Microsoft is facing criticism from Chinese users about the way it is trying to persuade people to upgrade to its Windows 10 operating system.
Chinese microblog site Weibo said users had now made more than 1.2 million posts complaining about Windows 10.
The complaints in China follow criticism from IT experts who said Microsoft was using a "nasty trick" to make people upgrade.
Microsoft has not yet responded to the reports about Chinese complaints.
"The company has abused its dominant market position and broken the market order for fair play," Zhao Zhanling, a legal adviser for the Internet Society of China told the official Xinhua news agency.
He said by forcing the upgrade, Microsoft had not respected the users' right to choose what they install on their computers. This was important, he said, because eventually Microsoft might profit from the "unwanted" upgrades.
One Chinese man, Yang Shuo, who works at a Beijing-based PR firm, said the Windows 10 update interrupted him while he was working on a business plan. This meant he had to abandon the document which led to a meeting about a deal worth 3m yuan (£312,000) being cancelled.
How long can Microsoft stumble before it falls?
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We receive our fair share of slashvertisements. Not daily, certainly, but when we get one we often get a handful. Most get a cursory read by the editors, are identified for what they are, and go straight into the bin. But not all.
Recently we have also covered the enforced Windows 10 upgrade currently being pushed by Microsoft. If there is anyone out there who has not seen such stories you really haven't been paying attention. The effort being expended by MS to make sure that you upgrade - whether intentionally or not - is matched only by that being expended by users trying to avoid the upgrade while still being able to use their licensed software. Even the Chinese are getting in on the act.
And today, both of these things, have come together.
Spybot Anti-Beacon: block and stop the various tracking (telemetry) issues present in Windows 7/8/8.1/10
https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/
"Spybot Anti-Beacon is a standalone tool which was designed to block and stop the various tracking (telemetry) issues present in Windows 10. It has since been modified to block similar tracking functionality in Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems.
Anti-Beacon is small, simple to use, and is provided free of charge. It was created to address the privacy concerns of users of Windows 10 who do not wish to have information about their PC usage sent to Microsoft. Simply clicking "Immunize" on the main screen of Anti-Beacon will immediately disable any known tracking features included by Microsoft in the operating system.
If any issues occur with your PC while using Anti-Beacon, undoing the changes made can be done by clicking the "Undo" button in the main window. This will re-enable all tracking services. If you experience any issues using Anti-Beacon or have any suggestions/recommendations, please be sure to let us know on the forum thread relating to this tool."
We are not making any claims as the the efficacy of this piece of software, nor are we supporting it or suggesting that you should download it. It might work perfectly or may be as bad as the problem that it claims to cure. We simply do not know. But if anyone has tried it we would welcome any comments that you wish to make. You will understand that the community is likely to be a little skeptical regarding comments submitted as Anonymous Coward - that is how we received the slashvertisement in the first instance.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by GungnirSniper on Friday May 27 2016, @09:52PM
Could this be a prelude to the promotion of the Chinese-language version of Ubuntu [wikipedia.org] or the similar Chinese-developed version of Linux [wikipedia.org] getting a push? China isn't North Korea with heavy-handed propaganda, but I could see this Microsoft blunder being used for a political push to promote funding for their own version.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Funny) by TheGratefulNet on Friday May 27 2016, @10:04PM
yeah, well, the thing with chinese linux is; that you end up having to reinstall it an hour later.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Friday May 27 2016, @11:42PM
Could this be a prelude to the promotion of the Chinese-language version of Ubuntu or the similar Chinese-developed version of Linux getting a push?
With a bit of luck. Then we may be able to put down the rabid dog.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 27 2016, @09:56PM
Just search twitter for 'windows10' and feel the hatred...
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday May 27 2016, @10:54PM
Whatever the official Episode III propaganda claims, that's actually what happened to Palpatine.
Poor guy though he could enjoy a nice snack of mild hate, and got overwhelmed.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday May 28 2016, @02:48AM
It's a trap!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @06:19AM
Look, anyone still running Windows today is.... yeah, trapped.
If you have not jumped ship, or have plans to do so in the immediate future, you're done for.
I bailed for Linux waters many years ago. Why is MS Windows still a news item at all?
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @09:25AM
I bailed for Linux waters many years ago. Why is MS Windows still a news item at all?
