[spokepoker]

(08-15-2015 03:34 PM)Rom9 Wrote:  

This does mean Windows 10 will push 3D holograms that look this good. Imagine websites that are actual environments.

Like the Unix system in Jurassic Park?

[ManVsMachine]

Oh man......

The technical community isn't liking Windows 10 in the least bit - essentially almost every keystroke you type on the new machine is sent to Microsoft.

To explain on a 'meta' level, essentially Bing / Cortana integration in this new OS upgrade has permission to send your usage in the Start Menu to Microsoft - MS claims this is anonymized, but it has been proven repeatedly that correlative analysis can rather quickly distinguish users (While millions of people have computers, far fewer than you think have the same plugins/applications/browsers/geolocation/data/etc. allowing you to be identified)

From the privacy policy:

Quote:

"When you interact with your Windows device by speaking, writing (handwriting), or typing, Microsoft collects speech, inking, and typing information—including information about your Calendar and People (also known as contacts)—that helps personalize your experience. This information improves your device’s ability to correctly recognize your input, such as your pronunciation and handwriting. You can turn the Speech, inking, and typing setting (which is called Getting to know you) on or off in Settings.
Note: If you want to use Cortana, you must have Getting to know you turned on.
We also collect your typed and handwritten words to improve character recognition and provide you with a personalized user dictionary and text completion suggestions. Some of this data is stored on your device and some is sent to Microsoft to help improve these services. You can turn the Send Microsoft info about how I write setting on or off in Settings."

However, turning it off isn't as easy as you'd expect:

Even if you "deactivate" their tracking, you cannot prevent your data being sent to Microsoft from continuing. The file in question is described below:

http://arstechnica.com/information-techn...microsoft/

arstechnica Wrote:

Windows 10 uses the Internet a lot to support many of its features. The operating system also sports numerous knobs to twiddle that are supposed to disable most of these features and the potentially privacy-compromising connections that go with them.

Unfortunately for privacy advocates, these controls don't appear to be sufficient to completely prevent the operating system from going online and communicating with Microsoft's servers.

For example, even with Cortana and searching the Web from the Start menu disabled, opening Start and typing will send a request to http://www.bing.com to request a file called threshold.appcache which appears to contain some Cortana information, even though Cortana is disabled. The request for this file appears to contain a random machine ID that persists across reboots.

And the implications:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10053695

hn Wrote:

It's in the privacy policy. I didn't believe what I was reading. [B]Windows 10 is unusable for anyone handling any sensitive data. Think doctors, psychologists, anyone under an NDA.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacys...fault.aspx

Fortunately these industries are often notoriously behind on technology, so very few offices will be upgrading to Windows 10 anytime soon, I reckon.





https://thehackernews.com/2015/08/window...pying.html

thn Wrote:

In our previous articles, we raised concern about Windows 10 privacy issues, including its controversial Wi-Fi Sense feature. Also, to cope up with these issues, I provided you a one-click solution [ http://thehackernews.com/2015/08/secure-...ws-10.html ] to fix all privacy compromising features that allow Microsoft to track users.
But unfortunately, all those efforts got wasted because Microsoft still tracks you, even after you harden your Windows 10 privacy to an extreme level by disabling all privacy-infringing settings.
This time the culprits are – Cortana and Bing search.
Windows 10 features, including Cortana and Bing search, continue communicating with Microsoft's servers and sending it data, even after you turned the features off.
A Technical Analysis done by Ars showed that even when you tell Microsoft to not to make any Internet-related inquiries by changing various privacy settings, it appears that Windows 10 still communicate with the software giant's servers for different information.

The shadiest part about all of this was that Windows 10 was a free upgrade from certain older versions. Well, any Economist would tell you "TINSTAFL," which means There Is No Such Thing As Free Lunch. Your hidden cost is your data being sent over unencryptedchannels to Microsoft. To get a bit more technical, this will also present a security vulnerability as a third party could attack using man in the middle to retrieve this unencrypted data.

