J
Jeff Malka
The Office Online cookie only tracks non-personal information about your
preferences: How many pieces of clipart to show per page, what size to show
clipart thumbnails, what language you've chosen to receive help in, etc.
There are no secrets or personal information inside the cookie. Feel free
to look at it yourself-- it's just a text file in your cookies folder.
topic just fine. Accepting cookies is only ~required~ if you choose to
submit the "Was this information helpful" feedback at the bottom of the
page, because we submit the feedback using a cookie. The cookie is required
for the clipart site, since it holds your selection basket.
- Boot Office
- Hit F1
- At the bottom of the Help Pane, click "Online Content Settings"
- Uncheck "Show content and links from Microsoft Office Online"
- Click Ok and restart Office. You'll no longer see online clipart,
templates, or help.
I hope I've helped to address your concerns. If you have further questions,
please let me know.
................................
I too am uncomfortable about this practice and I am not unusually paranoid.
Let's be honest about it. There is something sleazy about MS setting this up
as the default and expecting the user to know about it and how to turn it
off. A more honest way would have been to make the reverse the default and
allow the user who wishes to access the internet for undated information the
"option" of turning that access on rather than having it imposed it on
him/her without their knowledge or approval. The present cookie may not have
any personal information in it, but once the user public becomes accustomed
to the practice, it would be very easy for MS "updates" to change the nature
of the cookie in a manner similar to the spy cookies used by freeware and
spyware.
It is not a good development.
--
Jeff McPherson
Email address deliberately false to avoid spam
(e-mail address removed)
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free by AVG
Microsoft takes your privacy VERY seriously. As the person largely
responsible for the implementation of these features, I'll chime in here.
1> You can read more about cookies here:
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cookies.htm. The Office Online cookie only
tracks non-personal information about your preferences: How many pieces of
clipart to show per page, what size to show clipart thumbnails, what
language you've chosen to receive help in, etc. There are no secrets or
personal information inside the cookie. Feel free to look at it yourself--
it's just a text file in your cookies folder.
2> You can easily block cookies and the help will still work. Inside web
help topics, you'll see the warning message, but you can still read the
topic just fine. Accepting cookies is only ~required~ if you choose to
submit the "Was this information helpful" feedback at the bottom of the
page, because we submit the feedback using a cookie. The cookie is required
for the clipart site, since it holds your selection basket.
3> You can very easily turn off all of the new Content on the Web features
of Office.
- Boot Office
- Hit F1
- At the bottom of the Help Pane, click "Online Content Settings"
- Uncheck "Show content and links from Microsoft Office Online"
- Click Ok and restart Office. You'll no longer see online clipart,
templates, or help.
I hope I've helped to address your concerns. If you have further questions,
please let me know.
Eric Lawrence
Program Manager
Assistance and Worldwide Services
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
preferences: How many pieces of clipart to show per page, what size to show
clipart thumbnails, what language you've chosen to receive help in, etc.
There are no secrets or personal information inside the cookie. Feel free
to look at it yourself-- it's just a text file in your cookies folder.
help topics, you'll see the warning message, but you can still read the
topic just fine. Accepting cookies is only ~required~ if you choose to
submit the "Was this information helpful" feedback at the bottom of the
page, because we submit the feedback using a cookie. The cookie is required
for the clipart site, since it holds your selection basket.
Office.
- Boot Office
- Hit F1
- At the bottom of the Help Pane, click "Online Content Settings"
- Uncheck "Show content and links from Microsoft Office Online"
- Click Ok and restart Office. You'll no longer see online clipart,
templates, or help.
I hope I've helped to address your concerns. If you have further questions,
please let me know.
................................
I too am uncomfortable about this practice and I am not unusually paranoid.
Let's be honest about it. There is something sleazy about MS setting this up
as the default and expecting the user to know about it and how to turn it
off. A more honest way would have been to make the reverse the default and
allow the user who wishes to access the internet for undated information the
"option" of turning that access on rather than having it imposed it on
him/her without their knowledge or approval. The present cookie may not have
any personal information in it, but once the user public becomes accustomed
to the practice, it would be very easy for MS "updates" to change the nature
of the cookie in a manner similar to the spy cookies used by freeware and
spyware.
It is not a good development.
--
Jeff McPherson
Email address deliberately false to avoid spam
(e-mail address removed)
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free by AVG
Microsoft takes your privacy VERY seriously. As the person largely
responsible for the implementation of these features, I'll chime in here.
1> You can read more about cookies here:
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cookies.htm. The Office Online cookie only
tracks non-personal information about your preferences: How many pieces of
clipart to show per page, what size to show clipart thumbnails, what
language you've chosen to receive help in, etc. There are no secrets or
personal information inside the cookie. Feel free to look at it yourself--
it's just a text file in your cookies folder.
2> You can easily block cookies and the help will still work. Inside web
help topics, you'll see the warning message, but you can still read the
topic just fine. Accepting cookies is only ~required~ if you choose to
submit the "Was this information helpful" feedback at the bottom of the
page, because we submit the feedback using a cookie. The cookie is required
for the clipart site, since it holds your selection basket.
3> You can very easily turn off all of the new Content on the Web features
of Office.
- Boot Office
- Hit F1
- At the bottom of the Help Pane, click "Online Content Settings"
- Uncheck "Show content and links from Microsoft Office Online"
- Click Ok and restart Office. You'll no longer see online clipart,
templates, or help.
I hope I've helped to address your concerns. If you have further questions,
please let me know.
Eric Lawrence
Program Manager
Assistance and Worldwide Services
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.