RSSMicrosoft ends free software for monitoring giveaway
By Ed Oswald | Published December 12, 2007, 12:12 PM
Microsoft pulled the free software offer from its Web site Tuesday, which made free copies of Vista and Office among other applications available in exchange for feedback.
Users will be required to install a piece of software on their computers for three months in order to receive the software for free. However at the same time the offer may have been tantalizing for some, for others it may have raised privacy concerns.
For example, some of the information collected included Windows settings and usage, details on your hardware, file and folder structure, programs the user runs, and application crash data.
While Microsoft said it will not try to intentionally capture sensitive information, there is still the possibility that some personal data could be disclosed through crash reports.
Either way, the company changed its call for participants on Tuesday after it had apparently run out of software to give out under the program. The page for the callout remained, however it now seemed to ask those already with the software to participate.
A cached version of the page on Google shows the original version.
Microsoft had apparently been offering the deal for well over a month, but it was not until this week when the deal appeared on blogs such as Engadget and Gizmodo that the Redmond company saw any appreciable number of signups.
The deal would have originally expired on December 31, 2007. A request for comment from Microsoft was not returned as of press time.
This article is inaccurate. The free software is still available. There's just no mention of it on the signup pages anymore. If you complete the signup process though, they ask you to choose your free software.
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|Well, I've been through the signup and survey twice and there's no mention of free software anywhere, apart from the monitoring application itself.
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|serrebi101 said:
"That's to bad. I was going to do this. I'm sure they're already watching me anyway, so no big deal to me IMO. I mean, if it was I could just put this on a machine I use for less sensative stuff, e.g. webbrowsing, etc."
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Franz? Mr. Kafka? Is that you? My point is that what could you possibly have on your computer that is so sensitive.
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|"My point is that what could you possibly have on your computer that is so sensitive."
Are you serious? Intellectual property for those who do work (such as a home business), some of us might have signed NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements)(I have been under NDAs from time to time), we could have software we don't want others knowing about (pirated software, maybe), etc.
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|vcorvinus said:
" ...after it had apparently run out of software to give out under the program."
"How does a software company run out of software? Especially for something like Vista and Office? This is like one of those "fill out a survey and get a free iPod" deals, except you never get the iPod because the promotion suddenly ends after they've already got your stuff.
I guess anyone that wants Vista so much deserves what they get."
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You'll want to read more closely what was said."...software to give out under the program." It didn't say that it ran out of software.
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|Valenb4 said:
Still available
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Yep, sure is. Completed the process this morning.
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|Still available
http://wfp.microsoft.com/Registration.aspx
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|I don't think you get it. We don't want free software to monitor our activities. We can get that at 20 more places than from Microsoft. We want a free copy of Vista Ultimate....
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|I filled out the survey with bogus information, then got to the part where the executable got downloaded, and I said **** it. Not worth it. Even if I used on a work machine doing purely work stuff it just wouldn't feel right.
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|" ...after it had apparently run out of software to give out under the program."
How does a software company run out of software? Especially for something like Vista and Office? This is like one of those "fill out a survey and get a free iPod" deals, except you never get the iPod because the promotion suddenly ends after they've already got your stuff.
I guess anyone that wants Vista so much deserves what they get.
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|its 5:44p West Coast Time and I signed up for the project. I was given software monitoring or filing surveys.. Followed the google cached site and the links still worked to sign up..
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|So installing was a bad idea? Guess i should have read the rest of the article because it not only gave me the survey but installed the product.
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|Is it just me or is the cached version of that page exactly the same as the live version?
What's going on here?
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|The live version is missing the part which says "What about the free product?". You can still register but there's no mention of free programs at any stage.
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|Who in their right mind would want to run the turd that is Vista Ultimate Expensive Edition? LOL. Only in the USA are people that stupid.
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|Ultimate works just fine here plays games wonderfully too. You don't even have Vista so what do you know? You go to anti MS sites lurking for bad press to troll with here and we all know it.
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|Leopard isn't any better than Vista.
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|I don't get it... they make a voluntary offer that is entirely opt-in, and privacy advocates and anti-Microsofties go nuts. If you don't like it, don't volunteer.
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|I think the biggest complaint is that there were no general outlets that told the general public that it was going on. What kind of unbiased information is Microsoft going to get when the only people who answered the call were the Microsoft faithful who have Microsoft.com as their homepage?
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|Great news! Thanks for the article informing readers it ended before informing them it started. Ever so thankfully yours!
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|Heh. I was thinking along these lines too.
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|So was I. If we techs didn't know this program existed, what chance did the general public have? What was the point of having this?
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|Typical Betanews. This site use to bring you beta's and other "new" software news on time and reported it well. Now it seems to be a gripe site about tech news.
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|That's to bad. I was going to do this. I'm sure they're already watching me anyway, so no big deal to me IMO. I mean, if it was I could just put this on a machine I use for less sensative stuff, e.g. webbrowsing, etc.
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|uhm.. I signed up for this thing 2 months ago. and the expiration date they had then was like 2 days later... so they must have restarted this at some point.. keep an eye on the page.. they might do it again.
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|The question is, did you get your software?
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