Microsoft forces "consumer experiences" onto more PC, even some Pro editions

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kingdragonfly

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#199018 1-Aug-2016 12:21

I couldn't find a thread mentioning changes to Group Policy under the new Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

If someone else has posted this. I apologize.

"Consumer experiences" powers third party-apps and extra links in WIndows 10, like "Candy crush"

From http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/28/microsoft-removes-policies-windows-10-pro/

"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.

Note: This setting only applies to Enterprise, Education, and Server SKUs

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.

So, if you did not want Candy Crush to be pushed to your operating system, you'd disable the policy to block that from happening.

The change prevents Windows 10 Pro users from enabling the policy to block third-party application installations or links."

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#1602139 1-Aug-2016 12:23

Well they only learn from the best, Apple! Edit: also Facebook and Google ...

Brumfondl

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#1602171 1-Aug-2016 12:53

They are doing various things that hint that they want businesses to move to Enterprise and stop using Pro.

networkn

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#1602172 1-Aug-2016 12:54

joker97:

Well they only learn from the best, Apple! Edit: also Facebook and Google ...

All of whom are consumer focused organizations. When someone buys a PC with Pro on it, they mean BUSINESS, and business computers should NOT have Candy Crush on them.

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#1602203 1-Aug-2016 13:06

Totally agree with the sentiments in this thread.

I'd been using the policy mentioned in the OP and noticed that it wasn't working. PITA

However on the flip side - my work colleague was complaining to me the other day that their work provided iPhone didn't come with any games factory installed.

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#1602243 1-Aug-2016 13:38

networkn:

joker97:

Well they only learn from the best, Apple! Edit: also Facebook and Google ...

All of whom are consumer focused organizations. When someone buys a PC with Pro on it, they mean BUSINESS, and business computers should NOT have Candy Crush on them.

Maybe that's not how microsoft sees their Pro.

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#1602252 1-Aug-2016 13:49

networkn:

joker97:

Well they only learn from the best, Apple! Edit: also Facebook and Google ...

All of whom are consumer focused organizations. When someone buys a PC with Pro on it, they mean BUSINESS, and business computers should NOT have Candy Crush on them.

Pro, I can somewhat understand. Having Candy Crush installed by default on ENTERPRISE for which you have to be a decent sized corp with a EA is a different story.

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Brumfondl

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#1602292 1-Aug-2016 14:40

In my opinion Microsoft are heading to three versions of Windows: Enterprise, Education, and Consumer. They seem to be adding features to Enterprise to make it more compelling for businesses and shutting down features to make an edition safer and more suited for Education. Pro seems to be being slowly eroded and I am betting that it will eventually be rebranded as the only Consumer version.

Time will tell :)

kingdragonfly

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#1602398 1-Aug-2016 17:48

I think I know the answer, even before I ask the question.

If the Education version is a cleaner version, and I want to use it at home, I'm not a student, and I don't work for an educational institute, can I legally get it?

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#1602401 1-Aug-2016 17:53

kingdragonfly: I think I know the answer, even before I ask the question.

If the Education version is a cleaner version, and I want to use it at home, and I don't work for an educational institute, can I legally get it?

The law governs what you can and can't buy? Breaking the EULA and breaking the law are a bit different.

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#1602745 2-Aug-2016 10:37

I think if one views things from the enthusiast market point of view, having a Windows professional license for many would mean having the control over the OS that allows them to turn things on an off as required, so the idea of not being able to probably is a cause for concern for them.

On the other side of the coin, if the Enterprise E3 license contains all of the features in the professional version and allows one to have the required control, then I can see a few people switching to that if it is available as a one-off purchase rather than subscription based (although the subscription options are quite interesting).

Update: I have not done a feature comparison between the two versions, so I am not sure what is different from that point of view.

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#1602774 2-Aug-2016 11:41

This is what happens when the marketing,accounting dept's have a greater say than the engineering dept

Get used to it . Its the way things are now

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Brumfondl

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#1602820 2-Aug-2016 12:24

And now someone has even written an article: https://www.petri.com/microsoft-cuts-features-windows-10-pro-push-businesses-enterprise-edition

yitz

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#1602836 2-Aug-2016 12:36

Maybe they are just moving the configuration setting from GPO to Microsoft account. A bit like moving options from the classical Control Panel into the immersive (or whatever it's called) one.

I'm guessing for standalone editions (i.e. non enterprise/education) the next stage of the rollout will involve a big push toward cloud/Microsoft accounts.

networkn

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#1602843 2-Aug-2016 12:42

yitz: Maybe they are just moving the configuration setting from GPO to Microsoft account. A bit like moving options from the classical Control Panel into the immersive (or whatever it's called) one. I'm guessing for standalone editions (i.e. non enterprise/education) the next stage of the rollout will involve a big push toward cloud/Microsoft accounts.

Oh God.

1101

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#1602882 2-Aug-2016 13:28

Brumfondl:

And now someone has even written an article: https://www.petri.com/microsoft-cuts-features-windows-10-pro-push-businesses-enterprise-edition

If they push this too far, small/med companies might just say...why dont I just use WinHome (its usuable , just map shares manually)
Or say, bugger it, we will stay with 7 forever , or just downgrade to 7Pro .
Win7 downgrade is still a OEM option on new PC's, that shows resistance to 8,10 .

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