I don't recommend this upgrade - due to massive privacy concerns. If privacy is something you care about, do not upgrade to Windows 10, or switch to a different operating system. If W10 has some features you need, and for some of you this might be the case, I'd highly suggest partitioning your Hard Drive, installing a different Operating System (there are numerous tools available for this) and only using the Windows partition only when you need it.

[MikeS]

Is it even possible to use personalized and often efficient features of modern technologies without silently or explicitly consenting to sharing a hell of a lot of data that can potentially be cause for "privacy concerns"?

My technological life is made at least somewhat more convenient by Google knowing - by tracking my habits and reading my emails - where I live (including where I'm temporarily staying during a vacation), when my plane is leaving and whether it's on time, how I get from the airport to the hotel, which additional articles may be pertinent to a topic I'm currently reading, offering me free unlimited cloud storage of all the photos and videos I shoot with my smartphone. And assorted other more or less helpful features by Google as well as some app creators and - when I upgrade to Windows 10, and probably already to some extent in Windows 7 - Microsoft.

Now I do get the major problems that blatant security issues like lacking data encryption can potentially cause for the individual user (though I severely doubt targeted attacks is one of them, more like being unfortunate enough to be one among thousands to eg. have their credit card info stolen from an unsecured server), but personally I don't really care whether a Google robot scans my emails for flight times and hotel bookings, or even read the rest of my emails to compile a profile for targeted advertising.
I imagine there are billions of Google accounts, it's probably doubtful that Carl The Coder in Google server park no. 752 is spending his lunch break reading my personal correspondence with my aunt in Germany. Or for that matter digging out information that might help him commit fraud in my name.

I get the principle being the privacy concerns, I'm just not convinced that not caring is likely to make any difference whatsoever to most people's lives. Perhaps if you're a major public figure that anyone outside of friends and family actually give a rat's ass about. But even so - what are issues? Is Microsoft going to expose the affair that Mr. Major Politician was having with that hooker he sent an email to from his MS email account?
Or are hackers going to intercept incriminating information between Mr. M. P.'s Windows 10 laptop and the Microsoft servers? Even if that's possible it seems like there are usually more efficient - or at least alternative - ways to target individuals through their data.

[Apollo21]

Windows 10 is pretty good. It actually makes you more productive once you make the transition.

Although I do admit it is easier to install on a brand new laptop than a machine you've
had for a while.

[ManVsMachine]

(08-16-2015 03:29 PM)MikeS Wrote:  

Is it even possible to use personalized and often efficient features of modern technologies without silently or explicitly consenting to sharing a hell of a lot of data that can potentially be cause for "privacy concerns"?

My technological life is made at least somewhat more convenient by Google knowing - by tracking my habits and reading my emails - where I live (including where I'm temporarily staying during a vacation), when my plane is leaving and whether it's on time, how I get from the airport to the hotel, which additional articles may be pertinent to a topic I'm currently reading, offering me free unlimited cloud storage of all the photos and videos I shoot with my smartphone. And assorted other more or less helpful features by Google as well as some app creators and - when I upgrade to Windows 10, and probably already to some extent in Windows 7 - Microsoft.

Now I do get the major problems that blatant security issues like lacking data encryption can potentially cause for the individual user (though I severely doubt targeted attacks is one of them, more like being unfortunate enough to be one among thousands to eg. have their credit card info stolen from an unsecured server), but personally I don't really care whether a Google robot scans my emails for flight times and hotel bookings, or even read the rest of my emails to compile a profile for targeted advertising.
I imagine there are billions of Google accounts, it's probably doubtful that Carl The Coder in Google server park no. 752 is spending his lunch break reading my personal correspondence with my aunt in Germany. Or for that matter digging out information that might help him commit fraud in my name.

