Microsoft to Remove Full ReFS Support from Windows 10 Pro

Megalith

Megalith

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As a means of pushing its new workstation SKU, Microsoft is removing the ability to create volumes using its new ReFS file system from Windows 10 Pro. While existing volumes will continue to work, Pro will no longer be able to create new ones: that will require the latest variant of Windows 10: Pro for Workstations, which includes support for additional processors and RAM, alongside certain server-grade hardware such as non-volatile main memory.

The company published a list of features that will be deprecated or removed in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update in July. This list was updated by Microsoft on August 17, 2017 to reflect the decision to pull ReFS create support from most Windows 10 editions. What this means is that administrators cannot select the ReFS file system anymore when they format drives or change file systems of drives. Microsoft introduced the Resilient File System in Windows Server 2012, and added support for the file system in Windows Server 2016 and all editions of Windows 8.1 and 10.
 
Does this affect Storage Spaces on windows 10 pro?

God fucking damnitt Microsoft. you had FiNALLY built a OS that had everything one needed in a workstation and you go and fucking muck it up.

  • Expanded hardware support -- Windows 10 Pro for Workstations was designed by Microsoft for "high performance configurations". Two of the most important changes are support for up to 4 CPUs and up to 6 Terabytes of RAM. Current Pro editions of Windows 10 support a maximum of 2 CPUs and 2 Terabytes of RAM.
  • Resilient File System (ReFS) -- The new edition of Windows 10 comes with support for the Resilient file system. The file system was designed specifically to be resilient against data corruption, and optimized for large data volumes. "ReFS provides cloud-grade resiliency for data on fault-tolerant storage spaces and manages very large volumes with ease".
  • Persistent memory -- The operating system comes with support for persistent memory hardware configurations, and support for non-volatile memory modules (NVDIMM-N) hardware.
  • Faster file sharing -- Windows 10 Pro for Workstations supports SMB Direct. The feature enables "increased throughput", "low latency" and "low cpu utilization".
 
Why would Microsoft remove a feature that for all intents and purposes is vastly superior to the dated, but reliable NTFS? I still have access to it because I use Windows 10 ENT, but this sucks for other folks.
 
I'm not really sure what you would be doing on a normal PC that ReFS would be of any real advantage over NTFS. If you really need ReFS, then perhaps the other features of Windows 10 Pro Workstation (can't they just shorten it to Windows 10 Workstation? Like Windows 7 Ultimate?) would be worth the upgrade anyway.
 
ir0nw0lf said:
Queue all the Microsoft haters who will call this a dick move. :whistle: :confused:
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You don't have to be a 'Microsoft hater' to know that this behavior is unacceptable. How would you like it if Ford showed up at your house and removed some feature from your car because it's now only offered on higher end models?

Wouldn't surprise me if they're only doing this because they found a bug in their old ReFS implementation and don't want to disclose it. They did something similar with Windows Home Server some years ago when they realized it was broken.
 
jardows said:
I'm not really sure what you would be doing on a normal PC that ReFS would be of any real advantage over NTFS. If you really need ReFS, then perhaps the other features of Windows 10 Pro Workstation (can't they just shorten it to Windows 10 Workstation? Like Windows 7 Ultimate?) would be worth the upgrade anyway.
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So they can then yank those features from Workstation in favour of a higher costing license?
 
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katanaD said:
why remove a feature post release.

also.. why should MS be able to remove shit from your computer??
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And they are not. If you already setup ReFS, it won't be removed. You just won't be able to setup new ReFS. If you don't already have ReFS, then you don't need it. If you already have it, then you have nothing to worry about.

Talk about making mountains out of molehills.
 
jardows said:
And they are not.
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One would normally assume he's referring to removing the ability to create new ReFS partitions.
Of course it is their OS, not ours, so they can do what they want with it till a court says otherwise.

Interesting that they started doing this now, I guess they figure they have enough people on Windows 10 now?
 
ChoGGi said:
One would normally assume he's referring to removing the ability to create new ReFS partitions.
Of course it is their OS, not ours, so they can do what they want with it till a court says otherwise.

Interesting that they started doing this now, I guess they figure they have enough people on Windows 10 now?
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I would say it's probably more a result from the insiders program and feedback, that very few people are actually using the feature.
 
Yes :) I thought they were still working the kinks out, so I am kind of surprised they locked out some beta testers.
 
Just wait till they remove the ability to buy Windows at all, you can get locked down ad supported Windows S for free, then for only $9.95/month you can unlock ad supported Windows Home, or for $19.95/month you get ad supported Windows Pro or for power users ad supported Windows workstation for $29.95/month. Don't like ads well we have that option for you also for just an extra $20/month on top. Don't like being tracked by our spyware services, well...uh... we can tell you we aren't going to spy on you and do it anyway due to "a configuration mistake due to the last patch" for just $75/month* (*requires ad removal service fee to enable). :sneaky:
 
jardows said:
And they are not. If you already setup ReFS, it won't be removed. You just won't be able to setup new ReFS. If you don't already have ReFS, then you don't need it. If you already have it, then you have nothing to worry about.

