Two troubling articles have surfaced about Microsoft in the past 24 hours. One of the strengths Microsoft had (especially when purchasing new hardware from the Microsoft Store) was that you could get your new hardware without all the “crapware” and “bloatware” that the other hardware vendors put on their devices. They did that as an additional revenue stream. Supposedly it made the hardware “more cost effective.” It is just annoying.

Now it seems that Microsoft signed a deal with TripAdvisor to do exactly the same thing. Preload crap on the device before you buy it. The full article from PC world is here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3026728/windows/microsoft-will-preload-tripadvisor-onto-windows-10-devices-in-a-bid-for-relevance.html

The second article revolves around privacy and the “InPrivate” browsing mode that IE and Edge browsers have. The idea is that if you’re using the “InPrivate” feature, nothing gets written to the machine (cookies, URLs, etc.). This makes it harder for you to be tracked by the good or bad guys. Apparently the new Edge Browser on Windows 10 is keeping that data in folders that are fairly easy to access (if you know what you’re looking for). Microsoft says they’re working on fixing that. The full article is here: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/microsoft-edge-private-browsing-flaw-leaking-your-web-history-report-795607