News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Microsoft resumes rollout of Windows 10 version 1809, pro... by Laforet on Tuesday November 13, 2018 @03:51PM (#18444779)
The previous file loss incident was more of a UX problem rather than a technological one. To paraphrase, the update would , at one point, ask the user whether they'd like to migrate their existing documents and settings. If the user chose no then their documents will be deleted. This is why it only affected some people, and a simple warning would have been sufficient to clear up any confusion, though some might argue the option should have never been offered in the first place.

This is the very same problem I had with the 1st gen clickwheel iPod. When I first connected one to a new computer, iTunes asked me if I wanted to 'initialize' the device. Oblivious of its meaning I went with 'yes' and wiped a borrowed iPod clean. Friendship ruined forever.

Re:Microsoft resumes rollout of Windows 10 version 1809, pro... by Dylan16807 on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @07:17AM (#18449290)
Are you describing the same migration as https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18444898?

If so, that's not a UX problem. That's a flat-out bug. In short, there was an option to migrate files from folder A to B. Months later, in the update, folder A was accidentally deleted. The migration would decrease the damage, but not prevent it, and saying 'no' is not a mistake.

Re:Microsoft resumes rollout of Windows 10 version 1809, pro... by ConceptJunkie on Tuesday November 13, 2018 @04:02PM (#18444877)
Wow. That reminds me of my experience with the Lisa back around 1983. It said that the boot disk needed to be initialized, and my attitude (it a school computer) was that if it was stupid enough to reformat the floppy it just booted off of, I was going to let it.

Sounds like Apple just doesn't learn some lessons.

Re:Microsoft resumes rollout of Windows 10 version 1809, pro... by Laforet on Tuesday November 13, 2018 @04:55PM (#18445276)
Well that was almost a decade ago and I'm unaware of Apple making similar mistakes recently, however I have never managed to figure out iTunes sync in the meantime.

However this behavior is really out of the line for MS since they've got a good track record on backwards compatibility and data preservation. Previously during in-situ upgrades the installer would back up gigabytes of data in a special folder on the off chance that they might be needed again in the event of a rollback, and somehow they managed to drop the ball this time round.