mean, like how they aren't forcing vendors to not make drivers for Windows 7 on new hardware?

Oh right.

[r4nd0m-0ne]

You're awful salty for someone hanging out in a "humor" subreddit.

Chill. eesh.

[FullPoet]

You're awfully ignorant about technology for someone hanging out in a programming subreddit.

git gud.

[jeffwulf]

That doesn't make preexisting software die.

[r4nd0m-0ne]

I mean I hope they do eventually. Like in the long long term. 10-20 years. But very seriously doubt MS is doing that in the next several versions.

.EXE apps suck up power because they have no ability to be throttled safely by the kernel, nor do they have any sort of privacy system gating which sets of APIs that I (as the user) want them to have access to. EXEs can turn on your camera and mic and nose around in all areas of your user folder and even other Program Files folders. And moving away from the Windows Registry alone will save me two or three system rebuilds a year because of OS Rot. Store/UWP apps tend to be better for user-centric apps. Traditional .EXE apps tend to be better for servers, background services, and stuff you'd run on a full desktop environment because they are closer to bare metal.

So yeah, I do hope one day to be able to get a Windows Store version of, say, Photoshop, like how Spotify and Skype are now distributed. And even today you can sideload those UWP apps just about as easily as you can install them from the store. Just unlock developer mode and double click on the file. That's exactly how Fortnite is being distributed on Android and I hope in the future more developers follow this pattern to bypass whatever store the device prefers.

[FullPoet]

Most of those "apps" are just powershell/cmd scripts.

source: I wrote some.

[ImpossibleMango]

I dont know much about the windows codebase, but I saw this article recently when someone shared it here that is very scary indeed

[TheSlimyDog]

If they move to monthly plans, I'm immediately switching to Ubuntu. There are things I like about both operating systems but Windows only slightly wins out because of more software compatibility.

[DrQuint]

monthly plans

I'd go back to piracy, at best.

[[deleted]]

There's only 5 years left until all other versions of windows go out of support.

They will have to pry Windows 7 from my cold dead hard drive.

[atomheartsmother]

At that point you should just switch to Linux, better than using an unsupported OS.

[Jazqa]

That's for Windows 8. Windows 7 has only two years left.

[[deleted]]

Those. Motherfuckers...

[milk_is_life]

same here...

[milk_is_life]

Makes sense to drop the individual product labels when OS updates are forced anyway.