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Windows 10 - The gloves come off!

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xtabber:
The “free upgrade” to Windows 10 has ended.  It is now time for Microsoft to reel in their nets and start processing the catch.

Step 1: Substitute Cortana for local search and prevent users from disabling it.
Step 2: Prevent users from disabling ads and forced installs.

This is far more invasive than Google, which mines what you store on its servers or search for using its search engine.  It effectively allows Microsoft to sell you things based on whatever is present on your PC.  Worse, it gives Microsoft the ability to replace anything on your PC with anything else it wants to.

I'm not saying that Microsoft will abuse these capabilities, but the fact that it is forcing them on nearly all Windows users is scary.

dr_andus:
This was to be expected, after all, as economists like to say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Users need to weigh up what's in the deal for them for selling their souls and eyeballs to MS.

I think this will crystalise for a lot of people the benefits of the alternative deal Google is offering with its Chrome OS (i.e. Chromebooks, Chromeboxes, Chromebits, and Chromebases), soon to be integrated into the Android ecosystem. Moreover, you can replace Chrome OS with Linux or dual-boot it or run both alongside each other (with Chrouton).

Once you install a decent adblocker such as uBlock Origin, you will practically never come across an ad, you can log on anonymously as a guest if you need to do some sensitive work, and gone are the hassles with MS updates, driver problems, software updates, increasingly long bootup times etc.

I still need to use my Win7 machines for stuff that I'm locked in (such as some MS Office features and other specialist software or for printing and scanning), but Chrome OS has taken over a big share of my computer use and helps delay future Windows purchases.

wraith808:
You really trust Google more than Microsoft?  That's like our current choices for election season, IMO.

dr_andus:
My experience with Google (and Chrome OS) has been positive so far. I block the hell out of ads on my Chromebooks, so they never bother me, and get excellent service from the various bits of the Google ecosystem (Calendar, Gmail, Gdrive).

I'm not quite sure how they still manage to make money out of me, but as long as I don't see an ad ever, and they don't force me to do things I don't want to do (such as "upgrade to Windows 10 or else..."), I'm happy with the trade-off.

As for Chromebooks, they are a dream to use (compared to my Windows laptops and netbooks). Open the lid and it's on, everything works super fast, battery lasts all day long, no maintenance needed, what's not to like?

tomos:
As for Chromebooks, [..] what's not to like?
-dr_andus (July 30, 2016, 01:07 PM)
--- End quote ---

everything stored/processed/modified online?
-- or am I wrong there that everything has to be stored and edited online?

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