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It's funny and equally sad that year 2015 marks the end of the Windows OS for a lot of people. There are several issues with Windows which, at present, make Spyware/Malware OS 10 inappropriate and even outright dangerous for a lot of people. The most egregious, of course, is a total abandonment of any form of privacy and control.

Firstly, Microsoft openly stated that pervasive data collection will be present in any Windows version starting from Windows 10, and as a host of research on the Internet shows, this data collection cannot be disabled using official means. If you decide to disable total tracking (including keyboard scanning and voice recording) you'll have to disable over a hundred different Internet addresses and then no one guarantees that a new Windows update doesn't add new hosts because Microsoft surely is not interested in losing such a lucrative feature meant for Big Brother agencies. Read the rest of the article for official Microsoft statements and for various information on how Windows breaches your privacy and how you might try to control it (it's almost futile btw).

Secondly, Microsoft has stripped us of the ability to control Windows updates. It was ostensibly done to improve the user experience by keeping the system up to date and perhaps malware free, but the truth is that the built-in antimalware protection in Windows is simply horrible (according to various AV comparisons, Microsoft Essentials misses over 20% of in-the-wild malware) and said updates mean nothing for security because over 90% of infections happen due to the user's actions (like downloading and installing dubious applications). No Windows update can prevent such a behaviour.

Thirdly, as Microsoft has stated multiple times, Windows 10 will not have any service packs. Windows 10 is the final version of Windows, because Windows 10 has become a service, it will be updated over time to bring new features and remove the old ones. The Windows 10 you might have updated to in July 2015 will be a different OS from Windows 10 plus all its updates a year later.

Let me say that I've always been a big fan of Windows because Microsoft does care about compatibility, vs. many other tech companies that break backward compatibility all the time. However I've always felt that there are no resources or articles on the web which dig deep into Windows' problems and therefore I wrote this very concise essay. Mind that it was not created to say that Linux is better (it's definitely not). It was created to stop Microsoft fans roaring in regard to Windows 10 and how it's better than Windows 7 in every regard - it's actually worse in most regards aside from DirectX 12 (which is actually hidden from the user and is only exposed in games).

You may probably want to know why Windows 10 feels so buggy. Here's a very nice quote :

Full Disclosure: I worked at M$ from 2014-2015. MS has some very talented programmers. They're not very common, but they exist. The problem is that the entire company is completely and totally focused on developing an absurd number of new features and products, giving them completely unrealistic deadlines, and then shipping software on those deadlines no matter how half-assed or buggy it is. The idea is that everything is serviceable over the internet now, so they can just "fix it later", except they never do. This perpetuates a duct-tape culture that refuses to actually fix problems and instead rewards teams that find ways to work around them. The talented programmers are stuck working on code that, at best, has to deal with multiple badly designed frameworks from other teams, or at worst work on code that is simply scrapped. New features are prioritized over all but the most system-critical bugs, and teams are never given any time to actually focus on improving their code. The only improvements that can happen must be snuck in while implementing new features. As far as M$ is concerned, all code is shit, and the only thing that matters is if it works well enough to be shown at a demo and shipped. Needless to say, I don't work there anymore.

In a new, not that unexpected, turn of events Microsoft now foists ads as part of ... security updates for Windows 7 and 8/8.1 (See KB3139929, which says nothing about this new "feature"). People were afraid but never believed it would happen. It now has.

So, there are two kinds of issues with the Windows operating system created by Microsoft. The first kind are the issues intrinsic to every Windows version starting from Windows Vista (XP is out of circulation and support so let's forget about it).

Attention: items in grey below are either outdated, resolved or no longer apply to the current edition of Windows.

Problems which are present in every version of Windows for PC

Devastating Windows rot (might be solved in future Windows releases if developers switch from Win32 to UWP).

(might be solved in future Windows releases if developers switch from Win32 to UWP). No enforced file system and registry hierarchy (I have yet to find a single serious application which can uninstall itself cleanly and fully). The $USER directory in Windows, specially in Windows 10, is an inexplicable mess.

No true safe mode (rogue applications may easily run in it).

The user as a system administrator (thus viruses/​malware - most users don't and won't understand UAC warnings).

understand UAC warnings). No good packaging mechanism (MSI is way too fragile).

No system-wide update mechanism (which includes third party software - to be fair there are third party applications which offer this functionality, but then such applications don't support core Windows updates).

In certain cases it's extremely difficult to find or update drivers for your hardware devices (anyone who's tried to install a fresh Windows onto their laptop will testify).

Windows is extremely difficult to debug (e.g. try finding out why your system is slow to boot).

Windows boot problems are too often fatal and unsolvable unless you reinstall from scratch.

Windows is hardware dependent (especially when running from UEFI).

Windows updates are terribly unreliable, very slow (to install) and they also waste disk space (Microsoft has promised to fix updates after over 13 years of constant woes from Windows users).

