Microsoft’s Windows 10 is a privacy nightmare

2012Coleman wrote:
I'm not a MS basher by any means, but does the fact that I don't want targeted advertising on my PC, or my bandwidth being used as a peer to peer network to download updates, applications I install accessing my personal info, or don't want to create a universal logon mean that I'm misguided?

Like many things, they can be a two edged sword.

Microsoft is moving into the world that Apple, Facebook and Google have been in for quite a while and who were eating Microsoft's lunch. That is, a single login for all things in each company's domain and collecting more information about you. This additional information is very helpful to the user in many apps on smart phones and tablets (and increasingly on PCs), but it can also be used in a way not beneficial to the user. So it's a dilemma.

I don't like advertising particularly, but in many domains it is now avoidable (think DVRs, website ad blocking, watching a movie on Netflix vs on a TV broadcast channel, etc.). But it is the basis of the American way unfortunately. I find billboards every few hundred yards of a highway blocking out beautiful views much more annoying. And Facebook is the world leader, probably, in this world of knowledge about their users and look at how many users they have. Microsoft is so far a piker in comparison.

So each has to choose their own course depending on how they view the pros and cons.

I'm not a MS basher by any means, but does the fact that I don't want targeted advertising on my PC, or my bandwidth being used as a peer to peer network to download updates, applications I install accessing my personal info, or don't want to create a universal logon mean that I'm misguided?

I like Microsoft - in fact I make my living from it, but I refuse to drink their koolaid. Ignorance is bliss as they say.

All and all, the best OS out of the bunch is Windows Server 2016, which is still offered as a preview.

It isn't as user friendly as W10. In fact, there is no way to install a GUI initally, but it is added on as a feature. However, its built in backup program is quite good, and it works just fine as a desktop OS, although some programs like Mozy will refuse to work with it unless you plunk down 5-10 times as much for the "enterprise" version.

It isn't cheap, and it isn't a "beginner" OS (you have to manually create your user account yourself), but if you use hardware that you plan to keep for a long while, it might be worth getting. Same features as W10, lot fewer headaches.

As an added bonus, it comes with a built in AV utility.

joebedford wrote:

Colo Native wrote:
I had windows 8.1. 7 was better than 8.1 but anything is better than 10

I agree - 10 is better.

I did not say 10 is better I said anything is better than 10

MNtundraRet wrote:

Colo Native wrote:
I downloaded it and within 24 hours got rid of it.

Maybe you can answer a question for me. Did you have Windows 7 before the download? If so did you loose your Microsoft Word and Excel?

I have the free-be versions with ads, and can't see getting stuck paying a fee each year to handle using net-worth spreadsheets and Word documents needed by a retired person.

I can deal with the bugs in Windows 7, and will stick with it until "Drop-dead" date instead of paying more to Microsoft for programs supplied with the computers in the past.

No I had windows 8.1 did not keep 10 long enough to find all the problems

Colo Native wrote:
I had windows 8.1. 7 was better than 8.1 but anything is better than 10

I agree - 10 is better.

GNU has an agenda?
What an understatement. Tell everyone how bad an OS is and tnen push their own.

MNtundraRet wrote:

Colo Native wrote:
I downloaded it and within 24 hours got rid of it.

Maybe you can answer a question for me. Did you have Windows 7 before the download? If so did you loose your Microsoft Word and Excel?

I have the free-be versions with ads, and can't see getting stuck paying a fee each year to handle using net-worth spreadsheets and Word documents needed by a retired person.

I can deal with the bugs in Windows 7, and will stick with it until "Drop-dead" date instead of paying more to Microsoft for programs supplied with the computers in the past.

I had windows 8.1. 7 was better than 8.1 but anything is better than 10

8.1 Van wrote:
Linux fanboys love to say Microsoft is evil and I remember them saying 15 years ago that Linux will kill Windows but today Linux has the same 1% OS market share as it did back then. Why don't you people that think Windows sucks go run Linux ?

you've made a logical error. distrust/disdain for M$ on the part of open source linux enthusiasts is not windows vs ubuntu, and you know it.

i am waiting for a MS "FANBOY" to step up and give a detailed defense of what MS is trying to get away with by offering free W10 in exchange for unprecedented/unspecified loss of user privacy.

so, 8.1 Van, how about bringing the challenge back to you?

ball's in your court. detailed defense, please.

8.1 Van wrote:
Why don't you people that think Windows sucks go run Linux ?

I do. I have dual boot because I use a couple of apps that run only on windows.