Microsoft appears to have once again attempted to sneak telemetry components. The company released security updates for all supported operating systems on the July 2019 Patch Day. However, this month’s cumulative updates, which were supposed to contain only security-related components, contain an unexpected compatibility/telemetry component.
The suspicious components were hidden in plain sight. Incidentally, this is the second time Microsoft has attempted to insert telemetry components. However, during the first attempt the Windows OS maker had openly mentioned the inclusion of the telemetry components, whereas this time, the company didn’t offer any indication. This methodology appears to an attempt to garner more accurate data about usage and installation patterns of the Windows operating system as Microsoft will soon phase out Windows 7.
People sticking with Windows 7 are a potential gold mine for Microsoft, so from the company’s perspective, it makes perfect sense to try and collect as much data about Windows 7 users as possible. Such data will help them determine what the best approach would be to get these users to upgrade.
If such telemetry collection is opt-in, then I see no problem with it. Sneaking it in as part of a security update, however, is downright scummy.
I was ready to switch to Linux on my work machine, seems like it might be good timing.
IMHO people should be allowed to run theirs computer with absolutely zero data collection if they so choose. This does not mean “basic” data collection, this means sending no data to microsoft whatsoever. It ought to be our choice since It’s not their data to take. Legislators in the US don’t give a crap about end user rights, so many consumers across the world seem to be dependent on the EU to take action since none of our governments will do it. In the US, politicians and corporations share the same bed. 🙁
The EU seems to tow the line in terms of end user rights, which is good because The more progressive european courts
You seem to have a dangling paragraph there, Alfman!
Anyways, I’m not surprised updates are being abused this way. Auto updates can obviously have legitimate purposes, but the temptation to use them as backdoors into owner’s computers can prove too much even for a big company. You could spend years trying to convince people to let you into their home, but if you’ve got a key as microsoft does, then it’s a whole lot easier just to let yourself in and not even bother with an owner’s permission. Microsoft’s chance of getting away with it is pretty good.
Oh, because you think Windows 10 is better on the telemetry front ? Come on, not only that, but failed updates, 32 GB reserved, and so on, how can people think upgrading to Windows 10 is such a good idea ? As much as I like Microsoft (as you guess) there’s still things unforgettable and unforgivable.
The inevitable response is going to be “change to Linux,” yet I just tried it for a specific use case and had an experience worse than the early 2000’s when it wouldn’t work out of the box with my CRT and was totally useless as I was on a dial up connection. Turned out the open source Nvidia driver Ubuntu is now shipping should be blacklisted if you have an nvidia GPU as your system will freeze up forcing you to do a hard reboot; and one of my most daily used programs, Anki, was somehow not packaged correctly in their repository and thus wouldn’t start. As I’ve said before, Linux needs an official SDK for 3rd parties to build against so that second part never happens. The package managers and Dockers of today are just lazy workarounds that created hundreds of times more work and inefficiencies than if a proper SDK was being built and maintained, but that would take just as much, if not more work than what goes into the kernel. Too bad no one in the Linux community has the authority and popularity to get something like that done other than Torvalds, and he’s on record as liking the current window manager nightmare.
This sounds like someone taking an opportunity to rant against Linux, even harkening back to “as I’ve said before…” The OP made no mention of Linux, Ubuntu, or L. Torvalds, but you pounced on a 2-line comment to make your 14-line Linux-hating rant seem relevant.
Take some advice from a difficult personality: Do yourself a favor and stay off Twitter and Facebook. You are way too transparent.
Hey Linux fanboy, weren’t any of his troubles a reality ? Sure it started as a “don’t like Windows, let’s switch to Linux” argument, but if Linux don’t fit the bill, for whatever reasons like the ones exposed, it’s not Microsoft’s fault that Linux still isn’t quite a viable desktop alternative.
I never said his problems weren’t real. But I’d never suggest driving a Chrysler PT Cruiser just because I once drove a Ford Taurus that lived down to the FORD nickname: Found On Road, Dead. That one Ford Taurus car that let me down one time, doesn’t mean that everyone should boycott Ford products forever.
And if I ever do say as much, I hope (someone like) you would call me out, for being so thick-headed.
Hanlon’s Razor: “don’t assume malice, when stupidity can explain it.”
Getting a long term positive experience of desktop Linux still is a dream. Not only because of the flawed hardware support, but packages and dependencies hell that breaks now and then. When I compare the time I maintain my Windows system with the time I’ve spent maintaining a Linux system, the conclusion is that there’s still progress to be made on that front. But regarding how many distros there are out there, seems like everybody is reinventing the wheel instead to focus on a Linux “standard”.
What a shame considering that Microsoft is now shooting itself in the foot, it could be the perfect momentum for Linux to offer a better alternative. But not.
dark2,
Well, all of us have had these sorts of issues at one point or another, unfortunately. I’ve often needed a second computer to get functional drivers when I didn’t have working drivers out of the box. To be fair these catch-22 problems can happen with windows too. Of course the biggest difference is that most end users buy computers with windows pre-loaded onto certified hardware whereas when they want to use linux they end up installing linux by themselves on arbitrary hardware combinations that are officially unsupported by the manufacturer. I actually think linux operating systems work fairly well considering that there’s no official support. Just imagine if you tried that with Mac-OS, haha. For an apples to apples comparison, one needs a computer with official linux support. For better or worse though, people do tend to experience and judge linux on uncertified computers whereas they judge windows and Mac-OS on officially supported hardware.
A CRT, Dialup and using an Nvidia on a Linux desktop, and most used program is a flash card software… *troll detected*
Can the headline be changed? I keep reading that Microsoft dropped telemetry as in “removed telemetry” (like you can drop support, or drop a database table). I understand it comes from the original article but it is at least ambiguous.
Adding telemetry in a security-only package should be an absolute no-no
https://www.getblackbird.net/
Kochise,
Thank you for posting this, I’ll probably give it a shot! I think you should have included a descriptive blurb though, since I like to know what to expect before clicking!