How long until Windows 1*?

[Deleted]

Just curious about this comment - with harddrives coming in terabits now, is 30GB space for the OS really so bad? I loved windows 7 on my old computer, reminded me of Win98. Never gave me so many headaches anyway

Nah, it doesn't really matter for consumers. It didn't really matter when 7 was new, so how could it matter now. It's just not a good thing having lots of legacy stuff you don't need:

* more updates - everything that's there can have bugs and vulnerabilities, whether you use it or not
* potentially more stuff to load from disk, which can make things slower or more memory intensive
* more disk space

None of these things by itself are really crucial for you, the user. You can compensate for most of these, for example with an SSD and a fast internet connection. It's something like the engine of your car - if you just want it to move you around, you can say "I don't care how it works and how inefficient it is as long as it doesn't break".

But if you are concerned with the internals, for example because you develop the next version of Windows, or have to manage lots of installations or virtual machines, cruft is expensive.
And not fun - Microsoft got real problems by losing some of their Kernel developers, because it's allegedly such a pain doing anything there. There are some strong deficiencies in critical parts like file access, but nobody dares to address those because of all the stuff being piled up on top you could break by fixing it, and you're not even getting an immediate payoff by it.

Another example: https://superuser.com/questions/8900...so-slow/935644
Even without understanding what GDR, LDR versions of updates and WOW64 are and how the component model of Windows works, it should be clear that having to keep many redundant versions of files and their updates is not a nice thing. The reason why every feature update of Windows 10 just reinstalls the whole system, is to reset the system's Windows Update patch level: they realized they just couldn't maintain another OS like Win7 for a decade just with Windows Update and the occasional Service Pack.

Considering Windows Update is such a mess, they need to get Windows more modularised. But in order to get from something like Win7 to something like Linux, you first have to start by throwing stuff out and reimplement these things as modules / standalone programs.

In a perfect world you would be able to only install the Windows components you need. For example, current versions allow you to install Windows with a heavily reduced graphics system for server use. This eliminates like half of the monthly security updates which is great for administrators. Similar stuff could be useful for home users - you don't need Domains or Active Directory? Just leave it out! Having a problem with the firewall? Install this beta version! WLAN problems? Try this third party package! And they could develop those things independently from another and release better versions when they are ready. Currently that's just not possible. With Linux, where the Kernel gets developed much more separated from all the stuff around, you can have a fully working operating system with office and everything with like 4GB. But getting there takes time and causes breakage. As proven by Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. And it doesn't help when the marketing front wants to push Phones and Tablets at the same time...

So if you ask me, Windows 10 is Microsoft's strategy to re-implement and restructure major parts of Windows in a sort of semi-agile way, which means while it's being used. The "next big thing" will happen when this is done. I don't see that in the next 3 to 5 years. That is just my opinion of course.

[MrHappy]

Hi,

Forgive me if this comes off as petulant.

I've never wanted to smash my PC with a hammer to release stress more than I have since switching to one with Windows 10. I could rant for paragraphs here but I'm sure its all shit you've read before elsewhere as I can't be the only one suffering. Just so fucking fed up.

I want to buy a new computer anyway, but I'm not spending money on a device with this OS because I'd rather saw off my own limbs.

I'm pretty ignorant of most things computer-wise; so I guess I have 2 questions:

Can I still use windows 7 and expect to run all the newest stuff fine on it for the next 3-4 years?

If not; How long is the wait for the next OS from MS gonna be?


Bonus question: Why, oh why, did MS fuck up Skype? Christ.

short answer is no.

long answer is that new hardware's chipsets will not have win 7 compatible drives and will simply not function you are also going to be stuck with max gen 5 core i series unless you go to amd
win 7 end of life is 2020 so most things will stop applying patches and fixes for that OS so overtime less and less things will work.
you should have just upgraded because from an IT standpoint it is literally better in every way.
you may no like cosmetic and user interface changes but get used it because it's not going away. Win 10 will be the last and only OS from MS.

any future versions will still be 10 just called different revisions (anniversary edition etc) you are trying to fight a loosing battle to no benefit to yourself except "i like it because i'm comfortable with it"

[Kagthul]

Microsoft is finally learning the lesson Apple learned a LONG time ago.

The OS isn't worth charging for. Give it away free... to get them onto your ecosystem.

In another few years they wont even charge for the OS.

[chazus]

Just curious about this comment - with harddrives coming in terabits now, is 30GB space for the OS really so bad?

ACtually, yes.

With SSD prices coming down, a LOT of 'normal people' who are used to buying $200-$300 systems at walmart are starting to pick up 128-256gb SSD's.. .So 10-20 gb used on an OS can make a difference.

[Alantor]

I'm using 8.1. Pretty pretty good.

[Gaidax]

Microsoft is finally learning the lesson Apple learned a LONG time ago.

The OS isn't worth charging for. Give it away free... to get them onto your ecosystem.

In another few years they wont even charge for the OS.

I think you are wrong there, Apple started giving that away free to keep people from running away. M$ won't be making Win10 free anytime soon, they still sell it like crazy, every laptop and many desktops that ship have $$ going to MS due to installed Windows there and customers pay for it as part of the unit price - it's not free and won't be free for a long time.

Upgrades? Maybe yes (though remains to be seen), but initial system? No. Simply because there is no real viable alternative for PC just yet, yes there is Linux, no people are not really using it outside professionals, hipsters or super budget users.

[SpekkioMoW]

I was in a guild and as a result anyone also invited to that discord was free to message me unless I blocked them first. I didn't like the aspect of when you accepted an invite to a server you had no idea who else was going to be a part of that server. Less of an issue with smaller servers/groups of friends I guess.

This may be recently added but in the options you can set getting dms to 3 settings: only friends/anyone on server/everyone