A Breakdown of the Windows 10 Privacy Policy 318
WheezyJoe writes: The Verge has a piece on Windows 10 privacy that presents actual passages from the EULA and privacy policy that suggest what the OS is capturing and sending back to Microsoft. The piece takes a Microsoft-friendly point of view, arguing that all Microsoft is doing is either helpful or already being done either by Google or older releases of Windows, and also touches on how to shut things off (which is also explained here). But the quoted passages from the EULA and the privacy policy are interesting to review, particularly if you look out for legal weasel words that are open to Microsoft's interpretation, such as "various types (of data)", diagnostic data "vital" to the operation of Windows (cannot be turned off), sharing personal data "as necessary" and "to protect the rights or property of Microsoft". And while their explanations following the quotes may attempt an overly friendly spin, the article may be right about one thing: "In all, only a handful of these new features, and the privacy concerns they bring, are actually in fact new... Most people have just been either unaware or just did not care of their existence in past operating systems and software." Even pirates are having privacy concerns and blocking Windows 10 users.
Remember when MS said you really like Vista... (Score:5, Interesting)
... you just don't "know" you like it? They did this promotion where they sat old people in front of vista machines asked them to derp around on it and then asked them if they liked it... they all said they did... and MS basically said "everyone saying they don't like vista is wrong/a troll/ignorant/etc"... remember that?
Well... same thing seems to be happening again. Consumers are saying "we have problems with these features and we'd like them fixed"... and MS is again saying "I hear you saying you don't want it but I think you're just saying you want me to tell you about how great they are again until you change your mind.
No.
https://youtu.be/dROwEc4VyJA?t... [youtu.be]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not the market, i'm me, i liked it, you don't necessarily have to, each can have it's own opinion.
its own irrelevant opinion
Re: (Score:2)
Why would I need to do that? MS knows they shit the bed on that product.
Vista is largely regarded as being shitty. You think this is up to some citation on a forum?
The case is already closed on this one, chum. The gavel dropped and the judge went home. Its over.
Re: (Score:2)
I would call this more similar to what Microsoft went through with the latest Xbox. Initially there were significant privacy concerns, some people got very upset, and they backpedaled (as they did on so many things with that system.) I'm hoping we see that with Windows 10. I'm not holding my breath, especially since they added spying to Windows 7 instead so far.
Re: (Score:3)
The xbox one never actually recovered from that either. If you compare the sales figures with the PS4... the xbox one lost something like half its potential install base because of that fuck up.
I think sales of the xbox one are something like 25 to 33 percent of the PS4 which is a big reversal from the Xbox 360.
There were so many fuck ups with that release. The kinnect or whatever it was called was better evidence for MS having their heads up their asses than I've seen in awhile. And the stupidity just kept
Re: (Score:2)
MS basically said "everyone saying they don't like vista is wrong/a troll/ignorant/etc"... remember that?
I am looking at an Insider build of Windows which, for all practical purposes, has restored the Aero desktop.
Re: (Score:2)
define what you're talking about? You mean as opposed to metro?
Because that's not a giant vote of confidence.
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
A nice thing about the windows community is that we do find these things fairly quickly and knee cap them... just Tonya Harding the shit out of them. :D
I have this giant list of registry hacks that have to be applied to every windows OS to add features, remove features, change features...
The ones where I'm outright just breaking something are the funniest for me though. I mean... just let me turn it off. But no... I have to go in and bust certain associations that just cause the feature to not function.
weasel words = gaping hole (Score:5, Insightful)
Posting anon for obvious reasons.
In a former life, there was some question about what and how far an org could go into customer data that was collected through remote telemetry or use of cloud services. A couple years ago, legal counsel informed us that we could capture, examine, and retain essentially any customer data, because any security-related review fell under the clauses about use of customer data for "enhancement of customer experience", to which the customer consented in the EULA. This is why some entities feel very free to capture any data they want from endpoint computers and effectively lie about it in marketing documents: because end-users consented to a free-for-all in the prior/overriding legal license.
