Topic: Security risks with using Windows 10 - page 3. (Read 5304 times)

It's hard to trust anything that Microsoft puts out.  They've never hidden the fact that they mine for our information.  So, the question shouldn't be "are they collecting our information?" but more exhaustively,  "what are they doing with the information they've been collecting?"

It's hard to trust anything that Microsoft puts out.  They've never hidden the fact that they mine for our information.  So, the question shouldn't be "are they collecting our information?" but more exhaustively,  "what are they doing with the information they've been collecting?"

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Oh. That's a good idea! If I get a laptop that can do hardware virtualization that might work really well!
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I think it is pretty safe and secure operating system.
It is enough not to behave stupid to avoid that kind of monitoring malwares.

I think the security concerns about Windows involve not only bitcoin but go far more beyond.

For me Linux is the only reasonable way to go in 99.99% of the cases.

And Tux is cute yes? : )

So that's why this "Get Windows 10" pop up always showing up, luckily I've changed to Windows 7.
Thx OP, this discussion just saved my Bitcoins.

I am looking to upgrade to a new computer with Windows 10 but i have head that Windows 10 has some privacy issues which can be security risks to bitcoin wallets on Windows 10 devices. What exactly are those issues and what risks do they pose to bitcoiners using Windows 10?

All new windows from Windows 8 8.1 10 all of them have keyloggers, they can even see you from your webcam, get your voice etc, everything is going to be based on cloud, and also the last version (Windows 10) is impossible to disable updates in the regular way.

Yes, driver support is difficult for linux sometimes. Older Lenovos work very well in my experience. You can often get them cheap after a leasing contract. You might want to add a (new) SSD, some RAM and a new battery though.

The first thing to understand about buying a laptop from a vendor such as HP is that there are basically two kinds of laptops. Those sold to consumers and students which are basically junk that is engineered to fail in about 6 months, and those sold to businesses that are quality products designed to last for a long time. It is important to realize that the same manufacturers are selling both the junk and the quality products. The simple way to tell them apart is that the consumer versions come with a glossy high glare screen and the "standard" "home" or "personal" versions of Windows while the business versions come with a matt anti glare screen and the "pro" or "business versions of Windows. So "HP Laptop" is meaningless depending on whether it is consumer or business it is either a piece of junk or a quality product.

The option for a GNU/Linux laptop are several depending on budget.

1) Purchase a Laptop that is designed from the ground up to run GNU/Linux

Here are some examples:

https://puri.sm/ This in an over subscribed crowd funding campaign for a Laptop designed for 100% Libre GNU/linux distributions. This by the way ensures it will work with virtually any modern GNU/linux distribution.

https://system76.com/

zareason.com/

etc.

2) Purchase an older (Windows 7 era) business laptop, and upgrade the hard drive to large SSD and possibly also the RAM. Before buying check online if that particular model has any driver issues with GNU/Linux. One thing to keep in mind is that if it is two or there years old and there little or no hits on the fora then it is likely to have few if any problems. Also when it comes to drivers GNU/Linux is very good at supporting hardware typically after about 2 years so something that failed say in 2013 could very easily work fine today. I recently bought two HP 2760p EliteBooks from a government auction for well under 200 CAD each. After adding a 1 TB SSD each and upgrading the RAM on one to 16 GB and the other to 8 GB I have two quality laptops that will last me a long time.  One of them replaced an HP Evo 1000c with a Windows 2000 logo and 3.5in floppy drive that provided me with close to a decade of service. When I replaced it this summer it was running a full Bitcoin node using Trisquel GNU/linux. By the way UEFI should not be a problem if it is unlocked (Windows 8.x and earlier). Just go into the bios and unlock it. If it is a Windows 10 machine it may be locked. I suspect that most of the locked Windows 10 laptops will be sold to consumers as part of Microsoft and its partners ongoing junk for consumers program.

3) Buy a Chromebook and upgrade the hard drive. Chromebooks are good GNU/Linux computers except that they have ridiculously small hard drives. They have to be sold unlocked because Chrome OS contains GPLv3 code.

You could always disable it with some registry adjustments. But honestly, I found it a little annoying that they'd have the gall to put ads for themselves into their own products. I personally went back to Win 7 after I found Win 8 fustrating - and the upgrade to Win 10 was atrocious (don't like the UI at all). As to the privacy issue - they can be turned off with a bit of hassle - but once again it's rather frustrating to see them slip something in like that by default.

So that's why this "Get Windows 10" pop up always showing up, luckily I've changed to Windows 7.
Thx OP, this discussion just saved my Bitcoins.

It doesn't really add any particular new features aswell. in my honest opinion, the receive by the public has been as bad as vistas launch was. They even said that windows 10 will be the final product in this line and they wont be making any more windows products. They'll just keep upgrading windows 10 into oblivion. Tbh they haven't really added any noticeable features that are game changing since xp. Mostly UI changes into a more modern style. That's just my two bits.