Microsoft starts widespread data-farming with...

[quote=Searz]TL;DR: Microsoft is trying to become more like Google. The problem is that they're not very good at it. Windows 10 might literally be logging your every keystroke. It should be common knowledge nowadays that Google logs most things you do through their services or through Android. But here's the thing: Google has a history of fighting for the rights of their users. They don't freely give up personal information to government agencies just because they ask sternly. Microsoft on the other hand has a history of presenting their ass, ripe for penetration. When Microsoft knows most things you do with your computer that information should be assumed public. Because we know very well how ridiculously extensive the collection of personal data is after leaks like Snowden. At least in the US. Other countries have not had similar leaks, meaning that we can only guess as to the extent of their data collection, but it would be safe to assume that it's very widespread. Furthermore, Google also has a history of making it clear to their users that their data is being collected and that most of said data collection can be turned off by the user (case in point: the android first-boot setup). Which brings me to the next point: Automatic diagnostic telemetry has also been added to Windows 7 and 8 retroactively. The data collected seems far less extensive than that of Windows 10, but it should still be a cause for alarm. Why? Because they don't clearly disclose that they're starting to farm your data before they do it. The method of disabling it is also far more complicated than it should be. A simple on/off switch accompanied by a description of the data being sent would have been enough to put my mind at ease. [b]But we got none of that...[/b] The updates landed pretty recently. The packages were called "KB3022345" and "KB3068708", should you wish to remove them. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3068708 The topic of Windows 10 including a built-in keylogger has been a pretty hot one (although probably not hot enough). For those who don't know what a keylogger is: it's a program that logs every button you press on your keyboard and sending it to a remote location. This is the kind of program that is oftentimes added through viruses or trojans so sensitive information like passwords could be gathered. There are claims that it only collects data that you write through the on-screen keyboard (which includes the touch keyboard for touch devices), but I've been unable to verify any such claims. It worries me that the pre-release version of Windows 10 had a [url=http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-privacy-statement]privacy statement[/url] containing these sentences: "When you input text, handwrite notes, or ink comments, we may collect samples of your input..." "Many features that transmit data to Microsoft are enabled automatically. You will not have the option to turn off the transmission of data for certain features in the Program software and services. To stop the transmission of all data, you must completely uninstall the Program software and services from all of your devices. This may require you to reinstall your device’s operating system." But in the [url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement/]final version of their privacy statement[/url] that is nowhere to be found, yet the keylogger remains after updating to the release version. It's very worrying not only because Microsoft could be taking part in incredibly personal information, but also because of the possible exploits and hacks this could potentially open the doors for. Here's some reading from both points of view: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30219380-WIN10-Windows-10-and-the-keylogger https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f0uyc/did_they_remove_the_windows_10_keylogger_in_the/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/does-windows-10-really-include-a-keylogger-spoiler-no/ [url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/07/17/windows-10-forced-automatic-updates/]Another very worrying point is that Microsoft is now issuing mandatory updates to their OS. You CANNOT choose to not install an update. You can - at most - postpone an update for a month.[/url] This brings a plethora of problems: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/07/27/windows-10-automatic-update-security-problems/ And another worrying point: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/05/windows-10-charging/ In general it would seem like Windows 10 is gathering far more information than it needs to, without asking for the user's permission, nor letting the user know the data is being collected and sometimes not even allowing the user to stop said collection.. http://www.redgamingtech.com/windows-10-privacy-settings-how-to-stop-it-spying-on-you-what-you-need-to-know/ It's a security nightmare, and it seems one that I personally will be avoiding. I recommend that you do the same. Now why did I write such an extensive comment on the issues of Windows 10? Because I was looking into upgrading. I got the impression that the company was taking strides to improve with a new CEO at the helm, and since I recently started having issues with my W7 install I got new-found motivation to switch. But it seems my hope was crushed. My hope that Microsoft will turn Windows around has withered completely. Seems like Linux is the only reasonable choice for when I switch next time.[/quote]

[quote=BigBoxGamer]Note to self, do NOT upgrade to Windows 10 and keep Windows 7.[/quote]

