It is one of my Favourites already gave it the X265 treatment and added it to the collection, It's actually Called Zomboat. I was hoping for a season two but that does not look likely now. It is hilarious how the Canal boat it is set on, only just goes a tiny Tad faster than the Patient Zero Zombie and his band of followers chasing it for the whole season.

Do not worry Jafo, no enforced Star Wars in my home, Just plenty of very Cold Beer and a 30TB collection i seem to put more time into enhancing, than i do watching it, we can do a Zombie Night.

You got me at 'Cold Beer'...;)

Hi Doc.

Just gone over those articles and the replies, the author has already listed a workaround and the most simple, log in with a Dummy MS account and set up a local later, then get rid of the MS one. The replies all have workarounds too, many IT peeps leaving replies doubt this article, it was also said Enterprise Editions will not work in the same way, if going by the replies carries any weight, many doubt this, not saying you are wrong Doc, but only being able to use your computer if you pay on an ongoing basis, i am not sure we are any closer to this right now, but time will tell. I am even less concerned after reading all the replies too.

It's the nice Mexican stuff jafo, Sol and get this one "Corona" Virus in a Nice cold one     

One of my beers of choice when it's 'warm'....but the poison-of-choice comes from Poland.....Zwyiec Porter ....9.5% ....only way to fly...;)

Just now?

MS is working on an AI updater. If you think it's going to be fooled, good luck. When it finds the work arounds, the person might get penalized.

Anyhow, WaaS is on its way, and no matter what we say here, that won't change.

The most effective vote is the one done with the feet.

Technically, that question has not been answered, but our long-trusted tech support guy insists we not allow Win11 upgrades on any of our network machines because of all the back doors to third parties it enables.  He can't imagine that it would be deemed HIPAA compliant as currently configured.  MS has explicitly addressed and confirmed HIPAA compliance of Office 365 and Microsoft Teams, but has yet to make any claims of compliance for Win11, at least that I can find.  I understand Linux can be made HIPAA compliant with add-on software but the universe of Linux based medical applications is pretty small.  Not sure about the current version of MacOS but until very recently use of MacOS devices has been discouraged in HIPAA governed environments for technical IT management reasons.  There is also the issue of EHR compatibility - many, including ours, do not support direct access via MacOS devices and are restricted to Windows PC's, even to specific browsers.  You can use Parallels to get around that if you have a MacOS device, however. 

Interesting (to me) side note - the mobile version of our EHR is considered HIPAA compliant on iOS, but it is a limited version that can't perform a number of routinely required functions & actions (printing being a biggy), for which the desktop version is the only option.

Is the fear here that Microsoft is going to make Windows into some sort of ransomware that is going to lock everyone out of their pc's unless they pay some sort of subscription fees?

I just want to make sure I am on the same page with what WaaS means

The meaning is here: 

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3293429/with-daas-windows-coming-say-goodbye-to-your-pc-as-you-know-it.html

And here:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-got-a-new-plan-for-managing-windows-10-devices-for-a-monthly-fee/

Yes, these are old articles, but the basic definition is akin to the Microsoft managed desktop. Microsoft will manage "your" computer...and yes, I suppose you could relate to that as a form of ransomware, as either you pay for the OS and updating/MS365...basically renting the OS and apps combo.

ok, So we are talking cloud computing here and whether cloud computing is the future over traditional computing. I am not sure what the ceiling is for the cloud myself. I don't think it will be an on / off switch of one day we are using our pc and the next day our pc is completely cloud based. I think it will be a gradual change over time with trails and errors to see what works and what doesn't. I am not sure having a pc completely cloud based 100 percent of the time is really the future, it probably wouldn't go over well. Certainly, MS could try and fail if they would like.

Hadn't thought in those terms until now, but that's not far off, if at all.  They should call it Windows RW.

I got a slab of stubby for you Paul!     

We have a winner!

Cloud computing. Great example of a euphemism, if ever there was one. Real definition/description? You used to have what you needed on your computer and controlled it. Now, we have what you need, we control it and your OS which is now adware, and you'll never stop paying for it. 

Thanks, but no thanks.

Doc.

You have used an example and posted links from a Comp Reporter from A few years ago, but the article i come upon from more recently and a more senior reporter from the Computerworld , posted the opposite article

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3624741/say-goodbye-to-all-that-microsoft-ends-windows-as-a-service.html

I am not saying you are wrong Doc, but if we are going to put weight to your article from Computerworld from 2018, how much weight do we put on a newer article form a more senior guy from the same place. Too much is done with a computer to make it exclusively Cloud Based entirely.

I have never in many years of working in the Industry as an IT Pro, come upon anything MS has done , that can not be reversed using work arounds or one fix or another, or indeed 3rd party apps. If AI comes into the equation, this too will be dealt with by dedicated peeps, just as it always has.

Think i tried that Brew a few years ago. I will even do the Spanish thing with the glass in the freezer, Zwyiec Porter for jafo and Sol or Corona for me, then we can settle into a Zombie Mega Watch, can even watch my X 265 Zomboat and have a laugh mate.

Correct...but out of context. I was relating to a question regarding a definition or DaaS/WaaS.

