On Windows 10

by Volker Weber

Sketch

The Economist has this piece that tries to explain how Micosoft is scaring away potential upgraders.

Microsoft charges top dollar for Windows 10 ($120 or $200, depending on the edition) and now wants to bombard users with sales pitches to boot—without so much as by your leave, let alone the option to turn the nuisance off.

Not my experience. I have been using Surface Pro 4 almost exclusively since last December. I have turned off suggested apps, I have uninstalled all Microsoft crapware and never had any 3rd party crapware. Windows has left me alone and not bothered me at all.

However, I am swimming midstream. I am using Edge and get a ton of ads from Google all over the place, trying to pull me into Chrome. I use OneNote, which is nag-free, instead of Evernote. I am syncing with OneDrive which is completely transparent. All is good, with the occasional WaaH update hickup (Windows as a Hobby).

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Comments

I think the Economist is referring to the coming update in April, not the current version of Windows 10.

"Meanwhile, he is reserving judgment about the extensive Windows 10 Creators Update (effectively Windows 10.2) due in April. Along with additional bells and whistles, it is said to be more secure than even the current version, while offering somewhat better privacy controls for users. But news that Microsoft has baked advertising into the operating system—pushing third-party apps as well as its own software and services—could be enough to make many a reluctant upgrader have second thoughts. "

Nonetheless, this is by no means the only article I have read about Windows 10, which gives me the impression that MS is pushing advertising at paying users - in the past, for their own OS upgrades. So far, it's enough to put me off switching back from macOS and Linux.

John Keys, 2017-02-01

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