I downloaded the free upgrade ISO's for Windows 10 Pro to make installation DVD's. Then I started thinking about the fact that Windows 10 is free to Win 7 & 8 users. My entire life I have been taught that nothing is free, so I decided to do some research.

There are a lot of YouTube videos with warnings about Windows 10 spying and using bandwidth and resourses in the back ground. Here's one of the best videos I watched. This guy shows the actually screen shots with commentary, and then shows while the camera is rolling how the automatic Windows update will even start turning the spying back on if you turn it off.

You can make up your own mind, but I think I will skip this FREE windows 10 upgrade. I realize it is not just the free one, so I should say that I will be skipping Windows 10 all together.

Here's the video, but there are MANY more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1kGMCfb2xw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What is your opinion of this data mining, spying, and personal intrusion?
My biggest fear is it gives hackers a point of interest, and Microsoft will only make this grow as they earn money from the data mining, and that it stops my PC from reaching it's full performance potential.
Also, I like that with a few tweaks in Windows 7, I can keep more of my stuff private and the PC running faster.

Too each his own by all means, but my view of it is that if you think you are doing anything "anonymously" in this day and age, whether on the internet on your PC, or on your phone, or your tablet, you are living in a fool's paradise. You are being tracked, advertising is being tailored to your interests, and just gobs of information about you is being collected every minute by Google, Amazon, Facebook, your ISP, and even that porn site you went to by accident.

Windows doesn't really do any more than the others, and for the most part there are reasonable reasons why it "phones home" while you are using your system. In Windows 10, you really need to login with a Microsoft Account, but that is needed to use the Windows Store, as well as to allow "syncing" between your systems and devices running Windows. Windows pings home when you install software you downloaded from the internet, but this is primarily to keep SmartScreen up to date and protecting you. There are other times and places that Microsoft pings home to the server, but for the most part this is to track how Windows is being used, pretty anonymously really, so they have data points about how to "improve" the experience.

In any case, pretty much all of this can be avoided or turned off if you really want.

http://bgr.com/2015/08/14/windows-10-spying-prevention-privacy-tools/

I will caution though, that turning off some of that stuff will will reduce functionality in Windows, and in my view is just paranoid and foolish. As I said before, everybody on the internet is watching you. You can't avoid that in any reasonable way, and at the end of the day, who cares... If cnn.com wants to display advertising they think I am more likely to actually be interested in, they are welcome to do that. I run ad-blocker and never see any of it anyway...

The concerns that Windows is tracking what you do is way overblown, and mostly just FUD. Like any company, they like to know who their customers are, and what they are doing with their product, mostly so they can make a better product. In the big scheme of things, that is just how everything you do on a computer is these days. So what?

Windows 10 is a hundred-times better version than Windows 7, and it is improving all the time. Again, to each his own, but I have no real interest in staying in a operating system that was released in 2009. Seven years ago... In "computer years" that is positively medieval.

None of what Microsoft is doing really "slows down" your computer. That just not true, and in any case Win10 is a ton faster and more efficient overall than Win7. Some of the stuff they have done with memory is just remarkable.

Run Malwarebytes Antimalware once a month or so. Clean out your cookies from Chrome or Firefox from time to time. Use "Incognito" tabs in Chrome to go to sites that you would prefer not track you. Microsoft, in spite of all the squealing about "spying on you" is no worse, and likely far more trustworthy, than absolutely everything else you do while connected to the internet.

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Thanks for the input Eagle.

By the way, I am not foolish enough to think anything is anonymous, just concerned that it is being done as such a higher level than ever before in Windows. Also concerned that if that data is being tracked at such a deep level that hackers will try to access it. Not paranoid, just concerned and interested in hearing what others think.

Good to hear that Windows 10 is faster, I am still wanting more input before I decide to do it or not. For now, I am not interested, but I will keep interest in learning more.

I'm not trying to sell Windows 10 particularly. There are a lot of people who are happy to stay on Windows 7, and more power to them. I'm just the sort who like to stay reasonably current with stuff. I want Windows 10, I want Marshmallow on my Android phone, I want the latest version of the software I use.

My experience with Windows 10 (COD2 aside) has been really good. It has a ton of cool new features, I love the new Start menu and Action Center / Notifications and other cool stuff. It's faster and smarter than ever. The hybrid shutdown that has the PC booting up about 3-times as fast as Win7 is just one example. I'd never go back, but that is just me.

Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview (64-Bit)
Version 1511
Build 11102.1000
AMD FX(tm)-4350 Quad-Core Processor
Running at: 4551 Mhz

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While i am running win.10 I see many improvements over win.7 I still miss and think xp was the best.

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.. and get off my lawn!

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I am going to do it now

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http://tinyurl.com/bqqrvx

Well it installed in about 25 minutes and all is good. I had to update the Graphics driver, the sound would not work, easy fix was to reset my sound to default and that was it, its done and all good. Everything works as before, even my old games from 1999.

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http://tinyurl.com/bqqrvx

You have till July 29th to get it free.

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http://tinyurl.com/bqqrvx

I've been testing win10 on a spare pc for a while. I see things I like, and things I don't. one of the pet peeves of mine was that they removed dvd support. I find it rather silly that they make you pay for that now or you have to find a 3rd party program now. In addition, against popular demand I really really liked the easy transfer tool. although it didn't grab everything it grabbed most of the normal places making pc rebuilds a snap. again another thing Microsoft bought and has now dissolved into nothing. my testing will continue on the spare machine for now. keep posting you make sell me soon though, i'm on the fence yet.

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I have it on my gaming PC, my laptop and my mums laptop, not had any trouble at all with any of them.

I am not sure what you mean dvd support ?

I have always used media player classic for movies, that comes free with the free k lite codec pack.

Winamp for music.

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http://tinyurl.com/bqqrvx

I_DI_EZ, I am in the same boat as you. I am keeping my Windows 7 for now. It will be supported through January 2020 anyway. By then hopefully Win 10 is smooth and complete.

I have it installed on a testbox and only a testbox, I refuse to use it on a production machine for myself because of issues I have seen with drivers or application support or settings that the gui interface is just plain missing... I especially hate running into these troubles when trying to trouble shoot a client's problem only to realized that I am now troubleshooting my own Windows 10 problems on top of a problem that doesn't possibly exist in the first place. Wasted hours on that already!

By 2020 I'll need a new computer anyway, so as far as with my current computers I'll keep my 7.

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My Lymphoma Blog and Updates:

Think i'm going to change over to Linux

Well i did it been using Linux for a year now an i "LOVE IT!".
Ubuntu 16.04