Lenovo Switches To Windows 10 Signature Edition Image For Its Future ThinkPad Laptops

An anonymous reader writes: Ahead of tradeshow CES 2017, Lenovo today announced major changes coming to its ThinkPad lineup of laptops and PCs. First, Lenovo has decided to ship 2017 ThinkPad models with Microsoft's Signature Edition Windows 10 right out of the box. So, users don't have to worry about bloatware anymore. Signature Edition PCs are clean, fast and protected. The second big announcement is that Lenovo is now offering optional Intel Optane 3D drives on select ThinkPad models. Due to the small capacity, initial Optane M.2 drives will be used for caching in the ThinkPad T470p, L470, L570, T470, and T570. Third, Lenovo is moving to the Microsoft Precision TouchPad drivers for consistent touchpad experience across ThinkPad devices. The Windows Precision Touchpad drivers provide high precision pointer input and gesture functionality.

Re: Lenovo lately

[slasher999]

I bought a T440s a couple of years ago direct at a bargain price and it's been fantastic. As good as any ThinkPad I've used over the past almost 25 years including the T20, 600 series, 760 XL, 755 and 701. Probably a few others.

Re:

[citizenr]

T440s .....As good as any ThinkPad I've used over the past almost 25

LIAR, just look at that touchpad
at least they somewhat listen and fixed it back to normal with T450

Re:

[fluffernutter]

You don't need a touchpad when it has touchpoint. Much more accurate and no need to take your hands away from the keyboard.

Re:

[invictusvoyd]

So, users don't have to worry about bloatware anymore

ha ha ha .

Re:

[LinuxIsGarbage]

That is the problem, the touchpad in the 440 removed the trackpoint buttons, so if you want to use the trackpoint, even with the touchpad disabled it will respond to clicks, as it's needed for the trackpoint! Totally idiotic design!

And based on whether you use the trackpoint or the touchpad, the simulated buttons move to the top, or bottom of the touchpad respectively.

I avoid having to click the actual clickpad. Using 2-finger tap to right click reduced a lot of pain, though right click-drag actions seem painful as the cursor moves off the target while clicking.

By far the worst computer pointing device I've ever used.

The computer also only has 2 fucking USB ports even though the case has room for more (wireless mouse + USB VPN token =

Re: Lenovo lately

[Zero__Kelvin]

Not everyone is foolish enough to use a touchpad.

Re:

[TheGratefulNet]

I have an L440 and its not bad, but it did come with that nutty touchpad. for $40 more, I could (and did) buy a direct replacement that had 3 real buttons. problem is, drivers for it are 'strange' and I can only access mine in a dumber mode. I never found the right win7 driver for that replaced pad. so it was actually a step backwards and while it kind of works and does look better (grin), its still not as good as if it came that way.

I have a t420is that is great. last of the real keyboards, had good p

Re:

[justthinkit]

I bought three Lenovos four years ago. Two Z570 and a G580, all with 4GB RAM and spinning rust. All still performing perfectly. Reinstall software is a push-button process (used once so far). Couldn't be happier.

Re:

[Duncan J Murray]

Yep, my T450s is terrific. My history doesn't go back as far as yours, but my T450s has a better fit and finish than my T40 I bought new back in the day, the keyboard is just as nice (ok, except I do miss the 7th row), and I guess only time will tell if it proves as durable as that machine. It's certainly less creaky.

Re:

[damn_registrars]

That may be true with the IdeaPad and other consumer level laptops from Lenovo. I challenge you to point out a better laptop on the market today than a ThinkPad. I just replaced my X201 with an X260 - only because I needed more RAM than my X201 could address, it still runs fine - and the X260 is faster, more reliable, lighter, and less expensive than the MacBook Pros that my colleagues opted for instead.

"consumer" vs "business" computers

[yuhong]

Ah, "consumer" vs "business" computers. I wonder whether this even makes sense.

Re:

[damn_registrars]

Ah, "consumer" vs "business" computers. I wonder whether this even makes sense.

Clearly there is a market for them. No different from consumer vs business cars, or consumer vs enthusiast bicycles, really (to name but a couple examples). Although considering how little my ThinkPad cost this time, I can't really see an argument for buying a consumer laptop unless you are in love with the silly consumer bits (ie, touch screen monitors and similar stupidities).

