"windows 98 has its eye on you."

SIFT THIS -- Early betas of Windows 95 had the dubious honor of igniting one the first debates regarding privacy on computer networks. Remember, this was pre-Internet -- Microsoft was dumping insane amounts of cash into their proprietary Blackbird technology which would compose much of its fledgling Microsoft Network -- an attempt at dethroning the online heavyweights, AOL and CompuServe.

As part of the installation process of Windows 95, it appeared that the OS was sending machine configuration data as part of the Microsoft Network set-up. Users were furious. Network privacy was suddenly center stage and, almost immediately, Microsoft removed the function, but never forgot that they wanted the data about your computer.

Four years later. One of the slickest functions of Microsoft's new Windows 98 operating system has got to be the Windows Update Manager. Billing itself as a "Wizard," the application is simply an HTML page with ActiveX controls -- but what it does is absolutely amazing… and a little devious.

The page allows users to download the latest drivers for their hardware. How does the application know what drivers you need? Well, there's the catch. In order to use the site, you must be a registered Windows user and, as part of the registration, you can supply the registry information that describes your computer set-up. This should sound familiar.

Yes, this is the same scam that Microsoft tried in early versions of Windows 95, but it's a clever scam. While you're not required to provide the information, you will provide the information because you'll want to have the latest drivers for your hardware. In one broad stroke, Microsoft guarantees that they're going to a) create a helluva mailing list and b) have great technical demographics for anyone who uses Windows 98 (hint: everyone).

This is going to piss someone off. Microsoft will probably need to make it clear that they'll only use the system information for the Update Wizard, but such a promise is about as useful as changing your reply-to address in newsgroup in order to avoid spam.

feb. 20, 1998