Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Windows 10 Commandeers Users' Upload Bandwidth

posted by takyon on Tuesday August 04 2015, @07:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the embrace-extend-share dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket uploads this Windows shocker:

Microsoft will use its customers' upload bandwidth to deliver Windows 10's updates and apps with a peer-to-peer technology resembling BitTorrent, a fact that has caught some by surprise.

Baked into Windows 10 is a new technology Microsoft dubbed "Windows Update Delivery Optimization" (WUDO) that is turned on by default for all editions of Windows 10. However, only some SKUs (stock-keeping units) -- notably Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro -- are set to provide updates and apps to other devices when connected to the public Internet.

Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education, volume-licensed SKUs for large companies and organizations, also have WUDO enabled, but default to sharing updates and apps only within a local network.

WUDO resembles BitTorrent in its basics, and like that file-sharing technology, uses a peer-to-peer delivery system to spread the load to PCs worldwide rather than relying on a centralized-servers model.

If WUDO is enabled, Microsoft can point others to locally-cached copies of updates and apps on users' Windows 10 devices that are connected to the Internet. When that happens, a user's Windows 10 PC acts as a substitute server for others, and any customer whose device is tapped for WUDO delivery has given Microsoft access to their upload bandwidth.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Windows 10 Commandeers Users' Upload Bandwidth | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 60 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2015, @09:43PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2015, @09:43PM (#218157)

    That they don't tell you is the key, as far as I'm concerned. I have very low upload bandwidth, and my contract won't allow me to install an upload service or a P2P server. Had I installed Windows 10 response times would increase to unpleasant levels, my ISP would investigate, and I'd run the risk of being banned.

    Does the package ensure that you're not, for example, gaming online and so uploading plenty of non-Microsoft data?

    Also, why should I be subsidizing Microsoft by letting them use my bandwidth? They're a multibillion dollar company, I don't even have a thousandth of that. They can pay their own way, instead of freeloading off my back.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +2  
       Interesting=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday August 04 2015, @10:47PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Tuesday August 04 2015, @10:47PM (#218192) Journal

    Imagine what would happen if millions of Windows users got banned by their ISPs due to this Windows 10 feature.

    I wonder who would get more backlash, Microsoft or the ISPs.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.

    • (Score: 1) by rob_on_earth on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:28AM

      by rob_on_earth (5485) on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:28AM (#218417) Homepage

      Or it could just lead to a great improvements.
      Instead of getting N up and N/10 down from your ISP it would have to be just N. And they could not include the "thou shalt not run any servers" clause.
      Which in turn would make it more feasible for individuals to run there own servers. OpenId, Identica and TOR exit nodes to name just a few.

      Hell! Microsoft could be the internet's salvation.

      Maybe not.