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scholiaon Windows 10 S won't let you change the default browser or switch to Google search

> let only Americans get suckered by the S version.

As in, "suckered into getting a version of Windows 10 Pro for $50"?

The upgrade option is already there in 10S, and it only takes a couple of seconds to authorize it.

scholiaon Windows 10 S won't let you change the default browser or switch to Google search

So many US schools use Apple products and/or Chromebooks and/or Android, I would have thought that approach was already unsustainable. It can hardly be essential software, can it?

scholiaon Windows 10 S won't let you change the default browser or switch to Google search

That's a decent, factual summary -- especially in the context of the ignorance and bigotry shown in so many other comments here.

> Because the upgrade goes right to Pro, rather than Home, for $50, this actually isn't a bad deal for individuals who want Pro anyway.

Yes. It's basically the Pro version of Windows because it needs to support the corporate-style installation, maintenance and control features needed in the education market (InTune etc).

The switch to the Pro version is free to education.

> Still, from a user's perspective, Microsoft locking down the OS and trying to force people into the Windows store doesn't seem that reassuring

It's very reassuring compared with the hazards of downloading Windows software on the open web. I don't see a massive user revolt against the Apple, Google and Amazon app stores, do you?

scholiaon Windows 10 S won't let you change the default browser or switch to Google search

How hard would it be to convert your custom software to UWP apps that could be deployed from the Windows Store?

scholiaon Windows 10 S won't let you change the default browser or switch to Google search

> I'm pretty sure you won't be able to do that with Windows S, so, no, it's not exactly like ChromeOS.

You are correct, it's not. You can turn Windows 10S into full, unlocked Windows 10 Pro in a few seconds, and that's fee for education users.

However, Windows 10S does solve a lot of problems for education users in preventing kids from downloading non-Store apps that may not be easily removable.

scholiaon In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

Suburbia started at Aldgate, which is just outside the city walls ;-)

A good rule of thumb is (or was): Does it have black cabs?

scholiaon In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

You live in the centre when you're young and single and changing jobs. You move to the suburbs when you have married, settled down and want kids, a garden, good local schools etc.

When the kids have moved out, you can downsize to that retirement place in Spain... except that may not work as well after the UK leaves the EU.

scholiaon In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

Which is why Londoners move to suburbia...

scholiaon In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

If you were a Mormon living in Utah, you might need space for three or four wives, not to mention lots of children...

scholiaon Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer to Make $186M from Verizon Deal

Yahoo had a female CEO before Mayer, I think. Carol Bartz (from Autodesk) ran it from 2009-11.

scholiaon Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer to Make $186M from Verizon Deal

She also made all Yahoo's products dramatically worse -- at least, she ruined the ones I used via the web. That applies to Flickr, Email and Yahoo Finance in particular.

The general approach appeared to be to make things look prettier while destroying their usability.

If there was anything she actually improved, I missed it.

scholiaon Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer to Make $186M from Verizon Deal

Because she didn't. Yahoo's value was the stakes it had in other companies (Alibaba and Yahoo Japan). Mayer had nothing at all to do with their increase in value, and therefore nothing at all to do with Yahoo's subseqent increase in value.

scholiaon The Guardian Pulls Out of Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple News

Even if you are truly self-aware, there is no view without a point of view.

(And if you think you are truly self-aware, you have not read Thinking Fast and Slow. You should.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow

scholiaon The Guardian Pulls Out of Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple News

> No news source is truly objective.

No reader is truly objective either, including you ;-)

scholiaon Amazon Strategy Teardown

> Most shoppers are extremely price-sensitive

They are quite sensitive to the prices of things they buy regularly, but not as sensitive to the prices of things they buy rarely -- unless they are relatively expensive.

Otherwise, price is only one factor. You also have to consider delivery times, convenience, support and other factors. I buy things from Amazon partly because I can reliably get them the next day, and they'll take them back if there's a problem, even if it's my mistake.

> there's no money in delivering groceries to people. Groceries are notoriously low-margin, one of the lowest margin businesses there is, so delivering groceries to people doesn't seem like it's going to make Amazon the trillion-dollar company some people think it will eventually become.

I agree about groceries. It's going to be particularly tough in areas where major supermarkets are already delivering groceries, which they do where I live.

scholiaon Why Facebook Keeps Beating Every Rival: It’s the Network

Not at all. I'm just stating the facts. You're indulging in speculation.

scholiaon The Nightmare Scenario for Florida’s Coastal Homeowners

> I can't help but wonder how delusional you must be to buy waterfront property.

I expect most of them not only bought property, they voted to make a coal-supporting climate-change denier president....

scholiaon Why Facebook Keeps Beating Every Rival: It’s the Network

That was never going to happen. The value proposition for DOS and Windows was that they were open to running anything and everything. Microsoft was the ocean, not the shark.

As for adding features to browsers, they all did that. Netscape tried to build its business on "looks better in Netscape", and Microsoft simply implemented support for Netscape features (much like it had implemented support for 1-2-3 and WordPerfect features in Office).

