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posted by CoolHand on Friday August 11 2017, @01:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the happy-or-unaware dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Microsoft claims seven out of ten Windows 10 users are happy with Redmond gulping loads of telemetry from their computers – which isn't that astounding when you realize it's a default option.

In other words, 30 per cent of people have found the switch to turn it off, and the rest haven't, don't realize it's there, or are genuinely OK with the data collection.

Ever since Windows 10 was released, folks have been complaining the operating system is far too grabby and that it allows Redmond to collect huge volumes of intelligence on its users. In April the software giant responded by simplifying the collection.

There's basically two levels in Windows 10 from the Creators Update onwards: basic and full – the full setting includes everything in the basic level plus a load more. Full is the default for Win 10 Home and Pro, otherwise there's basic. Windows 10 Enterprise and Education have full and basic, plus an extra level called security, which transmits a little less about your system than basic.

Essentially, if you're on Home or Pro, you can't tell your OS to not phone home. And, sure, this information – from lists of hardware and apps installed to pen gestures – is useful to Microsoft employees debugging code that's running in the field. But we're all adults here, and some folks would like the option to not have any information leaving their systems.

"... and we welcome your feedback in helping us make [Creators] the best Windows ever," [Marissa] Rogers concluded.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 11 2017, @02:33AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 11 2017, @02:33AM (#552052)

    So this means there are 30% of Windows Enterprise users. These _have_ the switch to turn it off.
    The other 70% simply don't have it, so even after looking for it they can't find it.

  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday August 11 2017, @02:55AM (1 child)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Friday August 11 2017, @02:55AM (#552069) Journal

    Doesn't look like 30%: (figures published in February)
    "Using telemetry data from those millions of agents running on PCs and Macs, Samanage says Windows 7 is still the top dog among its enterprise customers. Here are the top five operating systems in use on those corporate PCs:

    Windows 7 Professional 40.3 percent
    Windows 7 Enterprise 21.4 percent
    OS X (all versions) 8.1 percent
    Windows XP Professional 7.3 percent
    Windows 8.1 Enterprise 4.3 percent"
    http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-usage-share-continues-to-grow-but-enterprise-stays-on-sidelines/ [zdnet.com]

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 11 2017, @05:42AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 11 2017, @05:42AM (#552138)

      Not [torrentsdownload.co] all [webforpc.com] Windows [cracksfiles.com] Enterprise [onhax.me] users [katcr.website] are enterprise users.

  • (Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Friday August 11 2017, @12:23PM

    by nobu_the_bard (6373) on Friday August 11 2017, @12:23PM (#552243)

    Misleading...

    If 30% of all Windows users have telemetry turned off, that doesn't mean 30% know how. A sizable number of those are domain machines where the network administrator turned it off for them. The users may be totally ignorant of it.