[quote=RottedApples]well, I'm sitting on windows 8 and my computer has told me that i can get windows 10 but i haven't yet because I don't want to get a release OS and have bugs. I'd be ok getting a game/program and having bugs on release that get fixed but if an OS had bugs then I may not be able to use it at all in certain cases. It's easy to avoid a game for a week or 2, it's hard to avoid the OS. That being said, now i'm legitimately terrified to update to windows 10 and i don't even do anything that i have to worry about, yet.[/quote]

[quote=Vaan99]There is no reason for sane person to upgrade to windows 10 right now, even if you can somehow justfiy to yourself microsoft tracking all your data, there is still no positive thing about windows 10. There are no games or programmes that work only on windows 10, actually there are many of them that don't work at all or have issues on win 10. Directx 12 has not yet been released, there are only few of last generation GPU's that even support dx12. It will certainly take some some time, maybe even years for game developers to start using dx12 features in their game. Windows 10 has actually worst performance of last 3 windows systems: [img=http://i.imgur.com/1P2E1O9.jpg][/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]A lot of other benchmarks actually end up with a completely different result. LinusTechTips reviews show Windows 7 as clearly the slowest, while very reputable Hardware.info shows windows 10 slightly faster than 8.1. From personal experience using all 3 OS at some point in time, Windows 10 definitely isn't noticeably slower than any of the previous iterations. For the record, the data farming thing is of course terrible, but in every other aspect Windows 10 is a lot nicer to use (esp. compared to Windows 8.1) Also one thing I was wondering, wasn't it possible to disable at least most of the data farming stuff while installing W10? I ran advanced installation and I pretty much disabled 2 pages full of privacy-sensitive data storage.[/quote]

[quote=Searz]Regarding the gaming performance: I haven't read up on the topic, but I think I have a pretty good idea of the situation. Gaming performance is almost the same across the operating systems. The difference according to tests seem to be on the order of less than 5%. At that point the differences are so tiny that the margin of error is almost as large as the difference itself. There's also the issue that minor updates could change the performance almost as much as the difference was in the first place. In short, don't bother with gaming performance unless there's a big difference. >5%. [quote=Vynertje]Also one thing I was wondering, wasn't it possible to disable at least most of the data farming stuff while installing W10? I ran advanced installation and I pretty much disabled 2 pages full of privacy-sensitive data storage.[/quote] Most of it, yes. But some require you to go as far as registry editing. Which is just silly.[/quote]

[quote=Meiyjhe]The windows 10 thing that demands that I should upgrade every time I start my PC was annoying me as fck. You should be able to disable these kind of things WITHOUT digging through a gazillion files. Microsoft pls wth u doing.[/quote]

[quote=Searz][quote=Meiyjhe]The windows 10 thing that demands that I should upgrade every time I start my PC was annoying me as fck. You should be able to disable these kind of things WITHOUT digging through a gazillion files. Microsoft pls wth u doing.[/quote] Yeah, holy crap that's idiotic. How about a right-click option that says "Uninstall annoying pestering" to make it easy for users that don't want the update? Noooooo, fuck those people. I know there's a registry change that will remove it, but here's how I did it: Windows Update -> View Installed Updates(bottom-left corner) -> Click "KB3035583" and click uninstall -> Reboot -> Windows Update -> Check for updates -> Rightclick the update (KB3035583) and click "Hide this update"[/quote]

[quote=Meiyjhe][quote=Searz]Yeah, holy crap that's idiotic. How about a right-click option that says "Uninstall annoying pestering" to make it easy for users that don't want the update? Noooooo, fuck those people. I know there's a registry change that will remove it, but here's how I did it: Windows Update -> View Installed Updates(bottom-left corner) -> Click "KB3035583" and click uninstall -> Reboot -> Windows Update -> Check for updates -> Rightclick the update (KB3035583) and click "Hide this update"[/quote]Yeah I already solved it myself by doing my own little research. I found that GWX.exe or something was causing the problems and that changing the files names to GWX.old.exe would solve the problem. Which it did :3 Thanks anyway though. The people deserve to know the truth![/quote]

[quote=The_Nameless_Bard]I like how one of the "sources" about it "containing" a keylogger says it doesn't, in reality, contain one....and is debunking the conspiracy theory bs. God forbid they collect information about the people who use their software.[/quote]