
Windows 10 “Developer Mode” - gokhan
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Windows10DeveloperMode.aspx
======
cm2187
There are so many annoying if not dangerous default settings (like hiding
known file extensions, virus.pdf.exe appears as "virus.pdf") that like many
people I have scripts to do that. Microsoft would help me more by making the
system more scriptable (try setting the sound mode to No Sound in script!).

~~~
pjmlp
In case you just want to disable all sound, in Powershell.

Get-Service -Name Audiosrv | Stop-Service -Force

Windows is quite scriptable, it is just a matter of knowning the right knobs.

[https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/heyscriptingguy/2013/03/...](https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/heyscriptingguy/2013/03/01/use-
powershell-to-explore-windows-audio-drivers/)

~~~
cm2187
I do not think this turns off the windows sounds. It shuts down all audio,
including non OS sounds. I just want to get rid of the annoying click noises
and beeps.

There is a registry setting that sets the control panel to no sound but it has
no practical effect. The only suggestion I found that works is to delete the
wav files, but that's kind of messy

~~~
douche
Open the volume mixer and set "System Sounds" to 0?

~~~
cm2187
I can also open the sound control panel and set windows to no sound.

We are discussing about automating changing the default settings of windows.
Not of how to change them manually through the UI.

~~~
perspectivep
All of the Windows shell supports UI automation, so if you run into corner
cases like this that aren't scriptable, you can just use PowerShell to
automate the clicks.

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wineisfine
Having left the Windows ecosystem 7 years ago or so, I couldn't be more
confused these days when sporadically having to use it. For the reasons
mentioned here: all power user features are burried. Though it's very
debatable if full paths and hidden files should be that much tucked away to
begin with.

~~~
pjmlp
All successful desktop operating systems tend to cater for the use cases of
the common man.

Those people that don't even know what save means and scatter files across all
devices in the locations suggested by the applications, using whatever was
suggested as default name.

These are the people that macOS, Windows, Ubuntu/GNOME, browser based OS cater
for.

I share the same feeling every time I have to dig into Chrome or Firefox
settings, specially on Canary.

~~~
TeMPOraL
That's why they all kind of suck.

I mean, there's a tradeoff - by catering to the use cases of the common man,
you're limiting them to _your_ interpretation of what the common man's use
cases are. Computers are tools for creative problem solving - limit them too
much, and you're literally taking away almost all the reasons to have one.

I particularly dislike ideas like "hide full path of folders" or hiding
extensions for known file types - because it's in fact confusing the common
man in a misguided attempt to help them. The filesystem and the way the OS
interacts with it is a set of abstractions. Hierarchical folders and
associating files to programs via name extensions isn't that hard to grasp.
But when you obscure that abstraction, paper over it with some nice display
features, you're taking away the ability of a common man to ever understand
what's going on. When before one could be expected to maybe figure out a
mental model for those things, now it's close to impossible - because the OS
is lying or refusing to divulge essential information.

So I actually agree with dozzie's parallel comment. By treating users like
idiots, we're turning them into idiots. And since "pros" are a market niche,
we're literally turning mainstream computing into toys for idiots. It's a
waste of potential, IMO.

~~~
anexprogrammer
Hiding file extensions is uniquely dangerous on Windows as the file extension
is the canonical reference of what type something is. Change the .doc to .exe
and the system will try to treat it as an executable. At least on other
systems it's a convenience and the system identifies type and executable bit
in somewhat more robust ways.

~~~
TeMPOraL
Yes, that's true too. It's a common Windows malware distribution vector - bad
actors send files with names like "photo.jpg.exe" or even "photo.exe", with
the icon resource in executable's metadata set to look like default image
icon, or even a thumbnail of some real photo.

~~~
pjmlp
Not only on Windows, on other OSes as well.

Many developers don't rely on the OS API to check the file contents and use a
simple extension checking.

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saundby
This is nice, but I still want a "Shibboleet" switch where a single action
sets lots of settings to what a developer is likely to want. Then I can focus
on a few deltas, rather than a whole raft of individual settings and
configuration changes made, usually, over the course of a week or two.
[https://xkcd.com/806/](https://xkcd.com/806/)

~~~
overgryphon
Isn't that what developer mode is? A switch to set lots of settings that a
developer is likely to want.

