Posted on 10/30/2015 9:06:36 PM PDT by dayglored
Microsoft's decision to push out Windows 10 upgrades as automatic Windows Update downloads is one of those ideas that sounded great in a Redmond meeting room, but will cause more problems than it solves.
Right from the get-go Microsoft has made it clear that it is looking for a very fast rollout of Windows 10. The new operating system was offered as a free upgrade for some users – a first for Microsoft – and ever since the launch, Microsoft has been hustling people to upgrade, by fair means or foul.
Earlier this month El Reg's tips inbox hit overload with readers complaining that Windows 10 was downloading itself automatically whether or not the end user had opted in or wanted to install it. For people with suddenly crammed hard drives, this was a huge pain in the backside and it caused a lot of anger.
Nowadays, if you boot up a Windows 7 or 8 system you'll see a variety of popups encouraging you to upgrade – roughly every few days, based on Vulture West's experience. These are annoying but perfectly legitimate advertising.
But deciding to make the upgrade part of the patching cycle is a grave mistake. True, it's only going to be an optional upgrade at the moment, but by early next year the pressure is going to be raised, and anyone who automatically installs recommended security patches will find themselves with a new operating system waiting to start.
And just about everyone installs recommended updates automatically because Microsoft insists on it...
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Then imagine harder. :-) There are plenty of reasons why a user might not need or want the latest and greatest release of any OS, whether Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.
The Microsoft statement quoted by Mary Jo Foley is technically correct, but disingenuous. The vast majority of Windows users will do as Microsoft says, and accept the installation of Windows 10, without having the foggiest idea what they are in for.
If you think about it, you will realize this is a simple, true, fact. A huge percentage of Windows users don't even know what version of Windows they are running, and don't know how to find out!! Consider that, and you're on your way to understanding why this issue is important.
Yes, Windows 10 is better and more secure. That's not the point here.
Speaking solely for myself, I don't do well with changes. It took me decades to manage to use a mouse with a computer and on my laptop, I don't have to; thank GOD. You do NOT want to hear the horror stories about how and what I messed up when attempting to use a mouse.
I knows/understand how to do everything I do do on my laptop and IF that process were to change, I'd be lost.
I didn't even want to go from 6 to 8,so when I got a new laptop, I got a refurbished old one, that has 7. Ergo, if having Windows 8 was going to throw me, what the bleeding hell do I need the damnedable 10 for ?
Actually, they say that their number one support question is “How do I upgrade to Windows 10?”
Microsoft Marketing wants to make that 1-Billion number, and they're even willing to upgrade the pirates to do it.
There's something really very other-worldly about this. As one who has used Microsoft software continuously since the late 1970's, I gotta say I've never seen this kind of behavior from them.
Our IT guy at work advised against W10 at the outset He said to wait. I trust him.
But eventually there will be no support for W7. Just like happened with XP...which I was perfectly happy with.
Windows 10 has Huge invasive security issues.
The more expensive Enterprise addition is only slightly better.
Microsoft, Google, Intel, Apple and other internet related tech company’s products and services will increasingly exfiltrate your personal data as per the recently passed CISA and Interagency Behavioral Analysis citizen database Executive Order.
Linux, VPN, anonymous search are probably better privacy choices to bide time til the 1st, 4th and 5th Ammendments are made null and void.
Happy Fishbowl!
Techdirt.com
Microsoft ‘Addresses’ Windows 10 Privacy Concerns By Simply Not Mentioning Most Of Them
from the delightfully-invasive dept
Since launch, Windows 10 has seen no limit of criticism for violating user privacy. Some of these concerns have been legitimate — such as the fact that the OS keeps communicating with Microsoft when core new search services like Cortana have been disabled, or that users don’t seem to have complete, transparent control over what the operating system is doing. But other complaints seem to have been based on false rumors that Windows 10 is embedded with a nefarious “keylogger” that tracks everything you type and say or is reporting your BitTorrent activity to Hollywood middlemen.
So far, Microsoft’s been dead silent on these issues for months, which hasn’t done much to defuse the situation. This week, the company decided to finally comment on user concerns in a blog post and both consumer and enterprise privacy documents that address at least some user worries. Microsoft’s Terry Myerson starts by promising that Windows 10 user data is encrypted in transit, the company isn’t scanning your files or e-mails to blast you with ads, and any data collection Microsoft is engaged in is simply the company trying to develop a “delightful” OS experience:
“We aspire to deliver a delightful and personalized Windows experience to you, which benefits from knowing some things about you to customize your experience, such as knowing whether you are a Seattle Seahawks fan or Real Madrid fan, in order to give you updates on game scores or recommend apps you might enjoy– or remembering the common words you type in text messaging conversations to provide you convenient text completion suggestions.”
Microsoft also takes a few shots at Google in the entry:
“Unlike some other platforms, no matter what privacy options you choose, neither Windows 10 nor any other Microsoft software scans the content of your email or other communications, or your files, in order to deliver targeted advertising to you.”
