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Comment by andosa | Hacker News Reader

It definitely feels like Microsoft is on the right track with Nadella in charge.

Yeah, with the likes of .Net Core it seems very much like Microsoft are on the right track. But you'll still see plenty of, what I call, "Microsoft decisions" that just make things into more hassle or expense than it should be purely for the pursuit of profit. One example is if you want to migrate from Linux to Windows 10 on a few computers you're legally required to buy a Windows 10 license for each machine you run. So for people with a few machines that might be 3 licenses you have to pay for - it's just crazy.

"You have to pay for our software to run it on a machine" is possibly the least crazy example you could have chosen. There's far more strangeness in Microsoft licensing: Terminal Server, the whole business of CALs, the vast number of SKUs with ambiguous names, VM licensing, and so on.

> the vast number of SKUs

In their defence, we did that to them. They had to make all the N versions of Windows to appease EU courts. What's troubling is that no such restriction is placed on Apple or Google

I think you can license Windows on a per-user basis. Certainly for their higher end products (e.g. Dynamics AX ERP) you can choose device or user CALs and pick whichever one minimizes your license costs.

One of Microsoft's weaknesses is definitely the complexity of their licensing.

A license per machine. How is that wierd? The entire industry of commercial software works that way, one way or another. Either you pay per user, or pay per machine. Note you can run several VMs with Windows without paying for a licens. Honestly, I believe it's a matter of time before Windows is free anyway.

> So for people with a few machines that might be 3 licenses you have to pay for - it's just crazy.

The idea that one wouldn't have to purchase 3 licenses is crazy.

You mean like OS X or Linux crazy?

Or Office 365 Home - one license for up to 5 desktops/laptops + five tablets - crazy?

I'd be surprised if Windows didn't move to a subscription model soon. The current free period looks like an attempt at lock-in to me.

I like nearly everything Microsoft is currently doing, except for their attitude towards privacy, which means that I'll be making efforts to move away from their platform out of principal.

As compared to Apples ecosystem, or Android, or? I simply don't get it. All of it is there to improve the experience for most users, and possible to turn the chatter of such that it shares next to nothing. What more could you ask for, in a system that aims to make is simple and feature rich for the average person?

> "As compared to Apples ecosystem, or Android, or?"

As compared to most/all open-source OSes (Android being only partially open source). This includes mobile OSes.

> " All of it is there to improve the experience for most users, and possible to turn the chatter of such that it shares next to nothing. What more could you ask for, in a system that aims to make is simple and feature rich for the average person?"

Did you not see the stories about Microsoft collecting data even after the settings to disable the features in question were used?

I have seen stories, however, I haven't seen my own Win10 machines being chatty with MS outside of what I ask it to. With that in mind, I have no reason not to trust MS when they say they're not collecting data unless it's enabled.

Here's one example of a feature I dislike (description from http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/window... )...

"Windows 10, however, shakes this up. Instead of two separate systems—one for error reporting, a second for collecting usage data—both have been rolled into one combined setting. This setting has four positions: off; basic error reporting and simple device capability reporting; enhanced diagnostic tracking that extends the basic information with more detailed error reporting, and usage telemetry; and full data, that adds process memory snapshots to the enhanced data. This means that there's no way to participate in error reporting without also participating in usage tracking, and vice versa.

Further, the "off" option is only available in Windows 10 Enterprise. The common home user versions of Windows, Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, always collect (and report) at least "Basic" level information and no way to turn off the feature entirely.

The genuine privacy implications of this seem slight, but for those who absolutely do not want to send anything to Microsoft, Windows 10 is certainly a regression. Is Microsoft poring over this data, trying to sniff out the details of Windows users' lives and figure out all their secrets? It's highly unlikely—but the removal of the ability to turn off this reporting is nonetheless strange, and there's no clear reason for it."

I was not aware that the off option was only possible on enterprise. That said I, the developer, can completely understand why. That information is integral to successfully determine future work with the system.

But in any case, if that is the only thing one cannot turn completely off for average user, I'd say it's a pretty good compromise between features and still giving power to the powerusers. Still it's odd the off option isn't possible for everyone.

I definitely agree, and get the feeling that the company culture now is more about building the right innovation for users than spinning the same products for more revenue.

Lets wait and see, if they will be able to reclaim consumer space and make money of it.

I believe so as well. They've switched focus and are going in the right direction now.

A few years ago I actually advised everyone to not use Microsoft's products. Every single product was subpar (Windows, Windows Phone, their laptops etc). Today, I'm happy to advise Surface Pro, Windows Phone, etc to anyone. They're striving more for innovation (e.g. Surface Pro, Surface Book), which is cool and will bring them success.

I agree with the general sentiment, but imho Windows Phone is still not there. Lot of apps are iOS+Android only, or the WP alternative is sub-par.

While I agree on the app front, which is not really that relevant to me, I still believe that it came a very long way in terms of UI and usability.

The one thing I dislike is the mail application (well, one day when I have the nerve and gumption I'll actually figure out how to attach a PDF, I think it has something to do with OneDrive and compatible applications, but I digress) and that there's not really an alternative to it.

In terms of usability it feels to me snappier and more logical than the IPhone of my girlfriend. Even after almost two years it doesn't feel like the performance is degrading.

If they don't kill the platform I plan to stick with it.

The app situation is going to change very rapidly in the next few months. It's why Microsoft is making a big deal of the Windows 10 install base. There was a quick slide follow up in the devices announcement that showed that the growing install base has already attracted some big companies to the UWP [Universal Windows Platform] that previously had be meh on Windows Phone.

With Windows 10 on phones in November that platform will light up on phones finally. (Already the UWP Facebook app, as one example, is a leap forward in cross-OS feature parity compared to previous versions and it will be great to see that "day one" on Windows 10 phones.) On top of that you have "Project Astoria" which will mean very easy ports of existing Android apps to Windows 10 Phones for developers looking to leverage existing code investment. (Already somewhat released and being utilized is "Project Islandwood" and we're starting to see some iOS software ported to Windows through it.)

The UWP support on the Xbox One (and the merging of the Xbox and Windows Stores, huzzah) is supposed to light up as soon as November and we now know that a lot more developers will have access to HoloLens (which will also utilize the UWP) early next year. I think that access to Xboxen and HoloLens will encourage more developers to also consider cheaply scaling "down" to people's phones as well. So too should Continuum phones and their ability to offer side-by-side run "desktop-like" versions of UWP apps may drive some interesting apps to Windows Phone moving forward that have ignored it thus far.

I only use a handful of apps on my phone and the ones I do use, do everything I need out of them. As someone who used iPhones, androids, and now as of this year a Windows Phone, I have to say, the UI is extremely well done. The live tiles give me most of the information I need. Glance is great, I don't have to turn the phone on, I just lift it and it gives me a low light version of date, time, notifications, etc.

I'm definitely going to pick up the Lumia 950XL phone when it goes on sale.

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