
It’s just a ridiculous idea, IMO, and I would suggest disabling it in a heartbeat!ĭon’t forget that this the same company that drills into you that you HAVE to update your system every month to cover up their never-ending security holes. To be quite honest I lost a ton of respect for Microsoft when I saw that they implemented peer to peer sharing of Windows Updates. It’s a useful mechanism which, as you’ve noted, can be misused… like so many other things in life. I don’t have a problem with file sharing per se (hence my use of online ‘Public’ folders to distribute info, scripts, etc.). Whilst I think it’s a shame MS doesn’t make this particularly clear, at least it’s easy to switch off (for people who know that it’s there and how to).Īs others have mentioned various Linux distros also make use of file sharing… primarily because it’s cheaper than alternatives. Microsoft uses peer-to-peer file sharing in Win 10 by default for (IMO) sound financial and ease-of-use reasons, for example: by reducing its bandwidth costs of using various Content Delivery Networks. Noel, by “Stop using file sharing software!” do you mean ‘Stop using Windows 10’ as well? I can understand (and support) your point about sharing illegal downloads but that’s the ‘use’ which is wrong, not the ‘mechanism’ itself (similar to the gun control argument that it’s not the weapon but the person pulling the trigger that’s wrong). Treat others with the respect and honesty you’d prefer they treat you with. If you need/want a program, do the research, vet software using its trial capabilities, and buy the best one out there for your task from its author. Are you HOPING for an infection, identity theft, or to have your bank account drained? Do you think that doing immoral and wrong things is helping you or anyone? And of course the software itself could be mining your personal data (don’t begin to think all the security holes that could be taken advantage of by executable software are now patched).

I can’t think of anything that represents as big a loss of control and risk than having some promiscuous application blithely copying data to and from your computer with random other users’ computers out there on the wild Internet. Who would begin to imagine that running such software could EVER be a remotely safe or reasonable thing to do in today’s computing security environment? Not to mention the questionable legality and morality of downloading and sharing other people’s property. The subject of this thread is good, except I might expand it to: Stop using file sharing software!
