"Steve [Ballmer], I'm sure you're aware of this. Our call lines are being overrun. [by Vista complaints]"

--Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Mark Hurd

Summary: Vista saga repeats itself as Vista 10 is unfit for use (reportedly rendering many PCs unusable) and early adopters realise that it's just a freemium version, even if they paid for it

TECHRIGHTS community and sources feel totally vindicated by the news that Vista 10 is being virtually re-released just days after the official release because weeks ago we warned that Vista 10 was just too rough, unstable, and totally not ready for release (far from it). People who had been testing it, as well as Microsoft staff, told us this. Vista 10 quickly turns out to be another Vista, indeed yet another epic failure, much as we expected all along. This is going to mortally affect Microsoft's common carrier and desktop monopoly.

"Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 10 is Murdering PCs" says one headline from a respected site, alluding to the fact that Vista 10 is far from well-tested. It was rushed out the door in order to meet a deadline (business-driven) rather than meet quality control standards, or some threshold that is based on suitability for use (user-driven). "Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows users are prone to damaging side effects," explains the article, "when they try to upgrade their PC to Windows 10. The update makes some PCs become unusable."

Microsoft is aware of these issues. Rather than deny them Microsoft is scrambling to release a new build of Windows "after just one week", to quote IDG. "The first Windows 10 mega patch is here," wrote Ryan (former Microsoft MVP) in IRC. "It looks like a whopper considering the number of files that it replaces. Microsoft doesn't say what it fixes."

Well, "they don't have to," MinceR replied cynically, because "you don't get to refuse "updates" anymore."

"I did set it to ask me before it reboots though," Ryan responds. Microsoft now uses "your electricity," MinceR added, "and your bandwidth," as Mark then noted. Microsoft adds PCs with Vista 10 on them to its botnet.

"Even Microsoft apologists cannot hide the fact that Microsoft has serious issues."Microsoft boosters are obviously trying to downplay the severity of all this. "While this is certainly a large update," wrote Thurrott, "weighing in at about 325 MB, it is of course not the first update to Windows 10: Microsoft has been issuing fixes and other updates for the system since it sort-of-not-really-wink-wink RTM’d last month. But it’s also not clear exactly what’s in this update, despite a long change list on the KB page."

"One of my contacts said Microsoft is planning to deliver more cumulative update rollups possibly on a weekly basis at least for the first month of Windows 10 availability," Microsoft's Mouth (Mary Jo Foley) wrote. So this mess is far from over.

"Windows 10 bugs emerge," said the headline from Fox. "Known issues with Windows 10" was the headline from the USA Today network. They seem to be catching up with the reality of Vista 10.

Even Microsoft apologists cannot hide the fact that Microsoft has serious issues. Sebastian Anthony, despite initially being funded by Microsoft to work on that site (by his own admission, it was launched with money from Microsoft), criticises Vista 10. "If you partake in Microsoft's free upgrade offer from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10," he wrote, "Windows Media Center will be removed without warning. In its place, a new app called Windows DVD Player has been added to the Windows Store. It costs the princely sum of £11.59, or $14.99/€14,89 if you live in the terrifyingly parched wastes outside Blighty." "Microsoft wants $15 for the DVD player app," Ryan wrote, and it is already all over the British media [1, 2, 3], the Indian media, and so on. Even Microsoft boosters mock Microsoft for it, with colleagues offering workarounds.

"Vista 10 is not free. It's more like a 'free' trial version for people who are already Windows users."One must wonder how many Microsoft boosters who do the marketing for Vista 10 actually use it on a daily basis. Over a week ago we wrote about applications like Solitaire being removed from Windows so that Microsoft can make more money and it is now becoming the subject of much media coverage, even corporate media. To quote one noteworthy observation, "Microsoft will constantly be serving nag screens in the freemium version urging an upgrade."

Vista 10 is not free. It's more like a 'free' trial version for people who are already Windows users. Vista 10 also inherits all the antifeatures from Vista. Users are treated like mere "consumers" or "products", complete with an advertising ID. ⬆

“[Vista DRM] seems a bit like breaking the legs of Olympic athletes and then rating them based on how fast they can hobble on crutches.“

--Peter Gutmann