Here's an easier way to remove telemetry and other unwanted stuff from win 7/8:

https://github.com/WindowsLies/BlockWindows

All Windows OSs are good only at least year after their release, after good portions of fixes and updates were done.

It is hilarious to watch people instal fresh and new OS time and time again and cry that it breaks nearly everything.

Updating/upgrading OS "just because" is the worst idea ever. Juts like constantly updating drivers and what not, because some "tech specialist" told so. It is like people never experienced Windows XP before any SP pack was released, it is like they never experienced fiasco of NT and Vista, it is like they have way too much free time on their hands to install and reinstall OS over and over again and seek compatibility fixes for aech and every program/game.

Then again, I read conflicting reports if blocking those updates have some other unwanted consequences? Ie. do those same updates contain some actual fixes that you'd be blocking at the same time?

Looks pretty simple... glanced over the bat file, and it looks legit...

A friend messaged me that she had issues after [s]upgrading[/s] switching to 10, that it merged her user folder and moved it all to the SSD drive. She didn't want it on the SSD drive and tried to move it to the non SSD drive. Then the computer got stuck in a constant rebooting cycle.

New PCs people buy now come with Windows 10 preloaded, so those people don't have any real choice (especially laptop buyers). There's the thread here someone complaining he can't find a store selling Windows 7 for the PC he is building.

Regarding those who do upgrade to new OS: many of them are techie geeks who like to try new things and experiment. Nothing wrong with that I guess. I was also interested to see how Windows 10 works, but now I've seen it and don't have any big urge to use it instead of Windows 7, for now. It is ok from the UI point of view, that's all. I didn't see any new feature there that I want to have now, though, plus I still want to maximize the backwards compatibility with my older games.

For some reason though, I seem to update my Linux Mint machines to the latest version quite soon (now Linux Mint 17.2). I could just as well stay on some older version which is still supported, but... I don't know.

Or my Android devices, if and when I see a firmware update (new Android version), I am quite fast to update it, and also keep all the Android applications up to date. Then again, I presume these new things offer security fixes etc.

nah, unless you want spyware updates that update the spyware :) There are no negative or unwanted consequences whatsoever.

There is a real choice: downgrade to W7. it's legit

i was thinking about w10:

It breaks all things, i read it everywhere, but lets suppose there are some users that dont game but only mail, socialmedia, and watch videos, watch youtube on the pc , maybe some instagram, i know thats quite 'boring' but i assume that these basic things will work 100%?

So users who mainly use/ buy a laptop for these things should have no complaints about win 10.
Thats why not all users are complaining, i myself would be complaining alot cause i do use tools, games, and evrything thats possible to do on windows.

But for people who just wanna be online to have contact with faraway relatives or friends w10 should be okay, unless w10 also messes up these basic things :D then w10 should be put down to bed permanently :D
turn of the lights, closed the room, seal the door and forget about that piece of digital trash.

Is there some free official way, or would you have to buy a new Windows 7 license somewhere?

My ASUS ROG laptop still came with Windows 7, but quite soon after that the newer ROG models had Windows 8 preloaded. I recall reading on the ASUS forums that the downgrade from the preloaded OS wasn't always that easy. Figuring out how to switch of secure boot so that you can even install Windows 7 (it was oddly changed in newer ASUS UEFI/BIOS, it was not necessarily apparent where to do it), issues with drivers etc.

All that left me with a feeling that at least with laptops where some Windows comes preloaded (like they normally do), it is better to stay on that version, and only upgrade upwards from there.

Meh.

I really appreciate microsoft work on inspiring people to search for alternatives ; )

Tried Linux Mint but I stay with Windows 7 for now. Gaming on Linux is still a pain in the ass. Sooner or later I upgrade to Windows 10. Nothing to hide here. They could just ask if they want to know which pornos I'm watching. ;)

It's really worth mentioning that people that it just works fine for don't tend to shout about it on forums. If you look into anything online you're more likely to see the bad side over-exaggerated.

Personally, for me, Windows 10 has been just perfect. Not had a single problem with it. Laptop does everything I want it to, and the 20-odd GOG games I've run on it so far have been just fine.

20 is nothing. Some people have hundreds. Just games. Not counting various software for various needs and work.

Well, I know people who have been driving cars for longer than that and still drive like shit, so that's really not saying much...