Microsoft released the third cumulative update to Windows 10 last week. But surprisingly, the supporting document associated with the patch – known as KB3081438 – was devoid of any information pertaining to what the update contained, except that “it includes improvements to enhance the functionality of Windows 10”. This surprised many users of the OS, keeping in mind that Microsoft was forthcoming about the fixes in the previous two cumulative patches. The company has now offered an explanation regarding its policy of change logs regarding Windows 10 patches.
It seems like nobody is taking the time anymore to write proper changelogs. Application and even operating system updates are void of any accompanying info, so you have no idea what’s new, changed, fixed, or improved.
A unwelcome development.
Someone at Microsoft has to have a log of them.
If for no other reason than figuring out how to fix things when an update causes things to blow up.
Previous versions of Windows had the same non-useful details for patches. Hell, I have a screenshot of one that basically said ‘this fixes issue blah and all future issues’.
It wouldn’t surprise me with the forced updates that they just start putting in random stuff like ‘this will make you a sandwich.’ Gone are the days when you even have a choice to install them anyhow. You have to have at least the ‘Pro’ version to even be able to tell it to schedule reboots when YOU want it to.
It’s kinda the same way on Android. Unless it’s a major new update, it never tells me what has actually been changed/fixed, and sometimes not even the Android blogs know.
Read the Linux source code ?
Wouldn’t simply posting a changelog be more efficient that reading the source code? When it comes to WIndows, you’re not going to get that chance anyway unless you work at MS and it’s your job to read Windows source code.
Android actually has a very extensive changelog. Here’s the one for 5.1.1 for example:
http://www.androidpolice.com/android_aosp_changelogs/android-5.1.0_…
Android does, most apps (including Google’s own) do not. I think that’s what the OP meant.
This is why I’m advising my customers as well as banning Windows 10 from my household, because it takes ALL control away from the user.
Honestly working in the shop the ONLY other software where I have had to jump through such hoops to disable connections? Malware, literally removing malware is the only time I’ve had to deal with such large scale IP blocking, is that really the OS you want on your PC, where you have zero control of what is sent, who its sent to, and what is done with that data?
I’ll give MSFT a credit for one thing….its made me actually recommend Windows 8 to customers, as at least once you rip out the appstore and slap on Classic Shell you have an OS that is almost as good as Win 7 and is still in control of the user, has anybody even managed to disable enough of the spying to stop Win 10 from phoning home without the user’s permission?
Indeed. It helps that there’re companies out there that ship computers with Linux & PC-BDS pre-loaded.
I’m sorry but for the vast majority, myself included? Linux/BSD is simply not a usable OS. None of my software runs, some of my hardware does not work, in fact 2 out of the 3 reasons I built my PC simply do not work on Linux.
So I will simply stick with Win 7 or wait until some pirate releases a
Windows 10 Gamer edition” with all the spying gutted, just like Win 8 Gamer or Win 7 Tiny, because if the OS won’t run the software I built it for what good is it?
So, if they’re selling computers with those OSes pre-loaded, then what makes you think that they haven’t ensured that they’re using hardware that works with the software???
Edited 2015-08-25 14:27 UTC
I have around a grand in audio/visual software, another grand in games,and a USB AD?DA for multitrack recording…wanna guess how much of that runs on your OS? If the answer is “none” you sir are correct!
Would you trade your computer for a Llama? because that is what your OS is to the vast majority, it does not run the programs they need a computer for, in fact I would argue that Linux holds less utility for the majority than giving up a PC and just getting an iPad because there is more professional commercial software for the fricking iPad than Linux has ever had!
And who cares if the hardware that actually is built into the laptop works when nothing you buy at a B&M will work with it? A little experiement, go look at the top 5 USB printers on Amazon, followed by the top 5 USB wireless cards…wanna bet you’ll be lucky if ONE of those works? Try the same at Walmart and Best Buy websites, again if you are really lucky you might find ONE and you better do your homework because its not gonna say so on the box so its a total crapshoot otherwise. Meanwhile I can walk into any of the above and it doesn’t matter what I pick the hardware will work and will most likely work for the life of the hardware, heck I have used XP drivers on Windows 8, so no “update foo broke my drivers” which you see the Linux forums filled with.