Talk about making mountains out of molehills.
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Facepalm. Sure hope you don't ever have to reformat/rebuild that ReFS array...

The response I actually want to type to this shit would get me banned.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
Facepalm. Sure hope you don't ever have to reformat/rebuild that ReFS array...

The response I actually want to type to this shit would get me banned.
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I'm right there with you.

Looks like I'll have to keep a copy of 1703 around to rebuild my ReFS volume should anything go sideways.
 
I'm using ReFS in Windows 10 Education. Will this version be affected? The article doesn't mention it.
 
This shouldn't be too much of a surprise in a generic sense. It's not the first time MS has removed functionality from Win 10 Pro and it's very unlikely it will be the last. I just wonder how long it's going to take until Win 10 Pro is just Win 10 Home with maybe a couple extra things.
 
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SmokeRngs said:
This shouldn't be too much of a surprise in a generic sense. It's not the first time MS has removed functionality from Win 10 Pro and it's very unlikely it will be the last. I just wonder how long it's going to take until Win 10 Pro is just Win 10 Home with maybe a couple extra things.
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they probably removed it because small businesses were using windows 10 pro as a hyper-v box/ file server
 
Isn't this a fairly new file system created by Microsoft themselves? Seems weird they would axe it already, unless it was fairly unpopular. I've never even used it.

EDIT: Ah, never mind...noticed it was being moved to Pro for Workstations. I guess that...sort of...makes sense...?
 
ir0nw0lf said:
CUE the screams of all 5 people using ReFS on Win 10 Pro. :whistle: :p

CUE all the Microsoft haters who will call this a dick move. :whistle: :confused:

**Edit: Changed queue to cue. I was also being a bit silly, I know there are more than 5 people using it. :geek:
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As someone who paid for pro, I'm really starting to wonder what I paid for. They keep removing everything that differentiated it from home, which is a dick move.
 
Nexus6 said:
I'm right there with you.

Looks like I'll have to keep a copy of 1703 around to rebuild my ReFS volume should anything go sideways.
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I can see it now. Hi! We've detected that you are running a version of Windows which does not support ReFS. Give us money to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro For Workstations on this device.

I wouldn't risk it. ZFS or GTFO.

Romale23 said:
There have been some issues with data corruption is my understanding.
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That's what I was thinking. They pulled the same shit with Windows Home Server when they realized it was a broken mess.
 
Romale23 said:
There have been some issues with data corruption is my understanding.
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So everyone should complain to MS and demand what they paid for be fixed. Just axing it and making a new SKU and having to buy Workstation now is really unbelievable, and I would imagine a case for suit could be filed. They really need to think about their customers more, and stop talking about it and do it. I guess they didn't already have more money than Scrooge McDuck, so maybe they thought it would be a good idea to remove it from Pro and force you to buy Workstation. I mean that is what the customers demanded right? LOL They are so blatantly evil it's funny.
 
Nexus6 said:
I'm right there with you.

Looks like I'll have to keep a copy of 1703 around to rebuild my ReFS volume should anything go sideways.
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I am wondering what happens in a few years when you try to run 1703. It will instantly try to download the latest version, and remove the feature. Also, it will complain it is an older version right? See the problems with six month version cycles and Windows as a service? It means you now serve whatever MS wants you to do. I would bet it complains and even quits working after a while.
 
Not using that filesystem, but it seems lately Microsoft is intent on removing features from Windows 10 instead of adding features, which makes no sense.
 
leathco016 said:
Not using that filesystem, but it seems lately Microsoft is intent on removing features from Windows 10 instead of adding features, which makes no sense.
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raz-0 said:
As someone who paid for pro, I'm really starting to wonder what I paid for. They keep removing everything that differentiated it from home, which is a dick move.
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I've heard from reliable sources that in the near future Windows 10 home is going to be much more locked down, almost like S, and Pro will be the 'desktop' version.

Lube up.
 
katanaD said:
why remove a feature post release.

also.. why should MS be able to remove shit from your computer??
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Because you subscribed and didn't actually buy anything. *Evil laugh*

They really are getting out of hand with the amount of SKUs.

I was surprised to see that Bitlocker isn't included in all of them. That seems silly, given the free alternatives have it baked in.
 
That can't be legal. In fact, Sony was hit with a class action suit for a similar deal where they removed the "Other OS" functionality from the PS3.

Probably figure the chance of a fine/lawsuit probably costs less, which is sad.
 
jardows said:
I would say it's probably more a result from the insiders program and feedback, that very few people are actually using the feature.
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Then by the same logic they should remove the windows store, edge and cortana since most users ignore those too.

The problem isn't about one feature being removed. It's Microsoft's pattern of continually removing features that were present at shipping, without anything being added back in the way of new features beyond more app bloat and gimmicks that most users ignore.
 
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$50 on Bitlocker going from Pro next.

My take is in a couple of years, if you want to use Windows 10 for work or business you gotta have Enterprise/WS...

Pro's days are numbered.
 
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