> Unfortunately, if they do, the primary motivation will be to build in even more (and more intrusive) spyware and malware...
Well, I'm sure they'd migrate their nasty stuff to the new base structure, but I can't imagine it would be much more or less intrusive than what they're doing and plan to do with the NT codebase. So I don't see it as a downside, just more of the same, and maybe easier to build because they could design it in instead of bolt it on. But that's just my guess.
Larger picture: I don't think that Microsoft is intrinsically any better or worse than Google, Facebook, or other agencies that get hold of your personal information and use it to generate marketing data to sell or use themselves. I don't like how much these agencies know about my purchases, browsing history, downloads, etc. Microsoft is easy to pick on because they provide the platform most people use. I choose to use Linux or Mac for most things, and use Windows for those Windows-only programs I need to run.
> I'm in the Recovering-Win-Migrating-to-Linux phase of grief, but philosophically, that would be my choice as well if it were available. Fortunately, I don't have to do anything in OSX, so it's moot for me. Windows and Linux play reasonably nice together.
Yeah, I get that. My work life is cluttered -- here a Linux box with a VM of Windows, there a Windows box with a VM of Linux, yonder a box with a VM of itself, for software testing that might destroy the installed system... servers with VMware ESX and clients of Solaris UNIX, FreeBSD, Windows, and Linux, all on the same piece of hardware... I could not function these days without VMs that allow multiple environments in a single piece of hardware.
The dirty secret is: It's also really a great deal of fun, and in nearly every instance, beats hell out of dual/multi-booting.
Sorry to hear about the grief, but I predict it will get better, and sooner rather than later. :-)
Agreed, but my point being that I don't hold out too much hope for improved security arising from new code bases because the priorities and funding for such a huge undertaking would arise from elsewhere.
Larger picture: I don't think that Microsoft is intrinsically any better or worse than Google, Facebook, or other agencies that get hold of your personal information and use it to generate marketing data to sell or use themselves. I don't like how much these agencies know about my purchases, browsing history, downloads, etc. Microsoft is easy to pick on because they provide the platform most people use. I choose to use Linux or Mac for most things, and use Windows for those Windows-only programs I need to run.
Agree. The only reason I'm singleing out MS in my comment here is that they're the topic. I'd be saying the same of Google or FB (except that as an OS, MS I think bears more responsibility, and is therefore more culpable, but certainly no worse in the behavior than the others)
Sorry to hear about the grief, but I predict it will get better, and sooner rather than later. :-)
That was just for humor purposes. I'm actually having fun with it too, and learning.