I read an article yesterday (forget where) and tablet sales are down.  It seems that people are getting tired of them.  Personally, I've never understood the attraction to tablets but I do carry a laptop for work (required) and at home I have my desktop PC and a nice 27" monitor.  I agree totally that MS doesn't seem to get it.  Windows 10 has been closely supervised by Bill Gates as he is the technology consultant overseeing Windows development so Windows 10 good or bad is on his shoulders.  I totally agree with your thinking, psychoak.  I do not want my PC to look and/or function like my cell phone either.  If Windows 10 tanks, I am going to Linux. 

I don't think tablets are dying out any time soon, they're a futuristic gadget just coming into usefulness if anything.  It's immensely useful to have a tablet in a great many industries today.  If you're running around doing a check list or something, even a small laptop is probably just a pain in the ass, a small tablet with a stylus is perfect.  It's the replacement for the steno pad, the pocket calculator, etc.  Millions of irritatingly cumbersome notebook sales went poof with the advent of tablets for people who are actually mobile, not just working from multiple locations.  Replacing computers that weren't really being used is just a fringe benefit of the technology.

Once most people that want one  have one, there's not much point in replacing one ten inch tablet made in the last few years with another if all you're doing is checking on your virtual social life, so sales aren't going to be so hot.  My parents and siblings all have tablets, and the only one that does a damned thing with it of any significance makes a living writing corporate software.  The rest are just reading the news and such, only reason to replace them is if one breaks.

Tablet sales are down because a great number of people have them and don't feel the need to upgrade to a new one. More of a problem that everyone has one and will upgrade only when they really need to.

Regarding Windows 10, it's a much better experience and I didn't hesitate updating all my PCs. 

Out of curiosity, are you okay with all the monitoring stuff built into it? Just wondering what your position is on that part of it.

Nope. Much of that is overblown as usual from the tech "journalists". You aren't being "monitored".

Maybe monitored isn't the most accurate of terms but the EULA does specifically state that they will access all of your personal info on your computer, i.e., data mining. Thanks for replying though.

I take it you don't read many EULA's?

Does anyone?

Especially not the 40 something pages worth... which would make it the  Epic Users License Agreement.

More like the Epic User License of Aggravation

Hey......who says MS has license to aggravate people. Them did...at MS...in Redmond......who got the nukes?!

And we thought saddam had the nukes...

Being data-mined might as well be being monitored. The whole point of that though is something you own shouldn't even be Capable of monitoring you without your consent, and it most definitely is capable. If you don't think your being monitored you're being naïve. Hell I've caught my Wii U reporting back information packets even when I don't use it and it doesn't need a update. If I'm not using it for months at a time "what" information is it sending back? Did you know the police have the capability to use your Wii or X-Box to look inside your home? That's not conspiracy bullshit, it's very possible and they don't even need a warrant to do it. All they need is "reasonable suspicion" to put you under investigation. The FBI and CIA monitor web traffic all the time, which is how they catch sickos that deal in kiddie porn, and they catch a lot of them in "mass surveillance operations" and that's not even classified. If they're running "mass surveillance operations" how many innocent people are being watched so they can catch the few bad ones? Lots.

Don't chalk everything up to "conspiracy theory", especially when half of them are true.

Where is the camera located in the Xbox?

Thou needest a tinfoil hat...

Thing is, governments and law enforcement agencies do use various technologies to snoop, pry and monitor persons of interest... and others, so who's to say there aren't devices capable of watching and/or listening to people in their own homes, etc.  They mightn't be bothered with you or I, but I'm sure there are others who are under surveillance with high tech equipment.

As for the tinfoil hat, I have several... not to mention dozens of rolls of Alfoil for just in case.