Re: (Score:3)
It's worth pointing out that laws in this sort of area vary widely. I don't know where you're based, but I don't know a lot of lawyers who'd be comfortable defending that position in much of Europe, for example. On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find the law allowed that kind of behaviour in the US.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm betting that the "Enterprise" version of 10, the one that you and I, of the unwashed multitudes CANNOT get, doesn't have these "features"....
Simple (Score:2, Insightful)
Vital diagnostics (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly how vital can they be if the fucking computer still works with no Internet connection?
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Vital diagnostics (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly how vital can they be if the fucking computer still works with no Internet connection?
How many computers outside a secured corporate or governmental network are currently operating without at least part-time access to the Internet?
How many computers on the corporate intranet aren't collecting similar data for internal use --- and sharing some of that data with Microsoft to improve the performance of both clients and servers?
7 and 8 too (Score:5, Informative)
If you're running automatic updates on 7 or 8 you already have the same "telemetry" components as well. Check for installation of 3035583, 2952664, 2976978, 3021917, 3044374, 2990214, 3022345, 3068708, all of which are windows 10 related components. It seems that the last two are the diagnostics/telemetry ones with the others having more questionable intent.
Microsoft describes these updates (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3068708) as honoring the CEIP choice and only doing the spying if the user has opted in. At least at this time however the server that microsoft identifies (vortex-win.data.microsoft.com) will have active connections even on machines where the CEIP choice was set to opt-out.
I'm sure once this gets some more media attention Microsoft will claim that they're storing the data just in case you change your mind, and that they wouldn't think of abusing it until then.
Or not (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're running automatic updates on 7 or 8 you already have the same "telemetry" components as well.
No, I don't. You see, the great thing about still being on Windows 7 is that I'm not forced to install whatever user-hostile updates Microsoft deems necessary. So I didn't.
By the way, neither did a lot of other people. Many of the professionals I know have been "security updates only" for quite a long time, even on personal use machines rather than work ones. Plenty more joined the fold recently after the Win10 nag message update.
It frustrates me that the casual press keep repeating the dogma that the forced updates in Windows 10 are a good thing because security experts recommend applying all patches immediately or similar, as if Microsoft hasn't been pushing non-security updates for years.
Re: (Score:2)
the great thing about still being on Windows 7 is that I'm not forced to install whatever user-hostile updates Microsoft deems necessary.
congratulations on being forced to stick with windows 7, you've installed exactly the user hostile software that Microsoft deemed necessary for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Do which one of those is needed to read SD cards? One of them is.
Closed-source operating systems (Score:4, Interesting)
Over twenty years ago there was a FreeBSD-hacker with the following signature: "Do not trust an operating system you don't have sources for".
Though I was then a fresh FreeBSD convert myself, the maxim seemed a little too radical to me... Not any more.
If you absolutely must use Windows, get a stripped-down variant via a Russian or Chinese torrent (there are reputable ones, which will not infect you). If you don't want to rob Microsoft, send them a check... But best is to just get an OS, for which sources are also available.
Re:Closed-source operating systems (Score:5, Funny)
worst advice ever
Re:Closed-source operating systems (Score:5, Insightful)
The advice is to use a possibly compromised operating system over a guaranteed compromised operating system.
Do you have a better suggestion for those who has to use windows?
Re: (Score:2)
Do you have a better suggestion for those who has to use windows?
strong drink
Re: (Score:2)
There's "MS compromised", who will likely send you targeted advertisements. And there's "Chinese or Russian hacker compromised", who may steal your credentials and drain your bank account. Are you trying to tell me if you see no difference here? If not, I'm not sure what to tell you. Use the Russian or Chinese torrent version and go nuts.
Some other possibilities:
* Continue using Windows 7 until 2020.
* Install and use Windows 10 on a virtual machine.
* Use Windows 10 but disable all the cloud-based featur
Re: (Score:2)
+1 for "See if the software you require can run using Wine under Linux, or if there are free alternatives."
Re:Closed-source operating systems (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
And audited every line of code yourself. Because this happened: 23-Year-Old X11 Server Security Vulnerability Discovered [slashdot.org]
Corollary: Do not trust an operating system you have sources for.