Windows cannot replace system DLLs on the fly and restart corresponding services which depend on said DLLs due to its architecture. As a result some system updates require multiple reboots (innocuous malevolence in me requires to mention that in Linux you can even update the kernel on the fly).

The Windows OS installer doesn't give a damn about other OSes installed on your PC and it always overwrites the MBR. In case of already existing Windows installations, it sets the newly installed Windows as the default OS - no questions asked. In case of UEFI, booting of other non-Windows OSes is unsupported and Windows actively prevents this.

WinSxS, though a neat idea, turned into some madness: Windows keeps the versions of files the user won't ever need: for instance the English version of Windows will have copies of files for many other languages irrespectively of the chosen locale or MUI.

Cryptic error messages (considering the size of the OS, >9GB as of Windows 10, this practice is simply ridiculous).

Most malware writers target Windows as the most popular desktop OS, so it has the biggest number of viruses among all other OSes (over five thousand new viruses daily).

Windows loves thrashing your HDD - Windows 10 with its incessant tracking is the worst offender.

Microsoft programmers are still unable to cope with NTFS fragmentation thirty years after its introduction. To make things worse most Windows applications do not preallocate files thus they contribute to fragmentation even more.

Windows anti-virus products oftentimes make your PC less safe - so if you want perfect security and privacy, stop using Windows and migrate to Linux right away. OEM updaters make your PC wide open for attacks.

Microsoft has recently decided that you will no longer be able to download certain Windows updates manually. You'll only be able to get them via Windows Update.

"sfc /scannow" is offered as a solution to most Windows Update Service and Microsoft Installer Service errors, yet in absolute most cases it's totally ineffective.

is offered as a solution to most Windows Update Service and Microsoft Installer Service errors, yet in absolute most cases it's totally ineffective. Windows does not allow you to use any partitions other than the first one on your removable USB flash drive. There's no logic or explanation behind this totally ridiculous and artificial limitation.

Windows does not automatically clean temporary files ever, however it must do that for every reboot/power cycle - partially solved in Windows 10 1809.

automatically clean temporary files ever, however it must do that for every reboot/power cycle - partially solved in Windows 10 1809. The generic drivers Windows comes with are not always compatible with the wide range of existing hardware. Since Windows has a habit of replacing your vendor's drivers with its own newer drivers your hardware may stop working correctly after upgrading to a newer Windows release (remember that Windows 10 is a codename for major different operating systems, e.g. like Windows Vista vs Windows 7 in the past).

operating systems, e.g. like Windows Vista vs Windows 7 in the past). Windows keeps a large number of databases of the applications which the user runs: Windows Activity History, bam.sys, Prefetcher, Program Compatibility Assistant and others.

Windows keeps trying to reinstall failed updates over and over (in certain cases every such cycle of "updating" can render your PC disabled for hours!). To be fixed in 2019 in Windows 10.

No clean state (for most OEM installations out there). This will be finally solved in new Windows 10 builds.

svchost.exe (the whole philosophy of preserving RAM this way became outdated years ago) - now fixed in Windows 10.

There's no way to cleanly upgrade your system (there will be thousands of leftovers), etc - "fixed" in Windows 10 by a complete semiannual system reinstallation.

Windows doesn't support a hybrid MBR/GPT partitioning scheme. MBR is now more or less abandoned, so it's no longer an issue.

Microsoft has gone crazy: Windows 10 is now a recommended update for all Windows 7/8.1 users unless you're running their Enterprise versions. That means your computer will automatically update to Windows 10 unless you either disable the Windows Update service completely or set Windows updates to the manual mode.

update to Windows 10 unless you either disable the Windows Update service completely or set Windows updates to the manual mode. In May 2016 Microsoft started deceptively updating users' PCs to Windows 10 regardless of your Automatic Windows Updates settings or the way you interact with the GWX application.

A finnish translation of the above list can be read at keskustelu.suomi24.fi.

Now the second kind of issues is intrinsic to Windows 10 only

Some ways to fix/configure Windows 10

Do not install it or upgrade to it if you're running Windows 7/8.1. If you did, read further.

if you're running Windows 7/8.1. If you did, read further. Install Open Shell (a fork of Classic Shell) aka Windows 7 (XP) Start Menu for Windows 10.

Uninstall/remove most built-in Metro/Modern apps in Windows 10 ( quiet a lot of them are immutable and cannot be uninstalled no matter what ): Fire up an administrator's PowerShell (Start -> Search -> Power -> Right mouse click -> Run as Administrator). Run (copy and paste):

Get-AppXPackage -User | Remove-AppxPackage (remove the user's apps)

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage (remove all system-wide apps)

built-in Metro/Modern apps in Windows 10 ( ): Disable Windows 10 most spying/tracking/call home features - for deep cleaning use more powerful (and equally dangerous) utilities.

