I've been pretty adamant over the last few months about not upgrading to Windows 10, for a number of reasons. Everything from Windows 10's privacy problems, including the fact that the Home version gives you no control over an update cycle that can (and will) reset some of your privacy settings; to the more-than-a-little skeevy practice of putting ads on lock screens and start menus; to the not-so-subtly anti-competitive nature of the Universal Windows Platform; to the fact that many of my peripheral drivers simply won't work with the new OS; all combined with the fact that Windows 7 is still working pretty well for me, thanks very much, and should continue to work for me until 2020... Well, suffice to say that there are lots of reasons to simply stand pat.
The biggest reason, however, at least for me, has been the simple fact of Microsoft's arrogant disregard for their customers: our trust, our good will, our right to have our decisions respected, have all been treated like so much trash by Redmond over the last few months, and I was simply loathe to add another installation to their count. I had no intention of contributing to their success metrics, and zero desire to reward their bad behaviour with anything that might be construed as any measure of approval, tacit or otherwise.
Now, however, the state of play has changed.
For one thing, Microsoft themselves have already admitted failure when it comes to meeting Windows 10's install targets; so much so, in fact, that they've stopped counting installations of the OS (a metric which allowed them to count unsold PCs and users who'd since rolled back to previous versions of Windows, among other things), and will now use the same sort of current active user metric that outfits like NetMarketShare are already using.
And then, there's the other thing: the fact that Microsoft's bad behaviour is already earning them what they deserve, namely lawsuits, regulatory action, and the mounting legal costs, damages, and fines that come with them. Just desserts, indeed, well-earned by the Redmond crew, and the costs of their abusive GWX push are just beginning to add up. The true cost of #upgradegate is going to be substantial, and that's before you reckon the long-term cost of the customer trust and goodwill that they've squandered.
So, doing the Windows do si do, switching to secure a licence and then switching back to an OS that lacks Windows 10's drawbacks, suddenly doesn't look like rewarding bad behaviour, anymore. Also, with CNIL bearing down on them, it looks like Microsoft might finally address some of those very shortcomings -- not before July 29th, sadly, but probably in the next few months.
Which brings us to the dilemma.... is it actually worth taking the time to do that dance of operating systems? I've got a pretty modern system, so the risk should be minimal; for me, the cost is mainly time. How lazy am I, really? How badly do I want to "take" Microsoft for a free Windows 10 licence that I'm not even intending to use?
One way or the other, I've got only five days left to decide.
Update:
You know what? Screw that shit. If Microsoft had the good sense to just leave it alone, I might just have talked myself into upgrading, in spite of everything, but they're still pushing Windows 10 way too hard, and it's still off-putting. Since I'd need the Pro version anyway, in order to have the kind of control over my PC that I'm used to, I'll just stand pat, like I've been planning to do for months. Apathy wins; I've spent months actively not switching, and now simply don't have it in me to care about Windows 10 enough to make the effort.