And Apple. In fact especially Apple.
Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
11–20 of 29 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#12If I hear you correctly, you're asking whether banning Windows is a secure, smart thing to do? And if I understand Windows correctly, the answer is hell yeah.
Not to hijack your thread or anything, but I just discovered Window's MSIX Packaging Tool takes snapshots of your desktop shortcuts (and other files) and then distributes them to complete strangers when you upload a package to Microsoft's store.
It's a reproducible phenomenon, too. Just pack something with this tool, right click the resulting .msix file, choose Extract with the Packaging tool, and then look at what's inside these three files:
UserClasses.dat User.dat Registry.dat
Those three files and all the content inside of them goes straight to Microsoft and the strangers who have access to your .msix package!
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#13Another reason to be concerned with Windows is that the Microsoft Store monitors everything you do with the software downloaded and installed from there. It records when you open it and what you did with it, and then puts it in pretty little charts for complete strangers to see. Here's an explanation of just ONE report it creates with collected data: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/publish/usage-r... .
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#14I mean you can. Compromising Windows networks that are poorly configured is hilariously easy.
That doesn't mean a Linux/macOS network is more secure inherently - I find people patch their macOS and Linux devices a _lot_ less than on Windows, so I find a lot of older bugs and exploits work really easily.
Entirely depends on how good you actually are at your job & keeping stuff locked down and patched.
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#15At the desktop? I’d say no it’s not reasonable. I think its better to let users run the OS they are most familiar/productive with and mitigate security issues via more practical means.
Banning windows servers from use would be more reasonable.
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#16And Apple. In fact especially Apple.
And GNU/Linux and the BSDs while we’re at it
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#17If you don't need Windows, or can sequester all your Windows stuff on some VDI, then sure. It gets easier every year. I ditched my last daily Windows driver a couple years ago and I don't even miss it for gaming since I can spin up a RTX enabled host on Geforce Now using pretty much everything I own with a processor in it.
However, in very large scale environments, I'm not sure the alternatives to Windows are quite mature enough yet to deal with the less common situations encountered there. M&A, localization, and offline access to files all come to mind.
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#18Yes if you have legal or finance staff; their workflows rely heavily on the Windows versions of Office. Google tried and were unable to do it, FYI.
Also, I'm not a huge fan of Windows anymore, but it's device management capabilities via Active Directory and Intune are far and away the best in class. Yes, Windows suffers from success (by way of getting targeted for exploits all of the time), but it is really really easy to lock down, encrypt, and wipe Windows laptops and desktops en masse.
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#19Lol no, you guys live in a fantasy world
Windows will be the dominant OS for our entire lifetime. Put stock on it
Re: Ask HN: Is it reasonable to ban Windows OS from our workplace?
#20Another reason to be concerned with Windows is that the Microsoft Store monitors everything you do with the software downloaded and installed from there. It records when you open it and what you did with it, and then puts it in pretty little charts for complete strangers to see. Here's an explanation of just ONE report it creates with collected data: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/publish/usage-r... .
That's nothing, check out their workplace analytics offerings