Two more changes I would like to see in Win 10

[George P Global Moderator]

The benefit to using a MS account is growing as people start to use more than just their PC. I love using OneDrive to move between my PCs and phone. Same with OneNote and so on. If you want to use a local account then so be it but there's no truth to saying you gain nothing from using a MS account.

 

With the way things are going, expanded windows store for example, it's going to have everything from apps to media now. Heck, the talk is for even more support for desktop win32 apps as well, then having access to it is better than not. There's also what looks to be the option to backup to OneDrive, full system backups, something that is a good idea for average users to take advantage of IMO.

[Active.]

 If a window is opened or able to be opened, and not a component of a user application, if needs to reopen as last configured size and position on the screen. That may be overly general (I was trying to narrow it down in my original post).

 

If I have ever used it; use my settings until I tell you otherwise. There is also a lot of strangeness about this in looking at individual files or folders in explorer and having views changed to what MS (rather arrogantly (IMHO) thinks they should be.  

Get a Mac. It doesn't handle it perfectly either, but a lot better anyway. I'd be surprised to see such changes in Windows 10.

[Stoffel]

Sweet, but I use hate the Start Screen, I use Firefox, and Roboform and don't have anything on one drive just everything local.

 

I love my local account

 

Well, you probably still made loads of other accounts online to get access to content/FB/YouTube/iTunes/... you name it.

Is it so hard to make another one to get access to a store to download apps, you can still ignore all the other features that account has to offer.

 

Nobody says you can't log in with a local account but still use the MS account to log into the Store.

 

I just don't get the complaining about the MS account

[SpiderNitro]

Aren't all the old preinstalled games available on the Windows Store as Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Minesweeper Flags, Pinball FX2 and the like?

[HawkMan]

FIrst, of course, put back the old games instead of the crap on Metro. My wife will not switch to 8.1 without them, let alone 10. I have seen ways to move the games over to Win 8, but too complicated for me to be comfortable doing them. AE Solitare is extremely poorly done. Even the shuffle is completely non-random. I fully understand this is not an earth shaking issue (unless you are dealing with my wife).

 

All of the windows from MS utilities and functions. Like all of the things opened from the control panel and things you eventually get to through there......

 

Remember the last use and restore with the same size and screen locations. How many person hours are spent doing nothing more than getting the window readable each and evdry time you use the target process. If nothing else; open them in the middle of the screen. Even on a small 24" screen it is annoying and not useful to have to move them over for comfortable reading.

 

I know; petty issues. But I have to buy and use this stuff.

 

just for the record, the shuffles in the new solitaire games are actually random, whereas the old solitaire I'm not sure if it did a reverse shuffle from a "random" sorted deck or had a database of verified decks or if it verified each shuffle as it went.But on the new ones you can get un-solvable shuffles. in the old games, all the games where "theoretically" solvable. 

[alternety]

Hawkman - I too sometimes wondered about the old MS solitaire shuffle. I do not, however, have any question in my mind about the AE Solitair from the Metro screen. I am mildly curious why you would say that. If you play it for some time you will see clear patterns repeat that can frequently be relied upon to improve you game. Sequences and placement of cards that simply appear frequently enough that if the deal were random, I have created quantum entanglement in my PC. Likewise, the habit it has of automatically putting things in the four piles for cards out of the playing field. It screws up strategy for those that are thinking about things. In a non-trivial number of cases it tells you the game is over and you lost. But by forcing it to continue, a thoughtful player can carry it through to a win. The noises are a a pain in the butt ear. Yes I can adjust them in the desktop each time in and out, but. The tedious flapping and rebuilding of the source deck when you take the last card off. Monster memory and communications usage. Look at Task Manager sometime after it has been running for some time. When you have complete certainty of being able to get to a win, and double click on the background, it is not smart enough to actually realize you are telling the truth and you have to plod along getting the rest of the cards up there.

 

Just a brief overview. Are you sure you are talking about the same game I am?

[eddman]

FIrst, of course, put back the old games instead of the crap on Metro. My wife will not switch to 8.1 without them, let alone 10. I have seen ways to move the games over to Win 8, but too complicated for me to be comfortable doing them. AE Solitare is extremely poorly done. Even the shuffle is completely non-random. I fully understand this is not an earth shaking issue (unless you are dealing with my wife).

AE Solitaire? Why that? Have you tried the official Microsoft Solitaire Collection?

 

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/microsoft-solitaire-collection/1a36fd17-5161-4651-ae2d-13384e427ea8

 

If you don't like them being full-screen, well, windows 10 can run metro apps in a window.

 

My #1 Request for windows 10.. is allow setup and creation of a user without a windows live account as an option. I have had to setup 2 8.1 laptops in the past year, both of them I had to disable the wireless so I could finish the setup. The laptops were for my kids who don't have or need a windows live account.

