Thurrott Daily: June 2

Tech tidbits from around the web.

6/2/2016 3:49:56 PM

Microsoft may have just jumped the shark when it comes to deceptive/forced Windows 10 upgrades

I’ve complained and complained and complained about Upgradegate, Microsoft’s misguided strategy to force Windows 7/8.1 users into upgrading to Windows 10 by deceiving them with socially-engineered dialog boxes. Well. You didn’t think this was possible—I certainly didn’t—but it just got worse. The Register explains:

Microsoft’s Windows 10 nagware campaign has entered a new phase, with all options to evade or escape an upgrade finally blocked.

Recently, Microsoft’s policy had been to throw up a dialogue box asking you whether you wanted to install Windows 10.

If you clicked the red “X” to close the box – the tried-and-tested way to make dialogue boxes vanish without agreeing to do anything – Microsoft began taking that as permission for the upgrade to go ahead.

Now Microsoft is changing gears.

It has eliminated the option to re-schedule a chosen upgrade time once you’ve confirmed it while also removing the red “X” close option from the screen.

Yes, really. Ah boy.

Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Membership is $20 off now at Amazon, just $40

While this isn’t the very lowest price I’ve seen, Amazon.com is offering a full year of Xbox Live Gold for just $39.99 right now. That’s $20 off the normal pricing.

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 10586.338 for PCs to the Release Preview ring

MSPowerUser reports:

Along with the release of a Release Preview Build for Mobile, Microsoft has also released a new cumulative update for Windows 10 Version 1511 to Windows Insiders in the Release Preview Ring. The company has released build 10586.338 for PCs and it does not bring any new features as expected. However, this build probably comes with various improvements and bug fixes.

It is also worth noting that this build is not available to the general public, but if the build passes the testing process, it could soon be available to the rest of the users. So, if you are on the Release Preview Ring, you can download this update via Windows Update.

Smart Lock lets you unlock a Chromebook with your Android phone

While we’re stilling waiting for Microsoft to deliver a phone-based authentication scheme for Windows 10 PC sign-ins, Google already offers this functionality on Chromebooks. There, you can use a feature called Smart Lock to sign-in to your Chromebook with an Android phone.

You can sign in to or unlock your Chromebook when your Android phone is nearby using Smart Lock for Chromebook.

To use Smart Lock for Chromebook, you’ll need a phone with Android 5.0 and Bluetooth and a Chromebook with Chrome OS version 40+ and Bluetooth.

You can use one phone to unlock more than one Google Account on your Chromebook, or the same account on different Chromebooks, as long as you’re signed in to the same accounts on your phone.

Also, the account you’re unlocking can’t be an Android for Work account.

Unfortunately, I can’t use this feature with my own Chromebook because the domain (thurrott.com) of my Google account is managed by Google Apps. But this would neatly solve the problem of having to type in my complex password every single time I open the lid on this device otherwise. Someday.

The Google/Oracle decision was bad for copyright and bad for software

Peter Bright takes a stand in the recent Java copyright case, and I think he makes some good points.

Oracle’s long-running lawsuit against Google has raised two contentious questions. The first is whether application programming interfaces (APIs) should be copyrightable at all. The second is whether, if they are copyrightable, repurposing portions of those APIs can be done without a license in the name of “fair use.”

In my view, the jury probably didn’t probably make the right call on fair use.

Though Android shares important elements with Java, Android is not a Java platform; it does not pass the tests that Sun and Oracle developed, and it is not designed to do so. Google deliberately chose to reject elements of Java’s design that it didn’t like, leaving a hodge-podge that is Java in some places but not-Java in others.

That lack of interest in interoperability means, in my view, that Google’s use of the Java APIs should not qualify as fair use.

This is a smart article, and I don’t want to quote from too much of it. Be sure to read the whole thing.