Re:

[fluffernutter]

I didn't close my laptop backpack and my T430 fell out of it in a mall onto a hard tile floor. It bounced several times. No damage whatsoever, not even a chip. Compare that to a macbook, I dropped the same laptop on one from half a height once and it actually dented the keyboard surface of the case. I can't imagine what a drop from that height would do to a macbook. It certainly wouldn't look the same.

Re:

[TheFakeTimCook]

I didn't close my laptop backpack and my T430 fell out of it in a mall onto a hard tile floor. It bounced several times. No damage whatsoever, not even a chip. Compare that to a macbook, I dropped the same laptop on one from half a height once and it actually dented the keyboard surface of the case. I can't imagine what a drop from that height would do to a macbook. It certainly wouldn't look the same.

Yeah, and you're getting one hour battery life from your new MacBook Pro, too, without providing a scintilla of evidence "because you're too busy". Yet you seem to have time to follow and respond to multiple Slashdot threads, including this one.

You sir are both a liar and a poser.

And I sincerely doubt you are a Developer as you alluded to yesterday by claiming you were "down to one hour of battery life after 50 charge cycles, running only Firefox and 'standard Development tools'." Yet you couldn't be bo

Re:

[fluffernutter]

Oh my god I have a stalker. I never thought this would happen in a million years. I take it as an absolute complement sir.

Re:

[aardvarkjoe]

With thousands of people reading Slashdot, it is completely unsurprising that someone would remember your name in connection with a comment they read earlier if the topic happened to be one that the person has an interest in. Just because somebody happens to remember a comment that you made before doesn't mean that you're being "stalked." Get over yourself.

Re:

[fluffernutter]

But this isn't just someone who has remembered a past comment, this is a person who took the time out of his day to seek out another one of my comments just so that he/she could respond. As a person who values his time, I an honored.

Re:

[aardvarkjoe]

And you know that ... how?

Re:

[Duncan J Murray]

My disclosures before I get started - I'm a Thinkpad fanboy, sorry.

But look, what GP is saying is not that out of the world. I've dropped Thinkpads onto hard surfaces several times - they usually just bounce. One time a hinge broke, admittedly (but that was after 9 years of use...). Is this all that surprising given that most Thinkpads are tested to do this?

Everyone knows the aluminium shell of the macbook is fairly soft, and dropping in onto a hard surface leaves a floor-shaped mould on the laptop.

Re:

[michael_wojcik]

I've had half a dozen ThinkPads, IBM and Lenovo, over the years. My current one is from 2009. I've dropped all of them multiple times - just something that happens when you work in a lot of different environments, with cords strewn around and whatnot. I knocked the latest one over onto a hard floor again just a couple of days ago, which probably makes at least two dozen times it's taken such a tumble (while running).

The only problem I've had with this one is dust and cat hair collecting in the vents to the

Just spyware

[Somebody Is Using My]

Lenovo didn't like that all those third-party shovel-ware apps were getting in the way of their own spyware [thehackernews.com].

Re:Just spyware

[operagost]

I would like a laptop that is clean, fast, and protected from Microsoft's update mechanism rebooting it while I'm using it.

Re: Just spyware

[Anonymous Coward]

Then set your active hours for windows update to like 3am - 4am or something.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[Aighearach]

I'm running a different linux flavor, but if I run updates I can still just wait until I would have otherwise rebooted, and then I'll be running the new kernel. So even then I'm not rebooting for updates. They could program the update system to reboot you in an emergency scenario, but it has never happened. Users who don't understand how to read the news and apply an update are generally people that instead will reboot to solve any sort of problem. So it solves itself for everybody without any need for upda

Re:

[somenickname]

Also, why the hell does it need to reboot to install updates? Ubuntu et al don't unless you update the kernel, which 99% of the time you don't.

Because Windows has an awful filesystem, no sane concept of an init system and a laughable driver model. I'd love to blame the Windows Reboot Insanity on laziness but, architecturally, it's just not possible for it to update like a Linux/Unix machine. And, I mean at the fundamental kernel and filesystem levels.