The problem with Microsoft’s response is largely one of omission. Sure, the OS doesn’t scan your e-mail and files for ad purposes, but you’ll note the company doesn’t really mention the OS’s ingrained search and Cortana data being used for that purpose. Microsoft also doesn’t really address why users don’t really have control over telemetry (crash) data as in previous Windows versions (the enterprise version of Windows 10 allows crash telemetry data reports to be disabled entirely, while the mainstream Home and Pro versions of Windows don’t). Ars Technica probably puts it best:
“There’s nothing new here and nothing that’s likely to convince those concerned about Windows 10’s privacy. Two classes of data are excluded—communications (including e-mail and Skype) and file contents—but everything else appears to be fair game for ad targeting. So while Cortana can’t use your e-mail to tailor ads to your interests, it appears that she could use the appointments in your calendar to do so, for example.”
Microsoft also doesn’t really address concerns about Windows 10 just being annoyingly chatty, sending numerous reports back to the Redmond mothership even when the operating system is configured to be as quiet and private as possible. The core problem with Windows 10 remains that opt-out settings remain muddy and in some cases ineffective, and it’s not really clear how a lot of the OS-collected data is being used. Microsoft’s blog post fails to really address this, though the company at least promises to start elevating the privacy conversation to the level of security-related discourse.
Granted, there’s no shortage of people who will simply never trust the company no matter how much progress is made, justifiably citing decades of bad behavior as precedent. And while it’s lovely that Microsoft’s focused on crafting a “delightful” OS experience, the refusal to give Windows 10 users total, clear control over their OS still doesn’t reflect a company that now claims to be in the vanguard of consumer privacy issues.
My IT guy told me NOT to get Windows 8 ( he knows and understands me and what I do on my laptop ) so I got one that runs 7. :-) If they stop supporting 7, I'm in a HUGE amount of trouble! :-(
LOL, of COURSE it is. (What else would they say it is?) C'mon, you forgot your /sarc tag. :-)
Actually, it might be true -- a lot of people have had trouble with the upgrade, especially from Win 8.1
I've upgraded a couple Win 7 to Win 10 with no problems, but the only 8.1 to 10 upgrade I tried failed miserably and I had to reload 8.1 fresh.
Support for Win 7 stops in 2020, and we're ALL in big trouble then. :-)
My wife is totally non-tech, she went from 98SE to XP to 7 to 10 without missing a beat. She uses the same programs she’s always used, except she is using the Edge browser, which is way better than IE (though it doesn’t support extensions yet, however, she didn’t use any so that didn’t matter).
Oh great; I'll just have to figure out something else to use for what I do then and it won't be a phone, tablet, or whatever else has a touch screen, because I can't make any of those things work for me; they're all worse than having to try to use a damned mouse!
“I don’t care what Microsoft wants or doesn’t want. My computer hardware is my personal property, bought and paid for, and the license I agreed to with their previous OS doesn’t give them the moral, ethical, or legal right to change ANY software on my property. If they do this, I hope someone sues them till they die.”
That was my thought as well. Screw these arrogant SOBs.
I don't use IE and am mostly happy with what I am using.
I have NO idea what an "extension" is and doubt that I use it.
My s-i-l ( the TECHIE expert ) attempted to get me to get me to buy an iPad. I fought him tooth and nail, so he handed me his and told me how to use it. This turned into a complete and utter FAIL on my part.
I'll NEVER read anything but a hard copy book, I still use a fountain pen to write letters and yes, do still use snail mail. I have an iPhone, which I was talked/cajoled into getting, which is turned off 99.8% of the year, as I prefer a landline. And you imagine that I will, as your wife has done, take to Windows 10 with NO problems?
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !
Finally updated last week because Microsoft was hinting that the time to update for free was running out.
First glitch? Win10 changed my logon password without asking me first. WTF??? Thought I was screwed. Couldn’t even get into my own damned computer. But guess what? Your new password is in their cloud. So you can always recover. WTF??? Big Brother’s got your back, I guess, if you like that sort of thing.
I have my laptop dual booted with Linux and Win 8.1.
I’ll be using Linux much more and Windows much less.
To each their own.
The free update offer is promised to last until July of next year (2016).
You was had.
Turned that crap off after the first update on firing up this new Win7 machine 1.5 years ago.
Strange, no problems since then. Could that mean all those "fixes" and updates were a joke or spyware?
More likely that you've just been fortunate and not encountered the situations that the fixes and patches addressed.
Yep, totally unscrupulous. They think they have us by the throat. But what they don’t realize is that there are still a lot of us out here who cut our teeth on UNIX and will drop MS for Linux at a moment’s notice, and I, for one, am on the verge.
Shoulda done that a long time ago. Amazing how much faster things run.
My wife is an illertate with PC stuff (should have gotten her a Mac laptop as for those that cannot cope) and refuses to let me turn off her automatic update thing.
So she bitches at me about her damn machine locking up like it is my fault..................
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