From ghacks.net:
Professional editions of Windows 10 ship with the Group Policy Editor that enables users and administrators to make changes to the default configuration of the operating system.
Up until now, policy availability was more or less identical for all professional versions of Windows 10. Turns out, this is no longer the case when the Windows 10 Anniversary Update is released.
Some policies contain a note stating that they only apply to certain editions of Windows 10, with Windows 10 Pro not being listed as one of them.
Furthermore, the corresponding Registry keys are not working either anymore which means that Pro users have no option to make changes to features affected by the change.
[...]
The big one is the Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences policy. We have talked about the feature previously. It powers among other things the installation of third-party apps and extra links on Windows 10.
I swear, the moon's orbit is now slightly closer to Earth than it was before Microsoft launched Windows 10.
Forcing users to use Policies to regain control of aspects of their own PCs that used to be accessible right from installation, or at least from the Control Panel, is already a wildly anti-consumer move, but removing that ability entirely, even from customers who pay for Windows 10 Pro? That's a step beyond. Some of those customers will be wanting Windows 10 specifically to get access to Policies, in order to regain control of things like Windows Update; hell, I was thinking of buying Windows 10 Professional for exactly that reason.
Forcing users to use Policies to regain control of aspects of their own PCs that used to be accessible right from installation, or at least from the Control Panel, is already a wildly anti-consumer move, but removing that ability entirely, even from customers who pay for Windows 10 Pro? That's a step beyond. Some of those customers will be wanting Windows 10 specifically to get access to Policies, in order to regain control of things like Windows Update; hell, I was thinking of buying Windows 10 Professional for exactly that reason.
Well, I now don't need to bother. Thanks, Microsoft.... for nothing.
BTW, did I mention that I bought a new HDD, specifically to use as a Linux Mint partition, and have a long week-end to tinker with it? I'm getting off Redmond's hamster wheel; I recommend that you do the same.
Update: The Register has also picked up the story, and their coverage is slightly more readable:
Update: The Register has also picked up the story, and their coverage is slightly more readable:
The settings in question include "Turn off the Microsoft consumer experiences", a feature which allows Microsoft to install "recommended" third-party apps and links on the Windows 10 Start menu. In the past this has included apps like Candy Crush Soda Saga, Flipboard and Twitter. The full description of the feature states that it enables "personalized recommendations from Microsoft and notifications about their Microsoft account."
[...]
The affected settings are those that enable Microsoft to use Windows 10 for promoting apps as well as its cloud services. Windows 10 has been a free upgrade for Home and Pro users, and it may be that accepting a modest amount of promotion is in this case the price of free.The "price of free" argument would have been a fine one for Microsoft to make before essentially coercing people into switching to their new OS -- presented with a clear, well-informed choice about the new OS, and the actual cost of using it, many users may well have decided to switch anyway. Microsoft didn't do that, though, which is why they're in so much trouble lately, and why some of their customers are even opting out of Windows entirely.