I get the principle being the privacy concerns, I'm just not convinced that not caring is likely to make any difference whatsoever to most people's lives. Perhaps if you're a major public figure that anyone outside of friends and family actually give a rat's ass about. But even so - what are issues? Is Microsoft going to expose the affair that Mr. Major Politician was having with that hooker he sent an email to from his MS email account?
Or are hackers going to intercept incriminating information between Mr. M. P.'s Windows 10 laptop and the Microsoft servers? Even if that's possible it seems like there are usually more efficient - or at least alternative - ways to target individuals through their data.

Great post mate.


Let me begin by saying the reason why major tech companies are increasingly infringing upon our privacy is because the general public says nothing, and this is primarily because they have such a profound lack of understanding of the architecture. You don't have to be a UNIX-environment superuser who knows the intricacies of reverse engineering software and assembly language to have a general understanding with whats going on with your computer, and how your computer "talks" to the rest of the world!

Because the cultural zietgeist tends to trend toward 1-3 different tech "giants" people tend to miss the fact that there are other equally efficient technologies, or that there are available patterns of usage that do respect your privacy. Unfortunately, with Windows 10, Microsoft has clearly strayed away from caring about its users, however, like I said in the original post, there's nothing wrong with going OS X or Linux and having greater control over your privacy and being able to boot into Windows as needed.

Linux is still the best when it comes to having full control over your computer - you can choose a distribution like Ubuntu which is very user friendly and still respects your privacy. Software developers across the world are also increasingly supporting Linux as well as OSX/Windows.

Apple, while they have their own privacy concerns, now absolutely gives you more control over what you share as opposed to Google/MS products - although to be fair, its hard to remove yourself off the grid entirely.


WRT Google - I completely respect your opinion, but I've found it to cause issues. I travel a lot, and make sure to go abroad at least 1-2 times per year minimum. I've often had my Google accounts banned when it finds me in a different IP - most recently I was in Mexico a few months ago, and I essentially couldn't log into my accounts until I made it back to the USA, unless I had either contacted CSR or tried to it validated through my phone which would have been blocked on the Provider level because I was roaming.
I opened up a protonmail account (protonmail.ch), and have never looked back. My Gmail is now used solely for corporate spam.
Unfortunately, in my opinion again, the "tailored for you" searching has steadily turned Google into a less useful search engine than I like. Now, the front pages are often rife with advertisements and less useful content if I'd like to search something NEW.
One expert calls it the "Filter Bubble" - in tailoring results for *you*, you end up missing out on other content you have not discovered yet. See more about it here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_bew...anguage=en
I must insist that this part is definitely my opinion, and you're certainly free to like their tracking in "tailored for you" content!

Targeted attacks are often started by spear phishing, and someone like you(maybe, I don't know your career) or myself don't have as much to worry about as Roosh would....Especially with the Canadian media having him in the crosshairs. ""hey Roosh, download this PDF (which contains malicious executables that your antivirus won't pick up)!"" Should you change careers or change your path in life to become a more desirable target for whatever reason, it will inevitably become a concern for you all of a sudden. So why not preemptively protect your ass now?
For example, research institutions are huge targets to state-sponsored Chinese and Russian hackers. I hate to break it to you, but Carl the Coder doesn't really give a shit about yours or my data.....right now. Whats to say you become a person of interest to them later as you progress through your life?

A relative of mine is in childrens medicine, of all things, and his hospital is often the target of network related attacks, which is downright repulsive, but its a reality he faces every couple weeks.

And it does come into issue with HIPAA/PCI/etc. Compliance when Microsoft now has your sensitive data on your local filesystem. This has malpractice written all over it.


Is the all powerful Cloud™ really that useful, or are USB 3.0 drives / LAN / SFTP, the former of two which require no network connection better for sharing your files across devices? I guess thats up to your opinion, but for me, I'm fully aware of the vulnerabilities that iCloud/Dropbox/etc have (Hello, Jennifer Lawrence nudes!), and I don't have to worry about any corporation having access to the pictures I have of lovely ladies I have known and loved.

Every single additional access point created to secretly share your data with corporates is also a newly added attack vector.