Apparently, just do not trust.
Doesn't explain the "Telemetry Update" to 7 and 8 (Score:3)
In June, MS shipped a bunch of now-infamous "Telemetry Services" updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. I forget what the exact Knowledge Base numbers are, but you can find them pretty easily. These updates were marked as "Important" in Windows Update, and actually have the same general description of "This update fixes some bugs and improves security" that they use for all updates if viewed in the Add/Remove Programs window.
The "Telemetry Update" has been proven to send information to MS, and cannot be controlled short of uninstalling the update and force-stopping the associated services. I was told that the "update" collects all of your keyboard input and ships it to MS for use in "improving" their Auto-Correct and Word Suggestion features, and I have no reason to believe otherwise.
I had to turn off Windows Update entirely on both of my machines in order to stop MS trying to ship this update after I uninstalled it, because it kept trying to push the update even when I specifically said not to install it.
Re: (Score:3)
so, it is keylogging feature. Great ...
File this under "what could possibly go wrong"
Re:Doesn't explain the "Telemetry Update" to 7 and (Score:5, Informative)
Remove the following updates (if installed already)
KB971033 Description of the update for Windows Activation Technologies
KB2952664 Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7
KB2990214 Update that enables you to upgrade from Windows 7 to a later version of Windows
KB3021917 Update for Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program
KB3022345 Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
KB3035583 Update installs Get Windows 10 app in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1
KB3044374 Update that enables you to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to a later version of Windows
KB3068708 Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
KB3075249 Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
KB3080149 (update for CEIP and telemetry)
---
run cmd as administrator
sc stop Diagtrack
sc delete Diagtrack
*Task Scheduler Library:
Everything under "Application Experience"
Everything under "Autochk"
Everything under "Customer Experience Improvement Program"
Under "Disk Diagnostic" only the "Microsoft-Windows-DiskDiagnosticDataCollector"
Under "Maintenance" "WinSAT"
"Media Center" and click the "status" column, then select all non-disabled entries and disable them.
*services.msc:
"Remote Registry" to "Disabled" instead of "Manual".
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Way to jeopardize the Net as a whole by teaching people to turn off and never trust updates again.
Go fuck yourself, Microsoft. Fucking idiots.
What are you all so worried about? (Score:3, Insightful)
"This water is only one degree hotter now than a few minutes ago," said the frog to his companions.
A significant difference between HW and SW sale (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft, since its only product is software, has to go to great lengths to protect and extend that property base. "Extend" here is Googly data mining.
Apple, on the other hand, makes money by selling you the hardware. The protection is the physical ownership of the device. You might not believe Apple when it says "we don't want your personal information", but you have to respect that they're not depending on either data or software to make the great majority of their revenue.
This may not be a popular opinion, but I trust Microsoft more than Google, Apple -way more- than Microsoft, and the NSA more than any commercial company.
Re: (Score:2)
The flip side of that is that Apple's long-term support can be awful to non-existent.
Don't feel bad if that recommended and conveniently non-reversible update to iOS renders your three-year-old tablet or phone unusable. Here, try an iPad 7, that runs the new version just fine!
Oh, and that similarly ancient business laptop? You would have been secure against the malware you just got hit by if you'd only installed OS X Jungle Gryphon. Well, maybe. Or maybe you wouldn't. You see, we're not going to give you an
Re: (Score:2)
You see, we're not going to give you any sort of clear indication of how long we will support our hardware
no doubt you are able to supply us with a list of vendors who will do otherwise
Re: (Score:2)
Given that just about every PC, monitor, storage device, networking device, and other major peripheral around me as I type this has a formal warranty that indicates the minimum support period and the OS I'm running (Win7) has a published lifecycle that tells me exactly how long as a minimum I can expect security patches for, yes, I could. Short of the relevant businesses literally going under, in which case obviously no guarantee is worth much, I can count on support for these systems for several more years
Re: (Score:2)
Well, I've been running Macs as my primary office automation/desktop (vice development) machine for 29 of the last 30 years, and haven't had these problems. And I routinely get 5 years out of my home Macs (and between 3 and 4 years from the corporate machines.)
