Posted on 07/02/2007 7:38:03 AM PDT by Salo
Linksys?
What if Vista kicked off a trace and included it with all of the other junk it sends?
With websites I agree with you. The article is about various features in Vista though. (I don't know if all the features are ones which by their nature would require net access or not.) I think including such surveilance in the operating system, the software without which your computer won't do anything, is a different case. Especially when the OS in question has such a market share that though document compatibility, app compatibility, etc, one may eventually have no practical choice whether or not to adopt the OS.
So basically if I didn’t click “No” when I set up my Vista, then MSFT can pull any sort of data they want? Hmm, I’m fairly certain I would have clicked no. Wonder if there’s a way to change it if I didn’t click no.
TIVO knows what I watch and how.
My car’s chips know how I drive.
Microsoft knows what’s on my computer and how I use it.
The grocery store ‘affiliate’ cards tracks what I eat and how much.
When they microchip my toilet, I’m outta here.
I consider my off-line stuff private.
No one should be able to search through your Word documents, personal picture files, music, other documents or financial data on your accounting software or something like that. Other than that I don't care.
Linksys?
Nope. I like Linksys products, but mine isn't.
The 192.168.x.x range is a Class B IP network that is defined to be for local networks, so it isn't routed onto the Internet directly. Every home router, AFAIK, uses that address range for automatically assigned IP addresses. It provides 64,516 usable IP addresses that can be assigned on a local network without worrying about registration.
Internet access has to be through a router which uses NAT (Network Address Translation) to provide the connection, even though the PC itself doesn't have a "legal" Internet IP. The router does.
Easier said than done.
Most users will be unable to know even where to start.
How many of these services can be permanently disabled without crippling the utility of that new computer? How would one go about doing so?
Will VISTA even allow you to use alternative means of watching videos, movies and other content deemed "protected"?
265 Vista
154 XP
Above is the laptop breakdown for operating systems at New Egg
Don't get me wrong, I have no particular fondness or allegiance to Microsoft. I just think people can take their demands for privacy too far.
That's a great comparison!
Unfortunately, most people's experience with IT departments is negative, and I know of NO ONE who ever "volunteered" to be controlled by one.
Among other things, IT departments decide:
Which sites you may visit and which not.
What utility programs you may install, if any.
IT becomes the "administrator" of your computer.
What hardware you may install and which not.
Which hardware you may replace, without facing the "you are not a legal user" nightmare...
If all this sounds inconsequential to you, knock yourself out!
Most important to me.... WHY would you want to? Why would you buy a fancy vehicle and then dismantle half of it and try to drive it around like that? Use all the alternate browsers and media players you want. I do, alongside all the MS products. Meanwhile my computer software can write home often as it wants, and MS can keep all their products up to date, without me having to do a thing.
Just like my virus checker does, automatically.
Just like my Mozilla browser does... automatically.
It's just not scary at all... come out into the sun :~D
I....think you missed the IP joke.
“When they microchip my toilet, I’m outta here.”
It’s coming to a toilet near you soon!
“http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6342037-claims.html";
I tend to agree, but I don't believe the list.
I just think people can take their demands for privacy too far.
I don't. Well, technically, I suppose they COULD, but I've never seen anyone do so yet. ;-)
MS doesn't do those things. Nor does it tell you you cannot install particular hardware. That's just paranoid. As for replacement of hardware, well, I guess you're driving at an idea that at some point, you've replaced the computer and they want you to buy new software. I dunno... my computers have always outlasted the applications that came with them, I've updated twice on this machine.
Here's my problem with it. While I agree that the data MS is currently collecting is not "dangerous" per se, while the data it collects may, in fact, help it write better software, while the purpose and reasoning behind it is benign--what or who will stop MS if they ever decide to start collecting data that is considered to actually be private? How will you stop them if they decide that they now have full access rights to your computer to decide if a document that you wrote is pirated, and shut down your computer? That a song you wrote and recorded is pirated? That you shouldn't be running any non-MS software?
While these situations are, currently, far-fetched, they are not out of the realm of possibility. Why start down that slippery slope now when we can avoid it altogether?
I’ve lost pages of work on a patent application. The new improved MicroSuck Office 2007 not only sent them to never-never land, it won’t even admit that it ever worked on them. They are not to be found even in the recent documents list.
Oh, and MegaSuck Office Basic 2007 doesn't include PowerPoint. They did keep the malware LOOKOUT!, I mean, Outlook, though.
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