Finally, and most importantly, the one small part on your post that I did find a bit misguided:
"I'm just not convinced that not caring is likely to make any difference whatsoever to most people's lives."
It makes a world of difference, actually. Just 10 years ago, the software companies you trusted weren't injecting your browser with cookies that you can't delete, and filling your harddrive with malware. Even the free market struggles when certain companies are given a pass over others.

We are very blessed that Net Neutrality was recently passed into law, because otherwise, your Network providers would have throttled your connection to certain sites on the Internet. And, mark my words, the "Manosphere" sites we frequent WOULD get throttled at some point, as the general public considers it hate speech. If net neutrality advocates didn't care, the Internet as we know it would already be, and increasingly become, a completely different place.
http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/08/...peeds.html (a big win for net neutrality advocates, but their fight is not over yet)
Do you know why they begin to take these affordances? Because no one acted.

I leave you with this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...

[Cobra]

Is being a "beta tester" beta?

[MikeS]

(08-16-2015 06:03 PM)ManVsMachine Wrote:  

...

WRT Google - I completely respect your opinion, but I've found it to cause issues. I travel a lot, and make sure to go abroad at least 1-2 times per year minimum. I've often had my Google accounts banned when it finds me in a different IP - most recently I was in Mexico a few months ago, and I essentially couldn't log into my accounts until I made it back to the USA, unless I had either contacted CSR or tried to it validated through my phone which would have been blocked on the Provider level because I was roaming...

That's something I have never experienced - neither with any of my Android smartphones over the last ~5 years or prior to that when my primary account related Google use was just email.
No matter where I've traveled (well, except for China and their hyper-restrictive internet) and how many IPs in hotels, apartments, cafés or 3G sim cards from multiple providers I've connected from, I've never had my Google accounts blocked. At most they've asked me upon login - a few times over the years, been a while so I can't remember the details - to verify it with a code sent in a text message to the phone number tied to my account (and in case of a lost phone or changed number, I believe there were automated ways around that with alternative verification methods).

If they regularly banned Google accounts you'd expect that a lot of travelers would flee from Android to iPhone. An Android phone without an active Google account is fairly crippled (hey there again China!).

Anyway, back to Windows 10 and Microsoft...

[ManVsMachine]

(08-16-2015 06:54 PM)MikeS Wrote:  

(08-16-2015 06:03 PM)ManVsMachine Wrote:  

...

WRT Google - I completely respect your opinion, but I've found it to cause issues. I travel a lot, and make sure to go abroad at least 1-2 times per year minimum. I've often had my Google accounts banned when it finds me in a different IP - most recently I was in Mexico a few months ago, and I essentially couldn't log into my accounts until I made it back to the USA, unless I had either contacted CSR or tried to it validated through my phone which would have been blocked on the Provider level because I was roaming...

That's something I have never experienced - neither with any of my Android smartphones over the last ~5 years or prior to that when my primary account related Google use was just email.
No matter where I've traveled (well, except for China and their hyper-restrictive internet) and how many IPs in hotels, apartments, cafés or 3G sim cards from multiple providers I've connected from, I've never had my Google accounts blocked. At most they've asked me upon login - a few times over the years, been a while so I can't remember the details - to verify it with a code sent in a text message to the phone number tied to my account (and in case of a lost phone or changed number, I believe there were automated ways around that with alternative verification methods).

If they regularly banned Google accounts you'd expect that a lot of travelers would flee from Android to iPhone. An Android phone without an active Google account is fairly crippled (hey there again China!).

Anyway, back to Windows 10 and Microsoft...

I believe it's actually the other way around. I'm an iPhone user - they have no way to validate who I am other than commonly used IPs and geolocation. I didn't use their App, either. So understandably, they see some random IP accessing my account, it sets off some red flags with them. Your android device's device ID is already with them, thats how they know its you.

[brob]

Privacy issues and data collection aside, I like the Windows 10 layout better than Windows 8.

