Windows 7 and 10 will both run your software, store your files and connect to the internet.

The only significant differences are about updates and privacy. And sadly it has been nothing but bad news on both fronts for the past half year or so.

Windows 10 privacy

While most invasive features in Windows 10 are optional and have an off switch (use ShutUp10 to automate the process of hunting down all relevant settings), it turns out that you cannot turn off telemetry in any way.

Telemetry will send usage and crash data to Microsoft. This feature does not collect data for the purpose of selling your profile to advertisers, but it does still collect data, including potentially private information (memory dumps after a program crashes, etc), and transfer it to Microsoft where the NSA can and probably does gather them. This may make you uncomfortable.

Note that there is lots of tinfoil hat bullshit going around as well, and a strong incentive for news sources to fabricate or exaggerate the problem. There is a

Windows 10 forced updates

There is no option to refuse unwanted updates, and only certain versions of Windows 10 have an option to defer them.

At first, the main concern was drivers - Microsoft successfully hosed a bunch of systems before the OS was even officially released because Nvidia passed them a broken driver. If this happens, you have no recourse until the driver is pulled from Windows Update.

But a more pressing concern has surfaced...

Windows 7 update abuse

In the recent past, Microsoft has been abusing the Windows Update mechanism on Windows 7 in a series of ever more egregious attempts to force feed Windows 10.

• An annoying "Get Windows 10" icon in your taskbar that pops up advertisements.
• The entire Windows 10 install package (4 GB) was distributed as a recommended update whether or not the user expressed a desire to upgrade and/or is on a metered connection.
• Backported telemetry from Windows 10 has appeared in a number of updates. Microsoft claims the telemetry is tied into the CEIP (Customer Experience Improvement Program) and therefore optional, but users seem to be opted in by default with no easy way to opt out.
• For a short time the Windows 10 upgrade was checked by default despite being an optional update. This was a most unfortunate "accident".
• Starting in 2016, Windows 10 will be a recommended update and therefore automatically download and install for users with default Windows Update settings.

Many users feel they can no longer trust Windows Update and are forced to manually vet each individual update to see whether it contains valid improvements, telemetry or Get Windows 10 nagware (and repeat the process every time an update is reissued, which happens constantly).

Windows 10 UX

Microsoft is still trying to push the smartphone paradigm, but they did back off from the excesses of Windows 8. Tiles still exist and the non-tile parts of the start menu have been made less useful in a passive-aggressive attempt to encourage their use.

That said, their current implementation is actually not all that bad. The preinstalled apps are dreck (they are all Universal Apps,, so uninstall them and use the tiles as a highly configurable launcher.