Newsletter Archives

• Forcing the issue with Win10 v1809

  Posted on November 18, 2018 at 17:03 CST by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  Always a Guinea Pig – Forcing the issue with Win10 v1809.

  I am running Win10 Pro in VMs, so this was a test situation, not my daily driver. The host system is MacMini, MacOS Mojave using Parallels Desktop 14, Ivy Bridge i7 with HD Graphics 4000 and running TrendMicro – the last two are counts against me from the beginning because 1809 has problems with both the graphics and the AV. But this system is also running an up-to-date Insider Preview, so I thought I’d give it a try.

  I was running v1709. In the Settings, I set SAC (Targeted), delay Feature = 0, delay Quality = 0, no pause. Try what I may, I could not get WU to offer anything but v1803, so I let it upgrade to v1803 in hopes I’d see v1809 on the other side.

  No joy. I finally downloaded the v1809 ISO and burned it to a double layer DVD (the x64 is HUGE). I could have copied the ISO to the VM and mounted it there, but I did not want the extra 5GB in the VM. I accessed the DVD from within the VM and ran setup. After accepting the EULA, I chose to keep my data and programs (an in-place upgrade) and let it install.

  The ISO installed Win10 v1809 Build 17763.107 with no problems. i immediately ran Windows Update and was offered KB4467708 which brought the Build to 17763.134 – according to WU up-to-date. Thanks to Parallels Tools driver emulation, the HD 4000 was not a problem. And the VM is running BitDefender Free, so no conflict there either.

  Although I have not had time to look at it in depth, here are some of the superficial observations:
  + I did not lose any data – because in the test machine there was no data to lose and I had not relocated the User folders to another location other than C:
  + Under Default Programs, all my third-party defaults came through (at least they are on the list) – Thunderbird, Firefox, VLC, Windows Picture Viewer, etc.
  * System Restore was turned off (again)
  * Under Network, sharing had been turned back on – I had it turned off in the VM for testing. I have not checked to see if the VM is visible on the network.
  + I went back through all the Settings App. Anything new is turned on by default, and some of the ole settings were also changed.
  * Task Scheduler – I had to disable the tasks under Application Experience and CEIP (again) as they were turned back on. Some of the other Tasks that I have been disabling I no longer have permission to change the setting.
  * I have blocked Cortana/Bing in Group Policy, along with other things like web search. I have not had time yet to go back over those settings.
  + I did not get Apps like Candy Crush. I did open a few of the UWP Apps just to see if they worked. Geezz, they’re ugly! Dumbed down, flat, ugly! No wonder I use Classic Start and third-party programs.

  Windows Patches/Security upgrade to Win10 1809, Upgrade Win10, Win10 1809

• When should you move on to the next Win10 version?

  Posted on March 20, 2018 at 14:03 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  UPDATE: See Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Just got a note from Noel Carboni:

  Let’s say I’m a small business owner and further let’s say I’d like to use Windows 10 Pro because Enterprise licensing doesn’t fit my business model…  Pro is, after all, the variant that Microsoft claims should suit the needs of small business.

  The question is this:

  When should I adopt each new Windows 10 release?

  Back a year or two ago there was the concept of Current Branch for Business (CBB).  Promotion of the current “version/build” of Windows 10 to CBB status was essentially the time when Microsoft admitted, “The most important feedback from all the unpaid beta testers of Windows 10 has been applied to the current version/build of Windows 10, and we’ve gotten it functional and stable.”  Of course there were still some glitches, but the various Windows 10 builds we’ve seen actually did get reasonably stable and usable at the time of CBB.

  Problem is, the “CBB” terminology is now long gone, yet as much as ever the need remains.

  So, assuming I’d like to install “CBB quality” builds to replace prior installs…

  Is there a way we can identify when Windows 10 becomes good enough for serious use?

  Specifically, I mean a time when we can go download a specific ISO file that would represent an upgrade from the previous “version/build” of Windows 10 to the next stable, usable version, already patched to the current level, without having to nurse it through all the problematic updates?

  I have a glib answer, but it’s not sufficient for most people — including me. When Microsoft announced that 1709 hit “Semi-Annual Channel” that was supposed to be analogous to declaring 1709 CBB.

  Traditionally, though, I’ve waited beyond CBB before installing a new version, just to see if anything crawls out of the woodwork. Only when I’m sure the version is stable and getting updated properly will I move on to the next version (and, along the way, urge others to do the same).

  We’ve never hit that point with 1709 — the problems with the Delta updates only seem to hit 1709, and I’m just not comfortable with it. So I’m sticking with 1703, until we have a pretty clean month of updates.

  Here’s the key question: Are the benefits of a new version worth the potential headaches of upgrading. With new Win10 versions arriving every six months, you don’t have a whole heck of a lot of time to answer that question reliably.

  In the case of 1709, I see very, very few useful improvements. Are they worth the potential problems of upgrading? For me, I say no. But I may change my tune in the next month — after which it’s a mute point, as a version upgrade after mid-April will land you in 1803.

  Windows News Upgrade Win10