[john70t]

I should again add that Microsoft is only catching up with the other two players. They are far worse.
It's time to re-draw the line in the sand.

Originally Posted by pmax

First, define what's "spyware" and what's being done now and let's see if there's a consensus what is and what isn't.

I'll start with the basic suggestion that spyware would be any undisclosed usage monitoring, any personal/proprietary data capture, and perhaps any other data transmission that does not specifically relate to the upkeep of the software itself as intended.
This is not my final answer and I am not a techy.

The subject is obviously complex, but every EULA term should be speeled out in simple layman language.
(most of these are written in vague legalese innuendos which basically say "We can do anything we want and you can't sue us, so there.")
Anything not specifically "opted into" should automatically be considered a breach or violation of contract or another description.

Originally Posted by pmax

Bloatware, I give you that, but the rest does not follow as far as I know. Do tell if that's a misconception. Always eager to learn, not a tech "guru" by far.

Now you are just being coy Mr. Gates. Bloatware is commonplace, begrudgingly accepted, but that would be a very good start.

It might be excused as "Oh it's only 5% of resources running in the background and the average consumer never notices it anyways".
But what if it was not?
What if it was 95% of resources? Is "the line" more opaque at that point?
What if it significantly shortens battery life needed for emergencies?
What if it leads to denial of usage of the product and/or deviation from an expected lifespan?
Maybe the computer only lasts half as long, and works half as well.

And yes...even Win10 crashes as I've found.
Many non-OS programs will restart on their own after being terminated. i.e. the virus reference.
Many services can not be terminated.
Many of the same can affect function and frame-rates which may cause epilepsy.

Originally Posted by pmax

There is usually an easy "opt out" for the non tech savvy consumer for those features which an average non tech savvy consumer can disable without any bad side effects. I just showed you one in my previous replies, with a few mouse clicks.

Those in the latter category wanting full control of the product are not the non tech savvy consumer.

The goalposts get moved again. There shouldn't have to be any two-tier description of people using the term "tech savvy". Grandma and da haxtor should have the same rights when they open the box, IMO.