A Short Rant About Microsoft
I use Microsoft’s Update notification option. They tell me when there are updates and I decide if I want to install them. A month or so ago they wanted to download a program that would tell Microsoft if I was running unlicensed Microsoft software, also transmitting a bunch of information about my computer. I didn’t download it; but, since I didn’t, Microsoft won’t allow me to download any other patches or updates.
Today I got a forward of a .wav file. When I tried to open it with Media Player, Microsoft wouldn’t let me unless I allowed it to install the aforementioned spy program. I didn’t install it.
I’m not sure just why I’m so pissed off. I have Vista on my laptop and I assume it is reporting away all the info that I’m declining to give on my desktop. I have no unlicensed software on either computer. My friends rag on me because I decline gifts of burned CD compilations they offer. I’m a big believer in the right of all to protect their intellectual property, even when that “all” includes the Evil Empire.
But, it seems to me that Bill has gone a step too far by preventing me from using software I have licensed from him unless I let him download his new spy program. My ability to use and update legal software is now held hostage by Microsoft’s extortion of my agreement to allow its spying.
Being a lawyer, I so want to sue the (*&^%^%’s. Being a lawyer, I know some check off box I clicked to activate my software lets them do what they are doing, unless I spent years fighting them, which I’m not going to do.
Think I could get the Revs. Jackson and Sharpton interested in my plight? Everyone else caves in to them. Watch out Bill.
11 comments:
Apple has the same auto update feature. I wonder if they spy too. Wouldn't surprise me one bit, although I am SO square there can't be anything interesting on my computer.
Good luck.
I accepted the evil Mr. Gates' spy package and guess what? Every so often it has to be reinstalled!
Because maybe, staying up late every night, I have reverse engineered the original or something.
And it always wants to restart the computer when you're done.
The good news about XP (I'm not ready for Vista yet) is that it doesn't crash every 10 minutes like Windows 98 did. The bad news is that when you do have to re-boot it takes a half hour. Yeah, I know there are too many programs loading in startup -- but Mr. Gates doesn't make taking them out very easy.
Well, it was easy in DOS days. But it hasn't been easy since.
Although hardly a Gates apologist, I'm not sure that calling the program a "spy program" is an accurate assessment. And if you go without updates, you run the risk of not getting the security updates, which would be a bad thing when running a Windows OS.
In other words, it really is in your best interest to get over your "spy" qualms, lest you have real and more nefarious issues to deal with.
Pos, you are right, other than calling it not a spy program, that is exactly what it is. I submit to worse day in and day out. I know, for what you write and other reasons, I'm going to succumb. I'm just not happy.
Curmudgeon, I have XP at work and have had it for about four years. You are right about stability. Have you used "the way back machine?" AKA, System Restore. Takes awhile but it makes the OS mostly bullet proof. Mine doesn't take anywhere near the half hour you need to reboot. In fact, I've not rebooted the system other than using System Resore in XP.
Um Dave?
I think you should review Bill's contributions to the Rainbow Coalition and Rev. Al's business before asking them to help.
They may not want to irritate the hand that feeds them.
PS-thanks for the birthday note.
Sharpton and Jackson are good at getting themselves on camera, but I don't think either of them has effectively done anything in years.
I think you're only real hope of winning is to get a change of venue- into Judge Judy's court. She doesn't really care what's legal, she just likes to yell at people- and if she owns a computer, she'll want to yell at Bill.
You might want to check out this website. There might be a non-Microsoft alternative to do what you want to do.
I am EXTREMELY computer ILL-literate. So this post is lost on me except I'm on your side...whichever it is.
Shows how pathetic I am regarding computers, right? LOL.
Okay. I looked into it more. And you were right. I was wrong. It is spyware. Currently reasonably innocuous spyware, but that doesn't mean it won't change.
You can block it from sending "notifications" to MS with a personal firewall, if so inclined.
Aside: do you think anyone actually reads all the data they collect? Or do you think it's just run through an algorithm, looking for trends? I mean, that's a lot of windows users sending updates daily to MS. That's a lot of data. Maybe they're licensing the NSA's Echelon system.
Hey Pos, I think they are telling the truth that the info is "aggregated," other than in the case that you are running pirated MS programs. Whether that will last? Google and other sites use your info to tailor the advertising they show you. They say they don't keep individually identifiable info and that they get rid of it in time.
I did a post last fall, I think, about the issue. I knowingly give lots of info to the Web in return for the benefits of the Web. I just don't like it.
Information, even the statistical kind, is subject to interpretation. Interpretation is something subjective, and prone to human error. This is the only reason I have issue with privacy being violated on the internet.
People like Bill Gates might have the brains to differentiate, and to properly interpret information, but most people simply don't have the intelligence or the inclination to interpret data objectively when they can use it to misconstrue and harm the interests of others for the sake of mere selfish gain. And online, emails and such are far too easily intercepted by amateurs with little brains, wild imaginations, and lots of ulterior motives.
And so I feel that privacy online ought to be something we all hold in high esteem.
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