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Windows Microsoft Operating Systems Build

New Windows 11 Test Build Wants Your Credit Card Info (pcworld.com) 148

Microsoft's latest Windows 11 test build is another substantial one, adding two important features: payment information, and a new security feature called Smart App Control that will watch over new apps and games that you add to your PC. PCWorld reports: Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22567 for the Dev Channel on Wednesday with other changes, tooâ"including a tweak to Windows Update, so that now you can configure your PC to turn on an update when renewable energy is at its most plentiful. (Remember, code that Microsoft tests within the Dev Channel may make its way to your PC eventually -- or not.)

Asking for credit-card information within Windows isn't that startling, as you've probably already entered payment information into the Microsoft ecosystem either for buying apps or movies on the Microsoft Store app or for making similar purchases via your Xbox. Still, those transactions are normally performed via your Microsoft Account web page, which manages all of that online and behind the scenes. (You can reach them via the Windows 11 Settings > Accounts > Your Microsoft account.) Microsoft considers the additional credit-card info as part of the subscription option it added last month. Now, if your subscription risks falling through because of an expired credit card, Microsoft will alert you. Conceptually, however, it implies that your PC is as much a tool to make purchases as it is to simply work and game.

Another interesting addition is what Microsoft calls Smart App Control, or SAC. Microsoft describes it as a "new security feature for Windows 11 that blocks untrusted or potentially dangerous applications." What those applications are, apparently, is up to Microsoft. And yes, there's always a concern that SAC would flag otherwise innocuous applications that it simply hasn't seen before. But Microsoft is gently easing SAC onto your PC. For one thing, you'll need to perform a clean install to enable it. For another, SAC won't immediately insert itself.
Other tweaks and changes include the ability to have Windows update your PC when clean energy is more commonly available (via Microsoft's partners electricityMap or WattTime) and better integration between your Android phone and PC via Windows 11 OOBE (Out of the Box Experience).

Additionally, "Microsoft now offers wider availability of speech packs to improve transcription, the ability to choose a mic for dictation/ transcription, and the ability to mute your speakers by simply clicking the volume icon in the hardware indicator for volume," reports PCWorld.
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New Windows 11 Test Build Wants Your Credit Card Info

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  • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

    No, no, no, no.

  • lol What?!@?! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Aighearach ( 97333 ) on Thursday March 03, 2022 @05:21AM (#62321531)

    you've probably already entered payment information into the Microsoft ecosystem

    No, actually, I probably haven't.

    I would sooner write my own operating system than give one my CC information. Luckily, there are lots of operating systems that respect me and don't even ask for that shit.

    • Where they once failed with Windows 8 and Windows Phone, Microsoft are repositioning themselves once again to compete with Android tablets and iPads, which shove an app delivery system one's throat.

      If anything then, they're late to the party.

      Nevertheless, such a payment system should be opt-in. They haven't mandated financial details on the store app I have on Windows 10 and I wouldn't expect so unless I went to purchase something.

      • Or...

        OS Subscriptions will be arriving soon.
        For the small sum of only $9.95/month (+ tax) you can keep access to your files. It would be a shame if you lost access to all those cat photos now wouldn't it?

        • I hope so! That'll get the masses to try Linux.
          • Re: lol What?!@?! (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Tom ( 822 ) on Thursday March 03, 2022 @07:53AM (#62321849) Homepage Journal

            I hope so! That'll get the masses to try Linux.

            We thought that a million times over the past decades. I think mandatory root canals every time you boot the system, plus an automated anal dildo rape when you log on wouldn't be enough.

            • Most people buy computers, not OS'. The sales rep will tell them that's how computers work now. They might not like it but they won't know they have a choice. Microsoft knows that.
            • I hope so! That'll get the masses to try Linux.

              We thought that a million times over the past decades.

              The smart among us don't really care how others choose to wast their time and money. That was the weirdest thing about the year of linux on the desktop BS.

              Bragging rights for people who get happyboners over being number 1.

            • an automated anal dildo rape when you log on wouldn't be enough.

              Some people would pay extra for that feature.

          • by TTL0 ( 546351 )

            yes !! It's finally the year if the Linux desktop !!!!

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's interesting (to me) that off all the major operating systems, Windows is the only one that hasn't had much success with paid app stores.

      Android, iOS and MacOS all have app stores with sales in the billions, raking in nice profits for their owners. On Windows you have app stores like Steam that are very popular.

      Yet for some reason Microsoft just can't make the Windows Store happen. Nobody wants their apps and movies.

      In theory it might even be the better option, in that you only have to give Microsoft yo

      • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        It's interesting (to me) that off all the major operating systems, Windows is the only one that hasn't had much success with paid app stores.

