Former Microsoft Security Expert Isn’t Impressed with Windows 11

When Panos Panay took to LinkedIn to celebrate the release of Windows 11 version 22H2, at least one person wasn’t impressed with the accomplishment. One person of note, that is.

“On behalf of the team, I’m proud to share [that] the latest update to Windows 11 begins rolling out today,” Mr. Panay posted on LinkedIn. “[I’m] pumped for you to check it out!”

Most of the responses are exactly what one might expect. But one reply, from a Sanjay Tandon, offered only a sarcastic congratulations.

“This is truly SO exciting!” he wrote. “Finally, we, the world’s citizens, will have a Windows OS that’s SECURE, one that truly respects our PRIVACY, one that doesn’t send an iota of telemetry back without our explicit CONSENT, one that gives us the freedom to operate OUR computers without having to sign-up for any CLOUD account or service, one wherein the browser has secure privacy defaults and doesn’t nag us with silly shopping-points related stuff, one wherein clicking on the logon screen’s gorgeous wallpaper doesn’t automatically result in a Bing search, one wherein (all kinds of unwelcome) online content doesn’t auto-magically sneak in into the SEARCH bar, etc. etc. AND wherein monthly updates no longer need to fix dozens of security vulnerabilities especially zero-day ones. In short, just a simple, reliable, privacy respecting, trustworthy OS. Thank you very much!”

I wouldn’t normally highlight a troll reply like this, of course. But this person isn’t just anyone; Sanjay Tandon, the founder and CEO of Paramount Defenses, was formerly a program manager at Microsoft responsible, in turn, for Active Directory Security and then Threat & Risk Assessment.

“Tandon was program manager for Active Directory Security on Microsoft’s Windows Server Development Team in the early 2000s,” his bio explains. “As Microsoft’s top subject matter expert, he was responsible for all aspects of Active Directory Security. In 2004, Tandon proposed, conducted, and delivered a risk-assessment of Microsoft’s own massive global Active Directory deployment, the very foundation of Microsoft’s security, to the highest offices at Microsoft, enhancing Microsoft’s security.”

And to be clear, Tandon’s criticisms of Windows 11 are accurate and provide a nice synopsis—assuming you can get past the all caps here and there—of the privacy and usability problems with this system.

Thanks to  Jay Henenberg for the tip!

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