You can disable the built-in torrent-like/bandwidth sharing feature by going to the Start Start button icon , then Settings > Update & security > Windows Update, and then select Advanced options.

, then Settings > Update & security > Windows Update, and then select Advanced options. The other things mentioned above cannot be fixed unfortunately (UI inconsistency, two Control Panels, very little UI customizability, disabling of updates, etc.).

Why was Windows 10 spyware? (stopped being so after July 29, 2016) Because it has all the attributes of spyware: Downloads itself to your machine without you specifically asking for it? YES

Aggressively attempts to install itself taking over your computer in the process? YES

Sends unknown and/or encrypted data to known and unknown third parties? YES

Sends personally identifying information to known and unknown third parties? YES

Difficult to remove? YES In short, it looks like spyware, smells like spyware, walks like spyware and talks like spyware. Windows 10 is spyware. As a bonus, Windows 10 has the features of a PUP: it shows ads in the start menu including full-screen ads on the lock screen.

Busting Windows 10 myths

There seems to be a good number of myths which are spread on pro-Microsoft forums and websites and I want to take a bit of your time to debunk them.

Windows 10 is faster

According to this, this and this there's no discernible difference between Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. Windows 10 features improved memory handling for certain multithreaded applications like WinRAR, but most other applications have the same performance.

"I have installed Windows 10 and it feels faster", right, like with every Windows release it feels fast when you install it from scratch. Then, strangely, it slows down significantly.

I have nothing to hide - let them track me!

Robin Doherty has a nice piece on this issue: "Why privacy is important, and having 'nothing to hide' is irrelevant". Also you might want to read about the implications of real-life surveillance.

Here's an insightful comment I cannot agree more with:

"Microsoft has given themselves the right to do remote administration and data gathering ... and for all but the ones which can select Security, they'll do it in such a way that they can personally identify you. Oh, and apparently they'll gather some of your documents as well. No fucking way we can trust them with this, because as soon as they have the ability to tell your computer to package up some data and send it to them, some asshole in law enforcement is going to demand they misuse it. And don't say they won't, because that's exactly the kind of shit law enforcement and the security agencies are doing. No way they won't show up with an NSL demanding information and forbidding Microsoft from admitting to it."

I've got Windows 10 preinstalled on my PC/laptop, I hate it, what should I do?

If you do value your freedom, privacy and ability to control your OS, not the other way around, you've get these options:

Downgrade to Windows 8.1 which contains zero privacy invasion features. Make sure you have automatic updates set to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". Review and research every non-security update before installing it. Also you might want to disable telemetry bits and upgrade elements in Windows 7/8.1 - use with caution .

Mind that Microsoft stopped offering Windows 7/8.1 updates to the owners of new PCs with new Intel/AMD CPUs.

Also mind that finding drivers for older Windows releases has become extremely difficult for new hardware (released after 2015).

you have automatic updates set to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". Review and research non-security update before installing it. Also you might want to disable telemetry bits and upgrade elements in Windows 7/8.1 - use with . If everything you do on your PC is web browsing, watching online videos and listening to online music, give Linux a try. You don't even have to install it to try it - it can be trivially run from your USB flash drive without touching your OS or personal data. Linux is slowly becoming a nice alternative to Windows.

Migrate to MacOS. This is the most expensive option but the most viable at the moment because Linux is not exactly perfect.

Free upgrade to Windows 10 (updated)

How to save money and upgrade to Windows 10 for free after the free upgrade offer expires? Activate any assistive technology in your Windows 7/8.1, for instance, click + U and enable the onscreen keyboard and follow this link .

Officially in January 2018 Microsoft ended this offer. But not really - read on.

Update: it turns out the offer is still valid and you can upgrade to Widnows 10 for free if you own a copy of Windows 7 or 8. I've just saved you up to $199.

In conclusion

Just before you call me anti-Microsoft, a Linux shill, zealot or fanatic, here's a wonderful list of Linux problems that I've been compiling over the past six years. The truth is I don't plead allegiance to any OS on the market. So, sorry, Windows 10 sucks no less than Linux sucks, it just sucks differently. So far, Microsoft has had two great modern OSes: Windows XP and Windows 7 (in the past they had rock-solid Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000).

I have no opinion on MacOS X, because I've never had a chance to use it, however from what I've seen on screenshots, this OS has the worst font antialiasing among any existing OSes - I actually refuse to try it because I don't want to hurt my eyes (not an issue for Macs with "retina" displays but they are even more expensive).

I'm not a journalist and I've never been one.

P.S. If you want to reinforce your love towards Microsoft and Windows 10 go to neowin.net - this website has thousands of raving idiots who dribble and moan with excitement over everything made by Microsoft.

Some guy from game-debate dot com rewrote this article in an easy-to-understand way.

Leave your comments, additions and hatred below.