Because your anecdotal situation does not reflect on the population as a whole :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @11:14AM
Because your anecdotal situation does not reflect on the population as a whole :)
Just the smart ones then.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Sunday May 29 2016, @03:22AM
Ghostbusters already found it 1989 [youtube.com]. No more than 14 years after the creation of the evil softpire :P
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 27 2016, @10:03PM
Your stupidity knows no bounds. You release a great OS (well, for MS) called Windows 7 and you follow it with a huge turd. You then release another OS and fix the blunder. It looks good until it's revealed that it spies on you in every possible way including integrating ads. As if your monopolistic security nightmare of an OS isn't bad enough already.
(Score: 1) by Lester on Friday May 27 2016, @10:21PM
If it finally works, it's not stupid.
And, according with past OSes history, it's going to work
(Score: 3, Touché) by Gaaark on Saturday May 28 2016, @02:50AM
Ah, yes. How is Bob, by the way?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1) by Lester on Tuesday May 31 2016, @11:20AM
Sorry, I didn't got it.
What do you mean?
(Score: 4, Disagree) by julian on Friday May 27 2016, @10:54PM
Other than the privacy concerns, Windows 10 is actually a decent OS. Most of the annoying, non-privacy issues can be ignored. You don't have to use One Drive. The ads can be turned off. Classic Start exists to fix the start menu. The Windows App Store is totally ignorable. You don't have to have a MS account to sign in (although it sneakily pushes you to make one at install). It's better than Windows 7 in many technical ways. It performs better and is more lightweight.
But that's a lot like the old joke, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
Privacy and other user-abusing issues make it a non-starter unless you absolutely need Windows for software compatibility. That's a lot of people, unfortunately.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by korger on Friday May 27 2016, @11:15PM
In other words, if you know all the necessary configuration options of Windows 10 well enough, and once you spend a decent amount of time tweaking it, you can make it into a decent OS. I remember using exactly the same argument 15 years ago about Linux, and all the Windows users recoiled in horror: "You shouldn't have to configure your OS! It must work out of the box!"
Today Linux (for example, Mint) just works out of the box, but you need to tweak Windows to get it to run properly. Strange how the world has changed. It's even stranger that most of the Windows users are somehow okay now with tweaking, or just accept the monstrosity as it's installed by default, but still wouldn't abandon Windows.
Most of the computer users are suckers, and Microsoft knows this well.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @01:48AM
In other words, if you know all the necessary configuration options of Windows 10 well enough, and once you spend a decent amount of time tweaking it, you can make it into a decent OS.
Actually, no. You can't reasonably do it.
Microsoft have shown recently that they are willing to do whatever it takes to push whatever they want on their users. You can tweak all you want, but Microsoft will break your changes if and when it suits them even if it's extremely inconvenient to you.
For example? Look at the lengths people have gone to increase privacy on Windows 10. Microsoft has come up with ways around it. They're forcing the OS upgrade on people - search the web for examples of people who've got exams to study for, classes to teach, work to do, and instead they are spending their day battling with their forced Windows 10 upgrade. I expect to hear soon how ads can't be disabled, either.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @09:35AM
I expect to hear soon how ads can't be disabled, either.
You mean they currently can be disabled? I just assumed they can't without third-party software.
Remember those funny-because-it's-mostly-true images of IE with dozens of malware toolbars, with a sliver of space left over for content? I guess Microsoft decided that, since every Joe User had those, it must be what users wanted from an OS. Long story short, that's how we got ribbons and the new-and-improved, ads-are-already-included-no-need-to-download-them-separately start menu. Because when I'm working on something, I like UI elements to take up most of my screen and ads to flash around and distract me with headaches and stuff.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @01:52PM
I think this is exactly it. Just like firefox, they are getting biased telemetry data and apparently don't know enough about stats to figure this out. NHST strikes again! I swear it is at the root of all the world's major problems today.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 30 2016, @01:50AM
In other words, Windows 10 is finally marking the year of the desktop Linux!!
(Score: 1) by DeVilla on Monday May 30 2016, @02:55AM
Which just goes to show, Microsoft have finally realized that Linux user were right. They are doing this to duplicate the success of Open Source. See, this is a kinder gentler Microsoft and they have learn to respond to the needs of their users and the larger community.
