Like many in this thread, I am not thrilled with windows 10. More specifically, it providing the option to "defer updates", but downloading and installing them anyway. There are a few other options that are given to the user, that are similarly ignored. As I have got older, I dread updates more and more,as they do tend to 'break' things. In the interest of balance...
However. The cries of 'spyware', anti-privacy, and general bashing of MS is getting as bad as the bashing of Apple. You are all free to choose what OS you use (unless for work, in which case your IT department worries about security, not you). For every thing I dislike about windows 10 (windows 7 had a similar reaction btw, but was muted because vista was so ghastly) there are many things I do like, but don't really think about because it just works.
And that's the point: we expect OS's to be intuitive, responsive, and just do their job - when they do that, we don't notice them. That is why you will find few people "praising" an operating system (unless they are trying to jump on a bandwagon). But features we don't like? we remember.
-Edge is now, IMO the fastest 'convenient' browser for windows. Not that it is stellar, just that chrome and firefox have bloated out with heavy memory usage.
-Windows defender means we won't have to install bloated and resource-hogging third-party antivirus apps. Again, it isn't ideal, but it does its job just fine.
-My PC is as fast, if not slightly faster as it was under windows 7. On 6 year old hardware, I find this hard to believe, but its true. 5 seconds from power button to desktop.
-Win10 does have higher hardware requirements than win7, and whilst I disagreed with the big push for windows 10, those who find it terribly slow are probably running hardware that is past its prime.
-Windows 10 is as customisable as win7 was, one sometimes has to go through hoops to turn off certain features, but it is doable. Often taking about 15 seconds to google, which is much quicker than writing a forum post about how much you don't like that particular feature. Many of the 'hacks' that were used for win7, are the same for windows 10. (customized searches, explorer, admin rights, themes, shortcuts etc..).
As for privacy and personal information. We give away a fair bit of personal information, which is sold on in the 'big data' market. Many seem to think this is illegal and hidden - it really isn't, just read license agreements. I would obviously prefer if my personal information wasn't collected, but ultimately it is still my choice to use windows 10, warts 'n' all. It would be very difficult to live ones life trying to not give away any personal data, but its possible - its the price we pay for modern convenience.
And those who have resolutely stuck to windows 7, good for you. It is a fine OS, and almost all applications will still run on it. You use this knowing full well the risks of an OS that is no longer supported, and with a slow decline of available software. I can't see windows 7 use dropping significantly in the next few years.
For those with windows 10 who really complain - why not switch? There are many Linux distro's to choose from. Resistance to change is understandable, but you are not forced into using anything.
Except that you are forced, for reasons already mentioned. Migrating to Linux or Apple isn't always an option. Having a 90% market share means not always leaving people options.
Also, calling it bashing is a bit of a lowball tactic. It suggests people haven't looked at the facts and didn't take any care to form an opinion. I think people here at least have been quite careful in their wordings, and nothing discussed here is blatantly untrue or misrepresented.
Finally, the fact that other parties harvest and sell your data at every opportunity doesn't excuse Microsoft to do so. Many of those services and companies inherently deal with things online. By its very nature, you can't expect full privacy when online. Also, most of these services are provided to you freely, and you pay with your data. In the case of Windows 10, there is no inherent need to harvest and collect data. This has been artificially woven into the OS to allow Microsoft to jump on the bandwagon. It also is a paid product, which means paying again with your data doesn't sit quite right. Not to mention Microsoft being rather disingenuous about what is harvested and when. Only in the face of legal action, they finally yielded a little bit.
An OS that actually sends detailed information about what application you use, what websites you visit and much more on its default settings can easily be called spyware. Any program on your computer that would do half of that would be considered rather dangerous and very unwanted.