The joke is that Microsoft finally solved the perception problem around spyware by making the OS into one big bundle of spyware.
I still have a VM running Win7 that I use to run CNC software. Like any other software I don't trust, it isn't allowed talk to the net and any time it breaks I roll it back to a checkpoint and continue.
And that's all the Windows I need in my life. And now that Apple's laptops no longer appeal, the future, for me at least, is all about Linux and FreeBSD.
I really like the idea of Qubes, but it just seems Not There Yet. Or at least, was when I last looked.
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend doing what I'm doing. My home environment is the result of many years of incremental change, benign neglect, not-so-benign neglect, quick duct-tape fixes and grandiose redesigns half-completed. Learn From My Mistakes.
I run two virtualization hosts - FreeBSD and Ubuntu[1]. FreeBSD runs my always-on VMs (DNS, DB, some apps, monitoring, etc.). The Ubuntu box is where I run the Windows VM I mentioned, and sometimes others, depending on what I'm working on.
Ubuntu/KVM is fine as a virtualization host. I'm less thrilled with Ubuntu overall; generally, I don't like some of the decisions they've made. Next rebuild I'll probably be back to vanilla Debian.
I wouldn't recommend FreeBSD/Bhyve to anyone who is not already conversant with FreeBSD. From the perspective of a user coming from Linux, the transition isn't bad, but if you're running VMs, you're at least a part-time sysadmin as well, and managing FreeBSD looks a fair bit different than Linux. Additionally, Bhyve is currently missing some features KVM/libvirt has. In particular, if you want VGA or USB passthrough, stick to Linux[2] for now.
This is all predicated on this being a workstation - if you're doing server virtualization, I really like Ovirt, which requires an RHEL-lineage host OS.
[1] The FreeBSD box used to be "just" a storage server, but has grown up a lot and last time I did a lot of work on it, I renamed it 'spof', as in 'single point of failure', in honor of the role it serves. The Ubuntu box is my desktop machine.
[2] Actually, unless you like the adventure, maybe wait a bit - there are patches soon to be merged that will make VGA-passthrough quite a bit easier than it is now. I had a terrible time getting it working and to a kinda-stable point.
Your actual Windows work is run in AppVM's which are based on the template. Any changes in an AppVM is rolled back every time it's restarted (it's always based on the template), with the exception on the user's home directory.
For anyone that hasn't used Qubes OS, this is how you do most work in it, even for the Linux VM's, and I like how it allows you to be in better control of what is actually running on your system.
Using Qubes OS take a bit more effort, but once you get everything up and running the way you want it, you'll be asking yourself why not all operating systems do this.
My most painful hurdle will be passing PCIe through to the Win VM, as I do enjoy some CS:GO in my life.
(Note that Microsoft patched Win10-style telemetry into Win7 and 8 in 2016, so this is no longer the case. But it was when those OS's were current.)
Mobile operating systems are a completely different animal.
Like I said elsewhere in the thread, I expect Spotify to know I listened to "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence when I streamed it via their program. That's perfectly fine. I don't expect MICROSOFT to know that.
Why do you think they do as it stands? Unless of course you use the media player from their store. iTunes has a nearly identical setup.
In general they're only collecting the outer edge of application usage. I hope people realize Apple effectively has the exact same data via their bundled store solution? The idea that MS is unique or even first here is wrong.
Note that Enhanced is the default today, but Full will be the default telemetry level in the update this thread is actually about.
Anyway, that was just an example illustrating the difference between an application talking back to its server to deliver core functionality and OS telemetry.
If the app developers elect to use testflight to manage crash reports (which they're suggested to do, and it's a good service for devs), then yeah, Apple owns that pipeline. So yeah, they do end up handling that data.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202031
Again, I have no problem with telemetry being on by default, so long as the user is permitted to opt-out.
All of them should be held accountable.
This doesn't make any sense. There's nothing in Windows 10 that is a prerequisite for being a "gamer".
DX12 certainly isn't it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_DirectX_12_...
It's not a coincidence that most of the DX12 exclusives are published by MS. Also note, that none of those are particularly good games, albeit they probably do work okay in showcasing some of DX12's features.
Not only that, but I noticed you purchased a laptop, which makes even less sense, since the most graphically demanding games that require DX12 are unlikely to run at decent framerates on a laptop anyway, without spending $3000+ on it.
I would be very surprised if MS allowed users to disable the newly added Win7/8 telemetry, as they do not allow it on Win10.