[belorn]

The reason why people will continue using a OS that they dislike and distrust, is the same reason why people don't switch to an Free and open source OS. Too much software is exclusively on windows, and that forces the user onto that sticky platform regardless of user preference.

Its the same reason why people who dislike and tries to block advertisement don't simply stop consuming contents that contain advertisement. They don't want to turn into hermits that live on a mountain away from the web, TV, mail, email, radio, billboards, milk cartons, the sky, and practically everywhere where a company can stick a advertisement on something. It is an imperfect solution to an imperfect world.

[WayneBro]

> The reason why people will continue using a OS that they dislike and distrust...Too much software is exclusively on windows...

Is there any room in your opinion for people who love Windows and think it's better than any other OS that is currently available? Because that's why I stick with it, despite having some very minor issues...

Also, the reason that I don't switch to a Free and open source OS for my desktop is because they all suck. They're slower and clunkier than Windows and they don't have the features that I want.

All of my Windows issues were solved by simply toggling features via Settings and Group Policy though. I think there is one setting that you need the Enterprise version to toggle and that is Telemetry. However, you can disable that service manually too - http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-10-telemetry/ Of course disabling Telemetry causes you to lose Cortana, the Windows Store and any use of your Microsoft Account - but I don't use any of that crap anyway and anyone who does want to use that stuff wouldn't care about the basic Telemetry data that gets collected, which is detailed here - https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-10-feedback-diag...

[shakna]

Slower...?

I really don't understand how something that can run on less than a Pi can feel slower on consumer hardware than something that requires beefier specs.

For example, I never have to wait for my file manager to open. Not half a second.

Secondly, though Microsoft details the telemetry, its encrypted before the user can see it. You have to trust a company, that have a habit of bending over backwards for the US's clandestine organisations. It can't be verified.

[WayneBro]

I'm judging by the speed of the apps that run on top of the OS not the OS itself. Desktop apps specifically.

For example, all of the browsers run slower and are klunkier on Linux.

I'm with you on the telemetry. I just disabled it via the registry though. That option works on all editions of Windows unless I'm mistaken... which I very well may be since I did not go to very far lengths to verify that my machine is not sending back anything. However, I am not worried about US clandestine operations because there's nothing I can do about them anyway. They are into everything around you, not just Windows.

In my opinion the greatest threat is not spying on you. The thing you should be worried about the most is psychological warfare. They are not supposed to be running psychological operations on US soil, but it's so obvious that nobody follows that rule. TV, movies, news...all of them are used to program people. Honestly, there's nothing you can do about that either unless you are seriously rich and very well-informed.

[shakna]

Sorry you've found everything slower!

Spying leads to manipulation, true. But my fear is based on not living in the US. And disabling regkeys doesn't stop 5gb of telemetry going to MS a day. Which I find just a tad excessive.

[WayneBro]

Well I have a very nice router that shows me all of the traffic on my network and I certainly do not see 5 GB of data going to Microsoft on any day.

[blauditore]

Another big reason is maturity of the software. I've been using Linux and Windows in parallel for years now and even though it got better recently, I still stumble over minor bugs, inconsistencies, usability slips and such on Linux while those are practically non-existent on Windows.

It's quite understandable given the different objectives and budgets of the two, but I think for most average users this is a deal breaker for switching.