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Enderkevin13

I Wanna Marry Windows 10 Now

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Quasar said:

Multiple sources do list Windows 10 as talking to several nsatc.net domains. Curious as to what that is, I looked it up, and it belongs to Level 3 Communications. A company recently accused of tapping connections for government spying purposes.

Level 3 is just a tier 1 network, one of the big WAN providers that makes up the Internet. In fairness the same is probably true of all large networks of this kind. They don't really get a choice.

Kinda weird that Windows would be specifically sending data to a domain owned by them though. A Microsoft-owned domain is more easily understandable, but why a company like this?

The best innocent explanation I can think of is that it could be something to do with DNS, or load balancing and routing to the closest local data center. Even large companies sometimes contract this stuff out to other companies.

EDIT: In fact, this looks like the most plausible explanation. Check it out:

$ host update.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
update.microsoft.com.nsatc.net is an alias for update.microsoft.com.nsatc.net.
update.microsoft.com.nsatc.net has address 65.55.50.190
update.microsoft.com.nsatc.net has address 134.170.58.221
$ whois 65.55.50.190

-snipped for brevity-

NetRange:       65.52.0.0 - 65.55.255.255
CIDR:           65.52.0.0/14
NetName:        MICROSOFT-1BLK
NetHandle:      NET-65-52-0-0-1
Parent:         NET65 (NET-65-0-0-0-0)
NetType:        Direct Assignment
OriginAS:
Organization:   Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
RegDate:        2001-02-14
Updated:        2013-08-20
Ref:            http://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-65-52-0-0-1
So even though the domain nsatc.net is owned by level3, the DNS names resolve to IP addresses in ranges controlled by Microsoft. So you won't be sending data to level3 - unless they decide to redirect those DNS names to point at different IP addresses for certain users (tinfoil hat firmly in place).

Still not sure why, and "nsatc" is the kind of unfortunate name that can easily lead to obvious conspiracy theories.

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Microsoft Prism 10
Be advised to use browsers labeled as Prism technology.

I am happy about the fact that i am not a tinfoil hat type of person. 10 years ago people where also freaking out over cookies and data collecting... But i do admit the influence those scandals had on me, and reading about windows 10 ( ignoring the user agreement for the beta's in terms of data collecting) i kind of cringe.

I truly hope Microsoft doesn't damage itself with some bad decisions.

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fraggle said:


Well, I always theorized that Microsoft had a traditionally lax stance on piracy, after their costs/benefits analysis showed them that it might be actually profitable to do so (e.g. by helping Windows usage spread quickly). Sure, they introduced WGA, limited hardware changes on Windows XP (anybody even remembers those?), but all things considered those were easily worked around, and Microsoft didn't seem to mind. They almost were there just as a casual, almost token antipiracy feature, not something seriously meant to be hindering or hard to crack.

However, I also postulated that some day they will also decide to "reap the harvest" after their investment has matured.

Now, exactly why only "games" were singled out is another question, with many variables. E.g. what kind of games? Only their own? Only specific titles? How do they detect them? What if I install something with a pirate wrapper that leaves no traces in the registry or installed programs?

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Edward850 said:

Why?

He's the same dude that posted one of those idiotic "read this now notice this you're feeling this now this now this blah blah blah i'm so smart ha ha love me please," copypastas and felt the need to give it its own thread. He obviously does not use much forethought before going ahead and doing something dumb.

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Quasar said:

That's just the stuff we know about. Maybe put a couple of proxies and firewalls (not ones written by Microsoft either) between your computer and the net just to be safe :P


Is it even possible to have the slightest privacy while connected to the internet at all anymore? If the NSA wants to get into your PC, they'll get into it, one way or another. I don't even think Richard Stallman could avoid them, and he's paranoid and crazy.

Maes said:

Well, if taken literally, that statement must be true for everything Microsoft made after the Altair 8800 BASIC (or QDOS), and thus all the "|\/|1kr0$of+ h4t0rz" from 1980 until today, including the "golden" age of DOS and Windows 3.x/9x, were wrong to blame it on the man. Amirite?

By that logic, Steve Jobs couldn't be blamed for anything since he didn't actually solder a single iPad (well, he might have soldered a couple of joints on an original Apple computer, but that's it).

It's interesting to note that neither Gates nor Jobs were ever renowned as the "chief grease monkeys" of Microsoft and Apple. Those would be Paul Allen and Steve Wozniak, accordingly. And yet, hardly anyone remembers them.

No, because Bill Gates hasn't actually worked at Microsoft for many years. It would be like blaming Jobs for those really shitty '90s Macs that almost sank the company.

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Woolie Wool said:

No, because Bill Gates hasn't actually worked at Microsoft for many years. It would be like blaming Jobs for those really shitty '90s Macs that almost sank the company.


Well, the post I was replying to was about Bill Gates' involvement in "development", and if taken to mean "nuts and bolts programming", then all evidence suggests that he hasn't done any ever since the late 70s, at least.

If by "development" we mean "product design" or "CEO-level business/managerial decisions", then it's another story.

However, Bill Gates had the position of CEO until 2000 (so his decisions definitively influenced stuff like Windows 3.1/9x/Me), while he was "chief software architect" until 2008 (again, this was probably a high-level decision making, rather than a development position).

In any case you can rest assured that whenever some Microsoft codez screws with you, it was written by some noname code monkey, not by Bill Gates himself (though how much consolation that is, is also another story).

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I'll be officially switching to Linux with my next PC. This has crossed every line that can be crossed.

