Other examples of proprietary malware
Malware means software designed to function in ways that mistreat or harm the user. (This does not include accidental errors.) This page explains how Microsoft software is malware.
Malware and nonfree software are two different issues. The difference between free software and nonfree software is in whether the users have control of the program or vice versa. It's not directly a question of what the program does when it runs. However, in practice nonfree software is often malware, because the developer's awareness that the users would be powerless to fix any malicious functionalities tempts the developer to impose some.
Microsoft Windows has a universal back door through which any change whatsoever can be imposed on the users.
More information on when this was used.
In Windows 10, the universal back door is no longer hidden; all “upgrades” will be forcibly and immediately imposed.
Windows 8 also has a back door for remotely deleting apps.
You might well decide to let a security service that you trust remotely deactivate programs that it considers malicious. But there is no excuse for deleting the programs, and you should have the right to decide who (if anyone) to trust in this way.
Windows 8's back doors are so gaping that the German government has decided it can't be trusted.
Users reported that Microsoft was forcing them to replace Windows 7 and 8 with all-spying Windows 10.
Microsoft was in fact attacking computers that run Windows 7 and 8, switching on a flag that said whether to “upgrade” to Windows 10 when users had turned it off.
Later on, Microsoft published instructions on how to permanently reject the downgrade to Windows 10.
This seems to involve use of a back door in Windows 7 and 8.
A flaw in Internet Explorer and Edge allows an attacker to retrieve Microsoft account credentials, if the user is tricked into visiting a malicious link.
The wrongs in this section are not precisely malware, since they do not involve making the program that runs in a way that hurts the user. But they are a lot like malware, since they are technical Microsoft actions that harm to the users of specific Microsoft software.
Once Microsoft has tricked a user into accepting installation of Windows 10, they find that they are denied the option to cancel or even postpone the imposed date of installation.
This demonstrates what we've said for years: using proprietary software means letting someone have power over you, and you're going to get screwed sooner or later.
Microsoft has desupported all future Intel CPUs for Windows 7 and 8. Those machines will be stuck with the nastier Windows 10. AMD and Qualcomm CPUs, too.
Of course, Windows 7 and 8 are unethical too, because they are proprietary software. But this example of Microsoft's wielding its power demonstrates the power it holds.
Free software developers also stop maintaining old versions of their programs, but this is not unfair to users because the users of free software have control over it. If it is important enough to you, you and other users can hire someone to support the old version on your future platforms.
Microsoft is forcibly pushing Windows update to its version 10, ignoring the flag on Windows 7 or 8 that you could set to not upgrade. This reaffirms the presence of a universal back door in Windows 7 and 8.
Windows 10 “upgrades” delete applications without asking permission.
Microsoft is repeatedly nagging many users to install Windows 10.
Microsoft was for months tricking users into “upgrading” to Windows 10, if they failed to notice and say no.
Microsoft informs the NSA of bugs in Windows before fixing them.
Microsoft cut off security fixes for Windows XP, except to some big users that pay exorbitantly.
Microsoft is going to cut off support for some Internet Explorer versions in the same way.
A person or company has the right to cease to work on a particular program; the wrong here is Microsoft does this after having made the users dependent on Microsoft, because they are not free to ask anyone else to work on the program for them.
Various proprietary programs often mess up the user's system. They are like sabotage, but they are not grave enough to qualify for the word “sabotage”. Nonetheless, they are nasty and wrong. This section describes examples of Microsoft committing interference.
Microsoft has started nagging users obnoxiously and repeatedly to install Windows 10.
Microsoft is tricking users into replacing Windows 7 with Windows 10.
Microsoft has made companies' Windows machines managed by the company's sysadmins harangue users to complain to the sysadmins about not “upgrading” to Windows 10.
By default, Windows 10 sends debugging information to Microsoft, including core dumps. Microsoft now distributes them to another company.
A downgrade to Windows 10 deleted surveillance-detection applications. Then another downgrade inserted a general spying program. Users noticed this and complained, so Microsoft renamed it to give users the impression it was gone.
To use proprietary software is to invite such treatment.
Windows 10 comes with 13 screens of snooping options, all enabled by default, and turning them off would be daunting to most users.
Windows 10 ships with default settings that show no regard for the privacy of its users, giving Microsoft the “right” to snoop on the users' files, text input, voice input, location info, contacts, calendar records and web browsing history, as well as automatically connecting the machines to open hotspots and showing targeted ads.
We can suppose Microsoft look at users' files for the US government on demand, though the “privacy policy” does not explicit say so. Will it look at users' files for the Chinese government on demand?
Windows 10 sends identifiable information to Microsoft, even if a user turns off its Bing search and Cortana features, and activates the privacy-protection settings.
The unique “advertising ID” for each user enables other companies to track the browsing of each specific user.
Microsoft SkyDrive allows the NSA to directly examine users' data.
Spyware in Skype: http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/06/20/project-chess-how-u-s-snoops-on-your-skype/. Microsoft changed Skype specifically for spying.
Microsoft uses Windows 10's “privacy policy” to overtly impose a “right” to look at users' files at any time. Windows 10 full disk encryption gives Microsoft a key.
Thus, Windows is overt malware in regard to surveillance, as in other issues.
We can suppose Microsoft look at users' files for the US government on demand, though the “privacy policy” does not explicit say so. Will it look at users' files for the Chinese government on demand?
The unique “advertising ID” for each user enables other companies to track the browsing of each specific user.
It's as if Microsoft has deliberately chosen to make Windows 10 maximally evil on every dimension; to make a grab for total power over anyone that doesn't drop Windows now.
DRM (digital restrictions mechanisms) in Windows, introduced to cater to Bluray disks. (The article also talks about how the same malware would later be introduced in MacOS.)
Windows 8 on “mobile devices” is a jail: it censors the user's choice of application programs.
Microsoft accidentally left a way for users to install GNU/Linux on Windows RT tablets, but now it has “fixed” the “error”. Those arrogant bastards call this “protecting” the users. The article talks of installing “Linux”, but the context shows it is really GNU/Linux that users install.
Mobile devices that come with Windows 8 are tyrants: they block users from installing other or modified operating systems.
As this page shows, if you do want to clean your computer of malware, the first software to delete is Windows.