Your mileage may vary.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Just to be clear, I'm not talking about hardware issues here. I'm talking about not issuing security patches for serious vulnerabilities [appleinsider.com] in versions of OS X that would have been shipping on brand new devices at little as a year ago.
There's really no excuse for not providing proper security fixes for the original OS supplied with a device for the useful lifetime of the device. Any security patch is by definition fixing a serious defect in the original product and clearly Apple's responsibility. I don't neces
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft, since its only product is software, has to go to great lengths to protect and extend that property base. "Extend" here is Googly data mining.
Nobody is making money on hardware as a commodity. Software is a much sweeter deal.
Apple, on the other hand, makes money by selling you the hardware. The protection is the physical ownership of the device.
Apple operating system can be installed on hardware purchased from not Apple. There are a number of howto's floating around including for install as VM guests.
This may not be a popular opinion, but I trust Microsoft more than Google, Apple -way more- than Microsoft, and the NSA more than any commercial company.
I trust humans to abuse power they are given like they always have throughout the entirety of recorded history. I trust the continued aggregation of power into the hands of a few mega corporations who are increasingly able to know everything about everyone and have
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft, since its only product is software, has to go to great lengths to protect and extend that property base. "Extend" here is Googly data mining.
Apple, on the other hand, makes money by selling you the hardware. The protection is the physical ownership of the device. You might not believe Apple when it says "we don't want your personal information", but you have to respect that they're not depending on either data or software to make the great majority of their revenue.
This may not be a popular opinion, but I trust Microsoft more than Google, Apple -way more- than Microsoft, and the NSA more than any commercial company.
Microsoft sells software, not advertising like Google. Apple's hardware and Microsoft's software are comparable. Both say similar things about privacy when Android talk comes up.
Both Apple and Microsoft want to get the advertising and data mining dollars like Google.
In the modern era, large corporations are always looking to expand and expand and expand. Both Apple and Microsoft are looking to leverage what they have to muscle into the online advertising industry. So, I think your trust is misplaced.
Re: (Score:3)
"Microsoft sells software,"
For now, mostly. Microsoft has a problem here: Selling software worked in the past because there was a constant upgrade cycle to drive sales. All those new computers getting replaced after two years kept a constant stream of OEM licenses shifting, and every couple of years they could bring out a new version of Windows or Office that promised and delivered revolutionary improvements* so people would be climbing over other in the rush to upgrade.
Now? Their software reached 'good eno
Re: (Score:2)
O really, than what the fuck is Bing for?
Re: (Score:3)
Apple does this kind of data collection too. When you talk to Siri, your voice recording goes direct to Apple. They use it both to provide the service and to improve the service. Their app store gathers data on what you install and use, they gather stats on the OS. How else do they know that 94% of users are on the latest version? They clearly know which devices are in active use and what OS they have.
iTunes and Apple Music sends detailed stats on your listening habits to Apple, in order to provide you with
Re: (Score:2)
The Siri remote processing is for practical reasons, not business: The Siri engine is subject to constant revisions and optimisations by Apple, including even the voice recognition. It wouldn't be practical to update a very large application on a phone every two days, so they host almost all of it on their own servers. The phone part is just a minimal client.
You're right, though: Everyone spies. Customer data is very valuable as a means to come to business decisions and as a means of optimally flogging peop
Half the story (Score:4, Insightful)
A. The Customer Experience Program could be opted out of.
B. Windows 10 only sends data "critical" to the operation of the system in the "basic" telemetry setting. It's funny how you can disable it in enterprise. I guess it must not be so critical, huh? I don't care what they do with home versions, but I take issue with not being able to do this in Pro. An individual cannot buy Enterprise.
C. It's not fair to compare this to Google. Google provides their products free of charge. Despite Microsoft giving out a free update, Windows is not free. You can purchase a retail copy. I'm sorry to criticize your apologist article, Verge, but these are issues that affect the company I work for. I don't care what you do with your personal computer; the government doesn't regulate that.
