Windows 10 Technical Preview

[Chromedome45]

Well I downloaded and installed the Win 10 Technical preview X86 version and found out to my dismay that Floppy drive support has been dropped! Not only the internal drive connected to the mainboard but also USB floppy support. Could be a deal killer for anyone who may be thinking of upgrading to it. But then it could be added before the final release. Let's hope so.

 

[Rick Ethridge]

You know it's just a matter of time. First it was the 8 inch, then the 5 1/4 now it's the 3 1/2 and the optical drives. Will the magnetic hard drive be far behind? PATA drives are disappearing.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Here's an interesting question. What's the replacement? I have books that are well in excess of a 150 years old and I can still read them. I have 40 year old floppy disks that read just fine--and half-inch magnetic tapes older than that. Will I be able to say the same for a USB flash drive 40 years from now? Or data in the Cloud? We already know what happens to information on the web...

 

[Stone]

We already know what happens to information on the web...

Which is why I have always committed to local storage in one form or another *everything* I want to have later access to.

 

[glitch]

Transfer the data to whatever is current, or maintain legacy hardware. If it's important, floppy disk probably shouldn't be the only place it's stored.

 

[krebizfan]

The best choice for long term readable storage remains paper.

Supposedly, MS is working on updating the floppy driver. A lot of drivers seem to have broken in the transition but MS hasn't publicized how the driver model changed.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Transfer the data to whatever is current, or maintain legacy hardware. If it's important, floppy disk probably shouldn't be the only place it's stored.

That's a nice thought, but consider your reaction if someone told you that you should recopy the contents of all of your books every 10 years. And there's always the chance that errors will creep into the process.

And exactly what do you copy? Suppose that you want to preserve your floppy collection. Do you copy just the files? If you image each track, did you remember to copy the manufacturing information that's sometimes located out past the last data cylinder? Did you take a photo of the label and sleeve?

Archiving's a bitch.

 

[SomeGuy]

Rumor is this may be just a bug in the Windows Ten-ish TP (Toilet Paper?) builds. But when something like this disappears, you should assume it will stay that way unless proven otherwise.

You know, just last year I reviewed several modern motherboards with real Floppy Disk Controllers: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcf...nt-motherboard-FDC-and-quot-legacy-quot-tests

I would damn well expect the current version of Windows to fully support these devices.

And removing support for USB floppy drives is just insane.

Who do they think they are? Apple?

 

[glitch]

That's a nice thought, but consider your reaction if someone told you that you should recopy the contents of all of your books every 10 years. And there's always the chance that errors will creep into the process.

We're not talking books, though, we're talking digital information. I already replace all of my important media on a shorter schedule than that. It all has a MTBF. I doubt I have fewer than three copies of any of my important data, except for original media for which I haven't found/written an imaging solution (Ohio Scientific 8" disks, for example).

And exactly what do you copy? Suppose that you want to preserve your floppy collection. Do you copy just the files? If you image each track, did you remember to copy the manufacturing information that's sometimes located out past the last data cylinder? Did you take a photo of the label and sleeve?

Most of my concern is with preserving my work, so copying files is sufficient. Of course, bootable disks get imaged.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Ah, "important" is the snag. There's plenty of stuff I've done over the decades--and forgotten about--that I didn't consider "important". Until, that is, that the time comes when it's suddenly important.

 

[Chuck(G)]

"Who do they think they are? Apple? "

No, Apple thinks more of their female employees.

 

[Caluser2000]

"Who do they think they are? Apple? "

No, Apple thinks more of their female employees.

Fixed ya link Chuck.

 

[Caluser2000]

Goodness showing Win 10 off already. Seems like yesterday 8 came out. Missed 9 somehow. Wonder how long before fdd support is dropped from all modern OSs? Surely it's only a matter of time. Anyway I'm sure most here have other options as mentioned earlier.

 

[krebizfan]

Goodness showing Win 10 off already. Seems like yesterday 8 came out. Missed 9 somehow. Wonder how long before fdd support is dropped from all modern OSs? Surely it's only a matter of time. Anyway I'm sure most here have other options as mentioned earlier.

There is no Windows 9. 9 is an unlucky number in some cultures so it gets skipped as will 13 when the time comes. FDD controller support will be dropped once there are no longer working chips included on motherboards. AMD's problem with high efficiency timer preventing usage of the onboard floppy controller is one step towards FDC demise. USB floppies should have a long run since they are part of the whole USB mass storage spec.

Win 10 bugs include video drivers and network drivers; critical drivers for many potential users. At least with floppies, MS did not include a broken driver.

 

[Caluser2000]

What's the size of this beast compared to earlier versions? Have they tried to trim some of the bloat out at all?

 

[Stone]

What's the size of this beast compared to earlier versions? Have they tried to trim some of the bloat out at all?

What kind of a question is that? Bloat is a unidirectional monster. It has a diode on it so it can't go backwards. I thought you knew that.

 

[Jack.]

Considering at how crappy even Windows 7 floppy support is, i don't think that it's going to be a great problem. Also, any of us must have a good 'ol Win2k/XP box to work on.

 

[glitch]

There is no Windows 9. 9 is an unlucky number in some cultures so it gets skipped as will 13 when the time comes.

I'd heard it was due to tons of software checking to see if part of the Windows version string contained a 9, which apparently some programs use for Win9x compatibility checking:

http://www.dailytech.com/Windows+9+...Would+Have+Created+Code+Bugs/article36656.htm

 

[Caluser2000]

Considering at how crappy even Windows 7 floppy support is, i don't think that it's going to be a great problem. Also, any of us must have a good 'ol Win2k/XP box to work on.

Them, Win98 with the unofficial fixpack along with KernalEX or a modern *nix variant. Getting quite fond of this Linux box.

 

[SomeGuy]

I'd heard it was due to tons of software checking to see if part of the Windows version string contained a 9, which apparently some programs use for Win9x compatibility checking

That is a bogus excuse they pulled out of their butts. Let me show you the fleet of trucks filled with the software they willingly broke for lesser reasons than that.

Considering at how crappy even Windows 7 floppy support is, i don't think that it's going to be a great problem. Also, any of us must have a good 'ol Win2k/XP box to work on.

Is Windows 7's support that much worse than 2000/XP? For a lot of the things I need to do, I find that only Windows 95/98 can really handle it.

There is no Windows 9. 9 is an unlucky number in some cultures

What culture is that? The culture of alcohol drinking, coke snorting upper management that is afraid someone might associate "Windows 9" with "Windows 95"?