Geez, some people just want to hate.
</sarcasm>
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 27 2016, @11:46PM
All versions of Windows are non-free proprietary user-subjugating software. Regardless of how convenient they are or how good they are in a technical sense, no one should be using software that does not respect their freedoms. Not only does Microsoft not respect users' freedoms, but it abuses its power over the users, proving that it is malicious as well. That's the worst possible case. Apple is no better, and in some ways is even worse.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday May 28 2016, @10:17AM
I like your "user subjugating" definition because it is more accurate than either free, open source, or proprietary.
It used to be easy, proprietary bad, free good.
Then the industry thought, how can we get advantage of all that free stuff?
So now you could be using a free software stack with the problems of proprietary software, e.g. dealing with interface changes for the sake of changes.
User subjugating software is about inconveniencing the user for the sake of adoption or market share.
User freeing software is about giving the user what he needs with the minimum of fuss and getting out of the way ASAP.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Saturday May 28 2016, @12:55AM
I agree, though far from my favorite OS after taking control of the update process and search behavior, I find it functions relatively well and required about as much effort to configure to my admittedly eclectic tastes as did Linux desktops. The Edge browser on the other hand IMHO is a huge steaming pile of feces. Slow and cumbersome it lacks features available in most other browsers. You can revert to IE11 which is better but not great, by any measure. I still use Linux and M$ Win10 as well as a couple of other OS's for various tasks that they all shine at, and bottom line I like Linux desktops for the variety of desktop managers even though I question the sanity of some of the desktop managers and the features they offer, at least you have a broad choice and a LOT of control.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @01:57AM
Yeah. Seriously, folks.
This nonsense goes back to the EULA for Windoze Media Player 9.
From that point forward, any M$ EULA has said **We can make any changes we want to the software on your box**.
That's right.
The hardware may technically belong to you but, if you're running Redmond's wares, that stuff belongs to them.
You're just along for the ride.
Other than the privacy concerns, Windows 10 is actually a decent OS
No. An OS that can take control of *your* system and do what **it** wants (while you sit there with your thumb up your ass) is the most extreme form of corporate hubris.
German Basketball Team Relegated to Lower Division Due to Untimely Windows Update [soylentnews.org]
The Chinese guy whose $450,000 document got trashed is yet another data point Re: Lost control.
NO. Just NO.
The part that really amazes me is that there are people still willing to pay for their manacles.
I took the hint back at "Product Activation".
Apparently, some have to lose a pound of flesh before getting the message.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday May 28 2016, @02:52AM
And how long before all your pros are also turned into cons?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Saturday May 28 2016, @06:28AM
No its not, its a giant stinking turd. I think I will write my hatred in a poem, just to switch it up..
Oh windows 10 how I hate thee, let me count the ways...1.- Drivers, for fucks sake MSFT one of your BIG selling points were the fact that drivers weren't an issue, if the OS didn't come with drivers the previous ones would work and its been that way since 2K/XP...Not anymore, oooh no. If the unit didn't come with Win 8 drivers? Its a fucking mess, especially wireless and networking.
2.- Program compatibility...again this was a BIG selling point with your OSes MSFT, people invest a ton of money in their programs and they aren't gonna rebuy them just because you have a new shiny. I tried everything from games to graphics arts programs, SMB software to the stuff granny has on her box, and guess what? Doesn't work worth a shit, either makes a crashy mess or doesn't work at all with a LOT of software.
3.- and speaking of crashes...WHAT THE FUCK MSFT, do you think you can get away with Win98 levels of bugginess in 2016? The OS hangs, programs hang, and this is on fricking quads with a minimum of 4GB of RAM so its not the systems. And did you WANT your updates to be as buggy and crash prone as a bleeding edge Linux distro? Is that why you fired ALL of your QA and testing teams? If so mission accomplished, because allowing win 10 to update is like tapdancing through a minefield.
