So if you're reading this there's
a good chance you've already read my rant
about Microsoft's clandestine little plan to shove Windows 10 down your throat
whether you want it or not.
It came in the form of an
"Important" patch (KB3035583) with a fairly innocuous description
that gives no indication of its true intent.
"Update enables additional capabilities for Windows Update
notifications..."
Now some of you out there think
I'm making much ado about nothing. I'm
told, " People want it, it's no big deal. "
Hey, I want it too but when I get
a patch that that tries to automatically install itself and gives no indication
as to its true intent, I get suspicious.
Maybe I've just been around this
business too long but if there's anything I've learned in 20+ years of being a
server jockey it's that you never take anything Microsoft says on face value.
It's a company that's built their
business on ambiguity and misdirection.
I've said for years that
Microsoft wants your toaster and with Windows 10 they may finally get it.
That's fine, so long as you know
what you're buying into and right now we most undeniably don't.
Which is why I have a new rant
directed simultaneously at Microsoft and a certain Windows podcast produced Weekly
on a network named after a gentrified term for a moron (TWIT).
This week said podcast (Windows Weekly) was primarily focused on the impending release of
Windows 10. In it we found that
Microsoft had for the most part reiterated the obvious and essentially told us
nothing new.
Except...
We found out that whether you're
a business customer or a lowly consumer, Windows 10 was going to update itself
whether you liked it or not.
With Windows 10 Microsoft seeks
to put the days of a la' carte updates behind them. Meaning if Microsoft wants to force a nag
screen onto your desktop to promote the latest version of Office or Skype, you
are, in the words of Mary Jo Foley, "Going to take it and like it.
Now I've noticed that Skype keeps
showing up as an "Important" update over the past 3 months on all my
Windows 7 machines.
Thing is, I only use Skype on one
of them and then it's very sparingly. I
don't like Skype, I don't like its constant nagging and I sure as hell don't
like Microsoft goading me into installing it when I don't want it!
With Microsoft's new update
directives, however, Skype would be considered a new "feature."
That goes for enterprise customers
too by the way. It's just like it sounds
guys. Microsoft has seen fit to take the
burden of desktop management off your hands.
I wonder if they'll take the support calls too...
You enterprise guys do get some
reprieve, however. You can choose to
"delay" updates for short period of time but if you don't allow those
"feature updates" to deploy you run the risk of losing security
updates for your entire business.
In their grand plan, to paraphrase Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft is seeking to eliminate third party desktop management
and essentially control the desktop build regardless of the needs of your enterprise.
Like Manage Engine instead of
System Management Server? Too bad, it's
all or nothing baby...
If you're not quite an
"Enterprise" customer then Microsoft lumps you in with all those
other "consumers" Meaning you
don't get the option to delay your updates.
No a la' carte either.
It also means that if Microsoft
happens to roll out an update that blue screens half the Windows PC's on the
planet you have no recourse.
I'm thinking there's going to be
a whole lot of business continuation insurance policies sold in the next year.
Am I blowing things out of
proportion? I don't think so for two
reasons.
- It's happened before. Actually it's a fairly regular occurrence but the smart IT pro knows better than to just blindly allow updates to install without at least reviewing the descriptions. That option disappears for consumer versions of Windows 10 (and largely for Enterprise as well)
- This could be disastrous for small businesses who rely on applications that may not be 100% compatible with a given update. I don't want to hear about how stupid people keep using old software either. It's not always their choice and it shouldn't be Microsoft's either.
Mary Jo Foley attempted to
explain the new update strategy by claiming that some security updates could be
dependent on other non-security updates.
Potentially causing issues if the current update model was allowed to
continue.
This is where my rant about Windows Weekly starts...
By what stretch of the imagination
should a SECURITY update ever be tied to
a FEATURE update? By their very nature
security updates are meant to address an existing security vulnerability not
support new features or deal with compatibility issues.
That's why even Microsoft
classifies them. You see, it's done
that way because all those silly IT managers have this bad habit of wanting to
know what the hell an update is going to do to their user base BEFORE it gets
deployed.
It's an example of Microsoft
marketing speak. It comes from the same
people who describe an update that adds a nag screen and background downloader as "additional
update capabilities."
I have to wonder what color the
sky is in a tech journalist's world...
It is this fundamental disconnect
with the way that IT works that's put me at odds with tech journalists like
Paul Thurrott (who still thinks Windows
Vista was ok) and Mary Jo Foley.
For god's sake, the woman covers
enterprise computing! Is she just
reading the sales brochures?? How could
she not understand that taking away control of update deployments from IT
departments is a VERY real problem.
Look, I get it.
Until recently, Thurrott and
Foley were on the outs with Microsoft. A
condition that only recently changed around the time of Satjay Nadella taking
the helm.
Since then I've noticed a far
less critical point of view on Windows
Weekly. It's understandable if they
don't want to jeopardize their newfound access but really now.
If you can't be objective then
don't cover the topic. That's what good journalists
do. Further, I don't want to hear
anybody's ruminations on how enterprise IT works who's never had to do it for a
living. Report what you find but keep
your admonitions to yourself.
Don't get me wrong, I believe
Windows 10 will be a better Windows OS but to ignore the price it's going to
exact is just naive.
Ignore me if you want, just don't
come crying if Microsoft decides that your 5000 seat enterprise should be using
Lync for all its messaging some sad Monday morning.
Eyes open kids...
