The Portable Freeware Collection Forums

starstuff wrote:Do any of you have a Windows Exit Strategy in place?

I don't like where microsoft is going now, im testing Linux Mint as an alternative in Virtualbox and its not that bad after all. i will still be using Windows 7 but not connected directly to the internet. I dont want to lose all the portable apps!

Disclaimer: I'm a Microsoft shareholder.

I'm not that concerned about changes in Windows 10. It's unfortunate how much data Windows 10 sends to Microsoft (such as telemetry about how much Modern UI apps are used), but I think it's a small price to pay for the ability to use Windows-only software, including thousands of portable applications and Windows-only games. You put it very well: "I don't want to lose all the portable apps!"

Like it or not, regular people accept the same kind of tracking in other software, such as mobile operating systems, free-to-play mobile games, websites and the Google Chrome web browser.

I have a dual-boot setup (Windows 10 + siduction GNU/Linux). GNU/Linux is there as a secondary OS for a few purposes; one of which is an escape plan in case the absolute worst Windows nightmares come true (such as Windows going "full app store" and disallowing users from downloading programs from the Internet).

starstuff wrote:Do any of you have a Windows Exit Strategy in place?

If it weren't for all the work done here over the years and several blah install experiences I probably would have already switched to Linux. I've owned a Mac for about 7 years now and I do everything here inside a Windows VM, but switching to OS X just isn't a possibility. I loathe their constantly evolving UI and overall attitude towards open source. Their hardware build quality is excellent, though.

SYSTEM wrote:regular people accept the same kind of tracking in other software

True but this is something we have to try and push back against where ever possible. So much of privacy at least in the US is based around "expectations" of privacy. That is: you don't expect privacy in public place but at home there are legal protections. If you don't have any reasonable expectation of your privacy while using a computer, that's doesn't bode well for what tech is going to look like in 20 years.

....mmmh
I have read this article on ZDNet http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft- ... 0-updates/ and I discover that Update manager is absent:
- in Windows 10 Home: absent
- in Windows 10 Pro: with limited functionality
so I can not disable unwanted uptates.
..but Microsoft have not definitively removed this feature: it is the optional fix KB3073930 with name 'Show or hide updates' at this link https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930
You can find this tiny archive (KB 46) also on Softpedia http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-search.php ... de+updates .
So if You use a tool for disable spying, next time it will downloaded again.

b.t.w.
how many users are able to defend themselves against unwanted updates?

If worst comes to be, I'll jump to a Mac -- still very uncomfortable with the idea, though.

BTW, I also feel Linux is diminishing as an option right now, mostly because of a few long standing usability related issues -- not to mention that elephant of a SystemD conundrum...

Using the KB3073930 tool as a workaround to disable and choose specific updates and disabling automatic driver updates is good enough. The problem is a user interface usability issue at this point. Cry about it hard enough and they'll bring things back slowly like with the classic personalization window in the latest insider builds though not fully functional.

I'm pretty much settled in and cozy with Win10 after a few tweaks. I'm not worried about the telemetry data aka "keyloggers". I'm just 1 dude out of a billion people they collect data on to improve their software and services. That's what they use the data for right? I haven't seen any instance of the data collected by Microsoft that has been used against me in a malicious way. At least not directly at me.

I mean what are they gonna get from me? My favorite food and color? My favorite pr0n sites? My shopping habits? How many times I click on the toolbar or context menu to copy and paste? Images I look at? A lot of inconsequential information to look through. Considering there's millions of that kind of data, there isn't gonna be some guy looking through all of that. Even if there was, who cares? Maybe he will get a laugh out of it.

My motivation for disabling anything in Windows is performance related anyway. Privacy is an afterthought.

At the end of the day, when I kick the bucket, none of the info they get from me will matter. Just use whatever works best for you and call it a day.

Midas wrote: BTW, I also feel Linux is diminishing as an option right now, mostly because of a few long standing usability related issues -- not to mention that elephant of a SystemD conundrum...

I am looking for a Linux distribution. I have found 'Mageia 5' https://www.mageia.org/en/5/ with UEFI support https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Installing_o ... I_firmware , a system for start PC faster.
Mageia 5 can be downloaded as Live Media: LiveDVDs contains all languages and You can try before install (probably KDE Desktop is better).

Userfriendly wrote:The problem is a user interface usability issue at this point. Cry about it hard enough and they'll bring things back slowly like with the classic personalization window in the latest insider builds though not fully functional.

I have found some posts about GodMode: 'Windows 10 GodMode' on TECH TIMES http://www.techtimes.com/articles/73887 ... ble-it.htm (or CNET http://www.cnet.com/how-to/activate-god ... indows-10/ )
To enable GodMode mouse right-click on the desktop and click New > Folder, then copy and paste (as name of new folder)
-> GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
This trick allows to have ALL Windows 10 settings under Your mouse.

Userfriendly wrote:Using the KB3073930 tool as a workaround to disable and choose specific updates and disabling automatic driver updates is good enough. The problem is a user interface usability issue at this point.

• Although I haven't tested this, I essentially agree.

rbon wrote:I am looking for a Linux distribution. I have found 'Mageia 5' https://www.mageia.org/en/5/ with UEFI support...