Re:Half the story (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't care what they do with home versions, but I take issue with not being able to do this in Pro. An individual cannot buy Enterprise.
I've been wondering about that. If it's still going to be true once they've got their act together, then presumably that also affects most small businesses? That could be a very expensive strategic mistake. The hoi polloi will put up with a lot, and big businesses will do their own thing and probably not update for a long time anyway, but alienating the smaller and more agile businesses that might have updated sooner seems unwise, and alienating the geek community -- who run IT in those businesses and advise their less geeky friends -- seems downright commercially suicidal.
Re: (Score:2)
Used by google? (Score:3)
Speaking of pirate concerns (Score:5, Informative)
Swiss Pirate Party initiated an inquiry into Windows 10 privacy policy [cubiclane.com].
The end result of which (if it does not pass Swiss scrutiny) would be an official recommendation to prohibit purchase.
Re: (Score:3)
Inquiry is being conducted by appropriate authorities, yes; it's the Pirate Party that launched the inquiry, though.
Two articles that contradict statements in the sum (Score:4, Informative)
Two articles I found since yesterday that contradict statements in the summary:
* previous versions of Windows now spy on you becuase of recent MS updates: http://www.hakspek.com/securit... [hakspek.com]
* They still spy on you after you turn the "features" off: http://arstechnica.com/informa... [arstechnica.com]
Yikes (Score:4, Insightful)
'It's okay, it's already being done by Google' is NOT reassuring! D:
Re: (Score:2)
Any time you use the internet without the type of firewall and filtering that comes with a free roll of aluminium foil it is safe to assume you are being monitored by at least a few companies, and likely everything you do is also logged by one or two government agencies for analysis.
Re: (Score:3)
Agreed. People need to stop using the logical fallacy that if somebody else is doing it its somehow alright for somebody else to. Wrong is wrong and the reason why people talk about microsoft doing the wrong is because that's what the article is about. Also google is leaps and bounds different from microsoft. There is not one google product that you have to use because there are many viable alternatives to every google product. Even android doesnt have a killer app that you can't find on another os. windows
Linux Mint (Score:5, Insightful)
It collects KEYSTROKES (Score:5, Informative)
Look under Settings/Privacy
There is a switch, which reads 'Send Microsoft info about how I write to help us improve typing and writing in the future'
This the collection of keystroke data. They can do anything they want with this. Definitely makes it even more creepy to log in to someplace else on a Windows 10 box.
Another thing which is standard practice is to list all kinds of serious and unlikely reasons they'll use your data, followed by 'or any other legal purpose' which does not mean for some 'legal' matter, which it's meant to sound like, but for ANY purpose which is not SPECIFICALLY ILLEGAL. Which means anything.
You can turn off the keystroke thing, but Microsoft routinely resets preferences, including privacy preferences, when you run an update. So you have to keep checking it and make sure it's off. However, I doubt very much if it matters. You're sending EVERYTHING to Microsoft and they can use it for any purpose.
Good article ... (Score:2)
... I've been swamped with questions from the Gentle User, and articles like this help to explain stuff without placing me in a position of having an axe to grind.
I have shared it out and people are eating it up.
Much appreciated.
Switzerland is opening a government inquiry into W (Score:2, Informative)
The Swiss data protection agency is now investigating windows 10's data sharing.
(Link in French) http://www.lematin.ch/economie/berne-lance-procedure-concernant-windows-10/story/29192122
in no sane universe (Score:2)
...is the requirement of PERSONAL INFORMATION vital to the functionality of ANY user system nor is it pertinent to the intellectual property rights or protections otherwise under the Law of ANY company offering product and/or services for public consumption.
It's pretty bad. (Score:5, Interesting)
Get a packet sniffer on Windows ten. You can't run calculator without MS knowing.
Seriously. Try it. Every time you run any of the new-style apps, including calculator or the image preview, it opens up a brief encrypted TCP connection to a MS licensing server. I have a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Just ignore the bit about photoDNA at the end - that was a theory on my part that I've now determined is unlikely. It's not actually reporting on images, it's reporting on every time the image previewer is loaded. Or calculator, or sound recorder, or quite a few other things. I'm not sure that's much better.
