Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Delusion of Privacy and Security in Vista 10 Instantaneously Debunked Even in the Media, Despite Microsoft's PR Efforts

"[W]e're not going to have products that are much more successful than Vista has been."

--Steve Ballmer



Summary: The media continues to mock Vista 10 'features' (and by extension Microsoft) for their gross privacy violations while Microsoft boosters try to create an illusion that Microsoft wants to improve security, despite creating back doors for rogue government agencies

BASED on some of the very latest Web statistics, the adoption rate of Vista 10 is very poor, especially when one considers the cost. Vista 10 surprised many people when it was served to the public (final release) with all the surveillance built in, as if every user (or buyer) is a beta tester of Microsoft, expected to endlessly send input to Microsoft for debugging purposes (even keystrokes!). What started with some blogs and privacy groups ranting about Vista 10 is now a major story in much of the media.



"You know that Vista 10 is broken when people (both developers and non-developers) desperately try to 'fix' it, as is widely reported in the media right now."WND, a GOP-centric site, complains about Vista 10 and goes with the headline "Windows 10 spies on emails, images, credit cards, more". Linux Veda says that "Microsoft are abusing their users and we could do with a useful tool to restrict this."

You know that Vista 10 is broken when people (both developers and non-developers) desperately try to 'fix' it, as is widely reported in the media right now. Some people reportedly abandon it (to go back to older Windows or upgrade to GNU/Linux). Since Vista 10 is proprietary software, there is no way to fix it or even ensure it does not send personal data to Microsoft (silently, with or without encryption). One can only hope, especially when adjusting settings using Microsoft's own handles.

Twitter's Microsoft spam (paid for by Microsoft) now reaches shamelessly high levels, for they append “sponsored” Microsoft propaganda even to hashtag pages, calling it “top news” and linking to Bing shortcuts, posted by Microsoft's professional buddies. We have already complained about how Twitter was helping Microsoft promote Vista 10 (these two companies have been working together for a long time [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]).

Much of Microsoft's 'damage control' (notably in Twitter) is just linking to articles which suggest 'fixes', as if privacy in Vista 10 can be easily sorted out. The ToryGraph says that "Microsoft is collecting user account information, credit card details and passwords," but then goes gentle/soft on Microsoft. An article by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols refers to those concerned about privacy violations in Vista 10 as "paranoid". TechRadar, which so often delivers Microsoft spin, tries to advise readers, not by telling them to steer away from Vista 10 but rather to 'fix' it. A better article came from Andrew Orlowski, who called Vista 10 "a clumsy, 3GB keylogger." In his article titled "Microsoft vacates moral high ground for the data slurpers' cesspit" (showing if not emphasising Microsoft's hypocritical attacks on Google) Orlowski wrote: "A funny thing happened while I was reinstalling Windows 8 over Windows 10 yesterday morning. There in front of me, halfway through the installation process, were two full, clear pages of privacy toggles. Every toggle was set to not send private information to Microsoft, or anyone else.

"Microsoft has turned users of Windows into useds, or products.""In addition, Windows 8 created a local user account by default – and didn’t demand I maintain a constant, umbilical connection to Microsoft’s servers. Windows 8 was configured for maximum privacy. Now compare this to the indiscriminate data slurp that Microsoft calls Windows 10. It’s basically a clumsy, 3GB keylogger.

"It’s often said that with data protection and privacy, we’re like lobsters: we don’t notice the water getting warmer and warmer, until we’re boiled alive. So it’s been with Windows. Windows 8.1 didn’t show you clear choices or screens with privacy toggles anymore, but invited you to agree to either “Express Settings” for privacy (wow: cool, convenient) or “Customise” them (there be monsters). It respected your local user account, but then bullied you into switching to the umbilical when you accessed the Store. Windows 10 makes the Customise option so small it looks like the trademark notice, and even then, the defaults are set to send everything to Microsoft, and only allow you to control the data slurp partially. Local user accounts are so buggy in Windows 10 that you'll probably switch to always-being-slurped anyway."

"It's time we owned our own data," says this new article, quoting what it called a "Silicon Valley truism."

“If you’re not paying, you’re the product” is the truism. Microsoft has turned users of Windows into useds, or products. Microsoft is intensifying its relationship with the NSA while many other companies try to distance themselves from the NSA. Microsoft does not strive to offer security at all, despite its empty claims to the contrary (like a show trial involving data in Ireland). IDG's Microsoft boosters and Microsoft staff (Microsoft MVP J. Peter Bruzzese in this particular case) prop up the illusion of Microsoft as advocate of "security", but it is just Microsoft marketing shrewdly disguised as "articles", or Microsoft MVPs acting like external staff (watch this Microsoft advocacy site having a go too). Vista 10 ought to end any pretense that Microsoft cares about security.

