Would...wouldn't...semantics. But a tin foil hat is sounding better every day. Even flat earthers are gettin' in on it. 

*no offense to those who think that stuff*

Yes....I hear it's a global phenomenon ...

It's not that they are spying on everyone all of the time, but if they want to spy on certain individuals the technology is there.... in their hands.

As for hearing things: I have this constant ringing in my right ear, and I'm sure it's the ghosts of peelers past telling me the time and that all is well.

For those who don't know what/who peelers were, they were people who walked the streets of early London at night calling out the time.... and: "And all is well" if there was nothing majorly wrong about.

Well!  The bit of Earth I'm standing on right now is flat.

However, I can see some hills off in the distance....

Sooo, I'm guessin' the world ain't flat after all.    

Even the professionals have had enough:

"Susan Bradley, an 18 year Microsoft MVP focused on Windows patching and patch management, has sent an open letter to Microsoft executives Satya Nadella, Carlos Picoto, and Scott Guthrie about the frustration Windows 10 users have when dealing with installing new updates. This letter includes the results of a survey taken by over 1,000 consultants and over 800 consumers regarding their experience with Windows 10 updates."

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/an-open-letter-to-microsoft-about-poor-windows-10-update-experiences/

What is more worrying than Microsoft destroying Windows is the deafening silence from politicians and big corporations.

Interesting German documentary (at least if you live in Europe):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duaYLW7LQvg

Excellent post, anotherside, thanks.

The problem with Synofsky, Nadella, etc, is that they won't listen. They're perfectly aware about the problems and have been since the beginning, but they don't care - they ALL think they are Steve Jobs reincarnated and that they know better than their users.

In the case of Steve Jobs, this was actually true a lot of the time, but these guys are nothing like him, they're just some deluded and arrogant wanna-be's, all of them.

Could be a sign of collusion delusion.

You all should keep one important aspect in mind.

YOU DO NOT OWN your copy of Windows. You purchased a license, which may be revoked at any time for various reasons. 

(From MS EULA:

Installation and Use Rights.

1. License.The software is licensed, not sold.

This is pretty much the same for all software. 

If MS wants to change their product model there isn't much you are going to do about it.

Those talking up switching to Linux and Mac.. well.. good luck with that. If all you want to do is surf the internet then it will work fine. If you want to run applications, most worthwhile programs/games/ etc are written for Windows.

Yes, the same way you don't own the story when you buy a book, just the media it is printed on.

You can vote with your wallets and switch to another OS. Oh, wait...

Mac? Apple?! They're even worse than Microsoft. Latest from them.

So the only thing left is Linux... but people won't switch until it can run nearly all the games and applications they run on Windows - and developers won't develop for it until there's enough paying customers using it to make it worthwhile. Kind of chicken and egg situation.

But if MS keeps antagonizing their users and abusing what is essentially a monopolistic position the way they've been doing lately, I think eventually the balance will tip over - and when it does, the change will be swift and permanent, relegating Microsoft and Windows to the history books and as an example of what NOT to do.

I know for a fact that Google has pretty much taken over the K-12 public school systems now. All that is really needed are some major business app developers to jump on a Linux bandwagon to start chipping away at the armor. But as you say.. it is indeed a Chicken and Egg situation..

They may have the right to change their product model, but consumers have the right to reject it, and I believe quite a large number will.  Maybe a few yuppies will accept the subscription model, but long time Windows users will turn away in droves.  A one-off license is one thing, but a recurring monthly fee isn't something the majority will want.  I don't and just about everyone I speak to say the same, with many talking about going back to Win 7 Win 8.1 or even Vista. 

It won't matter that MS no longer supports these earlier OSes, users will beef up their security, and companies in that area of business will make a killing as they replace MS' patches, etc.  As Jorge said, MS' current business model is NOT the way to go and it will be relegated to the history books as a once powerful organisation that lost the plot big time.