~~~
Terr_
I think we may be confusing "power-user who uses Windows" versus "developer
employed by Microsoft to debug and develop Windows".

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brudgers
For better or worse, instrumenting Windows and analyzing the telemetry is what
enables features like this to be developed scientifically rather than based on
superstition, whimsy, or prejudice. It's the same principle found in Google
Analytics, Tesla's latest models, and the Juno space probe. Good data makes
informed decisions more likely. It has to come from somewheres.

TANSTAAFL.

~~~
drdaeman
The problem with telemetry/analytics is not that they exist. The problem is,
no one knows what they do, and everyone's afraid they may send something
sensitive.

Give me a dialog somewhere, in which I would be able to see what's going to be
sent (in somewhat human-readable format - i.e. not binary but a slightly
commented source for that binary), a place to ask questions ("hey, there's a
weird long hex string among the data - what does it encode?") and I'll be
completely satisfied, and even praise them for doing things the smart and
conscious-user-friendly way.

Well, as long as telemetry doesn't send something I consider sensitive, like
an actual screenshots or keystrokes, of course.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
Individual events in analytics data may be human-readable, but you can't call
a list of 10,000 events human-readable.

~~~
mr_overalls
Does 'grep' have an analog in Microsoft-world?

~~~
aplc0r
Windows has Select-String in Powershell and findstr in cmd.

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lostgame
To those complaining about missing file extensions, etc...can I mention that
OSX does the same thing by default, and this drives me crazy as well.

Are we trying to make it so users can barely understand the rudimentary
concepts of computing before jumping in to using them?

The iPad is a similar situation. :/

~~~
ClassyJacket
It seems to me like the obvious way to handle file extensions is to hide them
by default, have an option to show them, and always show them when the file is
being renamed. The hoops you have to jump through to change a file extension
in MacOS are excessive.

~~~
nikbackm
I think the main reason Windows hides them is to prevent users from changing
or deleting them while renaming files.

Inadvertently changing a file extension often "breaks" the file for
inexperienced users.

------
freehunter
Scott seems to be very excited about this and very happy that he can formally
declare himself to be a developer and have it done with, but I can't disagree
more. You shouldn't have to formally declare yourself as a developer, because
there are a lot of developers and programmers and power users who are not
formally developers. If I click "developer mode" and I formally declare myself
as a developer, that's a lie because I am not.

I've won awards at work before for creating scripts to automate a certain part
of our team's workflow, saving hours each time we have to perform a certain
action. But if I was a formal developer, that would just be my job. I'd get no
special recognition for it. But I did get special recognition, because I am
not a developer by trade.

I don't want to make a _formal declaration that I am a developer_ because
formally, I am not. But I'd like to side load apps, see the full path, use
Remote Desktop (is that a developer thing? Always seemed like more of a
sysadmin thing, I use it every day) and keep my PC awake all the time.

None of those things are developer-specific features. None of them include
"install gcc++" or "download Visual Studio" or "change Notepad to vim". What
I'd rather make is a formal declaration that I _own this computer_ , not that
I am a software developer.

\- edit - apparently everyone replying to me failed to read the article. My
response is not to Microsoft's decision to call it "developer mode" but
Scott's decision to call it a "formal declaration that I'm a developer".

~~~
ade2
It's just a checkbox that's called "developer mode", it's not really the same
as formally declaring yourself a developer. The important and interesting
thing here is that there is a general power-user mode with shortcuts for
people who know about advanced computer usage. That you own the computer is
not a good measure of your capabilities with it, that would probably be a
pretty confusing checkbox for the vast majority of users. I guess you have a
point about the naming, but it needs to be (from msft point of view) some kind
of name that doesn't tempt non-technical people to enable it.

~~~
freehunter
Did you read the article? Where Scott, the author, said verbatim:

"it's got amazing potential, again as a _formal declaration that I am a
developer_."

That's what I'm responding to.

------
callesgg
Previous experience tells me that developers will use this "feature" and write
software that requires users to have it enabled.

Previous examples for example being software that requires Microsoft SQL
server to be installed on client machines as the software needs certain dll
files that comes with Microsoft SQL server.