Remember that Microsoft did not fix a serious Windows flaw for 3 months, despite Google urging Microsoft to fix it. The above 'articles' (from Microsoft mouthpieces) are just part of the publicity stunt. Microsoft is not bothering to fix critical flaws that it knows about and tells the NSA about (essentially giving back door access to all versions of Windows, as usual). Vista 10 takes all this to unprecedented new levels and lets spies track Windows users in real time (even their keystrokes!). It also harvests passwords, including encryption keys (supposedly for 'recovery').

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Shares Collapse Again (Down $101), Fifth Round of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in Less Than 100 Days in 2025
disaster
Windows Has Fallen to All-Time Lows in Switzerland Since GNU Celebrated 40th Anniversary (GNU’s 40th Birthday in Biel, Switzerland)
GNU/Linux has been doing well in Switzerland
One Person's Take on Jef Spaleta, the New Fedora Project Leader
"With a little searching, I wonder what else may be found regarding Microsoft."
 
Links 07/04/2025: More Cuts to Science Funding, Snail-speed Internet in Germany
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/04/2025: Leasehold and Safe Gifts
Links for the day
In Some Countries, Laptops and Desktops Become a Dying Breed (Even Before Tariffs), Windows Has Nowhere to Go
expect more GNU/Linux on new and existing laptops
When the Credibility or 'Quality' of Clients Ceases to Matter, It's About Helping Rich Companies Like Microsoft Censor Critics (No Matter the Risks)
Bad ideas typically result in undesirable outcomes
UAE: GNU/Linux and Android at Record Levels, Windows at New Lows and Falling Below Apple
Even iOS is measured as bigger than Windows this month
Links 07/04/2025: Reddit Occupied (Social Control Media Controlled by Oligarchy), Demise of Globalisation Ongoing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 06, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 06, 2025
Links 07/04/2025: Leaving Gemini/smolweb and Mastodon Migrations
Links for the day
In Iraq, Windows 3.1 (Percent)
There's also zero
Links 06/04/2025: Flood, Cool Gemini Capsule, and Long Form
Links for the day
Links 06/04/2025: Science, Politics, and Pricier Goods
Links for the day
LLM Slop Has Virtually Killed unixmen.com and Many Other Sites
There's no longer any incentive to write real articles in there
Sharp Declines for Microsoft Windows in Bangladesh (Pop. ~175,000,000), Big Gains for GNU/Linux
Microsoft Windows has been having a really hard time in poor countries
Links 06/04/2025: Fake Reviews, Privatisation Heists, and "AI" as Smokescreen for Impoverishing Humans
Links for the day
Taking a Moral Stand Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the Worst Offenders/Facilitators
Any other stance would sidle with moral depravity or moral hazard
Links 06/04/2025: Many New Acts of Repression and Elements of Financial Depression
Links for the day
In Qatar GNU/Linux Rose From Under 1% to Over 4% in Two Years (or Over 5% If Counting ChromeOS)
It's a big improvement compared to what we saw last year
LLM Scrapers Are a Nuisance, But They're Also a Reminder It's Time to Make Your Site Static
Perhaps the best protection is the ability to endure surges
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 05, 2025
Links 06/04/2025: Attacks on Education, Fake Patents, and Fake (Illegal) Patent Courts
Links for the day
France: Apple and Microsoft Down, GNU/Linux Up to New Record Levels
How will tariffs against France impact things in the coming months?
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: What Was Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
We hope to finish this whole lot within a week, then move on to election, lobbying etc.
Links 05/04/2025: Tariffs Backfiring, YouTuber Arrested, X/Twitter Set to be Fined
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Offline is For Everyone, Copyright Colonialism, and More
Links for the day
Links 05/04/2025: TikTok Unsold (Still), Royal Society is Dead
Links for the day
Techrights Will Spend the Next Few Years Writing a Lot About Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
It's a growing problem
The State of EPO Staff's Health in Rijswijk or The Hague
We're going to cover the EPO some more later in the month
NVIDIA Corp Lost 36% of Its "Value" Since Cheeto Inauguration, But "Gen Hey Hi" (GenAI) is Totally Not a Bubble
Selling loads of unneeded hardware based on hysterical hype; like selling shovels during a Gold Rush
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia, Windows by Default No More?
GNU/Linux is now on the shelf
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux 'Articles' From Linux-Hostile LLMs
It is almost always negative things and nobody can be held responsible for it except the charlatans prompting the LLMs
Links 05/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) "Sale Looks Highly Imminent" (US), Stock Market Drowning in Panic
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Moving Plants, No to Smartwatches, RAID Hygiene
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 04, 2025