Windows 10 - free upgrade to those with PC using Windows 7 or 8

[eschwartz]

MPSMCD notwithstanding...

[murg]

Originally Posted by ApK

You clearly did not attended the Monty Python School of Machine Code Development.

1. Type machine code into a hex editor.
2. Save the file
Done!

Next week, Jackie will teach us to play the flute!

Ha! What modern trash!

1. flip switches to reflect binary code for single instruction.
2. press enter switch.
3. repeat as necessary.
4. press execute switch.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by murg

Ha! What modern trash!

1. flip switches to reflect binary code for single instruction.
2. press enter switch.
3. repeat as necessary.
4. press execute switch.

...for 8080 processor.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by murg

Ha! What modern trash!

1. flip switches to reflect binary code for single instruction.
2. press enter switch.
3. repeat as necessary.
4. press execute switch.

Do not laugh.
We still service a computer at work that functions that way.
Of course, most of the time you only use the front-panel switches to initialize loading of the memory map from an 8" floppy disk. That 8" floppy disk is a huge improvement, until relatively recently a perforated ribbon was used.
The computer in question is hard-wired to control mission-critical technological process in a plant 24/7.

By the way, I have used hex editor to modify binaries in a distant past ("good old MSDOS days"). It was mostly used to replace a string (a piece of text) inside an *.exe or *.com file, so it would offer a different suffix for saving files, for example. Of course the replacement string had to be of the same length as the old one.

[murg]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

...for 8080 processor.

I had an IMSAI 8080...

This was also the mechanism for some of DEC's minis...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by murg

I had an IMSAI 8080...

This was also the mechanism for some of DEC's minis...

We used 8080 process controllers. They had teletype i/o so the switch panel was rarely used. Tektronix vector graphics programming was also a lot of fun.

[murg]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

We used 8080 process controllers. They had teletype i/o so the switch panel was rarely used. Tektronix vector graphics programming was also a lot of fun.

Ah, Tektronix vector graphics. My first bit of industrial espionage.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Are you actually telling me you edit explorer.exe with a hex editor to modify its functionality?

Is that even possible these day? I would think that Windows regularly checks the integrity of system files to avoid malware.

Even if it didn't perform checks, it would be take a very talented programmer to extend the functionality of explorer.exe with a hex editor. While modifying existing values is trivial, inserting anything is not.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Is that even possible these day? I would think that Windows regularly checks the integrity of system files to avoid malware.

Even if it didn't perform checks, it would be take a very talented programmer to extend the functionality of explorer.exe with a hex editor. While modifying existing values is trivial, inserting anything is not.

Trivial, schmivial. Look at WINE. You don't like the way Explorer handles menus, you could always write your own binary-compatible operating environment from scratch! With a hex editor.

It's was a perfectly reasonable suggestion!
Jonathan Swift could make an excellent case in defense of it.

[eschwartz]

Yes, I was quite skeptical of the suggestion myself. There are so many reasons to question it though... I had to pick something.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by murg

Ha! What modern trash!

1. flip switches to reflect binary code for single instruction.
2. press enter switch.
3. repeat as necessary.
4. press execute switch.

Back in the day when Fortran and Cobal were mainstream and Pasqual was avant-garde there was a saying:

Spoiler:

Assembly programmers are awesome!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wodin

and Pasqual was avant-garde

<googling>How about that. That IS the Spanish version of the name "Pascal."

[wodin]

Originally Posted by ApK

<googling>How about that. That IS the Spanish version of the name "Pascal."

Yup, that would be it.

[Katsunami]

I'm looking into upgrading my computer to Windows 10.

It's a 7 year old machine, originally installed with Windows Vista. Later it got upgraded (in-place) to Windows 7, because I could get it for free as I was doing some IT-courses at a university. It seems I'll be able to get Windows 10 for free, and it looks al lot better than Windows 8.1 in many respects.

Is there going to be an ISO download, for people who want to do a clean installation? I don't really like to first install Vista, then upgrade to Windows 7, then upgrade to Windows 10. I can do a clean install using my Windows 7 CD, if need be, but still, I'd like to avoid an upgrade, as this system hasn't been re-installed since it was first built.

Also, by the way... can the Web Search in the start menu be disabled? I REALLY dislike that, because if internet is slow, which sometimes happens, the search is slow as well. I don't want or even need to search the web each time I search for an application or a file on the local computer. And even so, I don't want BING to pop up if I search for something I can't find.

[danwdoo]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Is there going to be an ISO download, for people who want to do a clean installation?

Also, by the way... can the Web Search in the start menu be disabled? I REALLY dislike that, because if internet is slow, which sometimes happens, the search is slow as well.

ISO can be downloaded here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso

In the current builds you cannot disable the web search but it has been frequently requested. Hopefully this will be possible in future builds or at least the final release.