        Android, iOS and MacOS all have app stores with sales in the billions, raking in nice profits for their owners. On Windows you have app stores like Steam that are very popular.

        Yet for some reason Microsoft just can't make the Windows Store happen. Nobody wants their apps and movies.

        I think that's false, actually.

        the macOS App Store isn't a success. It's middling to mod

    • by Ormy ( 1430821 )
      Luckily it's not that difficult to download a pirate copy of windows 10/11 enterprise, strip out all the shit you don't need (edge, onedrive, MS store, Xbox stuff, just for starters) and carry on like you would have with Win7/XP, no hassle from MS. And if you also disable the automatic updates MS can never break your PC (standalone security updates can be downloaded from MS update catalog and installed manually once others have verified it doesn't break anything). I don't know why more gamers don't do thi
      • I was surprised to find that on Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC, the Xbox service was installed and ran on startup by default. Fortunately it wasn't locked down necessitating a giant fight against the OS to turn it off and could just be disabled, but why? (It doesn't come with Edge, OneDrive, or MS Store... hell yes!)

        Other than that and the absolute nightmare they made fully disabling Windows Defender and forced reboots after updates... LTSC is amazing. I've got a consumer version on a laptop, and all the shov
  • by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Thursday March 03, 2022 @05:35AM (#62321579)

    " as you've probably already entered payment information into the Microsoft ecosystem either for buying apps or movies on the Microsoft Store app or for making similar purchases via your Xbox."

    I'd never do that in my life, not being insane.

    • by thomst ( 1640045 )

      nospam007 quoted:

      " as you've probably already entered payment information into the Microsoft ecosystem either for buying apps or movies on the Microsoft Store app or for making similar purchases via your Xbox."

      The quote you selected is from a PCWorld story on the Insider Preview edition of Windows 11.

      Need I say more ... ?

    • Why not? What makes you think MS is less trustworthy with your CC than literally every idiot on the planet running a webshop where you voluntarily enter your CC info.

      Also it's your CC. It's not important and you're not liable for what MS does with it. Keep a level head mate.

  • by scdeimos ( 632778 ) on Thursday March 03, 2022 @05:39AM (#62321595)

    Microsoft considers the additional credit-card info as part of the subscription option it added last month.

    Is Windows 11 a subscription-based operating system? ++glad I'm not in the Microsoft operating system universe any more.

    • No it isn't.
      br.Not yet, anyway.
    • No. But MS do have subscription services which can be integrated into Windows 11. And since you can manage your Microsoft account from the account pane in Windows 11 it's kind of a strange omission that you haven't been able to manage your payment info for things such as Onedrive or Office365 so far.

      Incidentally this isn't too different from any company that simultaneously offers both an OS as well as a paid for service.

  • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

    SAC is the bigger problem. Microsoft is pushing for the world where it gets to decide what you can run on your PC.

  • The article says that the credit card info is asked for, it does not say what happens if you do not enter something.

    What do you do if you do not have a credit card ?

    • You can generate creditcard numbers online. Of course they do not work for payments. But it is fun to see what happens when you enter these on phishing sites.
      These probably will not work with large companies like Microsoft.
      • Yes, I can imagine every computer user knows about this, and has access to this CC number generation tool. /s

        As it is there are many areas which don't have proper internet access (And Windows 11 must have internet access to setup now it seems, from a previous story), I assume there will be lesser people with a credit card number around.

  • Apple Pay on the web. You can store cards on your Mac and pay using TouchID. Nothing earth-shattering here.
    • As with everything else, we need to know the details. I've moving some people (kicking and screaming) off of Windows 8.1 and some to Windows 11. I think that it's not really transparent, or at least not clear to the layman how to stay private.

      Compared to Apple (as an example - hey, at least it's not a car analogy, right?):Apple is very clear about iCloud, when and what is being shared between devices or saved.

      For now, at least, the App store on the mac can be completely separate from device sync etc.

      B
      • Compared to Apple (as an example - hey, at least it's not a car analogy, right?):Apple is very clear about iCloud, when and what is being shared between devices or saved.

        This. I have some things saved in icloud, and most not. Saving images to any place other than on your own devices is foolish.

        Browser security and browser privacy are clearly laid out as different things Privacy settings are all in one place in the Mac - I had to play hide-and-seek with Windows' disjointed configuration areas.

        And I've had Windows 10 come in and reset those privacy settings with updates. And not in a privacy direction.

        I'll admit to a 'bias of trust' towards Apple because: Almost every change has had a dire public outcry (if only here on /.) which has usually followed by a clarification or change of policy. They don't own a search engine. They've 'put their foot in it' by saying they value their customers' privacy (on some things) so IF they violate that trust, they're gonna get gutted. They're better at explaining WHY they ask for things.

