According to blog posts and articles on tech sites there still is no way to disable all telemetry on windows 10. I don’t use windows for a long time now so I cannot tell myself.
Anyhow, it is /not/ ok for an OS to spy on their users by default - even if you can disable it manually.
Even though the "basic" telemetry data is quite the list [0], I agree that it's not nearly as intrusive as the "full" set.
> only when you have it set to Full level
"you" (probably any users) won't set the level to "full"; this is the default setting (source [1]). MS only offers "basic" as opt-out (which it really is not).
No, updates work fine. Some blocked domains : settings-win.data.microsoft.com, v10.vortex-win.data.microsoft.com, mobile.pipe.aria.microsoft.com, nexusrules.officeapps.live.com
You can't. It still phones home a lot, even at the lowest telemetry settings. The only edition where you can disable it is LTSB and even there it is hidden in Local Group Policy Editor.
Microsoft have marketed it to business and portrayed it as intended for professional business use ever since XP introduced the version split. Until large enough to be allowed near volume licensing SKUs, when you pass some point past a hundred seats, it's the most professional offering a business can get.
That covers nearly all small and medium businesses.
Anyhow, it is /not/ ok for an OS to spy on their users by default - even if you can disable it manually.