Pro edition active hours extended to 18 hours

[yuhong]

From https://blogs.windows.com/wind... [windows.com] : "starting with Build 14942, we’ve changed this [active hour] range for PCs on Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions to 18 hours."

Re:

[GreatDrok]

"heavy industrial software that exclusively runs on windows without any kind of useful analog on Linux"

I have a Windows 10 VM on my Mac and VMWare runs everything I throw at it very well and when I'm done I close it down. It associates file types with the Windows applications so they open on demand. Best of all, snapshot the clean install with all activated software you need and mount working files from a network share and then if Windows screws up you can revert to the snapshot. Amazing how well stuff that

Avoid Reboots with "Metered Connections"

[Anonymous Coward]

You can avoid unexpected Windows 10 updates by setting the network connections to be "metered connections".
Windows will then avoid downloading updates in the background because it thinks you are paying a lot for the bytes.
Google "windows 10 metered connection"

Re:

[fluffernutter]

But it still nags you all the time.

Re:

[ProzacPatient]

On the one hand it is annoying but on the other I think forcing updates on people helps remove vulnerabilities from the wild. The Professional version, iirc, you can disable automatic updates rebooting your PC with the group policy editor, and given the typical casual user of Home edition it's probably a good thing that only the Professional version has that option otherwise you'd end up with angry users complaining that Windows is responsible for their personal information being stolen despite the fact the

Re:NO bloatware? Spyware?

[damn_registrars]

What about the spyware for the Chinese government data collection?
Really not an issue. The people who are using the laptops that are used for collecting data for the Chinese government - notably the ThinkPads are not amongst those - are happily giving away all their data to facebook at the same time. Lenovo is just cutting out the middle man for the Chinese.

Re:

[gweilo8888]

That's great no bloatware.

Or at least it would be great if it were true. Unfortunately, it comes with Windows 10 preinstalled, and that's a primo piece of bloatware right there.

Re:

[Aighearach]

That's great no bloatware. What about the spyware for the Chinese government data collection?

That's in the CPU microcode, and there is no known remedy. Same as every other brand of computer.

Governments know what you're doing already. These are improvements to protect you against mean civilians.

Re:

[fluffernutter]

Is it really a good idea to have a private corporation control your bios?

Re:

[Joe_Dragon]

Windows gamer pro with Pro overclocking only $70 year comes with free xbox live gold.

Re:

[fluffernutter]

So you can still dual boot linux?

Re:

[thegarbz]

Is it really a good idea to have a private corporation control your bios?

hahahahahahahahahahah, oh man. You should get a full tinfoil bodysuit.

Re:

[thegarbz]

Signature editions means that ACs with no idea what they are talking about need to upgrade their tinfoil hats to a new version.

Signature editions place no requirements on the BIOS that aren't already part of the standard works with windows requirements. The only thing Signature edition requires is that a TPM module is in place for bitlocker support, that no pre-loaded software is installed, and that all drivers for the device come through the windows update program instead of 3rd party crapware programs.

proprietary drivers

[Anonymous Coward]

Now, the question is, is this going to be take two of the same BS they tried to pull, using proprietary drivers and disabling boot to other devices, in order to force users to use windows 10 and eliminate the ability to boot off of another OS, and failing that, to even see the hdd due to said drivers not being available under linux?

Re:

[nnull]

Probably. That's why I went with a Dell. I never believed I'd buy a Dell before, but I don't regret it. It's been pretty good and they've been really linux friendly of late, even their support. I remember when I could load linux onto Thinkpads without much issues (I have an old one running Freebsd on one without issues), not anymore.

Re:

[thegarbz]

using proprietary drivers

You mean like the standard Intel drivers which Intel still haven't provided for their RAID controllers?

disabling boot to other devices

Something which they have never done.

and failing that, to even see the hdd due to said drivers not being available under linux?

I don't know man, why don't you ask Intel who still have no RAID drivers instead of Lenovo who have now provided an updated BIOS that enabled a broken mode that if users turn on cause a big drop in battery life on Windows.

Too late

[Billly Gates]

Spearfish and so called drivers that are really malware software that keep re-installing themselves through the Windows Store puts Lenovo in my DO NOT BUY list.

Re:

[TheGratefulNet]

spearfish?

do you mean superfish?

