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Windows 10 To Be Installed On 4 Million US Department of Defense Computers (betanews.com)

Posted by timothy on from the next-round's-on-you-just-like-last-round dept.

Mark Wilson writes: Microsoft keeps shouting about the millions of users that have switched to Windows 10, and soon the company will have another 4 million to bray about. The U.S. Department of Defense is the latest big name to give Windows 10 the seal of approval apparently unconcerned with the privacy and telemetry issues that have put off others. 4 million enterprise upgrades for Windows 10 is a real feather in the cap for Microsoft, and the aim is to get each system running the latest version of the operating system inside a year. The DoD has also announced that it is granting certification to Surface 3, Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book devices, meaning that they now appear on its Approved Products List.

20 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Not the same as the rest of us .. by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can be pretty sure that the version that the DoD gets will not be the same wrt phoning home as us plebes are getting.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    1. Re:Not the same as the rest of us .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Both of these comments are wrong. They will simply be installed and managed by people who know what they're doing, not some kids on reddit who want to prove Microsoft is evil.

    2. Re:Not the same as the rest of us .. by afidel · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually the DOD does get the source code(along with many other large customers and more than a few academic institutions), but in this instance that's irrelevant since the thing that makes the DOD not worry about the phone home is the same as any large institution, they'll be using the LTS branch which has the option to turn off all the telemetry beyond what's existed in Windows since XP (ie crash reporting) and then they'll use further policy to turn off even that ability just as they've had hardening guides since the Windows NT days.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    3. Re:Not the same as the rest of us .. by afidel · · Score: 5, Informative

      I haven't seen any research indicating that an LTSB install with appropriate policies in place leaks data. If you have any links I'd be very interested. As far as updates breaking policy, that's the whole bloody point of LTSB, you only get security updates without any of the feature updates that cause those kinds of issues. Until the second LTSB release comes out in ~18 months we won't know if there's any additional policies that will be needed (though it's likely based on what's happened in the CBB).

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    4. Re:Not the same as the rest of us .. by amiga3D · · Score: 2

      The DoD has had some horrendous security failures. They have lowest bid contractors managing these systems and it shows. I remember when we "upgraded" to Vista and half the computers in my shop were down at any one time for...well, until Windows 7 arrived. Things improved noticeably then but still it's not anywhere near as good as the millions of dollars they pour into it should make it. I see things that make me shudder but fortunately I don't have to deal with classified information.

    5. Re:Not the same as the rest of us .. by KGIII · · Score: 2

      What advantage would Windows 10 give a restricted user that Windows 7 would not?

      Support past 2020. Updates for more than just security issues. Things like that. WSUS is a thing.

      I understand there's a new file system, that it is optimized a bit better, will run the next generation of software, certain things can be restricted or allowed - it's not an all or nothing type of thing, and things like that.

      Note: I do not actually have any Windows computers so I might have missed some other benefits.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    6. Re:Not the same as the rest of us .. by KGIII · · Score: 2

      You guys say this every time a new version of Windows comes out. We see a slight uptick in questions in the forums. It dies down after about six months to a year. It's actually less of an uptick this time than I've noticed in the past.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    7. Re: Not the same as the rest of us .. by stridebird · · Score: 2

      On Linux you get all this for free, and you never have to leave^W use a GUI

      FTFY

  2. Telemetry Free Version by p0p0 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm assuming they've got a special version from Microsoft that isn't constantly collecting telemetry data, even when specifically disabled. They wouldn't use an OS that constantly sending information to an outside network, would they?

    Oh god they probably would.

    1. Re:Telemetry Free Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why would they? The telemetry goes right back to themselves.

    2. Re:Telemetry Free Version by guruevi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Why would they? The decision makers probably don't even understand the concerns and none of the non-IT workers care very much. Until the data has gone to China for a half a decade will they 'find out' and then they'll start a Senate Committee to investigate the issue and after a few more years, when everyone has moved onto Windows 15, will they decide that it wasn't a good idea but it's too expensive now to switch.

      Anyone concerned about security should never use Microsoft products. Most portions of our government have proven that they don't care, the only ones I see care is the NSA which regularly contributes to Linux (SELinux etc) so I think they must be running primarily that.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    3. Re:Telemetry Free Version by I4ko · · Score: 2

      Not necessary. They will apply their STIG though here from the DISA website and firewall and additional security here from the DISA website. You will be amazed on what basic throve of info you have in those, even for Chrome and some other known to phone home things.

    4. Re:Telemetry Free Version by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      OTOH, if there is another department with lower-level access to the pipes who is altering some small percent of the data being extracted by China, then the conclusions they draw from that data might be incorrect in ways very convenient to the DoD.

      Don't over-think it if you're going to under-think it. ;)

    5. Re:Telemetry Free Version by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      You have two choices; accept that almost everybody are incompetent boobs, or just concede that the average are mediocre and that almost everybody are mediocre. These things might be equivalent values. If mediocre isn't incompetent, then the standard is simply so low that "competent" means "makes lots of mistakes every day; sometimes huge ones."

      If your gold standard is the best person in the department, then the department is full of incompetent boobs. This is true even if the department is above-average!

      For it be false would require not even trying to be good, which would in itself be professional incompetency.

  3. Three possibilities by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1) The DoD are getting a special spyware-free version of Windows 10. (Remember, even the standard Windows 10 Enterprise will pervasively spy on its users, despite what many Microsoft shills have flaunted.)
    2) The DoD do not care that there is spyware in Windows 10, because Microsoft shares all the data with them anyway.
    3) This deal was made behind closed doors months or years before Windows 10 was production ready, and as a result, nobody dared to check if Windows 10 would actually be a good product for the DoD.

  4. As a government IT contractor... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I love job security. Bring it on, Microsoft!

    1. Re:As a government IT contractor... by LichtSpektren · · Score: 3, Funny

      I love job security. Bring it on, Microsoft!

      Rather akin to a paramedic cheering whenever there's a natural disaster....

  5. Microsoft blog post on this by weedjams · · Score: 4, Informative

    https://blogs.windows.com/wind...

  6. "another 4 million to bray about" by LichtSpektren · · Score: 3, Funny

    bray
    noun
    1.
    the loud, harsh cry of a donkey.

    Sounds about right....

  7. Enterprise can turn off telemetry by Ryan+McLaughlin · · Score: 4, Informative

    As stated here http://windowsitpro.com/window...

    and here https://technet.microsoft.com/...

    enterprise users can turn off telemetry. Everyone else only gets to set it to basic.

    Manage your telemetry settings You can manage your telemetry settings using the management tools you’re already using, such as Group Policy, MDM, or Windows Provisioning. You can also manually change your settings using Registry Editor. Setting your telemetry levels through a management policy overrides any device-level settings.
    You can set your organization’s devices to use 1 of 4 telemetry levels:
    Security (only available on Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 10 Education, and Windows 10 IoT Core (IoT Core) editions)
    Basic
    Enhanced
    Full