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Comment by pmx | Hacker News Reader

Seeing them this desperate to get windows 10 on to people's computers for FREE really has me worries about their motivations. I know it's loaded with tracking and spy features, are they selling that collected data and want as many people contributing to it as possible? Whether they want to or not? If I could afford it I'd get a mac and be done with this nonsense. Used to use ubuntu but I need photoshop :(

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A chunk of the telemetry recorded by Windows 10 has been back-ported to 7 and 8 in updates since anyway so that isn't a reason not to upgrade (though if it is a concern to you it is a reason not to use 7 or 8 as much as it is a reason not to use 10).

I have two machines that will likely never see Windows 10: a laptop on which it ran like a one legged arthritic dog (8 wasn't terribly fast on there, 10 was just impossible, it currently runs Debian as a test-bed for a few things) and a tablet that had significant driver issues that I don't particularly expect to see resolved (so it'll be sticking at 8 as I don't have time to upgrade and roll back again if it fails, my time is precious!).

The "but it is free" thing amuses me somewhat. Does anyone else remember hearing the "Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing" mantra from various Microsoft supporting camps?

A chunk of the telemetry recorded by Windows 10 has been back-ported to 7 and 8 in updates since anyway so that isn't a reason not to upgrade

Of course it is a reason not to upgrade: in Windows 7 or 8.x you don't have to install the telemetry, but in Windows 10 you have no choice.

Fair point, but you have to actively not install them if you have the officially recommended configuration (automatic update, include recommended updates).

Maybe I'm being overly cynical, but I can't believe the behaviour won't "accidentally" get in without continued effort on the part of the user to check that it isn't there. I for one don't have time not the care to keep constantly monitoring the situation.

I accept that Windows is watching me, whatever version, and if Windows watching me becomes a problem in my mind I'll stop using Windows, whatever version.

The thing is, my personal views are such that I wouldn't be happy using Windows with unclear phone-home behaviour, but for my small businesses, accepting that Windows is watching us in unknown ways is absolutely out of the question for regulatory and contractual reasons.

The average home user might be set to automatically install recommended updates, but I doubt many businesses or power users do that. The important thing in this case is that they do have the option not to.

As for telemetry "accidentally" getting in, this is why as mentioned elsewhere our policy is now not to install any Windows updates by default, even security ones. We install selected security updates manually, if and when we've confirmed they are relevant to our needs and not getting reported for anything sneaky.

Several of our machines can't even install those updates at the moment, because Microsoft appear to have horribly broken Windows Update in the past few weeks anyway, so until that's fixed it's a moot point anyway.

> Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing

still a reasonable statement about linux desktops.

Apparently it's true of Windows 10 too.

>A chunk of the telemetry recorded by Windows 10 has been back-ported to 7 and 8 in updates

1. you don't have to install those updates

2. supposedly, even if you install them, they do nothing unless you also enable CEIP: http://www.infoworld.com/article/2981947/microsoft-windows/t...

I just begin to shift again to my kUbuntu install. I try to use Windows 10 only for playing games that aren't yet on Steam for Linux.

I found myself in the same boat, but eventually just dropped Windows altogether. Once Linux desktops can better work with and calibrate ICC profiles, I'll really have no urge to go back.

The GNOME 3 desktop works pretty well with ICC profiles for me.

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