Sounding good...;)

I am not trying to diss you Doc, I respect your rank and position in this forum, all i am saying is , we see lots of things reported on the net by respected people, but we see the absolute opposite on the net too, again by respected reporters. Complete cloud based computing is no closer now than it was when Win 10 was announced as a Waas all those years ago.

We as lowly computer users have very little control over MS and the way they like to do things. You think AI may be my downfall and will put an end to my Hacking as some call it, Experimentation as others may call it. All i can answer to that is, many times over the years i have heard doom a gloom about how things i use will change. Some of those changes did come to pass, and others did not. I still continued,(working with others) to meddle with those changes until those changes and there effects were negated. That is not going to change any time soon, even Stardock felt the need to change something MS dropped the ball over with there Start Apps, others cashed in on this MS error of judgement too as we now see a slew of paid and none paid start replacement apps, that is one example we can all relate too. I am not a company, but when needed i can be very resourceful, i spend time with like minded peeps, we share information and ways to do things, if i sound to you like a "He thinks he knows this or that", i only base this on earlier seismic changes made by MS, that myself and others has decided to alter, change and experiment on until either that change has been reversed or made better and more user friendly, we then share those changes in forums helping spread the word. Every single "negative to the user thing" MS changes or has changed over many years, has been made good by resourceful people, that will not change anytime soon. Will i pay to use my own computer like you think is the next move by MS, NO, will i continue to use my Computer in the normal way using Windows 11, 12 or later, YES. I have said this so many times before. MS pushes, resourceful Peeps Push Back, i see no reason for this to change. Keep your eyes on the scene Doc, no matter what MS does, if plenty of users do not like it, changes, fixes and work arounds will pop up all over the net. You may think MS as all powerful with ultimate power over how users work and play on there machines, i know plenty who would do something about that, i can not see that changing mate.

Everyone is entitled to their own view. 

Here's 1,000 words of mine.

In the past several years heads have rolled at MS over fuck-ups....certainly nothing new there...the one-GUI-fits-all system was a fail, and a big one, probably helped with the demise of the Windows phone....so a shitload of money was lost...as was potential market dominance....

I'd have shot people then too...;)

So the phone dies...we still have much of the clunky interface it spawned...and a gang of lemmings at MS who can't see backwards...to when the GUI was 'mostly right'....and simply remains 'mostly wrong'.

This isn't about kernels....the newer ones are probably the bees' knees...but the GUI has been re-spelled as 'gooey'.

All's well and good [mostly] because that's where Stardock comes in...and has now for a couple of DECADES.

We 'fix' what Microsoft fucks up.....and we do it so well that MS gets all bitter and twisted and keeps moving those goal posts with a new way of confusing users...and there's short windows [no pun] of opportunity to solve their problems before they just create more.

If any OS since '7' would ACTUALLY GO GOLD they too could be fixed properly.

Microsoft is simply too busy reinventing their business model to bother whether or not they are ruining actual businesses...;)

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 94

Everyone is entitled to their own view. 

Here's 1,000 words of mine.

Or click Start and Do Not Pay as myself and loads of others intend no matter what MS do.  

Call Us Legion For We Are Many.  

Or, s.o.l. when MS and its AI updater void your OS warranty and the ability to update their OS. 

I can't seem to find anything about this AI updater

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/using-machine-learning-to-improve-the-windows-10-update/ba-p/877860

https://ai.stackexchange.com/questions/6772/how-does-microsoft-use-ai-to-make-windows-10-updates-smoother

https://www.infoq.com/news/2018/03/microsoft-ai-windows10/

https://www.infoworld.com/article/2886132/how-machine-learning-ate-microsoft.html

A paragraph from the last source:

“I honestly can't think of any recent product development that Microsoft has been involved in that hasn't involved machine learning,” says Microsoft’s director of research, Peter Lee, who left DARPA to run Microsoft’s research arm. “Everything we do now is influenced, one way or another, by machine learning.” 

And,

CEO Satya Nadella called out machine learning -- and the big data that powers it -- as a key development in his memo to Microsoft last July. “Billions of sensors, screens, and devices -- in conference rooms, living rooms, cities, cars, phones, PCs -- are forming a vast network and streams of data that simply disappear into the background of our lives. This computing power will digitize nearly everything around us and will derive insights from all of the data being generated by interactions among people and between people and machines. We are moving from a world where computing power was scarce to a place where it now is almost limitless, and where the true scarce commodity is increasingly human attention.”

How can anyone think that "work arounds" and whatever else will escape the notice of these neural nets, AI and machine learning when W10 put an update AI tool on our computers, albeit a seemingly innocent one? Oops, their computers.The third souce above confirms that an AI module was included in a W10 update...confirmed by MS here: 

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2018/03/07/ai-platform-windows-developers/

WaaS, whatever you want to call it, MS will either hoover everything and sell it, or convert Windows to a subscription product, or both.  I have no qualms about software subscriptions per se (I subscribe to OD), but I'm not dead in the water if my OD sub expires.  And they'll get around to finding ways to screw you over, the way Adobe has, without notice or recourse.