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| A new app promises to BLOCK Microsoft from collecting data from your operating system |
A NEW third-party Windows 10 app has promised to stop your operating system sending data back to Microsoft.
It's no secret that Windows 10 is tracking an enormous amount of your data.
Installed with News News Blog Settings, Windows 10 Home can track and share the websites you visit, the searches you make, your purchases, calendar details, location, contacts and the voice commands you use with virtual assistant, Cortana.
Microsoft claims your personal information is seldom recorded and sent back to its servers and whenever it does, there is always an opt-out.
But those who feel uncomfortable with the operating system's unprecedented thirst for data can relax.
A new third-party app promises to stop all of the background data collection in Windows 10 – even the aspects Microsoft does not allow users to disable from within the settings.
Dubbed Spybot Anti-Beacon, this one-click solution puts the brakes on your operating system's telemetry data.
The standalone anti-tracking tool has recently been updated to work across Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.
Anti-Beacon is small, simple to use and is provided free of charge by Spybot, who have been in the privacy business since 2000.
The lightweight app was built to address the privacy concerns of users of Windows 10 who do not wish to have information about their PC usage sent to Microsoft.
Simply tap "Immunise" on the main screen of the app to disable any known tracking features included by Microsoft in the operating system.
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| Spybot Anti-Beacon blocks the telemetry data being sent from your computer to Microsoft |
If any issues occur with your PC while using Anti-Beacon, undoing the changes made can be done by clicking the "Undo" button in the main window.
Although, this will re-enable all tracking services.
Windows 10 – which is being installed on thousands of computers automatically in the latest adoption push by Microsoft – is continually being updated and tweaked by Microsoft.
The latest update – dubbed Threshold 2 – is due to roll out later this month.
It includes a number of patches, tweaks to the failed Microsoft Edge browser and some visual changes.
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| Microsoft records every tap on the keyboard in Windows 10 - to improve the product in later updates |
Microsoft recently relaxed its stance on data collection for enterprise customers in a move to appeal to businesses to adopt the new unified Windows operating system.
Windows 10 Enterprise recently gained the ability to turn off telemetry tracking – although Microsoft strangle recommends you leave it on.
"We're going to continue to listen to what the broad public says about these decisions," Vice President Joe Belfiore told PC World.
"Ultimately our goal is to balance the right thing happening for the most people – really, for everyone – with complexity that comes with putting in a whole lot of control."
He added: "And in the case of knowing that our system that we've created is crashing, or is having serious performance problems, we view that as so helpful to the ecosystem, and so not an issue of personal privacy, that today, we collect that data so that we make that experience better for everyone."
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| Microsoft currently advertises the free upgrade for its new OS in a series of pop-up adverts |
Windows 10 takes a lot of decisions out of the hands of its users in the name of convenience.
Whether or not the next-generation functionality included in new operating system is worth the trade-off, could ultimately decide whether or not you opt for the free upgrade.
Even if you can't disable all of the telemetry data in the consumer editions, Microsoft does allow you to control some of its data collection policies by navigating to Start > Settings > Privacy.
The latest news comes days after the US technology firm announced the final date PC manufacturers will be able to sell new computers running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
The date was almost a year earlier than anticipated, as Microsoft continues to push to meet its goal of one billion devices running Windows 10 within two years of its launch.
However Microsoft has had a number of key issues with Windows 10 since its release earlier this summer – something it wants to fix in the upcoming OS update, dubbed Threshold 2.
Users have reported frustratingly slow boot-up speeds, trouble with wifi connections, privacy concerns and issues with child safety features following the jump to Windows 10.
Windows 10 is currently a free operating system upgrade to customers running genuine versions of Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
If you have managed to get your version of Windows 10 up and running smoothly – NewsNewsBlog.blogspot.com has rounded up SEVEN top tips to master your new operating system.
And if you are feeling negative towards the new operating system, here are the WORST features Microsoft included in Windows 10.
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