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Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

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Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#81

As a Linux user I have kept Windows 7 & 8 partitions in my laptop and workstation disks for years because there used to be time where you needed Windows in the work for some programs to work and some documents to open. Windows 10 upgrade push made me to realize that that time passed a long time ago. Last time I booted to Windows for other reason than playing a game was seven years ago. LibreOffice works well with MS…

> Windows has lost it's grip for good. For your listed use case of gaming & document creation. There are a lot of niche applications that are Windows only. All major CAD platforms, a decent chunk of FEA packages, hardware vendor software, etc. At the professional level, Windows still has quite the grip.

I think even the idea that Linux is a solid alternative to Windows for gaming is still a joke. It's immeasurably better than it was even just 5 years ago, but outside of Valve, indie devs or smaller studios, we're not seeing a lot of linux ports. And when we do they seem clunkier, somehow. And sometimes I just want to pop into some obscure resource management game from 2006 without sacrificing a goat and praying to WINE gods that it'll work.

From a profession standpoint, I'm still tied to Windows because of Adobe's choice not to port to linux. Inkscape and Gimp are okay, but when you're the only one in the company running linux, what's the point?

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#82

As a Linux user I have kept Windows 7 & 8 partitions in my laptop and workstation disks for years because there used to be time where you needed Windows in the work for some programs to work and some documents to open. Windows 10 upgrade push made me to realize that that time passed a long time ago. Last time I booted to Windows for other reason than playing a game was seven years ago. LibreOffice works well with MS…

The desktop market is bigger than the little world you live in. It seems every month there's a highly rated HN post about how this is finally the year of the Linux desktop. And before that on Reddit and before that on Slashdot and before that newsgroups for the past 15+ years.

I think its difficult to know the vast amount of software that's user/business critical that's Windows-only and how many people will never run an OS that isn't pre-install on their computer. Even as a sysadmin/devops for over a decade, I'm still surprised how strong Windows is. Some of it is legacy inertia and some of it is merit. No one else is investing in gaming like MS does. No one else builds developer friendly tools that a very mediocre team of devs can be made productive with. No one else builds a dumbed-down office suite that even a high school drop out can be productive in. No one else markets to the business community like MS, etc, etc.

It also doesn't help the "year of the linux desktop" argument that Windows is losing to mobile, but Windows 10 includes many mobile concepts. In fact, as far as I can tell, its very much modeled after Android. I know grandma won't buy a Surface Pro, but it is now easier for her to go from Android or iOS to Win10 and not be scared or confused.

I think Windows has a long life still. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean you can just wish it away. For segments that aren't the kinds of people who post on HN, its still very popular and that's ignoring its dominance in business.

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#83
post #2

tl;dr: Simply accessing a website with Edge leaks the user name and password hash to the attacker site. They mention that this is also default behaviour in Spartan, Internet Explorer, Outlook (though I do not know how effectively it can be delivered to something like Outlook). Works on up to date Windows 10 and Edge (there is an online test if you're vulnerable). If you don't use the listed software, you're probably…

Other people are reporting that Edge isn't vulnerable.

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#84
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Windows has lost it's grip for good. For your listed use case of gaming & document creation. There are a lot of niche applications that are Windows only. All major CAD platforms, a decent chunk of FEA packages, hardware vendor software, etc. At the professional level, Windows still has quite the grip.

> All major CAD platforms NX runs on Linux too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_computer-aided_d...

Many run on Mac & Linux. Hell, AutoCAD runs on iOS & Android.

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#85

As a Linux user I have kept Windows 7 & 8 partitions in my laptop and workstation disks for years because there used to be time where you needed Windows in the work for some programs to work and some documents to open. Windows 10 upgrade push made me to realize that that time passed a long time ago. Last time I booted to Windows for other reason than playing a game was seven years ago. LibreOffice works well with MS…

> Windows has lost it's grip for good. For your listed use case of gaming & document creation. There are a lot of niche applications that are Windows only. All major CAD platforms, a decent chunk of FEA packages, hardware vendor software, etc. At the professional level, Windows still has quite the grip.

Just want to throw out that AutoCAD runs incredibly well on the Mac; I suspect that it's more likely the significant cost premium of the Mac that's keeping it out of some parts of the professional world...

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#86
post #24
post #9

And people wonder why some of us haven't upgraded from Windows 7. Win10 tries really hard to make you log into your desktop with your Live Account credentials - you can't use the store without this. Whereas if it were just leaking a local login it would be much less critical.

Using windows 10 since it came out, never opened Windows Store, not even once.

My experience of the Windows Store is of the fake knock-offs and similarly named apps that pop up as results in my start menu when I press "Start" and start typing the name of something I already have installed. They always seem to pop up for a couple of seconds before the actual application I'm searching for shows up. As a result I've come to the conclusion that I can't trust anything in the store itself and have never used it.

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#87
>Edge, Spartan, Internet Explorer (just saying..)

Why does he keep repeating "Spartan?" That was Edge's codename. Now its just Edge. Is he's referring to the engine that can be embedded into other applications? If so, its called EdgeHTML.

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#88
Somehow I'm not surprised, neither by the way it's broken nor the neglect on Microsofts part on this issue...

Pretty much every non-standard Microsoft-only approach to things seem to be broken one way or another, only to be fixed after someone threatens to expose and exploit it. I know it's gotten better in recent years, but the fact that it's still something that seems to be pushing from the outside in, instead of being part of the manufacturer's culture is shining through rather harshly.

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Windows has lost it's grip for good. For your listed use case of gaming & document creation. There are a lot of niche applications that are Windows only. All major CAD platforms, a decent chunk of FEA packages, hardware vendor software, etc. At the professional level, Windows still has quite the grip.

Yeah, it's the only reason I have a Windows laptop (or desktop) - I teach music technology, and that means a DAW which works - in my case Cubase - so unless Steinberg changes their mind on supporting Linux (which seems massively unlikely given the amount of effort needed to get it working properly), I'll have to have a Windows machine for the foreseeable future; everything else I do is done on my Chromebooks (one Chr…

In case you haven't heard about it: Bitwig Studio works effortless on Linux with a great feature set. The workflow is more similar to Ableton Live than Cubase though.

Re: Microsoft Live Account Credentials Leaking from Windows 8 and Above

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Windows has lost it's grip for good. For your listed use case of gaming & document creation. There are a lot of niche applications that are Windows only. All major CAD platforms, a decent chunk of FEA packages, hardware vendor software, etc. At the professional level, Windows still has quite the grip.

Yeah, it's the only reason I have a Windows laptop (or desktop) - I teach music technology, and that means a DAW which works - in my case Cubase - so unless Steinberg changes their mind on supporting Linux (which seems massively unlikely given the amount of effort needed to get it working properly), I'll have to have a Windows machine for the foreseeable future; everything else I do is done on my Chromebooks (one Chr…

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