I think that I get Perseverando’s point even if I don’t share his/her reservations to the degree that he/she does. If I were building an OS my approach would be opt-in rather than opt-out. That is, I would allow the end user to turn on the things they want instead of having to configure their environment to (hopefully) turn off things that bother or distress them.
Just yesterday I came across a list of services or “features” that are (more or less) introduced with Win-10 that some people view with alarm. These are all turned on by default when they should be turned off.
You can disable the following:
Disable Telemetry
Disable Biometrics
Disable Handwriting Data Sharing
Disable Handwriting Error Reporting
Disable Application Telemetry
Disable Inventory Collector
Disable Steps Recorder
Disable enabling Lock Screen Camera
Disable and Reset Cortana
Disable Location
Disable Sensors
Disable Web Search
Disable Windows Media DRM Internet Access
Defer Windows Upgrades
Disable App Notifications
Disable Password Reveal Button
Disable and Reset Advertising ID
Disable SmartScreen Filter for URLs
Disable Sending Writing Info
Disable Access to Language List
Disable App Access to Location Info
Disable App Access to Camera
Disable App Access to Microphone
Disable Getting to know me
Disable App Access to Account Info
Disable App Access to Calendar
Disable App Access to Messages
Disable App Access to Radios
Disable Sync With Devices
Disable Windows Feedback Requestes
Disable Windows Update Sharing
Disable Windows Update for other Products
Disable WiFi Sense
Disable Windows Defender
Disable Automatic Windows Updates
Disable OneDrive
Disable Automatic Driver Update
Computers should work for you, not the other way around.
Yes, you can disable these for now, but these can be turned back on by Microsoft upgrades without the user’s knowledge, or by future malware without the user being aware of a privacy attack. Windows 10 is going to be a highly vulnerable platform.
PCs not not anymore.
Do you really understand what everything on your list does? Some of those options actually add the your secuty, some are tablet only, some are instrusive. Also, other OS’s and chrome are very intrusive as well as iPhone and Android phones. Best bet is assume anything you do electronically is not private.
Bookmark for good info, thanks rockrr.