        And they have a lot less "mystery" stuff emanating from your computer if you check it out with wireshark. Just sayin'.

        So, in short (TOO LATE!), I agree - this is probably nothing, and so far I like Win11 (for windows) if they were clearer about things, it would go a long way to earn trust.

        I've been using W11 on a new computer, and so far it's been okay. It's facial recognition has worked well too. But I like the olf "Trust but verify" doctrine

    • by King_TJ ( 85913 )

      Not to try to spark *another* silly Mac vs PC war here.... but seems to me Apple's implementation is far better than what Microsoft is offering?

      Basically, Apple took an interest in direct involvement with secure payment systems, so they built hardware into their devices to securely store your card info for their "Apple Pay" service. In fact, they're never even transmitting your actual card data for a transaction. They just send secure tokens associated with the original so the bank can verify and authorize

      • by mccalli ( 323026 )
        Completely agree. I was more addressing the apparent surprise that an OS feature might be interested in a credit card. Implementation details..yep, sounds much more standard account-with-a-website to me than the Apple version.
  • by AndyKron ( 937105 ) on Thursday March 03, 2022 @06:47AM (#62321723)
    Well fuck ya they want your credit card number, what operating system doesn't? Sheesh!
    • by jmccue ( 834797 )

      Joking Right ? I am sure you can answer your question, if not why are you here :)

      No mods points or you would get modded funny

      • Is he? I mean iOS and Android both want credit card information. On windows so far this has been relegated to the browser but there's really no reason to do that, not when you also need to use it in the Microsoft store and pay for services such as Office365. And given you can already manage your Microsoft account from the settings panel it's a strange omission that we haven't entered CC data in the OS yet.

        • by jmccue ( 834797 )

          He asked "what operating system doesn't" want your Credit Card Number. You cannot think of any ? :) I know of at least four plus many built using the same kernel (a hint).

          Thus me asking if he was joking.

    • The ones you never paid anyone for including the manufacturer of you PC ...

      OS's should not cost money, and definitely should not cost money to use

      Applications should not cost much, and definitely should not cost money to use

      Services cost money ... but not much and should be optional - this is why MS are pushing SaaS

  • Asking for credit-card information within Windows isn't that startling, as you've probably already entered payment information into the Microsoft ecosystem either for buying apps or movies on the Microsoft Store app or for making similar purchases via your Xbox

    Nope. And I never will.

    Who does MS think its users are? I have never felt the need to go to the Microsoft Store. Nor do I have, or ever intend to use, an Xbox and neither does anyone else in this household.
    I will never hand over my credit card details, it seems far too easy to inadvertently click on what looks like an innocuous link only to find you have purchased something and cannot cancel it. Making it "easier" to buy stuff sounds like marketing-talk for trapping users into buying crap they neither ne

  • Not something that I want.

    That said, if I used a lot of MS services, no different really from having my card on file with Amazon or any other vendor. (Or than letting my browser store it, which millions do.)

  • From the PCWorld quote :

    you've probably already entered payment information into the Microsoft ecosystem either for buying apps or movies on the Microsoft Store app or for making similar purchases via your Xbox

    No I fucking well have not! Who the hell does PCWorld think they are talking to?

  • -update your PC when clean energy is more commonly available-

    That'll be interesting, considering I'm off-grid. Can I turn that feature off, seeing as how it's irrelevant for me? Seems that there'll be some kind of communication between the OS and an external provider of energy consumption data for that to work. No thanks, it's my business to manage energy consumption. Just another item in the pihole blocklist.

    Just who do they employ to come up with these ideas? How about an operating system that doesn't ma

  • If this is a requirement I'm out

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      You can get one-time credit card numbers that are not tied to your identity. But still, looks like MS has a bad case of thinking they can inflict whatever they want on the users. To be fair, on many users they can.

  • I'm getting really, really tired of Microsoft pushing their ecosystem on me and doing things with my computers without my knowledge. I tried to open a Windows 11 laptop the other day and it blocked me from opening the desktop until I figured out how to "Skip For Now" logging in with a Microsoft Account. This screen makes it seem like you have no choice and must login with one, until you hit Back and then it says "Skip For Now", which means it will do it again later.

    I also have had it up to here with their u

    • Windows 10 tricks you with group policies. The option you think disables forced rebooting just disables forced rebooting during 'active hours'. You cannot set 'active hours' to 24h; it will just update on the boundary. No, the only way to disable forced reboots (without nuking 'security' updates entirely) is to open Windows, System32, Tasks, Microsoft, Windows, UpdateOrchestrator then rename 'Reboot', and finally create an empty folder named Reboot. That successfully broke their forced reboot bullshit for m
      • Thanks for that. I'll have to make that change.

