mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

The hardware vendors supply the drivers. If the hardware is very old and even the vendor no longer supplies updates to support it why would you expect Microsoft to do it? All peripheral hardware attached to all operating systems get periodic driver updates as operating systems evolve. That's nothing new. The problem that upsets people is when seemingly perfectly good hardware is no longer supported. The culprit is not Microsoft, but the companies that made and sold the peripherals and have stopped providing further driver support. Microsoft doesn't make or sell peripherals and has no financial stake in whether old hardware works or not. Do you expect them to update and test the drivers on every piece of hardware that ever existed before updating an operating system? Will Ford update your 1970 Fairlane with a catalytic converter so you can use unleaded gas? Or would you get mad at Ford if they no longer can supply spare parts for a 40 year old car? I don't think so. In computer technology even ten old equipment can be considered ancient, especially if its out of production and/or the vendor no longer exists as the same entity it was when the hardware was new. You seem to be assuming that Microsoft should continue to support very old hardware drivers in their upgraded operating systems into perpetuity. Not only is that unrealistic, but it's also impractical.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

The only thing I would like microsoft to do is make the updates optional, not forced, so a person with obsolete hardware that works today, can easily opt out of updates and won't find out their hardware stopped working tomorrow. For me it's moot because I was able to figure out a work around. I'm only using Win 10 because it came loaded on my machine and I did updates for about a week before turning them off. This update 2 years later was somehow triggered by MS, even though I had turned updates off. I didn't gripe when my printer and some audio hardware stopped working when I got the Win 10 machine, because I understood it was 64 bit, which I did want. It was my choice and my responsibility. But this latest forced update wasn't my choice so I did resent the few hours it took me to get my scanner working again. I don't blame the hardware vendors. I don't expect them to support obsolete hardware with new drivers every time MS does an update. This wasn't even a change to the OS like Win8 to Win10. This was just another update like MS does every week, but people with my scanner found it had stopped working.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Actually, this was not "just another update like MS does every week". This was the April Update which was a major upgrade to the operating system. Microsoft no longer is updating its whole operating system every several years with a complete makeover and a new name. Instead they update the OS with a major upgrade a couple of times a year so that it is never outmoded, and the speed of the upgrade is much faster with far less impact to the user. That fact that it occurs so smoothly is a tribute to their current approach to operating system upgrades which used to be something you have to gird you loins for before proceeding.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

So vendors should update their drivers a couple of times a year now? Also you ignored the whole issue of voluntary vs involuntary OS upgrades. Adobe upgraded their software, but my CS6 version works fine. They didn't push their software upgrade on my computer and stop my scanner from working. Microsoft is the only software company that feels they can force their upgrades onto your system. In my view that makes them no more ethical than a virus. Do you work for Microsoft or are you just a fan and a defender?

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I never said the vendors need to update their drivers a couple of times a year. The need for updated drivers is not anywhere near that frequent and may not be required for years for any particular peripheral, but ultimately if hardware vendors want their hardware to play well with Windows it's their responsibility. I ignored the issue of involuntary upgrades because my response was intended to address just the outdated driver issue. The update question you raised is a whole other discussion which I don't want to engage in right now.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

Mine too. Last two updates got me that way. And I had to "find" my network Kodi box. Again.
*sigh*

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I used to have automatic updates disabled on my Win 8 machine, which is why it was still a Win 8 machine and not a Win 10 machine ... and then it died. I definitely didn't want to purchase a new Windows machine, which would have forced me into Win 10, so our daughter put together a new machine mostly using parts from various donor machines {including memory from our old machine}, and now I am typing this on an Ubuntu Linux machine.

Logan1949

grumble, grumble, grumble . . . The last un-asked-for update of windows 10 disabled my HDMI port. Apparently, because I was not using it at the time, the update process turned it off or disconnected it. I did a roll-back on the update to get it working again. Here's hoping that it won't happen again.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I've used red hat linux in the past but came back to windows to use the adobe suite. Especially for video with integrated audio editing, adobe is probably the best.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I don't do video. For stills, I use gimp ... I find it to be just as useful as PhotoShop, and I don't have a reason to complain each month.

BebuLamar

I did the update and it went fine.