Windows 10 Privacy Concerns

[KILROY]

ROFL!!! On the pic and statement!

That article you found, good stuff. And the comparisons to the older operating systems are nice also. I just might update my older Vista laptop to 10 just to check it out and see what it's all about now.

This was interesting on the news yesterday, some guys figured out how to access the onboard computers of current vehicles, and make them do what they want. Pretty much making people crash. What the news did not relay is how they were doing this. The only way I know of how to access an onboard computer on a vehicle is through the OBD II connection under the dash. Although I don't know if the new style radios with GPS are connected to the onboard computer. Doing some research to see, but something to be careful about.

[perrinoia]

More and more cars come equipped with dashboard computers that interface with the car's computer to provide diagnostic results on the dashboard. Those computers are typically also equipped with Bluetooth and Wifi +/- 4G...

Then they also have wireless key fobs and/or keyless ignitions...

I imagine the more radio antennae your car has, the more vulnerabilities is might have...

My mom's car has sonar sensors in the bumper, that warn her when she's about to back into something... Hell my sister's car has radar, which warns you if their is a car in your blind spot when you flick on your turn signals. I've seen volvo's with cameras near the mirrors with object recognition software for the same purposes of my sister's radar.

I'm sure it's possible to trick any of those sensors... Hell, VW figured out how to trick their emissions sensors... LOL

[KILROY]

Yeah, and Audi just introduced it's first self driving car that will drive itself in stop and go traffic in 37 mph or less, but yeah, what you relayed makes since Perr. It's been many a years since I was a mechanic working on vehicles. Just to give you an idea of how long ago, I was one of the first people in the state of Texas to be licensed and certified to retrofit a vehicles a/c system from R-12 to 134-A.

Now it looks like we have to come out with security programs to protect our software in our own vehicles. New business opportunity.

[perrinoia]

True, and with much higher stakes than securing your average personal computer...

[KILROY]

I hear ya on that statement.

[perrinoia]

I'll just leave this here...
http://time.com/4180457/skype-real-time ... r-windows/

[KILROY]

Nice, they finally are expanding the translation program. Although, I already speak Mandarin Chinese, French, and some Spanish

EDIT: On a previous statement I made about upgrading my older Vista laptop to Windows 10....thought more about it and no, I won't be doing it. After reading more on Windows 10 and with Microsoft stating this will be their final operating system they will come out with. This tends to make me believe that due to this being their final OS, they will have to make a profit somehow, which means 10 will at some point have to have subscription fees in order for the user to continue using it for any future ventures. Again, this is just a thought, but more people are seeing this as a possibility that Microsoft will do. Europe and Canada has already banned the Windows 10 download in their countries, and I'm seeing more switch to Apple or Linux now. Matter of fact, Linux is looking better and better. I've been keeping track of Microsoft's stock lately due to watching my own, and their stock isn't holding up well after the Windows 10 release, down 3.99% and still dropping. They also just announced they are changing the license agreement with consumers about future purchases of equipment with it's companies it works with, in that all future silicone based hardware will have to have Windows 10 on it. So basically Microsoft is trying to gain a monopoly again with their new OS. If they do this, then they can enable the subscription fees to the consumer and nothing can be done about it, and if you want to continue to use 10, you have to pay to play. This could either be a very good marketing strategy for them, or cost them dearly. Time will tell.

[perrinoia]

I think you've got it all wrong...

Think about who Microsoft's competition is... Apple (OSX and iOS which are both expensive), Google (Chrome OS and Android which are both free), and Canonical (Ubuntu which is free).

Apple can still afford to overcharge for their OS because of name brand recognition and hipsters, etc... Technically, I think Microsoft could have continued to operate with this dated business model, if they hadn't flubbed so bad with Windows Vista and Windows 8.

Google and Canonical, on the other hand, offer completely free operating systems, with app stores that make money. They've both proved the new business model is successful, so Microsoft is copying them.

However they differ by offering subscription fees for their apps, such as Microsoft Office 365. You can still choose to purchase Office 365, for 1 year at a time... But it's cheaper to subscribe, if you plan on using it for more than 1 year... Obviously.

I do wish they were more like Google, who makes money in other ways, while offering all of their software for free... But I feel like they're meeting us halfway there, which is progress.

I agree that their stock has probably taken a dive, especially considering all of the negative press they've been getting... Every tech blogs seem to be written by Apple users, so every article seems to lampoon Microsoft, stating wild assumptions about Microsoft's motives. Clearly their motives are income based, and getting angry about that is simply unfair. Now, if they decided to get income from malicious malware and identity theft... That would be a different discussion.

And that brings us back to the discussion of what user data they are collecting... Do I think they are currently collecting enough data to steal our identities? No... I think they've already acquired enough data to accomplish that, decades ago... And they haven't done it yet... So quit worrying about that!

[KILROY]

I will agree with you to an extent about Apple core posters against Microsoft posting online, but I will not agree with you on this statement:

Now, if they decided to get income from malicious malware and identity theft... That would be a different discussion.

Microsoft was already busted dealing with Lenovo in loading malware onto it's systems and selling them to the consumer to make a profit, illegally. FCC dealt with them quickly, same as VW was dealt with it's coding for their diesels.

As for purchasing and having to continue to pay for a license to use a program with Microsoft, is why I'm also turned off by them now. I like old ways, you paid for a program and registered it and received updates for free for the life and support of the program. You didn't have to continue to pay to play.

And that's another issue that you mentioned, Microsoft can't do their own thing, they are trying to copy others now. They can't lead, they have to follow, which tells me they are not one of the big boys anymore.

As for your privacy rights, you lost those long ago when the internet was created.

[{LS}RePublic]

And MS is being a dick by limiting future CPU support to just windows 10 by 2017.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/micros ... 31024.html

Linux is looking better already.