Cortana seems cool.

The start bar is back with improvements to its look. I don't really recall doing this, but apparently all my current iPhone pictures are now synced with the Microsoft photos application. And when you click on the start bar, you'll see a small photos icon that gives you a slideshow of the photos currently in the app. So It was to my great surprise when I clicked on the start bar and off to the side saw a slideshow of all the nudes currently in my phone.

[Vice]

(08-16-2015 07:09 PM)ManVsMachine Wrote:  

(08-16-2015 06:54 PM)MikeS Wrote:  

(08-16-2015 06:03 PM)ManVsMachine Wrote:  

...

WRT Google - I completely respect your opinion, but I've found it to cause issues. I travel a lot, and make sure to go abroad at least 1-2 times per year minimum. I've often had my Google accounts banned when it finds me in a different IP - most recently I was in Mexico a few months ago, and I essentially couldn't log into my accounts until I made it back to the USA, unless I had either contacted CSR or tried to it validated through my phone which would have been blocked on the Provider level because I was roaming...

That's something I have never experienced - neither with any of my Android smartphones over the last ~5 years or prior to that when my primary account related Google use was just email.
No matter where I've traveled (well, except for China and their hyper-restrictive internet) and how many IPs in hotels, apartments, cafés or 3G sim cards from multiple providers I've connected from, I've never had my Google accounts blocked. At most they've asked me upon login - a few times over the years, been a while so I can't remember the details - to verify it with a code sent in a text message to the phone number tied to my account (and in case of a lost phone or changed number, I believe there were automated ways around that with alternative verification methods).

If they regularly banned Google accounts you'd expect that a lot of travelers would flee from Android to iPhone. An Android phone without an active Google account is fairly crippled (hey there again China!).

Anyway, back to Windows 10 and Microsoft...

I believe it's actually the other way around. I'm an iPhone user - they have no way to validate who I am other than commonly used IPs and geolocation. I didn't use their App, either. So understandably, they see some random IP accessing my account, it sets off some red flags with them. Your android device's device ID is already with them, thats how they know its you.

Do you have 2-factor authentication enabled? I do and I've never been locked out of my account (accessed it from plenty of different IPs).

[kbell]

There was a false report going around that Windows 10 could disable pirated games. However knowing microsoft this could still happen in the future.

[BBinger]

(08-16-2015 06:03 PM)ManVsMachine Wrote:  

Let me begin by saying the reason why major tech companies are increasingly infringing upon our privacy is because the general public says nothing, and this is primarily because they have such a profound lack of understanding of the architecture. You don't have to be a UNIX-environment superuser who knows the intricacies of reverse engineering software and assembly language to have a general understanding with whats going on with your computer, and how your computer "talks" to the rest of the world!

Because the cultural zietgeist tends to trend toward 1-3 different tech "giants" people tend to miss the fact that there are other equally efficient technologies, or that there are available patterns of usage that do respect your privacy. Unfortunately, with Windows 10, Microsoft has clearly strayed away from caring about its users, however, like I said in the original post, there's nothing wrong with going OS X or Linux and having greater control over your privacy and being able to boot into Windows as needed.

Linux is still the best when it comes to having full control over your computer - you can choose a distribution like Ubuntu which is very user friendly and still respects your privacy. Software developers across the world are also increasingly supporting Linux as well as OSX/Windows.

...

There is a lot of strange at the CPU level and in other peripheral devices that makes "complete mastery" an impossible goal for even the most dedicated computer super people if they accept anything made after 1990. I've had conversations with people who played with Symbolics Lisp machines who felt they got close on that platform, but economics is a bitch. Once you make the jump from the intel 486 to the original pentium though problems get hard.

Linux is not a panacea without further learning about what's going on that makes it tick. Most linux is a definite improvement over Windows and a certain improvement over newer versions of Apple's OSX and Google's Android (the reasons why Android is not a linux are beyond this thread). A number of more popular flavors of linux including Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise, and Debian in their latest incarnations have serious problems.

