Prevent OS X from creating new .DS_Store files when opening folders on remote volumes mounted using SMB/CIFS, AFP, NFS, and WebDAV.
These files is often the source of complaints against Mac users, who leave a trail of these files scattered throughout the filesystem when "visiting" a Windows share.

When this hack in place the .DS_Store files will continue to be created on local volumes (which is a good thing).

Most of the settings controlled by data in .DS_Store files are "cosmetic" in nature (for example, Finder window position, view style, icon position, etc.)
However, .DS_Store files in OS X also store Finder "comments" so in this sense, disabling .DS_Store files may result in loss of comments data.