Hell I could go on all day, its sucks bandwidth like a wino sucking down a free minibar, sure you can turn it off but thanks to MSFT and their broken updates the first patch you are just as likely to have to play whack-a-mole with the settings as not. It has a ton of shit most users DO NOT WANT and is a bitch to get rid of, if you even can, like the Siri knockoff and all the smartphone "give us your daaataaa" crap. fuck off ya bum, I don't use your shitty services so just piss off. Oh and let us not forget the LYING about it being "free", yeah its about as "free" as the 4 quarters you get when you change a dollar. FYI if you go longer than 30 days they deactivate your previous license key, hope you like setting on the phone waiting for someone at MSFT support to pick up.
the only "nice" thing I can say about that steaming hunk of crap is its caused the price of windows 8 to drop really cheap and for those that don't have Win 7? It takes less than 20 minutes to rip out the store and telemetry crap and slap on classic shell and voila! Win 7 with a nicer task manager.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @09:45AM
If you absolutely need windows for software compatibility you stick to windows 7 until 2020 and then stick to windows7/xp inside a VM.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday May 28 2016, @04:28PM
What's wrong with Windows 7 inside a VM NOW?
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @12:10AM
Seems Mr. Gates found a way to outsource his body to Nadella. That must mean Nadella's brain in is Gates' body, who looked in his new pants, and declared, "No wonder it's called micro soft."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Friday May 27 2016, @10:13PM
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dn742499%28v=vs.85%29.aspx [microsoft.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday May 28 2016, @03:03AM
I remember reading that these Win10 upgrade windows don't have a cancel or close button? "Would you like to upgrade now or upgrade later?"
So "cancel" in this case means upgrade later I presume.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @03:08PM
Good link. I left feedback saying that clicking the x to close the windows 10 upgrade box resulted in it trying to install windows10 on my pc which I consider to be digital rape
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 27 2016, @10:18PM
Windows can do whatever they want, it's their product. Instead of crying about it, do something about it. Install linux mint, ubuntu, debian, or any other linux or even buy a mac. Windows is garbage for getting work done anyway. Don't give them your money if you don't like it. China has plenty of money, make your own OS. Don't support their product if you don't like it, but bitching and crying likely won't do much if you continue to support their product.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @12:19AM
Instead of crying about it, [...] buy a mac.
Yes, Apple has always been known for the openness of their platforms :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @12:24PM
They have never forced an upgrade like Microsoft is with Windows 10
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @05:55AM
I don't mean to offend anyone, but I sincerely doubt a lot of Chinese actually pay for their windows copy, although I guess a small percentage of a billion is still a lot of people...
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Saturday May 28 2016, @08:02AM
I don't mean to offend anyone, but I sincerely doubt a lot of Chinese actually pay for their windows copy...
But it appears that the'yre still paying way too much.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by pixeldyne on Friday May 27 2016, @10:38PM
Ive seen this and more at many companies. Recently over 100,000 employees were affected by a serious bug. It took Microsoft a week to respond to support request and 2 months to fix. There are now plans to spend a few billion more on defective software
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 27 2016, @10:48PM
This is the real question: Why does the Chinese government apparently care more about consumer protection than that of the U.S. in this case?
Show me one legislator or executive office who has recognized this as a concern, versus the outrage that has been expressed over it by the U.S. public. (And yeah, I know, most don't care. But enough of us have been shouting long enough that someone should have taken official notice by now.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 27 2016, @10:50PM
Who says the chinese government gives a shit? This is people complaining on social media.
And even if they do care, MS is not a chinese company, so the govt has no reason to kiss their ass, MS isn't donating to their election campaigns.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @12:22AM
Well, for one thing, there is an _NSAKEY [wikipedia.org] but, as far as I know, there is no _CHNKEY.
What I'm trying to say is, maybe Microsoft is less cooperative with Chinese intelligence services.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @12:37AM
They care because Microsoft hasn't paid all the costs of doing business or isn't following the Government's plan. The better they can sabotage Microsoft, the higher the chances they will pay up or play the game, or someone inside China who does will take Microsoft's place.
(Score: 3, Informative) by dltaylor on Friday May 27 2016, @10:48PM
Invite the Stacker guys up for a demo, then steal their stuff and call it doublespace.
"Pay" the guys who developed Internet Explorer with a cut of the revenue, then give it away for free.
