Microsoft will reportedly bring a S Mode to all existing versions of Windows 10

[josk]

Let's see if this move from Microsoft will raise little bit popularity of Steam on Linux. Microsoft is planning to bring a S Mode ON as default to all existing versions of Windows 10.

"The big idea with Windows 10 S is that it brings higher performance and better battery life to any PC. The tradeoff, however, is that it only lets you install apps from the built-in Microsoft Store. That means no Google Chrome, Steam, or any other app you'd grab from the internet."

"Starting with the next update to Windows 10, coming soon, customers can choose to buy a new Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro PC with S mode enabled, and commercial customers will be able to deploy Windows 10 Enterprise with S mode enabled,"

"Switching S mode on or off will be free of charge. This is a change from its current policy where some users have to pay $49 to go from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Pro."

We are living interesting times.

Source: http://nordic.businessinsider.com/mi...-s-mode-2018-3

[nslay]

Wow, that's a great idea! This should help Microsoft die faster. I say, go for it Microsoft!

Oh yeah, make it something you have to explicitly opt-out of. We really need you to frustrate the average user to switch to Apple or Linux. When they find out that they can't install Chrome the usual way, I'm sure that will put the nail in the coffin.

[Sonadow]

Enterprises will love this. Instead of using Active Directory permissions and Group Policy to restrict employees from installing non company-issued software, they can just flip S mode on and block everything at the OS level, and use AD + GPO to make sure employees cannot turn off S mode.

[137ben]

Enterprises will love this. Instead of using Active Directory permissions and Group Policy to restrict employees from installing non company-issued software, they can just flip S mode on and block everything at the OS level, and use AD + GPO to make sure employees cannot turn off S mode.

Depends on the enterprise. At my work we use a website internally that only works in Blink/Chromium browsers, and the developers don't bother to test it in other browsers. It can't be used at all on S mode. It also can't be used on an iPhone or iPad, but it isn't really touch-friendly anyways. I doubt we are the only organization that relies on Chromium

Also, I'd expect that there are some organizations that would like to be able to use their own software without having to make that software available to everyone outside the company by putting it on the Microsoft Store. I know Apple has made accommodations for businesses that want to use their own software on iPads or iPhones without having to put it on the App Store.


Then again, the computers in my department are all running Ubuntu or Debian, so we probably aren't a good representative of what Windows Enterprise users would want.