~~~
taspeotis
> Previous examples for example being software that requires Microsoft SQL
> server to be installed on client machines as the software needs certain dll
> files that comes with Microsoft SQL server.

I don't think this is true, Microsoft ship all the client-side components of
SQL Server as a bunch of MSIs you can pick-and-choose between. Since at least
SQL Server 2005 [1].

[1] [https://www.microsoft.com/en-
au/download/details.aspx?id=247...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-
au/download/details.aspx?id=24793)

------
Sylos
Anyone have an idea why they are catering to developers so much, when their
treatment of users in general has become so much worse over the past year?

I mean, I guess, developers are sort of the only demographic which could
realistically switch to another operating system, and since they are also
users, Microsoft kind of has to make up for the assholish treatment that
they've been giving users in general, but it seems still quite extreme, if
it's only for that reason.

Could be, though, that I'm just suffering from the usual "All others are more
naïve than I am"-syndrome, as I myself am for example still far away from ever
wanting anything to do with Microsoft again, and I wasn't really opposed to
Microsoft before the Windows 10 shitshow either...

~~~
wila
The success of an operating system depends on the availability of other
applications. By extra focus on developers they are hoping to grow the
ecosystem.

At least that's my understanding of it.

------
rollulus
So Microsoft begins to realize that developers should be helped instead of
letting them suffer? They should have done that a few years ago, before most
sane persons turned Windows down and never looked back.

------
pjc50
So are there any disadvantages to developer mode? The other "developer mode"
that lets you load unsigned kernel modules is very keen to remind you that
it's on and I believe it disables a couple of things.

~~~
douche
It looks like they just put a bunch of the irritating-to-find settings that
you always need to change from vanilla to do any real work in one place,
rather than scattered across folder settings, registry hacks, group policy and
and all the other control panel sections that they were hidden in.

------
frik
Windows 7 has already a Developer mode (called "God Mode"):

    
    
      1. Create a new folder
    
    
      2. Rename the folder to

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

    
    
      3. Double-click on it, the God Mode control panel window opens
    

Probably Microsoft forgot about it.

~~~
SEMW
That isn't a developer mode. Nor is it called "GodMode". It's just a way to
view control panel applets as a list rather than a hierarchy. It's the same as
the search results list that's filtered when you search for something. It give
you nothing that isn't available in the normal control panel, it's just a
different view. The important part is the GUID, the part of the name before
the period doesn't matter - you can replace "GodMode" with anything you like.

~~~
frik
The GodMode allows one to access many useful settings from a curated grouped
single list view that isn't available anywhere else. The hidden feature is
available since WinNT 6 (Vista).

The Win10 DevMode doesn't give you anything that isn't already available from
the control panels too. The whole point is, that it's accessable from one
page.

And for Win9x (95,98,ME) there were the far more powerful TweakUI tool from
Raymond Chan hosted on microsoft.com. An updated improved TweakUI for WinXP
was available as part of the PowerToys collection from microsoft.com as well.

Don't downplay my comment. The GUID triva info doesn't add anything and is
well known to many Win devs.

~~~
Someone1234
> curated grouped single list view that isn't available anywhere else

Yes it is. Via the search box in Control Panel. Microsoft calls it "All Tasks"
and it is literally just that, all Control Panel tasks as a list.

> The hidden feature is available since WinNT 6 (Vista).

Coincidentally when they added the search box to Control Panel...

> The Win10 DevMode doesn't give you anything that isn't already available
> from the control panels too.

Incorrect. Developer Mode enables sideload apps, debugging apps, remote
debugging, and remote debug discovery. There is nowhere else (aside from the
registry) to enable these development settings.

> Don't downplay my comment.

The so called "Godmode" trick is useless, it shouldn't be shared. People can
already open Control Panel and search, same thing.