Padding out the Windows 10 adoption with "dirty tricks" is just more of the same.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @04:54AM
Amen to that brother! Here's a history of their dirty tricks. Due to the age of that compedium it doesn't list more recent breaches, like the OOXML scam or the UEFI restricted boot fiasco.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100309053511/http://www.msversus.org/ [archive.org]
Fuck M$, they're not the only game in town.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Snotnose on Friday May 27 2016, @11:34PM
I run Win10. Why? I was about to click an "ok" box when the "pssst, hey bud. wanna try this?" window appeared, with the focus suddenly on the "you betcha!" box. Once the upgrade started I was afraid to stop it, so now I'm an unhappy Win10 user. Win8.1 was rock solid, no problems for a year and a half. Win10? Constant little nagging issues. Nothing major, just little things that drive you nuts. Like wanna move a window. Move it, but now depending on which button you release first it either moves the window, or makes the window full screen. Click on a web link? Sometimes that maximises your window, sometimes takes it to the task bar (maybe 1% of the time, again, never seen before Win10). A bunch of totally random things not working as expected.
We won't even get into the telemetry bullshit, I've got all that stuff turned off, plus a hosts file that maybe blocks a lot of it but my understanding is that when Win10 wants to phone home it ignores the hosts file. But every "update" turns them all back on, I have to spend time to turn them all back off again.
My uptime with Win10 is maybe a week. Either an "upgrade" happens that requires a reboot, or something like explorer dies which requires a reboot. I haven't seen uptimes like this for a good 20 years. Good job, Microsoft!
My advice? If you aren't running Win10 now, do everyfuckingthing you can to avoid it like the plague. It's not only spyware, it's buggy as hell.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Saturday May 28 2016, @01:25AM
so, you did not have a full image backup?
get this, for next time: just search for 'drive snapshot' and if you get to a german site with a simple html look to it, that's the place. good software, works well, does a full drive or c: backup.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday May 28 2016, @05:09AM
If it's been less than 30 days since Windows 10 installed itself, or if you have the product key and installation media for your previous copy of Windows, you may be able to "downgrade."
http://www.howtogeek.com/220723/how-to-uninstall-windows-10-and-downgrade-to-windows-7-or-8.1/ [howtogeek.com]
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/you-have-a-month-to-downgrade-to-windows-8-1-if-windows-10-isn-t-right-for-you-1299430 [techradar.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @09:45AM
We won't even get into the telemetry bullshit, I've got all that stuff turned off, plus a hosts file that maybe blocks a lot of it but my understanding is that when Win10 wants to phone home it ignores the hosts file.
Yes, Windows has been ignoring hosts file for certain hard-coded addresses for a long time now. You might as well be broadcasting all your private data over an unencrypted wifi. If you can't upgrade (I think they call it "downgrade") back into Win7, you either need something to stand between the Win10 and the Internet and act as a firewall, or airgap that bastard.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @01:17AM
He said by forcing the upgrade, Microsoft had not respected the users' right to choose what they install on their computers. This was important, he said, because eventually Microsoft might profit from the "unwanted" upgrades.
Because they sure as shit didn't profit (or get any revenue from) the original Chinese install.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday May 28 2016, @05:16AM
An article from around the time Windows 10 was released said " [...] pirates are getting genuine Windows even though they didn’t previously have genuine Windows."
http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/29/pirates-are-successfully-upgrading-to-windows-10-for-free/ [venturebeat.com]
(Score: 1) by tftp on Saturday May 28 2016, @05:42AM
Makes sense. Until now people paid Microsoft by purchasing Windows. Today people pay Microsoft by running Windows. Might just as well give it away.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @02:51AM
After all, most Chinese probably didn't pay a dime for Windoze anyway.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday May 28 2016, @03:43AM
There's something really poetic about this. It will be really funny if China decides to ditch Windows nationwide; for one thing, the Gates mob's predatory "developing market" (read: "get 'em hooked early") mindset will stop dead in its tracks, not just in China but in parts of Africa where China has influence too.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28 2016, @02:03PM
Would love to see 1000s' of suits for similar situations, but when you use the software you agree to not hold them liable for any loss or injury.... So you are outta luck no matter what Microsoft does ( or wants to do ) to your computer.
Welcome to the new world.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday May 28 2016, @04:37PM
That argument only works in certain countries. In other countries you can't sign away the right to sue. And in some countries you could claim undue coercion.
Actually, you could even gamble on a court deciding that was an invalid part of the contract in the US. You'd probably lose, but there are non-frivolous grounds.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.