There is an option to create a local account during installation, even if the computer is connected to the net.

 

I think there are millions of old people and many in their 50's that would prefer Microsoft "Leave their god damn solitaire alone"

It is known that a lot of old people cannot handle change of any kind. I usually refrain from recommending new, different things to them. My questions for them are "Does it still work for you? Are you satisfied with what you have?". If the answer is "Yes", then the follow-up answer would be "I'd say keep using it".

[PGHammer]

The only thing that I want in Windows 10 is the simple 'add/remove programs' that is in the current Control Panel.

Just a nice simple select the program your looking for and install it/remove it. Everything else, Windows 10 has absolutely nailed in regards to UI.

That is still there.  Not even 9901 completely tossed Control Panel, and therefore, it's still in QuickTask for now.  What WILL change going forward (once the detailing gets done) is that Control Panel and Settings will, in fact, merge - becoming a MUCH more detailed Settings; heck, in 9879 alone, it is more detailed than any previous version of Windows Control Panel.

 

Remember my pointing out the increased detail in Device Manager (Windows 8 Developer Preview)?  Where some of the angst (including mine) came from is that Control Panel didn't measure up to Device Manager - in terms of either adjustability OR detail.  However, getting the level of detail we demand takes time - and folks aren't willing to give developers (and especially Microsoft) time.

[PGHammer]

Yes? And I'm not sure what it is you're saying? How is an MS account keeping you from other services?

I'd like an answer to that question myself.

 

I have an outlook.com account AND a Google account, and actually use them in every OS that I run.  I use both for e-mail (in Outlook, no less - Outlook has been my default mail client for seventeen years) - where things got easier is, in fact, on the outlook.com side - with the protocol support for EAS added with Outlook 2013 - it meant I could ditch my Hotmail/Outlook.com add-in.  POP3/IMAP auto-config was added with Outlook 2010 - which makes adding GMail to Outlook a snap.  (The same, naturally, applies to the Mail app in Windows 8 or later.)  I use my GMail account for all Google services - this is unchanged from any previous version of Windows.  It's no harder to use multiple accounts in Windows - any version - than it is in OS X.  (I think that the REAL reason folks are hating on Microsoft accounts - including, if not especially, outlook.com - is that Microsoft actually WILL nag you if you have a weak password; in fact, if it's TOO weak, it won't accept it.  How many of the various "cloud" services for average users take password security seriously?  (Other than Microsoft, there's Apple - and that's basically it; and even Apple is not as serious about it as Microsoft is.)  That is my opinion - folks aren't used to taking password-security seriously with third-party services.)

[Guest]

This has wandered rather far from my post. One more point. Have any of you looked at the resources consumed by AE Solitare. It is quite excessive. One wonders just what they are doing with that bandwidth and cpu.

 

You can thank the third party developers that developed that crap. It is not made by MS anymore. ------ never mind, misread that.

Ae solitaire is also a third party app. I suggest using MSFT Solitaire Collection. 

 

That too is now developed by a third party developer. And it is one big pile of cow poo compared to the ones that were available in freaking Windows 95.

[George P Global Moderator]

Solitaire Collection is fine, I play it from time to time and have no issues with it.  I really don't get what's wrong with it compared to the original desktop ones.

[PGHammer]

I get that, sync everything at once, kinda like stuff on android phones, I do see the potential benefit, like using a google account, but I don't have one of them outside a random youtube video, when age restriction warnings hit

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a technophobe, and like 8+ I'll probably buy 10, but one weak password...

Aheer - that is likely why folks are reluctant to use Microsoft accounts - they no longer allow weak passwords.  (The only other third party service provider with a no-weak-password policy is Apple.  Even Google still allows weak passwords.)

 

Secondly, Microsoft also will nag you if your have the same password longer than three months - this actually fits in with known password best practices.  (Again, this is not typical - even Apple doesn't do that.)

 

All too often, if security practices are not convenient (convenience is in the eye of the user) they will sneak around it - even if they get why the inconvenience exists.  (Why do you think that SOX and HIPPA got slapped on American business? SOX = Sarbanes-Oxley.)

[123456789A]

Wow, really?

 

You mention it is beneficial to have a Win account to sync between an xbox, phone, and other MS devices.  I said that not everyone lives in the MS world alone and a lot users use a variety of different platforms.   Not everyone bleeds MS and thus benefits from syncing info from different devices.

 

Your Microsoft account can also be used for things that you would use on your desktop too (not just devices), like Microsoft Office, Onedrive, Bing, app store, Skype, etc. Tying your Microsoft account to your desktop is largely for convenience. In Windows 10 it should be even better. All of these things are optional though so I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's also not preventing you from signing in to your desktop/laptop with the MS account without an internet connection.

[Andrew.Davidson126]

Not looking to hard then.

