Microsoft kills Windows Steady State

[flyboytim]

Steady State allows a Windows machine to be returned to the same state after any session. Great for developers and shared home machines

http://www.infoworld.com/t/windows/...tate-380?page=0,0&source=rss_security_central

One of Microsoft's rather useful freebies, Windows Steady State, will not be available after the end of 2010, with support ending 6 months later.

Currently available here, with documentation downloads too, this tool only supports XP and Vista:

Supported Operating Systems:

Windows Vista;Windows XP

Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed or Service Pack 3 installed, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Starter, or Windows Vista with Service Pack 1

Notice, it does not include Windows 7, and it is obviously not a product for servers. Moreover, Microsoft is not planning for such an inclusion in Windows 7. Many libraries, schools and other institutions are not happy with Microsoft for this, and consider that they are stuck with XP.

On the other hand, Microsoft see this as a shot in the foot, since it reduces the inbuilt obsolescence in their OS's. If each reboot is as fresh as a new install, and no amount of malware can affect the system, nobody will become disaffected by their ever slower boot and response times.

With virtualization, ever-larger hard drives and RAM, free opensource operating systems and browsers, no-one need ever buy another Microsoft product again.

 

[Sympology]

Noooo, I'm just about to roll this out in a few weeks. but then again I guess once it's in, it's in.

Best grab a copy now!

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

 

[goombawaho]

no-one need ever buy another Microsoft product again."

I think that's a little bit of fantasy right there, but point taken.

 

[cdogg]

If you use SteadyState, it'll keep working after the end of the year -- Microsoft just won't support you any more. Even the support forum is scheduled to disappear next June.

Actually that's not entirely true. Microsoft is going to stop releasing updates and won't support you directly, but online resources such as the support forum and technical documentation/FAQ will remain after June 30, 2011.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2390706

They still haven't said why, which is an important thing to keep in mind. I'm speculating here that the reason behind the fiasco is that Microsoft is looking to put a price tag on the next version they release seeing how popular the tool has become. That would probably mean a new name and adding support for Windows 7 as well. Too many companies, schools, libraries and end users rely on the software now for me to believe they would drop it without at least making up a reason. $$ must be the motivating factor here!

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[Glenn9999]

FWIW, Steady State was supposed to be EOLed in favor of the guest mode that they put into the Windows 7 betas, but they pulled that out before RTM.

They probably figure there isn't enough demand corporately for SteadyState/guest mode to mess with it, or they're planning on a guest mode patch for future service packs of Windows 7.

It is not possible for anyone to acknowledge truth when their salary depends on them not doing it.

 

[Sympology]

There is a thread on it here (yes I replied)

http://social.answers.microsoft.com.../thread/e274a5a6-80c6-46fa-93a6-50a1cd67c013/

My issue is the "work around" that an MS employee is a total bodge job. Almost seems like they don't actually know what steady state does.

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

 

[flyboytim]

Sympology, thanks for the link.

A program called 'Returnil', free for home use was mentioned there, worth investigating.

I have a feeling that there may be a Kiosk-mode edition available in Windows 8, for volume licensing only, sitting in the wings.

Microsoft has three document downloads outlining a DIY "Steady-State" set-up for Windows 7 here, utilizing native Microsoft technologies.

There is some argument about the effectiveness of installing on 7 in Vista compatibility mode

Someone may yet come along with a freeware hack that does something clever, perhaps utilizing the hibernation file or some virtualization technology to achieve the desired result in Windows 7, just to annoy the hell out of Microsoft.