And frankly I would take Windows 10 with all the spying before I would take Linux or BSD because as a desktop OS your OS is unsuitable for purpose because I require professional software, not some kid’s class project. That isn’t even an insult, you’d be surprised how many push Gimp as a replacement for Photoshop and that thing is literally some kid’s class project! I require Sonor NOT Audacity, Corel Draw NOT Gimp, get ready for the flames but fuck it, truth is truth and ya know what the vast majority of Linux desktop software reminds me of? You ever look at a Chinese knock off site with products like the “Wii Wii” and “Polystation 4” that are designed to appear to be similar at the most superficial level but if you were to try it you find it inferior in every way to the real product? Yeah its pretty much that, badly designed ersatz software that doesn’t even have the features of the commercial software from a decade ago.
if you wanna run a server, especially a web server? Linux and BSD is fine for that, but I don’t mind paying money for software that actually WORKS and has the features I need and whether its DTP, A/V composition and creation, business and finance, medical,hell even entertainment and gaming, all the good software is on Windows and the best Linux can offer is a bad knockoff or even more insulting “Buy Windows and run it in a VM” to which I always respond “If I’m buying Windows anyway what do I need your OS for?” and I always get back silence because at the end of the day the only real selling point for Linux is “its not windows” and 22 years of flatline adoption shows that simply is not enough for the majority, including myself.
At the end of the day the majority will take the spying to be able to run software that does what they need, the minority like myself will download some pirate “Windows 10 Gamer Edition” with all the spying ripped out, and Linux will gain no more share than it did with Windows ME,Vista,or 8. And sorry for the length but some things can’t be summed up in a soundbyte.
So, what you’re saying is that you’ve spent thousands of dollars in software that will only run on Windows, but you’re waiting for someone to hack a copy of the latest windows, instead of taking the free upgrade & turning off the settings yourself? Ok, fair enough.
Gaming has already progressed to the point where BSD & Linux setups are ready to compete with Windows. We have Steam. We have ports of games from Windows. We have games that originated on our platforms. You simply CHOOSE to spend thousands of dollars for games for a platform that you ultimately end up complaining about.
With regards to the software, I see you’ve listed Audacity & GIMP, as if they’re the only open source choices available for those tasks. Well, at one time they were. But that was years ago. There’re tons of software out there that accomplish those tasks & they do so without any issues. Sure, you might have to purchase professional plugins for some of the software, instead of relying solely on the free plugins, but you’re willing to spend thousands of dollars on software already, so I can hardly see why spending a bit on plugins for open source software would be an issue -unless…
Judging from your angry response to a simply question, & your weak pop-shots at BSD & Linux, you seem to fall into 1 of 3 groups (or maybe a combination of the 3):
1). All of your information on open source software is outdated.
2). You only know how to use the programs that you pay for & are not capable of learning how to use free programs.
3). You’re actively engaging this topic as a troll & are only here to spread FUD.
So, which is it? Which one of these categories are you in?
You’re a Linux developer with close ties and influence within the Canon, Nikon, Garmin, Dell, Texas Instruments, Fender music, and gaming corporations? If so, you’ve got your work cut out for you.
First step is even getting this stuff to work with Linux. Second step is getting Linux software distributed with the consumer devices alongside the Windows and Mac options.
These seem like more concerns of someone who honestly is willing to look at other platforms, if their software is available.
There’s already a large community of people that’re working to solve these problems with BSD & Linux. Solutions are out there. I think the biggest issue is the second sentence -the distribution. Free software is mostly distributed in a completely different fashion than most Windows users are used to. In most cases, the software is available in source form & you have to compile it yourself. Many different packaging formats have arisen, but you’d still have to find & download the software yourself. The BSD operating systems & the main Linux distros usually have their own repositories of software that only require you to enter the search & then click “install” & all of that is handled for you. But, these are things that you wouldn’t know unless you used one of these systems yourself or were told by someone who’s experienced them. Personally, I enjoy the AppCafe that PC-BSD users use. It’s very pleasant. I encourage you to take some time & explore what’s available, it might surprise you!
Twice this month I’ve spent hours cleaning advertising viruses and trojans off friends’ Windows 8 computers. It’s no more or less vulnerable than Windows 7 or XP to such infestations, but what a PITA OS. Horrible interface, buried control panel, no comprehensive list of programs installed, menus and boxes randomly opening from the bottom and side…
I won’t be upgrading to 8. Ever. Suck it, Microsoft.
This means nobody is keeping track of what’s going on at a higher level. Pure incompetence as far as software development with such a huge user base is concerned.
That’s a massive assumption to make. What exactly are you basing it on? Hopefully something beyond Microsoft simply not sharing changelogs with average users.
Note that this comes after Microsoft’s latest proclamation of “transparency” which they said was really real this time, and we said “we’ll believe it when we see it”, and now we see it: it wasn’t real. Microsoft is not transparent. Microsoft can and will exploit customers at its leisure.
It means they don’t have to lie about all those backdoors anymore.
Sony, when it comes to patching their consoles, would usually state something like ‘system stability when using certain software has been improved’ when patching up exploits.
Saying anything more would give hackers/pirates too much information. From that point of view, it’s relatively understandable approach, but maybe not on desktops.
I’ll admit, new to Windows 10 (like everyone else),…. but there are lots and lots and lots of little things that need to be fixed
I wouldn’t want to detail that out.