I have that on Ubuntu and it annoys the hell out of me. No I don't want to wait 0.5 seconds for a search result about Firefox just to open a browser!

You can disable it in about 10 seconds.

Fro memory: press the Meta/Windows key; write "privacy" on the dash; a window with privacy options appears; hit the Search tab, disable the checkbox.

It annoys me that it's there by default and non-technical users will not know how to do anything. There should be an option or warning on the dash itself.

If everyone wants it disabled, then it should be disabled by default.

If it's the type of thing no one would ever enable, unless it were defaulted as such, then it shouldn't even be there in the first place.

If someone paid money to put it there, then the person who agreed to do so isn't acting in the best interests of those they serve.

I like having it enabled, so I don't know what you guys are talking about.

You can easily turn it off in Settings -> Security & Privacy -> Search tab -> Include online search results

Which build is that? I don't see it in build 10074. It existed in the pre-Cortana build from last fall, but as far as I can tell, it was completely removed when Cortana was added.

Perhaps it was re-added? Or I'm looking in the wrong spot?

Sorry if I mislead you, but my comment was about Unity on Ubuntu

It was removed for a while and then returned in the most recent build as far as I'm aware.

Surely you can disable that in a relatively easy way? I'm thinking about trying linux and such comments kinda scare me.

It is easily disabled and is only a feature in Ubuntu's Unity desktop. If you use a different version of Ubuntu (GNOME, Mate, KDE, whatever else they offer now) it won't be an issue.

Don't make excuses for something that's very obviously antithetical to very premise of Linux and free, open-source software.

Considering how many people liked google's desktop search widget, and similar, I'm not sure I agree... not to mention that seeing repository matches that aren't installed (yet) can be useful too. Not that most of those features require integrated online searches... but I can see how someone, even most casual users would prefer it that way.

Hell, look at how many people type in website addresses into their search box.

I'm not making any excuses. You have the option to choose another desktop or distro entirely if you don't like it. That is a fact, not an excuse.

Your point would carry more weight if it were impossible to disable it and if I had suggested the parent post just use it anyway.

it's also leaking everything you do, every program you launch.

Yes, both can be disabled. However, I'm not sure if it's dependent upon which 'edition' though. For example, you can turn it off in Enterprise, but not Professional.

So, the answer is "no" then. As in, "no, I won't upgrade my grandma to Windows 10".

I've added a firewall rule that blocks outbound requests to Bing. That's pretty well flummoxed it. It's a far cry from an actual setting, though - which would be the obvious solution and unquestionably ought to be present.