Posted on 08/04/2016 5:03:21 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Windows 10 and the amount of data it collects via the Windows Store could prompt users to switch to Mac according to a new survey.
The study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of security and privacy advice and comparison website Comparitech.com finds that 61 percent of the US public who regularly use Windows would at least consider switching to Mac.
In the UK the figure is even higher at 67 percent, with 15 percent saying they would definitely consider swapping. Only 33 percent in the UK and 39 percent in the US say that they would not contemplate switching operating systems.
The poll results come in the wake of France ordering Microsoft to remedy multiple privacy failings in its latest operating system. The French National Data Protection Commission pointed to three specific cases where it found the operating system's collection of user information to be excessive.
The Windows Store collects data on the apps users download and the time spent on each one without permission; Windows 10 installs an advertising identifier by default, which allows Microsoft to monitor browsing and target users with ads; and Windows Store authentication, which allows users to set a 4-digit PIN instead of a password, doesn't restrict the number of attempts to enter the correct code.
"These issues are things that have set off alarm bells within the security community on release of Windows 10 a year ago. Now, with France taking the next step in ordering Microsoft to fix them, it’s a small win for privacy and the wider public who have expressed concerns," says Paul Bischoff, privacy advocate for Comparitech.com. "Companies tend to take these issues seriously when people start voting with their wallets, so hopefully the results from this survey should serve as a wake-up call that consumers are becoming more privacy conscious".
You can see more information on the survey results on the Comparitech blog. Would privacy concerns make you give up Windows for Mac? Tell us in the comments.
Photo Credit: Angela Waye/Shutterstock
And then shortly find out Mac is no different.
I know you are a full-time enthusiastic Apple promoter.
Just saying.
My computer has Windows now, and I am very happy with it. I used Linux for about 10 years, but am quite happy with the Windows machine.
Carry on.
Google (and Facebook—and now Twitter) collects all sorts of data on you. That’s even if you use Macintosh or Linux.
And they all work for the Dims—and the oligarchs behind them!!!!
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And after 20 years of these same articles about Windows users beating down the door to use Macs or Linux for whatever contrived reason, the numbers are virtually unchanged.
Must be another one of those polls that have to oversample Dems.
The problem is, if more windows users moved to mac, so would the bad guys.
Yes, it is. Quite a bit different. Apple does not mine its customer's information. . . nor does it sell its customer's information to third parties. Apple, by default, encrypts the customer's data to 256bit AES Encryption. . . and Apple does not have access to the key which is NOT STORED ON THE DEVICE, to even access that data.
If Apple could get Kimberly Guilfoyle to give me a naked lapdance I’d switch.
You know, if we’re asking dumb questions about imagined scenarios that would make somebody switch OSes...
I’m starting to use Linux at home a lot more.
Google, and Twitter have no presence in on my Mac, iPhone, or iPad. My Google account has very little personal information that reveals anything about me. When I browse anywhere, I use a proxy browser, and, as much as possible, use an adblocker. So much for that worry.
Oh? Let's see. The percentage of Macs is now almost 15% overall in the US, while not too long ago that percentage was only 7%. How long ago was that? 2011, five years ago. That is NOT "virtually unchanged," VanDeKoik. The sales of Macs have been outpacing the sales of PCs every quarter for the last 40 except for two.
I have to admit, I like what I see.
I hope people realize, Linux is open source.
Trusting Apple is your first mistake.
Funny I use Windows 10 and don’t receive any of these ads you speak of. It must be because I use Ublock.
No ads, no problem.
I’ve gone with Ubuntu and getting to like it more.
Then there was the Dell laptop with Windows 10 (upgraded from 8) that I just picked up at a yard sale -- and Mint on that puppy looks and feels good. That laptop had UEFI, and the Mint install went in very smoothly...and I can still load Windows 10 when I want to hurt myself.
So while ignoring the rest of the planet in order to get the best number you can, it still is a tiny % of users, and even now Macs sales are starting to slump, just like the rest their products.
Which just means less money flowing from Apple to the Democrats. Shouldn’t that make you happy that Tim and Co. Wont have as much money to fund the party that will force security holes in those precious iGadgets?
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