> Microsoft taking away control from users, especially when it came to forcing them to take updates, is probably the biggest change they could possibly have made to improve the overall security of the internet.
Shouldn't the end user get to decide for themselves whether Microsoft can control the computer the user paid for, that sits in their home or office, and that contains their private and otherwise confidential information?
Disclaimer: MSFT employee here. My previous company was acquired by MSFT.
> Shouldn't the end user get to decide for themselves.
Not for the typical user who is not working in IT. None of my friends or relatives want to decide themselves about how their computer works. They just want their system to work and let them do their daily activities. Most of them use phones and tablets for much of their online stuff and they want the system to take care of itself.
Personally, I want to have full control of my system. But as the default sysadmin for my family and extended family, I dont have the time to maintain all those PCs, phones and tablets.
Not being confounded by choices they dont understand or care is also what they want.
Chrome and Firefox auto updating without user intervention by default is a good thing. If Chrome were to ask permission before downloading updates, many of them will just cancel it and get on with whatever they wanted to browse. If the system is compromised by malware because of an unpatched security issue, it is the vendor who takes the blame.
Chrome is a browser, not an OS. I don't run my software under Chrome, so I'm not as affected if it had issues with auto-updating (there rarely was anything, which is another point).
If Google were playing beta testers with Chromebooks and messing around like MS does, you'd think there would be anything positive written about them ?
Sure it is. So what? Are you going to pretend that they are the only ones affected? It hurts the rest of the internet when their machine is then used by hackers to attack others. It hurts the banking system and indirectly, small vendors when these people's credit card information is stolen and used to make fraudulent purchases.
Taking away the right of individuals to make bad decisions that harm others is the entire point of society.
Shouldn't the end user get to decide for themselves whether Microsoft can control the computer the user paid for, that sits in their home or office, and that contains their private and otherwise confidential information?