Microsoft Abandons Windows 8.1:Take Immediate Action Or Be Cut Off Like Windows XP

jibbajabba

Err what

Microsoft Abandons Windows 8.1: Take Immediate Action Or Be Cut Off Like Windows XP - Forbes

SephStorm

Its Microsoft, I expect nothing less.

N2IT

Thanks for posting this!

ptilsen

The Forbes article really blows this out of proportion. If you're in an environment with strict change control and testing procedures and Windows 8.1 computers, you'll need to scramble to get this approved and distributed. For everyone else – ie, the vast majority of us – this is not a big deal. If you'd be applying security updates, you'd be applying this anyone just as you would a security update.

GreenLantern

so I guess this is officially the new windows ME.

BGraves

Agree with ptilsen, this isn't near as terrible as they make it sound.
Frankly I'm surprised they are supporting Windows 8 till 2016.

N2IT

I'm not sure why you would release a concept OS into your environment in the first place.

ptilsen

Right, the great majority of corporate environments are still Windows 7 or Windows XP. I'm still turning down/ignoring consulting/contracting opportunities for XP to 7 upgrade projects all the time. Windows 8 and 8.1 are not exactly compelling to the average business.

mikeybikes

Forbes is not exactly where I go to for technology news...

Blown way out of proportion, and it isn't the first time Microsoft has released an update that was a prerequisite to future updates.

it_consultant

mikeybikes wrote: »

Forbes is not exactly where I go to for technology news...

Blown way out of proportion, and it isn't the first time Microsoft has released an update that was a prerequisite to future updates.

Exactly, half the updates out there need pre-requisites.

ptilsen

Not that I'm going to defend Forbes as a source of tech news or a publication in general (it has gone downhill), but this is a Forbes "contributor" article. Pretty much any idiot can be a Forbes contributor (and at that, most of them are idiots), which is how you get ridiculous articles with titles like "Microsoft Abandons Windows 8.1: Take Immediate Action Or Be Cut Off Like Windows XP," which is in no way, shape, or form accurate.

RomBUS

I agree with having them upgrade to the latest "Update". I guess they're more confident in their upgrades/fixes and there would be less fragmentation. The article title threw me off a little

ccnxjr

The article is a bit dramatic, however it is rather annoying this this "Update" is just on the tail end of the 8.1 "update" .
Then again, it's more like somewhere between a Service Pack and a regular update.
It's been a while since I tinkered with Windows, but if i recall correctly patches still couldn't be applied in an ad-hoc manner, there is a particular sequence to them , no?
This Update thing seems no different to me, especially if it's free.

Whats the version nomenclature going to look like in the future?
8.1Update1 > 8.1Update2.1 > 8.1Update3.4Patch7 ?
heh,

It seems that XP had a really good stint, 12 (?) years or so, however in the "good old days" the life cycle was somewhat shorter
3.11 > 95 > 98 > Me ...
Maybe we've just spoilt on XP sticking around and imprinting itself for the better part of a generation.
With open source distros there are distinctions between intermediary OS's and ones that receive long term support, even with long term support the product cycle is much shorter than a decade!

oh well, good read though, i'm pretty confident that a user somewhere has read it and is writing a panicked e-mail to their support team!
at last now we'll be prepared to respond!

GLaDOS11

The article seems to be written by someone who really hates Microsoft and Windows 8. I'm not sure that it's anywhere near as big of a deal as he makes it out to be. If installing the new update is THAT big of a deal to certain companies, you have a month to test it before the updates stop. Sure, it stinks, but you can't blame any company for not supporting old versions of software. Plus, 99% of the home users don't touch update settings so they'll all be configured to download updates automatically. It won't require any user interaction from non-tech crowd. The whole tone of the article seems really biased.


Also, I haven't followed the Heartbleed bug too closely and I don't know much about it, but it was my understanding that the bug had to do with a transport layer protocol and not specifically Microsoft and Windows...? It seems like the author is bringing it up just to further his point that it's a dumb decision, when, in reality, there's no connection outside of both being related to security.

mikeybikes

GLaDOS11 wrote: »

Also, I haven't followed the Heartbleed bug too closely and I don't know much about it, but it was my understanding that the bug had to do with a transport layer protocol and not specifically Microsoft and Windows...? It seems like the author is bringing it up just to further his point that it's a dumb decision, when, in reality, there's no connection outside of both being related to security.

Correct. No Microsoft systems were affected by Heartbleed, since they don't use OpenSSL for their implementation of SSL/TLS

cnfuzzd

My guess is there is a serious flaw patched in the update that Microsoft is unwilling or unable to tell you about.

Also, anyone running W8 already clearly deserves whatever frustration this causes.

John