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Windows 10's Privacy Policy: the New Normal?
An anonymous reader writes: The launch of Windows 10 brought a lot of users kicking and screaming to the "connected desktop." Its benefits come with tradeoffs: "the online service providers can track which devices are making which requests, which devices are near which Wi-Fi networks, and feasibly might be able to track how devices move around. The service providers will all claim that the data is anonymized, and that no persistent tracking is performed... but it almost certainly could be." There are non-trivial privacy concerns, particularly for default settings.
According to Peter Bright, for better or worse this is the new normal for mainstream operating systems. We're going to have to either get used to it, or get used to fighting with settings to turn it all off. "The days of mainstream operating systems that don't integrate cloud services, that don't exploit machine learning and big data, that don't let developers know which features are used and what problems occur, are behind us, and they're not coming back. This may cost us some amount of privacy, but we'll tend to get something in return: software that can do more things and that works better."
According to Peter Bright, for better or worse this is the new normal for mainstream operating systems. We're going to have to either get used to it, or get used to fighting with settings to turn it all off. "The days of mainstream operating systems that don't integrate cloud services, that don't exploit machine learning and big data, that don't let developers know which features are used and what problems occur, are behind us, and they're not coming back. This may cost us some amount of privacy, but we'll tend to get something in return: software that can do more things and that works better."
Linux has some problems though. Windows software does not run on it,
False. These are not Linux problems. For every software in Windows, there is a better solution in Linux. This is why cyberspace is Linux even as I type this. Not your home PC that came with Windows already on it. Cyberspace. The servers, search engines, websites, name it. The single thing that is left to keep a Windows install.. are some pretty cool games that are compiled only to run on Windows. This can be remedied.
Playstation 4 runs on the BSD kernel so obviously games can and do run better on Linux/BSD than Microsoft shitware.
Valve is starting to push Linux for games, but mainstream Linux support in games is still not here.
It is a natural flight to quality. Cyberspace did it already. Big retailers. Consoles. The International Space Station. All of the world's supercomputers with very few exceptions. www.microsoft.com runs on Linux. Akamai runs on Linux. CERN runs on Linux. Name-it-and-their-mom's-phone runs on Linux. If more games were compiled already to run on Linux, Microsoft would already be archive.org.
Windows is death knell.
Also, Linux has problems with specialized hardware, like the kind you would find on a laptop
If this is ever a case for anybody, simply install it into a Virtual Machine. It's free, as in have a nice day. Enjoy. Never buy a PC that doesn't have full hardware Linux ever support again. Done.
I do not know why the manufacturers build hardware that requires uber special drivers, but this is how it is.
More dollars than sense. You are addressing an issue that you can work around easily. It's not an issue. They compile drivers to hook windows libraries because they know pc owners become Windows users whether they like it or not when they buy a PC. Big mad audience. Many buy Mac's just because they hate Windows.
What you don't to is to say oh, since Microsoft had us in a proprietary headlock for decades that now we just have to buy proprietary headlock edition PC's. Linux is around and free. Change your hardware, reinstall it 1000x nobody cares, it's fine. You won't have to call India to activate a damn thing. I make nothing from it, trust me. People just need to be aware of how Linux everything already is. Then Microsoft R.I.P.
Also, at least some time ago, Linux on a laptop drained the battery faster than Windows (probably Windows could put the hardware in a lower power mode).
You may not even realize how weak of a point that is. It is weak to the point I wouldn't even call it a weak point. It's not a consideration. Which Linux? Running what software? When? I have never had this problem in my life. I have encountered bugs from many OS's. I have used almost all - and almost all flavors of each. This goes back to before 8-bit. Laptop battery life is only ever a marketing/advertising gimmick. Simply in the future do not buy a pos laptop with weak battery life. If you run Linux in a VM it will use the same battery as if you run Windows in a VM... and always depend on what apps you are using. If you have a fast PC it will obviously draw more power. You won't be gaming BF4 on your laptop for 36 straight hours on battery either. Plug it in. Configure it to use whatever battery you need it to. With Linux you can. With Windows you are stuck.
There is not even a valid general comparison to make (honestly) between Linux and Windows regarding laptop battery life. You could literally compile a local kernel and remove fluff drivers/modules for any device you don't have on your system. eg. Gentoo. Also you can use a lightweight desktop environment instead of full featured KDE. etc.
Windows has no sell points other than forced updates, get spied on, share your WiFi password with outlook contacts, then decide who hacked your shit.
No Billy. No India.