JorgeA

If it makes him $$$, why should he? Agreed. We're speculating on the possibility (OK, we're hoping ) that Gates sees what they're doing to Windows as bad for Microsoft in the longer term. --JorgeA

Does the following statement on this web page ring true, or not really? --JorgeA

Whoa, if that phenomenon spreads, there'll be a firestorm coming from the Linux camp. Maybe it's time to take NoelC's future-proofing advice and buy the most up-to-date PC possible that will take Windows 7. --JorgeA P.S. Linux should be able to be tweaked to work with the new USB version, no?

^^ Yes, that makes sense. I guess the hope, then, would be that he privately disagrees with the company's direction, and would point it a different way if he were put back at the helm. --JorgeA

One thing's for certain, and that is that by bringing Gates back they can hardly do any worse than they currently are. Sure! And he might even find a way to steer things back in line, while most of the customers haven't yet gone away for good... Agreed. Gates is IMO the only figure with a strong enough reputation to turn around the MSFT ship. Assuming that he even thinks it needs turning around: I just remembered (?) reading somewhere that he approves of the direction the company has been taking, but the details escape me now. --JorgeA

Tonight I finished scanning through a backlog of hundreds of Insider Forum thread posts. Sadly, the saying that pops into my head when it comes to Windows 10 is: "There's a sucker born every minute." But you're right, there is definitely a hard core of Win8 users who concur with us that Win10 is unacceptable. --JorgeA

Hate Windows 10? You still have a year to buy a Windows 7 PC One little bit of welcome news amid the rolling catastrophe. --JorgeA

Several things: [...] Thanks, it looks like another visit to the Windows innards is in store for me. Man, oh man -- it's become a never-ending challenge. Maybe that's the idea, to wear down all opposition until we learn to love Big Brother. --JorgeA

While interesting, I do have my doubts. Look at how hard of a time we have keeping track of the trackers and all of the different MS IPs, it will be near impossible for a product to do this without daily updates. I'm not sure about that particular paid software, but it's looking like keeping up with Windows's privacy problems will be a full-time job, so there's definitely a case for someone making a living out of it. --JorgeA

One thing's for certain, and that is that by bringing Gates back they can hardly do any worse than they currently are. --JorgeA

But @NoelC, I can't think of anything I'd rather do than to reconstruct all my customized Windows settings! This is going to be so much fun... <rubbing hands together> --JorgeA

Huh, I'd never considered the MRT to be a privacy threat. Maybe I should? I remember reading the agreement for it way back when and not getting any red flags. Anyway, thanks for the scoop. --JorgeA

I agree. My guess is that the first choice of users of previous versions of Windows is to go back to what they had before, rather than switching to a totally different OS. It'll be interesting to see what these users do if and when they decide that it's time to retire their old OS: maybe that's when they'll move over to Linux or Mac OS X (XI? XII?). The shift would then take place slowly over time. --JorgeA

Win10's privacy intrusions have now spawned even paid privacy-protection software. (Free offer for the next couple of days.) --JorgeA

Hey, but we've been told all along that 10 will be "the last version of Windows." Yeah, maybe because so many users will decline to make the switch to 10 that Nadella (or his successor) will shutter the company's Windows division. From there on out, all Microsoft software and services will be designed for Android. --JorgeA

No, not just today. Softmaker Office is since 24 October, (and also all versions) free for everyone. Begins here: http://www.softmaker.com/english/autumn2015_en.htmDownload page: Interesting. I posted the offer on the same day that I received their e-mail announcing it. --JorgeA

Windows 10 usage was less than 8 percent in October according to Net Applications, and under 6 percent (when including mobile OSes) according to W3Counter. --JorgeA

Windows 7 had a bit of an uptick (0.47%) in the last twelve days. Despite all of Microsoft's efforts to prop up Windows 10, the older Windows XP, 8, and 8.1 also went up a little each while the new OS was totally flat. And despite all of those efforts, XP is running neck-and-neck with 10. The race is so close that the StatCounter graph isn't detailed enough to show them on separate lines. The only real loser in this time period seems to be OS X. --JorgeA

Microsoft stresses Windows 10 Feedback app as UserVoice sites meet their demise The following commenter expresses my thoughts exactly: --JorgeA

Love that scene from Braveheart!!! --JorgeA

My problem with the ribbon interface is that somehow it just doesn't match the way my mind works. Been using Office 2007 for longer now than I used Office 2000, and I still end up hunting for commands more often than I ever did with 2000. Just my two cents' worth. --JorgeA

So the forced upgrade bricked their PCs? Where's the f***ing s***storm? Scary how docile people became. In the 90s and 2000s tech-s***storms appeared for far less (remember the Pentium III serial number fuss or Vista's "DRM"?) Everything changed this decade. It's not THAT bad AFAICT. Not yet, anyway. Woody says that his readers' computers were "on the brink" of installing Win10, not that they were bricked. Maybe I missed something else and PCs are in fact getting bricked by the "up"grade? --JorgeA

Formfiller's link led me to a follow-up piece by Woody Leonhard, reporting on a program to stop Win10 upgrades cold, even if the process has already started: Unwanted Win7/Win8.1 upgrades to Win10 can now be stopped --JorgeA

That was a "test-run". http://www.infoworld.com/article/2994117/microsoft-windows/microsoft-accidentally-upgrades-win7-and-81-pcs-to-windows-10.html Nice find! Time to go check the OS usage stats and see if there was an unexpected uptick for Win10 in the first half of October. --JorgeA

IIRC, Microsoft claimed it was an "accident" at their end. Methinks it was actually a trial balloon to see if the procedure worked -- or if there was a big uproar over it. --JorgeA