There was never any prospect of "a proprietary web owned by Microsoft". In the mid-90s, Microsoft did have plans for a web-like network as a sort of distributed OLE (Blackbird), but quickly went "all in" on the web. The closest was the use of ActiveX controls on the web, but other browser makers could have supported ActiveX if they had wanted to. (Firefox decided against.)

Otherwise, neither Firefox nor Chrome existed when the anti-trust case ended, and there has never been any prospect of Microsoft killing either. It was Netscape that featured in the anti-trust case, and Microsoft won the browser case 2-1 on appeal.

scholiaon Most Vegetarians and Vegans Eventually Return to Meat

Absolutely agree. There are also animal products that can be produced ethically, including eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt.

In passing, anybody who eats a lot of salads also eats at least a few insects ;-)

scholiaon Apple's Achilles Heel

In passing, "The heal is iCloud" should be heel, if there's still time to correct it...

scholiaon Apple's Achilles Heel

Now about those Apple routers, monitors and NAS's... ;-)

scholiaon Apple's Achilles Heel

I'd say Microsoft Studio was an innovative desktop platform, and so is the HP Envy Curve. There's interesting stuff happening in gaming desktops, too, including VR add-ons.

If you include laptops as part of the "traditional desktop ecosystem" then there are lots of innovative 2-in-1s, detachables and convertibles, including the Lenovo Book (a laptop with no physical keyboard).

The "traditional desktop ecosystem" in the form of Windows has also added a lot of features from the mobile ecosystem including sandboxed apps maintained from an app store, notifications, and a voice-controlled AI (Cortana).

The mobile world has reached the stage where you have to look pretty closely to tell one high-end phone from any other high-end phone, and the tablet market is in steep decline. The PC market looks quite innovative in comparison.

scholiaon Simplifying Firefox Release Channels

Indeed. Firefox is the only major browser that where the rendering engine isn't owned by a large manufacturer, ie Apple, Google or Microsoft. It's also genuinely open source.

scholiaon The Mac Pro Lives

Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc certainly promoted it as a feature:

"Solitaire. Hearts. Minesweeper. These are games that have been played millions of times over the years in Windows. And they are coming back in Windows 10. If you’re a Windows Insider, you can check out a preview of the new Microsoft Solitaire Collection that’s included in the latest build of the Windows 10 Insider Preview (Build 10074). In addition to these games, we’re also working with partners to bring some of their great games to Windows 10 too. And we’re excited to be able to announce today that King will bring their game, Candy Crush Saga, to Windows 10. Candy Crush Saga will be automatically installed for customers that upgrade to or download Windows 10 during the launch! Over time, other popular and awesome King game titles will be available for Windows 10. Ever since Candy Crush Saga arrived for Windows Phone, I’ve spent countless hours of fun matching candies. I’m really looking to playing Candy Crush Saga and King’s other game titles on Windows 10."

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2015/05/14/candy...

scholiaon AMD Ryzen 5 1600X vs Core i5 Review

It's closer than I thought to my 2011 vintage Core i5-2500. I don't see any point in upgrading either....

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-860-vs-Intel-Core-i5-2...

scholiaon Staff and projects cut as Canonical tries to lure investors

Thanks: good points.

I as assuming that Canonical support would mainly have to tackle pretty tough problems, because users will solve the simpler ones themselves. That's very unlike Windows support, where quite a lot of people get stumped by trivia.

I have met various Canonical staff in the past and they seem like nice guys, but I've never understood how they thought they could make enough money to support 600 to 700 staff. I don't see that there's much they can do that Red Hat can't do, and Red Hat had a 10-year head start....

scholiaon Staff and projects cut as Canonical tries to lure investors

If you're just giving money to a company like Canonical then surely it's a donation rather than an investment. Maybe Shuttleworth should just make it a charity and invite donations.

I would guess that Canonical's current strategy is doomed because the cost of providing support (which depends on human wage rates) is rising faster than charges. [1] I can't see that changing unless someone develops an AI that can support Linux.

[1] Be interested to hear contrary views from people who are actually involved in delivering software support, which I am not.

scholiaon Staff and projects cut as Canonical tries to lure investors

Nonetheless, I would assume investors are looking to make a profit at some point. And as far as I know, Canonical has never made a profit, nor come anywhere near it. Indeed, it's hard to imagine any circumstances where it would make a profit from desktop Linux.

For the record, Canonical was worth -£4.1 million in 2010 and it's now worth -£59.4 million. It has £22.2 million in cash and liabilities of -£326.6 million. [1] If it was a commercial operation rather than a millionaire's plaything, it would have closed a decade ago.

[1] https://companycheck.co.uk/company/06870835/CANONICAL-GROUP-...

scholiaon Ask HN: Do you still use browser bookmarks?

You can just save the pages in MHTML format (so each page is a single file) and keep them in "read later" folders. Or you can use one of the services that saves pages online....

scholiaon Walt Mossberg is retiring in June

There were two factors here: one was the prestige of the platform, and the other was the transformation that began with the invention of the microprocessor. Both required luck.

Today, it probably wouldn't be a newspaper. It might be a website. However, we don't know what the next transformative technology might be. There must be some former 23yo's who are already on track via the web or smartphones, or perhaps AI or VR. The next one could be in a medical field, such as genetics. Take your pick ;-)