Subscription models for software that people can live without is one thing.  However, a subscription model for an OS that runs the whole kit and kaboodle is another.  Fail to keep up with the subscription for Winstep Xtreme, for example, you can still use the software, you just don't get any updates or upgrades.  It's the same with most software subscriptions, but fail to keep up with the subscription for Windows and you're feched.... your PC has been turned into an expensive bookend and none of your software, subscription or otherwise is accessible.  And with so many millions of users coming from the lower end of the socio-economic scale, there's going to be a shitload of very expensive bookends worldwide

Nope, the entire idea is about greed, a grab for more of your cash, and total control over YOUR PC.... and world governments, not even the EU, will say/do nothing about it because total control suits their agendas.

It makes me wonder, as companies fight for YOUR cash, and cut eachothers throats to get it, just how they will survive when you have NO MORE cash to take... because it has been eaten up by greed, rising costs and shrinking incomes.

When there's nothing left to take, what will they do then?

Surely the simple solution to "the Government/Microsoft/Deep State/Whoever can see through my webcam/computer equipment" is to simply unplug it when you're not using it...Heck, take the batteries out if you really want to be sure. I don't have either so I got no worries at present. The nice NSA man tells me he's not spying on me. And to change my washing as it's just finished and to remember to salute the flag before I go to bed.

Or you can use a typewriter, which apparantly some people have, post-Snowden's revelations etc, actually done. 'Though constantly typing out a Minefield sheet and then playing by picking a square and tossing a dice to get 1-6 score where 6 is the Mine will drive you crazy in the end. And you'd have to buy actual cards to play Patience.

FWIW, I don't see any reason to trust Linux, etc any more than Windows. No less, either, of course, but my point is, if you believe they're all out to get you, that means everybody. The people you like - Linux, Firefox, Greenpeace, Saunders, Assange, Snowden as examples - may be on your side today, but who's to say what changes tomorrow will bring?

We're screwed.

Truth is: the human race is fucked.  There is little to no hope because those in the upper echelon have designed it that way.  Thing is, their narrow-minded greed; thrust for control over everything; reducing the lower echelon to rags and zero ownership actually defeats their own agendas/purpose.  Their quest for the ultimate power and wealth will leave them with nothing. 

History dictates this because the human animal will never change.  The upper echelon will always want more than is possible, and the lower echelon will never have the power or resources to combat it.  The Roman Empire fell bt the wayside because it never understood the distribution of wealth and power, the British Empire almost went the same way, save the sense of a few wise men who saw the error of their ways.

Now we have the US trying to emulate that which failed before them, having learnt eff all from the history of mankind.... and the EU thinking it has some kind of influence to control the outcome.  Neither will succeed because nobody ever learnt from the mistakes of those who fell before them.

The fact that many in the Linux crowd share the (mistaken) belief that software should be free (therefore making them less likely to be turned into paying customers) doesn't help either. This from the perspective of a developer, of course.

Despite this Linux is still the best option we have now precisely because it is Open Source, and therefore not owned/controlled by a single company. If a Linux distributor tried to hijack the OS in a different direction, others would simply fork Linux to go in the opposite direction.

As for the political side of this discussion (as I said before I think it is all related), we can't ignore our own fault for remaining silent and doing nothing while the world changed around us for the worse.

We allowed this to happen, we allowed minorities to think they were entitled to tell the majority- because people with rational minds and common sense are STILL the majority - what to think and what to say. I think most people are beginning to wake up because the insanity is reaching unprecedented levels.

One thing is for certain, we can no longer afford to stay silent or remain neutral about this. You MUST chose a side and defend it vigorously - that is the only way our collective voices will be heard.

Just to give you an example, Doctors are ALREADY being fired from their jobs for simply defending the biological fact that there are only two genders, male and female. Something that is true from both the BIOLOGY and GENETICS perspective. If something like this does not make your blood boil, I don't know what would - even if you don't agree, there is no WAY in the world people should be fired for that!

With all the sympathy I have for people in general and people with gender dysphoria in particular, saying I am a chicken does not make me one. 

Also, if you watch the video, it's a delightful irony when 'she' tells him that he has no right to impose his point of view on others (aka think on his own) when it is PRECISELY that which she is trying to do to him. The poor man was literally bulldozed by everyone in that interview room - amazing how he still managed to hold it together.

I would LOVE to see them trying that with Jordan B.Peterson.