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Just pointing out that disabling Windows Defender will stop it from attacking your totally legit DRM free version of Counter Strike and Photoshop, effectively nullifying the whole OH NO MY ILLEGAL GAMES WHATEVER WILL I DO BESIDES BUY THEM bullshit. Besides if you have your own anti-virus you would have disabled Defender the moment you got the PC.

Not condoning piracy though. That shit's bad.

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My main problems with those statements would be ;

1 - How would Microsoft ever know the difference between a store bought (dvd, cd, floppy) game from 15 years ago, and an illegal download without some extreme invasion of privacy.

2 - How could they ever know, in a legal manner, if any hardware in your machine is illegal, or a second hand machine from an innocent person.

If all of those claims would be true, i would say they crossed a line. I'm just hoping its an "online" over-reaction.

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I don't use any platform that isn't a general computing platform, and a platform that can deny me the right to execute *any* program of my choosing, or denies me access to the system based on *any* criteria, is not a general computing platform, and is intolerable. Doesn't matter if this is because of piracy, "authenticity", signing requirements, API licensing, or some self-appointed nanny's opinion.

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SavageCorona said:

Just pointing out that disabling Windows Defender will stop it from attacking your totally legit DRM free version of Counter Strike and Photoshop, effectively nullifying the whole OH NO MY ILLEGAL GAMES WHATEVER WILL I DO BESIDES BUY THEM bullshit. Besides if you have your own anti-virus you would have disabled Defender the moment you got the PC.

Not condoning piracy though. That shit's bad.

Careful now. Suggesting that developers should be paid for the work they do might earn you an angry PM or two.

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Quasar said:

I don't use any platform that isn't a general computing platform, and a platform that can deny me the right to execute *any* program of my choosing, or denies me access to the system based on *any* criteria, is not a general computing platform, and is intolerable. Doesn't matter if this is because of piracy, "authenticity", signing requirements, API licensing, or some self-appointed nanny's opinion.


Hasn't Linux already made concessions to "trusted computing" to make it possible to run Linux on modern PCs? There may come a time when no computer that doesn't second-guess you exists except for hobbyist projects like the Raspberry Pi that have extremely limited functionality. You'd be better off reading books to pass the time instead if that happens. You can't end-of-life a stack of dead tree sheets, it does not rely on updates or have parts that wear out.

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Woolie Wool said:

Hasn't Linux already made concessions to "trusted computing" to make it possible to run Linux on modern PCs? There may come a time when no computer that doesn't second-guess you exists except for hobbyist projects like the Raspberry Pi that have extremely limited functionality. You'd be better off reading books to pass the time instead if that happens. You can't end-of-life a stack of dead tree sheets, it does not rely on updates or have parts that wear out.



I do not like all these uncertain possibilities where computers might devolve into console like systems with a firmware OS which tries to make it illegal or difficult to use a PC for anything else...

But that, and what you are hinting at is still hypothetical.

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The only thing that still pisses me off, beyond security issues and the general confusion I expect from Microsoft nowadays, is that there is still no inclusion of the Windows Classic theme.
It always sped my computer up tons, and I can't say I'm too fond of the new style in Windows 10, even less so than 8.

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SavageCorona said:

internet police ... CYBER CRIMINALS


Did someone call the INTERNET SECURITY POLICE?

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FireFish said:

I do not like all these uncertain possibilities where computers might devolve into console like systems with a firmware OS which tries to make it illegal or difficult to use a PC for anything else...

But that, and what you are hinting at is still hypothetical.


That's the long-term aim of any big corporation really...lock it all down so they can stamp out anything they don't own. We're not there yet but we're well on the road to it - by conditioning the masses to believe that desktop PC's can only be used for a limited number of things (ie. Metro), that the internet only contains corporate websites (ie. phone apps), that games only exist on consoles or as apps (this one will take longer though, as consoles can't match gaming rigs). Once they claim enough market share, they can make desktops disappear from public view and sell them only to businesses that need the computing power. (those that only need MSOffice-type stuff etc. will be using thin clients by then)

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Consoles don't need to "match" dedicated gaming PCs. Gaming PCs are a luxury that relatively few people own, and most people don't have the time, patience, or inclination to deal with.

It also helps that the corporate computing model actually fits in quite nicely with the way most people want to use computers--the average user wants a computer to let him do certain basic things, with minimum fuss--i.e. an appliance like a refrigerator or a washing machine. "The cloud" (web software on remote servers funded by the "monetization" of user data and targeted advertising) will do the rest. I've had great difficulty trying to convince some people that a machine you own and are in complete control of is something that's even desirable.

Desktops aren't going to go away though, they just wouldn't be consumer products anymore. They'd just return to their roots as productivity machines for businesses.

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Woolie Wool said:

You can't end-of-life a stack of dead tree sheets, it does not rely on updates or have parts that wear out.

Tell that to every book with a broken spine.

So anyways, in conclusion, should I bother with this free update thingamajig or should I wait until 0.99 years after release?

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If you ever want to cheat on your new wife... might I recommend Ashley Madison? I hear it is discrete and would never tell anyone.

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The Ultimate DooMer said:

(those that only need MSOffice-type stuff etc. will be using thin clients by then)


Thin clients have their own trade offs. It makes sense when most user data including home directories are on a network share that need to load up whenever they authenticate to active directory. And the versatility of being able to log off and log/on on to another and carrying on the exact same instance. Thin client machines are low cost, but then those expenses get allocated into network infrastructure & server hardware. Then that cost immediately doubles with the implementation of a redundant failover server unless you're a fan of crippling downtime.

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