I had quite a bit of fun at the weekend with wireshark seeing just what a freshly-upgraded no-software-installed Windows 10 reports, after setting every privacy option I could find to private. The answer is pretty much everything. Even if you disable searching from the start menu, it still executes the search - it just doesn't display the results. It fetches updates for the default tiles on the start menu (weather and news) even after you remove the tiles. It establishes mysterious TLS connections frequently that I can't identify the purpose of - some of them might be checking for updates, but I doubt it check for upgrades every few minutes.
Don't trust in my paranoia. Install wireshark and look for yourself.
The good news is that Windows 10 firewall can be made to block almost everything with a deny rule and a list of IP ranges. The bad news is that it's quite tricky to do so without also blocking windows update, Bing, the Windows store (No great loss) and I suspect a few Azure hosts.
Endless parade of lame excuses (Score:5, Interesting)
Excuse #1 - Google, Apple..etc are doing it too. This is what 5 year old children say when they get caught doing something they know they shouldn't while their brother (Google) or sister (Apple) does not (this time). If you don't understand why this is a completely nonsensical position try following defense in court.. "yes your honor ... I was drinking and driving but everyone else I was with did it too so its ok."... Go ahead...see what happens.
Excuse #2 - ALL of your data is necessary to provide a feature. Examples like Siri, Cortana, Google voice are often paraded around. They need to rummage through your address book to know who "Frankenstein" is before they can call ... Need to know what's in your calendar and where you are at...right? Well no... your "Intelligent Agent" needs to know. There isn't any reason said agent can't execute locally and provide the same services if user prefers not to upload a list of all of their acquaintances and agendas to Microsoft. These systems are architected the way they are because spying is profitable not because they maximize value to end users. Your phone can know your at the florist without sending your location to Microsoft. Your phone can remind you to pick up flowers when you call someone. It isn't impractical or unrealistic to implement. It just isn't profitable.
Excuse #3 - Browser information leaks... Chrome, Firefox, IE keep thinking up new excuses with mostly negative to users to get a piece of everything you are doing with every revision. Some of this shit is offensive blatant one finger salute ...Sending your searches to bing even when you don't use bing.... Uploading your browsing history to Microsoft...there is no rational excuse for this and I can't believe anything approaching a majority of people want this to happen by "default" for any reason.
Excuse #4 - You can turn it off - Coupled with intentional UX design blurring demarcation between local and internet promoting accidental leakage and turns the leakage spigot to 11 by default knowing most users won't know, care or understand enough to change settings which increasingly are ultimatums or don't actually stop data leakage they purport to stop. Now the pot is really starting to heat up... Now Microsoft is retroactively saying fuck you people we will collect shit and there is nothing you can do about it. That they have the gall to say this to their *customers* I personally find amazing.
--
"Finally, we will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary."
Microsoft-,You failed at the one job you had to do (Score:2)
Microsoft,
You failed at the one job you had to do. You need to have people to trust your OS. That is all. But you couldn't resist and loaded it with spyware and possible government back-doors. There is not a corporate account who will even consider this OS now.
I guess the even-number-windows-versions-are-crap rule continues.
any english majors out there? (Score:3)
Point 6: a whole bunch of semi-colon separated statements with no joining words. Does it mean they'll share the data when required by law, to protect themselves, security of the systems etc. Or do they connect them with ors: required by law, or "we want to" or ... ?
I'm fairly pro-MS and yeah I found this over the top biased towards MS "It's pretty clearly laid out this time. Reiterating it would only serve to be redundant." an ~10 line sentence connected with semi-colons is pretty far from "clearly laid out" to me.
Well, I am glad to see... (Score:3)
...somebody admitting that Window 10's privacy policy is having a breakdown.
Re:Windows 10, it's free (Score:5, Funny)
It's NOT FREE damnit, stop posting this nonsense.
Sent from Windows XP.
Re:Windows 10, it's free (Score:5, Insightful)
No, I think his point is more like "Never look a gift horse in the mouth while its trying to mount you." Or something like that.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
No, I think his point is that Windows XP and Vista users aren't eligible to upgrade to 10 for free. And now I've explained the joke and it's no longer funny.