For people who want to leave Microsoft for a *nix type system it takes work. Not as in "will the things I use now work" but instead "How do I actually end up doing things better than I did before." It is a very personal decision and it takes time. Moving from a commercial operating system can be rewarding, but it takes an investment in time and reading to actually have a positive difference.

The two unixy operating systems I recommend to people contemplating a switch are OpenBSD and Gentoo in that order. OpenBSD has far better documentation. Gentoo is building you operating from toothpicks, but if you do it a certain way more creature comforts "just work." Neither of these options though are "easy" without doing some learning. Don't do the learning on your only computer, get something cheap or get a second hard drive to learn on. Many Open Source SJW equivalents will try to convince you to nuke everything and install ubuntu, that is as irresponsible as fuck.

As my time allows I will make myself available to people here who want help trying out OpenBSD. For people leaning toward Gentoo because it is linux you will have to find people who use that. It may be after exposure to these thing you decide WIndows on the desktop is fine, but you want to unix up your router. It is a decision, men have to decide on their own.

Having made the jump to Unix earlier I truly sympathize with people wanting to abandon Windows now. I'd just like to caution people against abandoning windows in a stupid way.

[BBinger]

(08-17-2015 09:02 PM)kbell Wrote:  

There was a false report going around that Windows 10 could disable pirated games. However knowing microsoft this could still happen in the future.

At the moment that rumor is neither true nor false. No, they haven't yet. Yes they totally could.

[IvanDrago]

(08-16-2015 06:16 PM)Cobra Wrote:  

Is being a "beta tester" beta?

[spokepoker]

Does windows 10 need to be online? Would it even install on an internet-less computer?
Or is this like the xbox one where it need to be online at least once a day? -from what I heard, don't know if that is true.

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

I couldn't believe this at first, but the links under the video lead to legit sources.

Collecting your data and sharing it with government security agencies???
Sharing your WiFi connection with your Skype and Facebook friends???
Recording your voice, keystrokes and direct app usage data and storing it on Microsoft's servers???

How is that not a massive invasion of privacy? If any program did that, it would be classified as a severe malware/rootkit.

This is like something out of Brave New World, where mass surveillance actually comes out in the open and most people just roll along with it because they are too busy gathering likes...

[Phoenix]

At some point is the Windows 10 nag dialog going to stop popping up on my current windows? They really need to include a "fuck off permanently" button on those things.

[The Beast1]

(08-16-2015 01:11 AM)spokepoker Wrote:  

(08-15-2015 03:34 PM)Rom9 Wrote:  

This does mean Windows 10 will push 3D holograms that look this good. Imagine websites that are actual environments.

Like the Unix system in Jurassic Park?

Don't laugh, that GUI application was real!

It was a Silicon Graphics workstation (using IRIX, the SGI System V based Unix) running a three dimensional file system browser. The app itself was called "FSN".

Here's an open source app that achieves the same functionality.

[kbell]

To get rid of nagging, click on the up arrow in tray icon. Select customize on the window that pops up, its at the bottom of the window. Look for a windows icon which says GWX I believe. Under behavior next to it select hide icons and notifications. It should disappear after that.

[Rawmeo]

DTS interactive doesn't work using optical S/PDIF optical exit. It's a W10 bug that is now unfixed for months.

[Malo]

My 2c on upgrading to Win10:

- If you use Win8.x:
Definitely upgrade, basically little to lose and much to gain. But wait a bit for some bugs and incompatibilities to be ironed out.

- If you use Win7:
The interface is quite different, it's nicer but much less straight forward imo. Basically your desktop computer starts to feel like your phone/tablet, that's not a good thing for productivity. So I would stick with Win7 and would install Win10 on a VM if you want to fiddle around with it for whatever reasons.

- If you use Apple/Linux:
I guess there is no way to convert you.

- If you use WinXP or below:
You're a creep.

