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microsft.com was used specifically for telemetry to bypass web proxy blocks for *.microsoft.com put in by administrators of secure networks.

I know this because I was one of those admins trying to plug the leaks.

Windows 10 + Office uses 200+ domains just for Microsoft stuff, of which something like 120 are for telemetry.




And I imagine they add new domains with updates all the time.

At home I was trying to avoid random reboots from updates in a full proof way in a Windows VM that ran long processing tasks. I determined the only reasonable course of action was to remove all internet access. Stamping out the massive list of changing domains (and hard coded ip addresses?) would just be to much work that I know I would never keep up with.

A white list might work.

I mused that you could have a constantly updating Windows machine and monitor all of its connections, adding them to a block list on an external firewall but in addition to being complex to setup I bet it wouldn't even catch everything.


Yet people continue to defend Microsoft's telemetry practices. The OS won't let you opt out without it fighting you and they'll even fight you for blocking it on the network.

Windows is spyware.




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