• On principle, I'm against massive desktop/windows managers on Linux, which rapidly deplete whatever performance benefits one reaped from the switch, so I tend to steer clear of most Gnome/KDE distros. I'm eagerly expecting whatever LXQt will bring, but for the time being I have been most happy with Enlightenment and LXDE distros. My top choice for lightness and ease of use is a Lubuntu+Mint remix called Peppermint OS, which in it's latest release got UEFI support, too -- and as a bonus, Peppermint still boots with Upstart...

rbon wrote:To enable GodMode mouse right-click on the desktop and click New > Folder, then copy and paste (as name of new folder)
-> GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
This trick allows to have ALL Windows 10 settings under Your mouse.

• It works on Windows 7, too. Or at least did on my Windows 7 x64 SP1 here...

http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindow ... indows-10/
You can believe them or not. At least companies these days seem to be more transparent to consumers than they were pre-internet days. Back in the day you couldn't just send a message to a developer or executive and have them post a reply for the world to see. Twitter and such makes things possible if not necessary in this new age of company-consumer interaction. You could say Windows 10 is Microsoft's way of getting personal lol.

here's additional info on the type of information they're plundering from you.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy ... fault.aspx
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... e-services

webfork wrote:I've owned a Mac for about 7 years now and I do everything here inside a Windows VM, but switching to OS X just isn't a possibility.

Why not just get rid of the middleman (VM) and boot Windows permanently on a Mac? I've read in a few places that Windows 10 performs better than Mac OS on a Mac!

Maybe think about dual-booting if using Windows as the primary OS on a Mac is too much.

Userfriendly wrote: My motivation for disabling anything in Windows is performance related anyway. Privacy is an afterthought.

Same for the most part. I will not use any dodgy third-party tools attempting to add weird hostnames in the HOSTS file just to block some MS IPs.

Probably better to use a firewall for things like this.

About moving to Linux, I've dabbled with Arch Linux in the past, but I rely on too many Windows apps to think about using Linux as a daily driver. I would need some form of awesome keyword-based launcher and a decent replacement for XMPlay to consider switching. Both of which I haven't found yet.

As a friendly reminder, I'll just leave this here...

• 

Now that's completely different topic entirely Midas... Microsoft owns Windows and they can do whatever they want with it. EULA and TOS or whatever has all these snooping stuff pointed out and we all agreed to it when we use their software. As far as I know, our right to privacy is null and void when we use whatever software or service google, apple, or microsoft gives us. This is outside the realm of the government. It's not to say they aren't in cahoots with one another... /tinfoilhat

You're still free to use Linux whenever you like. Nobody is forcing anyone to use Windows to give up their precious dick pics. http://mashable.com/2015/04/06/edward-s ... dick-pics/

If you use Linux for this reason then you should avoid google too and everything on the internet. The paranoia is real.

I'm gonna stop talking about this from now on. I'm already sick of politics, social issues, and the like. I'm outside that bubble and I don't really care what other people think or do.

Fair enough, that's your prerogative my friend. But, this being 'Chit-Chat' and since as a human I'm pretty much inside "that bubble", let me just add that the right to privacy is a fundamental human right, (that should be) not subject to the will of any government, much less any corporate entity, no matter how valuable a service or product it provides.

FYI, Article 12 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

No-one should be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks on his honour or reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interferences or attacks.

It just saddens me deeply that the US of all nations should be on the frontline of such an all out attack on basic Human Rights.

Human Rights, Morality and such is subjective unfortunately. There's nothing to quantify privacy. My boundaries for privacy is gonna be different from everyone else. Every asshole in the world is going to take advantage of this laws fuzziness. Is someone invading my privacy if they look through my house's open window? Is it my fault for leaving it open for the world to see or is it theirs for peeking inadvertently or not? I could be naked when they look through it and I could be arrested for indecent exposure in my own private property. That kind of shit happens.

This privacy issue is a US only thing it seems. Even though we're better off than most countries. To the rest of the world, it looks like a first world problem.

In any case, I still think its overblown to think windows 10 is gathering any kind of information that would interfere with my privacy and attack my honor and reputation as that law states.

Userfriendly wrote:I mean what are they gonna get from me? My favorite food and color?

Security through obscurity only works insofar as you're either comfortable with or maintain your obscurity.  Heaven forbid you or someone in your family is thrust into the public spotlight for some reason.  Or maybe you decide later in life you feel passionately about something and try to become an advocate for it but someone's got some embarrassing detail about you from X years ago.

I'd hate to live in a world where the only people who participate are anti-technical and have no weird past and no secrets. Said another way, to resign yourself to obscurity and never speaking out about a cause is a form of censorship.

Userfriendly wrote:Microsoft owns Windows and they can do whatever they want with it. EULA and TOS or whatever has all these snooping stuff pointed out and we all agreed to it when we use their software.

A lot of what it comes down to (at least in the US) is expectations of privacy. If software uniformly does things that harm privacy, court cases will rule in the direction of "you willingly used a tool you knew had no privacy". Microsoft has shown themselves to bend to customer pressure on this topic, so I suggest pushing for it is worthwhile. Given their reach, even small steps can have a big impact.