What is really happening (Score:5, Insightful)
From a meta point of view, what is really happening? If nothing else, there is some kind of breakdown between reasonable expectations of people who use Windows and the actions of Microsoft. Aside from particulars of what exactly is being or not being collected, Microsoft handled this poorly by not anticipating that many people are rightfully highly sensitive to data collection/telemetry/tracking issues, and the fact that it is being disclosed only via EULA legalese doublespeak only damages the situation by orders of magnitude.
Microsoft needs to have a press conference and set up a special page for users concerned about privacy and who want to know more about telemetry/tracking. You do not address users' concerns by blowing them off, but by engaging them.
In this day and age it is reasonable to expect that a complex system such as an OS actually needs to communicate with central servers for reasons related to routine the operation of the system. But what are those routine things?
All we get from EULA's is BS.
Re: (Score:2)
For people like us, who actually click on information about what the EULA means and what privacy we can expect and what we can't, I agree with you.
99.9% of people don't care enough to even read a summary of the EULA or privacy concerns.
Re: (Score:2)
I had the same thought. Apple gives away its operating system because they make money selling you the hardware to run it on. Linux is free because the developers either donate their time, or are paid by companies that make money selling support. Microsoft has always made money selling Windows. This one is essentially free (sure, new copies cost money, but who needs a new Windows license?). Why?
Re: (Score:2)
They have fully integrated the MS app store (that started with Windows 8), and they are would appear to be marketing user data. They are monetizing the OS in a different way that I would rather avoid. My copies of Windows 7 are paid for, and don't include the app store at least. I am aware that some have said that some of the recommended Windows 7 updates may be pushing MS data collection. We'll see how this new model, which seems to be trying to emulate Apple in many respects, works for MS. I think they ar
Re:Windows 10, it's free (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I've tested that theory in a VM and it turns out you can still use the old Windows 7/8 key just fine, along side the Windows 10 key. You have to use the automated phone service to re-activate your Windows 7/8 system, but it works just fine.
Re: (Score:2)
You have 30 days to roll back your decision, if you regret it. The question is whether you'll still be able to activate Win7 after that. I've archived my activation but that's motherboard-locked...
Re: (Score:2)
No
It creates a new unique key by fingerprinting your hardware if you do an upgrade. MS wants they key to go away to prevent piracy and have you either buy a new pc with it or use it at work via autoKMS from a licensing server.
The work around is to use a program to extract the new key or unplug the pc during a Windows 10 start where safe mode tools will pop up. Select reset my pc and then reset all data. This will install a fresh copy from a hidden UEFI partition created during the upgrade for a fresh copy i
Re:Windows 10, it's free (Score:5, Funny)
UPgrade, you moron. You upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 7!
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Actually Windows 10 is a lot more modern than 7.
Power wise there is a HUGE difference between 8.1/10 vs 7 on a laptop. Like double the battery life as MS has tweaked the kernel and services to be more mobile friendly.
Windows 7 was awesome and finally good similar to Windows 2000 in my opinion. However, it is dated now after 6 years. It's EFI mode is terrible and you need to go into the bios and disable it or put on CSM (compability support module) and emulate 1981 technology via the bios to get it to work?!
Re: (Score:2)
Come on Bill, no need to play coy with us.
Re:Windows 10, it's free (Score:4, Informative)
Really? You are comparing Gnome 3/kde 4.x to a modern working start menu?
I'm not comparing Gnome3 to anything; Gnome3 sucks. KDE has a proper "modern" start menu, it's the way the Windows start menu should have been all along. The "menu" (which isn't a menu at all) in Metro is bullshit.
Is it crap because it is inferior?
Yes. It's absolute garbage. It's ugly, it's confusing, it even has two separate control panels for some stupid reason (there's a metro control panel, but it doesn't have much stuff in it, so you have to go find the hidden Win7-style control panel to actually change things). There is nothing good about it. It's obviously designed for tablets, but I'm not using a tablet. And if I were, it'd still be ugly as hell. WTF is with the ugly graphics and colors? It's like the Pontiac Aztek of UIs.
