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With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

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Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#141
post #106
post #90

Gb abbreviates gigabit or gigabyte? What does GB abbreviate? ===================== In update: PLEASE stop down voting me for my simple, nice, courteous reminder to the person who wrote the post I replied to. I was NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT ignorant of the meanings of Gb versus GB and was NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT asking for a tutorial on the difference. I am not an ignorant newby on HN knowing too little to be posting here. Just w…

Some people have connections with download limits. I.e. You can only download 4 gigabytes of data before having your connection throttled or being charged. Some people also tether to mobile internet, which very definitely has download limits. Case in point, I was working on the road a lot this Summer and was using my 4G hotspot. Automatic downloads can very rapidly eat your download limit up whereas browsing and emai…

I have a small laptop I seldom use, and when I powered it up in a meeting, it downloaded vast numbers of updates. Then I couldn't shut it down for 15 minutes while it installed updates. I was stuck in a conference room alone while the thing updated.

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely understand why this is the default behavior, but there should be an "I'm not a normie" switch somewhere that allows me to control my experience. The Pro edition was originally that way, but as I understand it this is no longer the case and is similarly controlling.

What good would that do? Everybody thinks they're a pro. They'd just turn it on the instant they heard of it.

I wouldn't mind if there were some convoluted steps to enable it. Something akin to turning on Android's "developer mode".

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be real, "they" won't. A select few might change to a mac, maybe a chromebook, and that's it. Developers are a case apart.

ChromeOS is just as bad with spying as Windows 10 (or worse considering how much other information Google has to tie to you. Apple is well on their way to making their upcoming OS similar as well. We live in a world now where most people are conditioned NOT to pay for software, and don't mind being "the product" for free services. For those that do mind being data mined there are fewer and fewer options every day.

No shit. I was just trying to avoid the year of the linux desktop meme, since I gave up on that already, while also doubting that "they" are going to ditch Windows.

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#144
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything you've listed is addressable by enterprise users in an AD environment. I.E., Microsoft's real customers. Using a copy of Windows 10 with no Cortana, Auto-updates, Groove, or Windows Defender right now.

What is "AD environment"? Sounds like maybe what I want. I want no updates or changes of any kind without my knowledge. Indeed, before any change, I want to backup the relevant boot partition so that I can restore it if any changes are harmful or doubtful. For Cortana, when I looked at it, everything it has I have a lot better with just my favorite programmable text editor and a few simple macros. Uh, to reply, I hav…

If you weren't familiar enough with Microsoft's products to immediately recognize that the acronym "AD" within the context of Microsoft anything, means Active Directory, then you are thousands of dollars, and possibly multiple years away from moving in that direction.

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I'm strongly considering downgrading to 8.1. It's time for a fresh install anyways. I dread when that goes EOL because I'll have no where else to turn but whatever Windows is out at the time.

What you're going to do when a telemetry patch comes bundled with a security one? MS just announced they are doing updates in bulk for 7 and 8.1.

Honestly, I do not know. Telemetry isn't my biggest gripe with Windows 10, but besides that at some point the only version of Windows with security support will be Windows 10 or some descendant of it and I have no reason to believe my issues with 10 will be fixed by then.

As I said elsewhere, I'd love to be *nix only but my gaming preferences will not allow it.

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#146
I guess people shouldn't be speaking while debating if is the year of the Linux desktop or not. The choices in life are usually (and i emphasize usually) simple, and this case is no exception. You either discard your privacy and maybe your security and go Windows, or you discard your usability (for some) and go Linux. Or go Mac, FreeBSD, hell, even BeOS or Hurd or whatever floats your boat.

But seeing people still bitching about how they can't go over Windows "because I have to play games" well ... it hurts. It really hurts.

We should know better.

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#147
And to think that before this, people were angry at Microsoft for not providing updates to new versions of Windows free of charge, and free of hastle.

Damned if they do. Damned if they don't.

But now at least, they'll have a much smaller install base for ancient versions of Windows, so my guess is that even with all this bad PR, it's going to pay off.

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#148
post #2

Some highlights: Microsoft installed an app in users’ system trays advertising the free upgrade to Windows 10. Not satisfied, the company eventually made Windows 10 a recommended update so users receiving critical security updates were now also downloading an entirely new operating system onto their machines without their knowledge. This is essentially equivalent to saying: You've been running whatever version of Win…

As a Microsoft employee, this W10 force upgrade things is the single thing that pisses me off the most by far... It goes against everything that we are trying to promote/change. Sometimes I'm really wondering if we work for the same company (I'm not in the Windows division). I feel like all the effort we put in investing in open source, being more open, and just generally a more empathic company is totally destroyed…

[deleted]

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#149
post #2

Some highlights: Microsoft installed an app in users’ system trays advertising the free upgrade to Windows 10. Not satisfied, the company eventually made Windows 10 a recommended update so users receiving critical security updates were now also downloading an entirely new operating system onto their machines without their knowledge. This is essentially equivalent to saying: You've been running whatever version of Win…

As a Microsoft employee, this W10 force upgrade things is the single thing that pisses me off the most by far... It goes against everything that we are trying to promote/change. Sometimes I'm really wondering if we work for the same company (I'm not in the Windows division). I feel like all the effort we put in investing in open source, being more open, and just generally a more empathic company is totally destroyed…

[deleted]

Re: With Windows 10, Microsoft Disregards User Choice and Privacy

#150
post #30
post #2

Some highlights: Microsoft installed an app in users’ system trays advertising the free upgrade to Windows 10. Not satisfied, the company eventually made Windows 10 a recommended update so users receiving critical security updates were now also downloading an entirely new operating system onto their machines without their knowledge. This is essentially equivalent to saying: You've been running whatever version of Win…

Microsoft announced a free upgrade to Windows 10, saying users can opt-in now to prepare their systems for the upgrade. IT professionals wanted control over this upgrade. Microsoft responds by providing registry settings to block the upgrade process, which Microsoft later chose to ignore. As I observed on my system, Microsoft had also pushed out some preparation updates that reset some telemetry settings I had opted…

So this is what they meant with cloud-first...
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