[EvanWilson]

Upgrading to Windows 10

DON'T DO IT! You WILL be sorry!

I agree with an earlier poster, if you MUST upgrade, go Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit. Forget about Windows 8 or 10.

I am on XP now and the only reason I am going to Windows 7 next summer, is because TurboTax 2016 will not run on Windows XP as already annouced by Intuit; otherwise I would stay on XP.

[iop890]

I refuse to use anything newer than Windows 98.

[ManVsMachine]

The update I mention below was put out *AFTER* my post above.... Further validating some of the backlash against W10.

I would also warn people who happily use Windows 7/8 who care AGAINST downloading the following updates - essentially they add many (but not all) of the privacy jeopardizing features of the new Windows 10:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075249
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/3080149

Microsoft Wrote:

"This article describes an update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1."

They are "optional" updates, but your machine will offer it as an available update.


For people unaware:

* consent.exe is a normal process run by Windows OS to ask for your permission before performing updates. It's important, it has been around for ages and you don't want to remove this.
* Telemetry is the feature in question which continually contacts Microsoft for the purposes of "Customer Service"


Below is a list of ALL the recent updates to earlier OS's which include telemetry (I would avoid all of them - but it is up to you at the end of the day):

HN Wrote:

kb3075249 - "...adds telemetry points..." (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075249)
kb3080149 - "...Telemetry tracking service..." (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080149)
kb3068708 - "...Telemetry tracking service..." (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3068708)
kb2976978 - "...performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program..." (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2976978)
kb3021917 - "...Telemetry is sent back to Microsoft..." (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3021917)
kb3035583 - "...installs the Get Windows 10 app..." (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583)
kb2952664 - "...ease the upgrade experience to the latest version of Windows..." (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2952664)

(08-23-2015 12:46 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

How is that not a massive invasion of privacy? If any program did that, it would be classified as a severe malware/rootkit.

Well mate, it *IS* a massive invasion of privacy. And their attempts to spread it to Windows 7/8 should make it all the more clear.





And finally, the implications:

* Torrent trackers are now BANNING users of Windows 10 from their services. This is because a Windows 10 user jeopardizes *everyone* who seeds torrents to the user in question to be banned.

It will only be a matter of time before the bans move to Windows 7/8 users - now I *hope* it will detect if you have the telemetry updates, but I doubt it.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/24/torre...indows-10/

above article Wrote:

Windows 10 is facing some fierce resistance from a few of the most dedicated torrenting communities. As TorrentFreak reports, the private torrent tracker iTS has banned its members from using the operating system over what it considers to be "terrible" new anti-privacy policies. These stem largely from a new Microsoft services agreement which covers select Windows 10 apps and services such as Cortana, Skype and Xbox Live: "We may automatically check your version of the software and download software updates or configuration changes, including those that prevent you from accessing the Services, playing counterfeit games, or using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices."

Many fear this passage will allow Microsoft to scan and ban Windows 10 users from playing pirated games and, perhaps, using modded controllers. While that hasn't come to fruition just yet, the fear alone seems to have put many piracy enthusiasts on edge. iTS says it's worried Microsoft will now monitor "the contents of your local disks" and share them directly with MarkMonitor, a partnered anti-piracy company. To combat the perceived privacy intrusions, it's decided to ban Windows 10 entirely for now. Furthermore, according to TorrentFreak, fellow torrent trackers BB and FSC are considering the same. It's probably just a case of privacy paranoia -- once the services agreement is explained in greater detail, we suspect these groups will become a little more receptive to the OS.

More to follow....

[ColSpanker]

I just wanted to chime in on this thread and let everyone know that I attempted to upgrade my Sony laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 10 two days ago and it immediately crashed. This was from the "free" upgrade MS was offering. Now I find out that Sony has issued a warning to a lot of Sony laptop users saying Windows 10 may not work on some Sony products. Would have been nice to know in advance...The damn repair bill is going to run me $200 but somehow I don't think Bill Gates will be reimbursing me the cash.