
Microsoft to Alter Software in Response to Privacy Concerns (1999) - myhnaccount108
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/biztech/articles/07soft.html
======
samspenc
I just got a new PC with Windows 10, replacing an older PC laptop that's a
Windows 7 / Ubuntu dual-boot. (I'm running Ubuntu from a VM this time.)

Anyway, Windows 10: I was a bit shocked at all the information it sends back
to Microsoft. As soon as the setup screen comes up, it gives you an option to
choose "Express Install" or "Custom Install".

I chose "Custom Install", and there were about 10 privacy settings that I
turned off (all on by default) before I felt comfortable using the OS.
(Examples: send all search words back to MS, tie advertising info to your
Windows account, etc etc)

I'm assuming most users would chose the "Express Install" without even
wondering about what data they were sending back to MS.

~~~
tedunangst
Ironic that your other choice is Ubuntu. They pioneered sending back all your
search terms (to Amazon).

~~~
ekianjo
> They pioneered sending back all your search terms (to Amazon).

You don't have to use Unity to use Ubuntu. There is an abundant choice of WMs
on Linux. And besides, even if you had this turned on, it's about nothing
compared to what Microsoft does.

------
anonbanker
Switched from Microsoft products in 1999, back when Palladium started. That
was offensive enough. This is downright disgusting.

I always ask co-workers how much liberty Windows users are willing to
sacrifice to continue using their systems. Seems even I underestimated with
Windows 10.

~~~
macspoofing
>I always ask co-workers how much liberty Windows users are willing to
sacrifice to continue using their systems.

You do realize we live in an era of smartphones, facebook and cloud services.
Those liberties have been given up already. Window is looking downright open
these days.

~~~
blackbeard
Windows is not really open, has never has been and never will be. In fact it
is getting worse. There's always a black box at the bottom of every stack
trace, a secret in every corner and a cost to every solution be it time or
money.

Users, myself included, use it because we're stuck.

~~~
socceroos
I'm in the fortunate position to not need Windows for anything other than the
odd game. The GNU/Linux desktop has been fulfilling my needs for over a decade
now.

In today's internet-centric world, there is little need to have Windows around
for anything other than very specific jobs - for the average user.

------
0x0
I seem to vaguely remember some internet story about how these embedded UUIDs
were used to de-mask a person by matching an UUID from a document with a known
author against an incriminating document. Or was it matching an Ethernet
card's MAC address to an UUID in the .doc? Can't remember any details now.

~~~
ojno
I think you're thinking of the Melissa virus
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_(computer_virus)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_\(computer_virus\))
which did indeed get tracked back to its author like that.

~~~
0x0
That's it! Thanks for the reminder.

------
TazeTSchnitzel
Interestingly, this seems to have been accidental. UUIDs were generated using
MAC addresses to ensure some uniqueness, but I guess nobody ever realised the
implications.

------
aresant
I am nostalgic for a Windows I can PAY for that minimizes my participation in
the "I am the product" monetization world.

~~~
jacobrb
That day has come and gone thanks to other companies and closed ecosystems
like Apple

~~~
tdkl
Last time I checked you pay everything you get from Apple and keep the data
locally without surveillance as a service.

------
bymafmaf
Yeah, old days. Now when installing Windows 10, we have to choose custom
install and make many unchecking at least to be able to say "if they do what
they say, they won't track me"..

~~~
anonbanker
"If" is definitely a word I take to the bank.

------
wcdolphin
Today we call this "IDFA".

------
curiousjorge
is it possible to just add a 127.0.0.1 *.microsoft.com in windows 10?

~~~
thehacker005263
If that was possible, how are you supposed to get updates then ?

~~~
hackuser
Setup your own WSUS server (or another update server).

------
mirimir
There are many reasons to choose Windows. For example, Excel is by far the
most powerful spreadsheet app. But using Windows where privacy matters is
foolish. And trying to lock it down is pointless.

If you need Windows for work, or gaming, or whatever, fine. But dedicate a
machine to it. And use a different machine for private stuff, running
VirtualBox in Debian. Or Qubes, if you're seriously paranoid ;)

~~~
na85
Frankly I find the list of reasons to choose Windows is growing ever shorter.
I find Windows 10 to be revolting, and the list of reasons to buy it seems to
be:

* Games * Industry-specific apps like AutoCAD

99% of Excel users would be satisfied by Google Docs or LibreOffice.

~~~
veidr
I have witnessed two different trials of Google Apps for "regular" office
workers. In my experience, the number of Excel users satisfied with Google's
offering is a lot closer to 0% than 99%.

~~~
na85
Change aversion.

~~~
veidr
Nah, it wasn't just that, although certainly that was one component of it.

Excel has developed into a mini-platform of sorts, where users do all kinds of
things with it. Time cards, expense reports, order sheets, office floorpans,
generic lists, by-hand Gantt charts, etc etc. And other tools -- even similar
ones that are supposed to be 'Excel-compatible' like Apple Pages or Google
Sheets -- don't really work with many Excel documents 'in the wild'.

The real killer feature of Excel is Excel-compatibility. That's the only
reason I personally use Excel -- because, for various reasons mostly outside
of my control, I sometimes have to use documents created in Excel. E.g., my
employer's vacation day reporting form is created in Excel by HR, and hell no
Google Sheets doesn't work with it. (Actually, even the Mac version of Excel
also doesn't work with it -- I fire up VMWare whenever I need to fill one
out.)

Nothing other than Excel really works perfectly with Excel documents.

I think that was the biggest reason for the failure of the two Google Apps
trials I witnessed.

(But there is also the fact that Excel was massively more feature-packed,
reliable, and performant than Google Sheets -- which I think is still the case
today. I personally use it because I enjoy the ubiquitous access cloudy-cloud-
cloud nature of it, but I don't think that wins for many users, especially
those who really mainly just use it at their desk at work anyway.)

------
jacobrb
This is a stupid comparison, If thats the intention to compare it to how and
what the internet is used for today. get off the hate train. you want to hate
Microsoft, you had best hate Google, Apple and many other companies out there

~~~
ageofwant
And we do. Hating on Microsoft in no way diminishes hate for all of the other
violators. Hate is not governed by the laws of thermodynamics, there is enough
warranted hate in the universe for them all, and then some.

~~~
myhnaccount108
But there's a bit more to it than that. The marketplace has apparently decided
privacy is not worth paying for. Microsoft is conceding this point. Perhaps
what the market values can be adjusted by creeping people out on a personal
level by demonstrating just how much information they are giving away?

Or perhaps the market is revealing that privacy in general has very little
value?

(Same issue with open computing vs. closed devices)

