Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Windows 10? Not Yet.

I've been holding off on this one.  The computers I have run adequately fast on what ever operating systems I use to get my own personal and professional work done.  It is a mix of Windows 8.1 and Debian Linux - primarily Linux by proportion of use.

I've been told that I need to adjust my "Tinfoil Hat", that I'm overreacting.

No, I haven't drunk the Kool Aid and I don't have to.

Here's the deal.  A month or so ago, people were given the option to download a copy and install a "Free upgrade to Windows 10 Home".

Microsoft doesn't give anything away for free.  There's always a hook, even if you have to look deeply for it.

In the case of Windows, it's best if you remember that "If you aren't the customer, you are the product".  I am directly quoting one of my friends who is one of the biggest critics of Android.

I have no doubt that Android is a case of Google simply watching everything you do, and using it to build a profile of you, personally.  It may be to serve advertising.  It may be for future use.  It may be for a friendly or not so friendly government.

Android costs money to make.  Those people have to be paid.  They're doing it by selling that information to a shadowy "someone" who could be as "innocent" as an advertiser. 

I hate ads.  Did I say that?  I have never clicked on an ad in all the years that I have been using computers intentionally.  Have you?  I doubt it.

Anyway, that free version of Windows 10 Home is exactly the same thing.  Every time you do something, you're being watched.  Even on the Pro version of Windows 10 you have to go in and turn that garbage off.

Thanks, I'll pass.  Windows 8.1 has a bit of life left in it.

It might surprise you to hear that if you read this blog at any depth.  I use Windows 8.1 Pro with a program called Classic Shell to give me back a Windows 7 look and feel.  Any time I have to go back into that ugly block land called "Metro" or Modern Interface, I'm jarred with just how hideous and inefficient it is. 

But I'll stay right here.  I don't use any Modern programs and for that matter, everything I use on Windows is Free or Open Source.  The GPL License seal of approval.

You can tame the evil kitten called Windows 10 Home but then you have to do without the Microsoft Store. 

Just one example of one issue of many that I have with Windows 10 Home.  It has been shown that your personal typing style is distinct enough to track your self to your specific computer.  Microsoft wants you to help it improve its typing recognition.

Per Lifehacker:

Send Microsoft info about how I write: This feature improves text completion suggestions when you handwrite or type (presumably on the touch keyboard, though it doesn’t say. That’s very broad, and we’ll talk about it more in a bit. I recommend turning this off.


If you want to play Solitaire because you got hooked back on Windows 3.1, you can do so with ads.  Same thing with Freecell. 

There is an advertising ID number that basically stays with you.  If you didn't like the idea of an advertising company tracking your every move, why would you want Microsoft to do so?

Actually, you can find it on your old Windows 7 machine, copy it across, and I'm told it works.  I don't know first hand since I've got too much to do than to play Solitaire on a computer.  That's the kind of thing I'd do on Hold with a Client, and I don't stay on hold long if I'm there.
So to those of you who don't like the prospect of being watched, you can pay the $100 or so and upgrade to Windows 10 Pro and then look into locking it down.

For me, I'm staying put.  The other machines I have are happily on Debian Linux.  I know Linux well enough to make it do what I need it to.  No ads, No spyware, and it's all free, including Freecell.

One of those rare cases where you don't have to worry about evil software getting involved on your computer.

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