Last week, Microsoft's chief privacy officer repeated the company's position on Do Not Track (DNT), saying that the if users relied on the default settings listed during the operating system's setup.

But as a sop to critics of IE10's on-by-default DNT setting, users would be able to switch it off during the setup process, said Brendon Lynch, Microsoft' top privacy executive.

The DNT notification appears during the setup stages of Windows 8 RTM (release to manufacturing), the final code Microsoft issued to developers, IT professionals and enterprises that license the OS in volume.

When Windows 8 setup pauses to collect user settings, it lists DNT as the third item out of seven total.

"Turn on Do Not Track in Internet Explorer," the notice reads.