        I think the biggest thing I hate is how deep they've embedded the Windows Store and App frameworks and such into the OS. I was putting together an image for new staff desktop PC's here at work, and I thought I'd be clever and strip all the junk out of the OS to make it less intrusive and annoying for our employees. That came back to bite me in the ass when we started getting tickets about Windows PCs crashing and bootlooping after updates when they'd fail becau

  • by TractorBarry ( 788340 ) on Thursday March 03, 2022 @10:06AM (#62322191) Homepage

    Everything I read about Widows 11 just makes me think what utter crap it is. It's simply no longer an operating system.. It's now a badly made consumer device like some sort of retarded Fisher Price kids toy.

    Personally I've got a Windows 10 desktop (LTSC) and a Windows 7 laptop (Pro) which I use to run my music prgrams. All my other personal compuers now run Linux (a server, a media centre, an old desktop, and an old laptop). Plus I've got an Apple powerbook and a Surface pro issued by my workplace. The only desktop I actually like using is my Ubuntu/XFCE box and I've moved *all* my day to day stuff on to it (web browsing, email, printing, scanning, personal programming etc.)

    The Windows & Apple devices are simply an almost unusable crapfest of programs continually trying to update themselves/reboot the machine, programs continually popping up crapulent notifications I have no f**** interest in, continual stealing of focus. Not to mention when programs do get updated you usually find the UI has been butchered - especially the new trend to remove keyboard friendly UIs with bloody "click, drool" "mouse only" crap (a la Gnome).

    Quite frankly modern operating systems are turning into a total shit fest. They no longer do just what they're told, they're turning into some sort of retarded game built for people with no attention span, no ability to organise anything, and no ability to learn how the damned thing actually works.

    My Windows machines are very fast and run my audio stuff beatifully so I'll be keeping them going until either they or I die.

    Quie frankly you can stick your "modern" Windows 11 and OSX up your arse. They're utter f**** shite. I'd rather go back to ME and DOS as at least they do what they're told.

  • I don't want Microsoft to have any of my financial information. Full-stop.
  • Microsoft has gone bat-shit crazy with update scheduling. Because of forced updates, no one could use Windows for mission-critical things like a CNC machine, medical applications, real-time monitoring, etc.
    • Yep. The era of bodging a windows pc into a dedicated, long term simple task died with Win 10. Need a full domain controller and a skilled network admin to do that now.
  • Like many people here, I use a lot of open-source software, which I am sure will be inhibited at some point. Also what if Microsoft never heard of an application? Such as the one you are writing?
  • I am not one of those people who store my credit card on my computer's browser;. Obviously, you can shove your "feature" right up your Clippy ass.
  • As minorities are less likely to have access to credit cards, this looks like an attempt to disenfranchise the poor and minorities.

    I used to think that systemic racism didn't exist until I realized that Microsoft is making decisions without any thought given to how those decisions might disproportionately impact minorities. Ostensibly, this is done for "user convenience", but it has the dual effect of making it more difficult for poor people (who are often minorities) to enter the digital ecosystem.

  • "To continue with your Windows 11 installation, please supply Microsoft with 4 out of the following 6:

    [_] Your credit card (not the number, the actual card)

    [_] An arm and leg

    [_] Your first born child

    [_] Your mortgage deed

    [_] Your frontal lobe

    [_] Your high-end gaming graphics card

  • Asking for credit-card information within Windows isn't that startling, as you've probably already entered payment information into the Microsoft ecosystem either for buying apps or movies on the Microsoft Store app or for making similar purchases via your Xbox

    What are you, drunk?

  • Why the ever-loving FUCK would I give you perpetual access to any payment instrument of mine, you fucking bastards? Eat shit and die, Microsoft.
  • Windows 11 can increasingly go fuck itself.

    I know much of those things may not make it into the final product, but I'm not putting a credit card into an OS, and NO my Microsoft account doesn't have payment info on it.

    Looks like I bought a brand new gaming laptop with lots of futureproofing spec at the right time. And maybe in a few years, I'll just use the VMWare licence I have to consign Windows 10 to a VM and run Linux as the main OS again (did it for 10 years, only reason I stopped was gaming, and now w

  • Microsoft you are becoming more and more irrelevant .. and business users are starting to notice - they are weaning off themselves off Excel Macros and using real databases ...

  • I may be old-fashioned, but I think operating systems getting into credit card functions is vast over-reach. While an OS should deal with security functions and perhaps have some secure identity capability, this extension further is something for applications, not things built to run code and handle files. What's next, building religion into operating systems?
  • Apple iPhones and iPads have stored this info for years, the world didn't end - now Microsoft does the same thing and it's a problem?

    It's amazing how Gates/Microsoft, Zuckerberg/Facebook, and Bezos/Amazon derangement syndrome runs rampant on this site.

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