These applets you hate you do not have to use.
You still have to use the Metro interface any time you click on "start", unless you install some 3rd-party workaround software.
Re:Windows 10, it's free (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:IDEA (Score:4, Insightful)
you've clearly never had to deal with people complaining that their Facebook doesn't work.
Don't try explaining to them that their browser is what's broken, not the website (for various measures of "broken"), they don't give a fuck at the wire gauge used in their talking toaster. They cannot and will not even try to differentiate between hardware and software, cached content and streaming, Telepresence (the Cisco brand) and Skype (the Microsoft brand). Wilful ignorance is the bliss of the average end user for which there is no cure and keeps we nerds in work.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Move along, nothing to see here. Microsoft has been trying to get their hooks into everybody just like Google and Facebook. If people don't care about their privacy and allow this kind of data collection in the name of "quality" and "focusing search results and ads.." "blah blah" we'll all become human centipads. [cc.com]
No, don't move on, don't ignore this stuff. Doesn't matter if it's been going on before, it's wrong and is starting to get very bad. We need to be taking a firm stance against this sort of stuff.
I guess maybe you are cool with it because they pay you a fee or something, but I, like other people, are not cool with it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
[sarcasm]
If people don't care about their privacy and allow this kind of data collection in the name of "quality" and "focusing search results and ads.." "blah blah" we'll all become human centipads. [cc.com]
[/sarcasm]
Re: (Score:2)
I'd mod you up, but your link apparently requires JavaScript. So no ups for you. Also, no ups for most of everyone, ever.
Google and Facebook have been effective in getting everything from everyone, ever, but I don't see any trend like you suggest other than this immediate, or in other words not trend-like, Windows 10.
Sauce or GTFO. I vote for "recent and incompetent" rather than "habitual".
Re: (Score:2)
uh... no. Dell buys Windows OEM licenses from Microsoft at five Dollars a pop, just like every other OEM. Trialware is the stuff that's bundled according to foregone deals with the likes of Symantec, McAffee, et. al., where the OEM doesn't take a cut of any license revenues but gets to use the trialware to sweeten the sale.
Sincerely,
A former OEM (95 O/SR2 to xp 2008 SP3).
Re: (Score:2)
I recall a /. article a few years back explaining why 2 identical (hardware wise) laptops had different prices when shipping from Dell with Windows or Linux installed. The trial/crapware on the Windows system - those vendors pay Dell a couple of bucks per install to get eyeballs in front of them. No such thing on the Linux side. So the Linux laptops were $50 or so more than the same hardware with a Windows install on it.
Re: (Score:2)
that's... interesting, but not my experience. I don't know what Dell did to fuck up their pricing model so much but when I built for Linux the hardware was pretty much the same price if not cheaper.
Re: (Score:2)
So do like I do..Buy said Dell system, wipe Windows off it, put your distro of choice on, and if you feel the need for Windows, like a program that Wine doesn't do, make a Virtualbox VM and use the Windows key that came on your machine. You'll likely have to call the automated phone thing to get it working, but I've done it multiple times on multiple machines... Only done on Windows 7 tho... Dunno/Don't care about whether it works on 8/8.1 or 10. Yeah.. I know its against MS's precious EULA.. Don't care.. S
Re: (Score:2)
...And signal the market that everybody wants Windows and not Linux, because all it sees are the Windows laptop sales figures.
Re: (Score:2)
...And signal the market that everybody wants Windows and not Linux, because all it sees are the Windows laptop sales figures.
If you really care what "the market" - whatever you're referring to there - thinks then pay the extra for the Linux version. Obviously it has no crapware subsidies and the cost of testing is amortized over a MUCH smaller amount of sales so naturally it is going to cost more, but cheapness shouldn't be the main sell here.
Re: (Score:2)
The only setting I have personally seen covertly changed with Win 10 updates is my mouse pointer acceleration.
Seriously, it has been reverted to default speed by updates 4 times now!
Datamining settings are all as I last set them.