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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.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Tuesday August 04 2015, @08:29PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Tuesday August 04 2015, @08:29PM (#218090) Journal

    By a simple setting you can tell windows 10 that your connection is metered, and it won't do WuDO.

    Is the existence of that option (and the necessity of choosing it) obvious for the average user?

    Articles on how to do this are all over the web.

    The vast majority of people will not search for articles on the web before getting Windows. Especially if it's preinstalled on their computer.

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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday August 05 2015, @01:43AM

    by frojack (1554) on Wednesday August 05 2015, @01:43AM (#218277) Journal

    Microsoft makes an attempt to figure out if your connection is metered. They don't explain how they do that, or how well it works.

    Even on a pre-installed store bought computer you are presented with the choices. Admittedly, most are in too much of a hurry to think it through. But as more articles are written on this perhaps some will hear of it.

    There will be a more who will learn of security and privacy issues from friends, or when some big expose is written, but sadly, I suspect the bulk will run the recommended settings.

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