Windows 10 & Privacy Settings

Windows 10 is here and over 50 million people have already upgraded from their previous operating system.

As with everything, there are always Pro's and Con's. There are features you will like and features that you won't. I've had just over three weeks of using Windows 10 and have made a few notes. Here's a short list of what is good and bad about Windows 10.

Pros:
     * It's completely free
     * It is very fast and very reliable and is comparable to Windows 7 or Windows XP
     * It finally brought back the sorely missed "Start" menu as the Windows button
     * It can stream Xbox One to your computer screen so you can use it remotely within a home
     * It has a built-in game recording feature so that you can capture your gameplay
     * It has a very fast internet browser called "Edge" formerly known as Internet Explorer

Cons:
     * It's a big download at more than 6GB so make sure you have a good internet connection
     * You can't easily find the control panel. Right-click the Window (Start) button to find it
     * Streaming and connecting to the Xbox One requires you to be logged into your Live ID and forces you to use a Live ID login for that particular computer
     * Edge is fast but only if you let it invade your privacy. Instead I only use Google Chrome.
     * and the biggest flaw of Windows 10 is Privacy, or the lack thereof

Windows 10 will completely and totally spy on your actvity and invade your privacy unless you change the default privacy settings to off. By default, Microsoft enables all kinds of features to monitor activities on the computer most likely for data mining purposes.


How to change the Windows 10 Privacy Options:

--> click the start button or Windows button, which is the small windows icon in the bottom-left corner. --> click "Settings"
--> click on the "Privacy" icon which looks like lock symbol.
--> instead of me telling you how to go through each setting individually, just turn everything to off. That's right, EVERYTHING OFF!


While that doesn't completely stop Windows 10 from calling home or sending data directly to Microsoft, it will prevent a large majority of applications and background processes from transmitting your activity and information.