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If you have been refusing Microsoft's offer to upgrade your Windows 7 or 8* operating system to Windows 10 due to the oft-reported data and telemetry slurping it seems inclined to do, then it is time to be on your toes as to which updates you allow to be installed on your earlier version of the operating system.
El Reg reports that Microsoft are busy pushing similar functionality to those older operating systems by way of Windows Update. The updates in question can apparently be rolled back if required.
They are however very determined in their function if allowed to be installed, going so far as to ignore such venerable solutions as additions to the HOSTS file, which has historically been a way to knobble phone-home behaviour:
Now Microsoft is revamping the user-tracking tools in Windows 7 and 8 to harvest more data, via some new patches.
All the updates can be removed post-installation – but all ensure the OS reports data to Microsoft even when asked not to, bypassing the hosts file and (hence) third-party privacy tools. This data can include how long you use apps, and which features you use the most, snapshots of memory to investigate crashes, and so on.
The updates are KB3068708 ("Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry" and mandatory) KB3075249 ("Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7") and KB3080149 (also an "Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry", both optional).
(Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday September 02 2015, @05:26PM
It's not like each and every windows user is an architect.
A large number of Windows users are professionals - and as such they need professional tools. Does Linux have an equivalent of QuickBooks? Of SolidWorks? Of Adobe CS? AutoCAD is not the only professional application out there; I do not even know most of them, as they are specialized. Hell, where would one even get Linux software for a car repair facility? I don't think that telling the mechanic/owner to "write it yourself" would be a good idea. Most of the stuff that I have seen is written in VB. Most software that is more complex than Notepad was failing left and right in WINE, so that's probably not an option either.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2015, @10:29PM
As a scientist, I am quite happy that our professional tools are multi-platform. Where I am the majority of us use linux or Macs. Those engineers can keep their Windows tools.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Thursday September 03 2015, @12:43AM
Those engineers can keep their Windows tools.
Not just engineers - as I said, a significant part of the industry runs on Windows. Even your doctor's office, by the way. Those digital x-rays are processed and viewed on Windows. It wouldn't be exceptionally complicated to port them to Linux... but there is no convincing reason to do so, and development on Linux costs more. In the end it's all about money.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2015, @09:36AM
Which bothers me, because I don't want my personal information on some non-free proprietary user-subjugating piece of trash. There should, frankly, be laws against that. Not visiting doctors just isn't an option. Same for governments and schools: Non-free proprietary software shouldn't be allowed to be used.
It's not about cost or quality, but about freedom. People who speak of either miss the point entirely and reveal their lack of principles.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday September 03 2015, @12:30AM
Most CAM (computer aided machining/manufacturing) software is Windows based.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek