[Hodar]

But I don't see them spying on anything other than the versions and dates of Microsoft software installed on that PC

I agree. In this case, it appears that Microsoft is 'fishing' for obsolete or incompatable 3rd party drivers.

[MineralMan]

"I agree. In this case, it appears that Microsoft is 'fishing' for obsolete or incompatable 3rd party drivers."

In this case....but we don't have another case. This is another of those stories that _seems_ to say that Microsoft is doing something awful, but when you look at the actual data used to demonstrate that, it doesn't show anything of the sort.

It's not tough to monitor what goes out over your internet connection. I do it myself occasionally when I'm looking at a suspect web site. If Microsoft were truly doing what this article says, then they should be able to demonstrate it. That their data shows nothing of the sort indicates to me that they're blowing smoke for some reason.

I wonder how many of those who will comment on this will actually look at the data?