New Windows 10 Insider Preview Fast Build 18312 (19H1) - Jan. 9 Insider

Wynona said:

Well said, Walt. Although, actually, this website belongs to John, not Shawn @Brink. :-)

I don't waste my time bashing Microsoft and claiming they don't care; of course they care! If Windows is just too hard to use (for me it's not), I'll quit using it and go to something else . . . that's something Microsoft doesn't want to see happen, so they care enough to get our ideas and bug reports. It's been this way since at least 1985 when I was invited to my first beta test. In fact, Microsoft knows it's in their best interest to keep us Insiders happy, so why wouldn't they care? And yeah, I've told Microsoft to leave this or that alone; it's my computer. Bug fixes are posted on Feedback . . . I've posted a couple or three (giving credit to the originator) myself.

We were told early on that the Control Panel would be deprecated (parts of it already are). Knowing that, I dove into the Settings app and learned how to use it. Hands down, if you learn even a part of it, it's much better than the Control Panel ever was. We were told the Snipping Tool would be deprecated, but I chose to use it as long as possible; wonder of wonders, the Snipping Tool evolved into Snip and Sketch. So far, I haven't had time to look at the Sketch part, but I'll get there.

Whatever I need to do is most likely quite possible in Windows 10 (unless it's that ancient program from 20 years ago). I'd hazard a guess that at least 90% of Windows 10 users will never go beneath the surface because they can do everything they want and need to do already.

We're Insiders! We signed up for the headaches and warts caused by each new Build. We're supposed to find bugs, not complain about them and accuse Microsoft of not caring. We're supposed to report 'em so they'll (hopefully) be gone in the next Build. Oh, it wasn't gone when we decided it should be, so that means Microsoft doesn't care?

I'm not a Microsoft basher, but by the same token, I'm not a FanBoi(gal) either. I'm going to continue diving into the deep water . . .

And finally, I think some may have misunderstood what an Insider is; here's an excerpt from the agreement we should all have "signed"



Source: Microsoft Windows Insider Program Agreement Explained in Plain English - TLDRLegal

Hey, thanks, Wynona...;) Sean, Shawn, Brink, John, eh? --I keep confusing them for some reason...;) In a good way, of course! I'm like you--we constantly run into posts where folks seem to think these beta/buggy Insider releases are commercial releases for prime time--I think all of us have seen this going on for years! I'm with you--some folks who are in might be better served by chilling out, taking a break, dropping back to the slow ring for a change of pace--doing their thing with applications and games, and then coming back to the fast lane when the bug hits them again ("bug" literally & metaphorically!)

smactilactus said:

We are in agreement with about 95% of what you wrote above. I am never looking for a fight whenever I post anything, although sometimes it might look like it. I'm about real information. Where we differ, is when I want to do something that M$ has SO locked down, that even "Take Control" or "Unlocker" will not open it or give me control over it. I've had these situations, where going in and manually trying to change the permissions is completely blocked. Because a builtin admin has more control than we do. For those who bother to learn enough to change vital things, M$ should allow us to do so, and stop locking so much of the os down. They can make it difficult, to keep out the less informed. But allow those who learn how, to Permanently change MOST of the OS to suit their uses.

First, this is not a "fight", or anything...;) My main comment is that much of what people "think" is locked down in Windows isn't really locked down at all--it's just not overly obvious--that's why I wanted to point out one of the purposes of John's terrific site here--all those quality tutorials he puts together that often offer multiple ways to go about doing what people want to do, etc. I agree that changing permissions can be a complicated affair at times and in certain situations--but it can be done--and much of the reason it is convoluted is because of the "security" aspect of it, and so on. But there is a way to do it, most assuredly.

Also, I have an easy answer to your question, "if Microsoft cared nothing for its customers, how can you explain the existence of the Insider's program and the report hub?" It's simple. Mostly it's to keep M$ in a good light for public opinion. Politics!

Yes, but why pay all of these people to keep writing all of this code if it's just politics Microsoft is after? If you'll notice, most of the features they implement and fix and so on are at *customer* request. For politics' sake, Microsoft is sure wasting a lot of time and money doing it this way...;)

But even more than that, M$ wants millions of people to give them valuable feedback (On their agenda items ONLY), as the wider the test group, the more pure the results. In return, they use the politics of making you think your opinion matters, with the Hub. But if you pay attention to the empirical history of the Hub, they NEVER fix 90% of the things people are complaining about, because those things don't fall within their agenda.

See--you admit they are soliciting opinion/preferences from millions of people--yet you do not think they are listening to any of it. You might want to think about that again...;) If so, it's a terrific waste of time, eh?

Also, you might be making the mistake of thinking that each new build only addresses the list of bugs Microsoft releases as "fixed" each build. That's a big mistake--indeed, they have fixed every issue I have brought to their attention through the hub--every one--even compatibility with an old game I asked about--and not a single one of those bug fixes was listed in their "fixed" list. Each build fixes far, far more bugs than they describe in those fixed lists! Isn't that obvious? They may not fix your hub-reported bug right away, but if it is an actual bug, they will fix it if you report it. I reported my game-compatibility problem to them at least five times and finally it was fixed!

Lots of times, too, the problem with what "people report" as "bugs" is that they are not "bugs" at all...;) The person simply has misunderstood something fundamental, doesn't know how the function works, etc. and etc. Of course they are going to ignore bug reports that aren't bugs....;) Wouldn't you? I would!

Now, I must depart to install the next build that WU is now bugging me about, 18317!...;)