 

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I heard they are going to replace Windows product keys with a Microsoft account to reduce piracy in Windows 10

Aheer - that is likely why folks are reluctant to use Microsoft accounts - they no longer allow weak passwords.  (The only other third party service provider with a no-weak-password policy is Apple.  Even Google still allows weak passwords.)

 

Secondly, Microsoft also will nag you if your have the same password longer than three months - this actually fits in with known password best practices.  (Again, this is not typical - even Apple doesn't do that.)

 

All too often, if security practices are not convenient (convenience is in the eye of the user) they will sneak around it - even if they get why the inconvenience exists.  (Why do you think that SOX and HIPPA got slapped on American business? SOX = Sarbanes-Oxley.)

 

Really? I never got nagged by Microsoft about my Microsoft Account

[+Zlip792 MVC]

tl;dr

 

My father use to play classic card games as well and I also faced same issue like you did in case of your wife.

 

I will land you here - http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/33814-Microsoft-Games-for-Windows-8

 

I hope it would help you. I myself using this to give classic games to my father.

 

You can also use 123 Free Solitarie for this purpose - http://www.123freesolitaire.com/download.htm

[HawkMan]

 

 

Secondly, Microsoft also will nag you if your have the same password longer than three months - this actually fits in with known password best practices.  (Again, this is not typical - even Apple doesn't do that.)

 

 

 

I've had the same Microsoft password for years now, not a single nag...

[Anibal P]

You and the wife better get with the times, MS smartly has moved on from the old and bad ways to better, the faster nerds stop acting like Luddites the better we will all be 

[Dot Matrix]

I, too, have had the same password for months. Are you talking in or out of the workplace, PG? Inside the workplace is a different story, than outside. Generally speaking, most IT admins will force AD to prompt the user to change the password every 90 days. Microsoft will do no such thing with consumers.

[zhangm Supervisor]

Last changed my password in 2009. It's a keeper. Haven't seen a single nag from Microsoft about the old credentials.

 

Also turned on two-step verification recently. Great fun, having app passwords that look like jeuizxiuzxuqnqeyyia.

[carlosspkrdr]

On 1/14/2015 at 10:57 PM, HawkMan said:

 

just for the record, the shuffles in the new solitaire games are actually random, whereas the old solitaire I'm not sure if it did a reverse shuffle from a "random" sorted deck or had a database of verified decks or if it verified each shuffle as it went.But on the new ones you can get un-solvable shuffles. in the old games, all the games where "theoretically" solvable. 

I disagree. I'm retired and thus have played thousands games of Classic solitaire on my WIN10 machine. After a few months, I have noticed the games repeat. I don't have any physical proof to present, but the game scenario from start to finish becomes recognizable to me. 

This would indicate, IMHO, that a true randomized shuffle isn't occurring. With a random shuffle, the games should not repeat (in theory).

[Studio384]

On ‎13‎/‎01‎/‎2015 at 5:16 AM, warwagon said:

 

But on the flip side, if for a moment you could call the solitaire games in Windows before Windows 8, features, they would be among the most used features of windows.

And that's why Solitaire is still a build-in app (and you don't need an MSA to update apps). If you want the other games, than you'll have to go with a Microsoft Account. And really, why wouldn't you? You don't have an Apple ID either for an iPhone/Google account for an Android-device? That's ridiculous.

[HawkMan]

6 hours ago, carlosspkrdr said:

I disagree. I'm retired and thus have played thousands games of Classic solitaire on my WIN10 machine. After a few months, I have noticed the games repeat. I don't have any physical proof to present, but the game scenario from start to finish becomes recognizable to me. 

This would indicate, IMHO, that a true randomized shuffle isn't occurring. With a random shuffle, the games should not repeat (in theory).

There is no such thing as "true" random. that is, in true random, yes, you are in fact likely to get repeats.

[carlosspkrdr]

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

There is no such thing as "true" random. that is, in true random, yes, you are in fact likely to get repeats.

Strange, I don't recall EVER getting repeats when playing Classic Solitaire in Win 7. I wasn't claiming true random would guaranteed never getting a repeat. With a shuffle of 52 cards, the statistics would indicate the likelyhood of getting an identical deal with all of the cards in the same positions to be astronomically small, even after many games are played.

I'm not going crazy. Did more Googling and found this. Not the same game to similar.

 

http://www.windowshelpzone.com/thread/spider-solitaire-games-keep-repeating.html

 

Edited January 15, 2016 by carlosspkrdr

[bikeman25]

I absolutely enjoy my Microsoft Account, In Fact I had Windows Phone for a while too, from Windows Phone 7 to 8.1,  Hated really giving up my WIndows Phone when I had to leave at&t to cut some costs, picked out my very very first Android.  While I like the apps on Android, I do miss the syncing with Desktop lol