Microsoft reportedly wants to replace the cookie

lehnerus2000 said:

It will probably be slipped in under the guise of a "Security Update".
"An issue has been identified ... "

It better not be "security update"...

As it is the Bing integration into the OS could be viewed as a security risk for the end users. Just imagine that the API for the smart search is hacked, the search does display Bing results for the website related to the search, and the hackers are changing the link(s)s from the legitimate site(s) to the malware site's on the fly. Who needs email when the hacker can spread their malware with the assistance of the OS?

smarteyeball said:

I for one believe it's a stellar idea. Another glorious step on the road to removing that increasingly pesky antiquated notion of "privacy".

We should be ashamed of ourselves for resisting such beneficial measures. Knowing I'm being targeted and monitored provides me with a sense of well being that I'm doing my bit in becoming the ideal consumer. After all, it's always been my life ambition. It's very selfish and detrimental to want to remain as an individual. Advertisers are benevolent and really do care about us. It's not insidious manipulation at all. Who are we to deny them our money? The sooner we yield, the better it will be to not have that onerous task of thinking for ourselves.

Lets' not stop there...

The next "glorious step" is giving the advertising companies your credit card, access to your bank accounts, etc. After all, they know better what you need and it can save you lot of times since you don't need to shop around. If you're single, they will order you a mail order bride, that comes with instructions in form of books as to how to handle your bride. Presumably, the books will arrive first...

You are correct, it is a "stellar idea"...

It really makes you wonder if you should have a stripped down virtual machine for surfing the web etc. You have a copy set up and ready to go everyday from the master copy. At the end of the day you delete the whole lot and start again. Sounds crazy but the power of CPU's these day and it could even be a linux distro. I use adblocker to prevent adverts. Anyway anyone who tracks me is going to have a boring time, Geeky sites, medical sites, BBC news.....