(silly names, both)

Can I dual boot

[fluffernutter]

I can still dual boot this to linux.... right??

Re:

[fluffernutter]

I think the issue is that the licensing on the proprietary software would restrict what they could do with their own software and expose them to crippling legal costs. It's not as simple as 'they don't want anything to do with proprietary software'.

Re:

[TheFakeTimCook]

I think the issue is that the licensing on the proprietary software would restrict what they could do with their own software and expose them to crippling legal costs. It's not as simple as 'they don't want anything to do with proprietary software'.

I thought you were under a Time-Crunch deadline? What are you doing trolling Slashdot?

Re:

[fluffernutter]

Listen, enough of the pissyness because I don't want to spend my time doing what you want me to do. Maybe I watched TV and posted on Slashdot all morning, but I know what I need to get done but I will have to push. The only thing that matters to you is that I would rather do something else with my time. I rebooted recently and I'm not even sure if the problem is still happening. The thing that I didn't have time for is testing with different software. And, as I am sitting down here, for work, to get my

Re:

[unixisc]

Only 'libre-Linux' has that requirement: most mainstream Linux distros have no issues w/ that. GP's question is whether the BIOS is something that would support Linux in UEFI mode or anything like it.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't say your post is 100% bullshit, that'd be giving you too much credit for a content-free one-liner.

The GP is correct though, Signature Edition laptops from Lenovo (Yoga pieces so far) are locked into windows via a weird hdd configuration, as per Microsoft's licensing deal, and there's no reason to believe there will be a different deal for Thinkpads. Sad times.

Further improvements possible

[sciengin]

To make their devices even cleaner, faster and most protected they could get rid of Win10 completely.
Now Im not saying they should install Linux instead, but while they are already looking for a decent OS to replace Windows... why not.

All high-end PCs should have this.

[ErichTheRed]

I think companies will still build their own image or use the Windows 10 provisioning tools to slice and dice the image deployed by the factory, but for Lenovo's laptops this makes sense. ThinkPad professional series users (T and P series) are paying a lot of money for their machines compared to the $300 consumer junk at the low end of the line. I'm just about to replace my T540p and the prices are super-high, almost Apple level margin. It should be noted that you do get what you pay for - ThinkPad users ar

Re:

[Incadenza]

ThinkPad professional series users (T and P series) are paying a lot of money for their machines compared to the $300 consumer junk at the low end of the line.

I bought one of those €300 machines for my son. Totally worth it: het dropped it on the floor within a month, and the charging cable bent the chassis. Thing wouldn't close anymore. But after unscrewing a lot of screws, and a small plier job, I managed to get everything working again! Even their consumer junk is built quite well I must say.

Best thing that happened to that machine was a failure of the Windows partition. I had to re-install Windows from scratch on a fresh formatted disk, and that left no

bios fake raid on the m2 cards used for caching?

[Joe_Dragon]

bios fake raid on the m2 cards used for caching?
Some windows only driver?
Even at 128GB I want to use the pci-e storage as an real boot disk and have apps and other data on an 2th disk.

Lol, too funny

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

I love how PCs without the pre-installed shitware are marketed by Lenovo as "clean, fast and protected".

What does that tell you about the PCs that don't come with the Signature Edition of Windows? Does that mean they're "dirty, slow, and vulnerable"?

Re:

[thegarbz]

What does that tell you about the PCs that don't come with the Signature Edition of Windows? Does that mean they're "dirty, slow, and vulnerable"?

Are you asking if water is wet? Because the answer is yes.

Re:

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Are you asking if water is wet? Because the answer is yes.

It was more of a rhetorical question, but yeah.

Still won't stop candy crush by the looks of it

[Duncan J Murray]

or 'get office' or 'xbox live'.

or system notifications that your version of office is out of date?

because that is the signature of Windows 10...

Re:

[chrish]

Bought my wife an ASUS VivoBook yesterday that (happy surprise!) came with the Signature Edition of Windows 10.

Can confirm, Candy Crush is there and the OS also automatically logged her into some sort of Skype preview.

It's OK for me...

[snookiex]

As long as they put back all the indicator LEDs and physical kill switches they removed in the last versions. I'll wipe Windows off anyway.