There are solutions, see tor for example.
You can hide your geolocation and traffic content by using vpns, email by using end-to-end pgp encryption etc etc.
one can still have "privacy" if really wanted (with linux probably, because nobody knows but microsoft what that windows encrypted data sent home is)

dunno, that's why I asked :)

about performance ... this might be the number one of many users to get latest windows, i myself value privacy much higher then a little performance improvement or any extra features and or gadjet new windows offers.
Not a single or multiple improvement on any tool. program, game, or OS will justify 'violating' and 'intruding' users privacy.
Thats my point of view.

I just installed Windows 7 again with my DVD, and used the old key. I thought they were invalid once you upgraded, but it activated just fine. As far as I know though, in the Windows 10 settings you can just press a button to downgrade again. it is under Update & Security --> Recovery --> Go back to Windows 7. That only works for a month though, after that the backup is removed. I did not have this option, because I made a clean Windows 10 install without backup.

No. Microsoft already confirmed itself that some older SecuROM software might not work, in case you try to run some old retail games there. And there are GOG games which seem(ed) to have Win10 specific issues. But overall it seems pretty well backwards compatible, compared to Windows 7 and 8.

This is all over the same thing when Windows 8 originally came out. Also back then we had people flat out claiming that it is full 100% backwards compatible and absolutely everything that worked in Windows 7, work exactly the same in Windows 8.

In the end, that wasn't true after all. There were some compatibility issues here and there, and even GOG had to make some fixes to make some of their games work properly also on Windows 8.

So, you might find an odd game here and there that has some issues in Windows 10. But overall the situation shouldn't be bad.

I just activated a brand new PC with Windows 8 Pro yesterday literally and am upgrading it to Windows 10 right now (reserved last night).

Oh, you meant Windows 7 for purchase, I thought you meant non-OEM copies of Windows in general. Apart from the unused copies that were sold prior to it being discontinued, I believe you are correct.

And even for OEMs, I'm not sure those are so much sold as included as downgrade copies with 10.

windows 10 is kind of the same as 8 except slightly rearranged, at least for me as a regular user. for video games, nothing seemed to change either. isn't there going to be a new direct x on it? so there's that.

The only reason I am thinking of getting win 10 is try the virtual machine thing out in the pro version. It looks like it might be better than the one I tried with Win 7 version I currently have.

You can buy an OEM copy of W7 from vendors, like Aria or Scan, which comes with a DVD and licence for a single machine; so no transfer to another machine; if you upgrade CPU you have to reactivate by phoning MS
A bit messy but suits me. I will only have one machine and I want W7 for now.

Have you considered third party software like VMware? Most people seem to prefer this anyway and Virtualbox on Linux of course.

Don't know if is fault of the OS or of the graphic drivers, but in W10, I have small freezes with games that in W8.1 runs fine. (and yes, is a clean install)

I have used it a work, with IT setting up the virtual machines. I will look into VM. I was hoping with win 10 to setup a VM of ubuntu and WinXP for the ultimate in old game compatibility.

I've got a dual-boot system with Linux Mint (with Nvidia card and superb drivers) and WinXP for the ultimate gaming experience old and new. :)

It mostly works fine. But, be aware that the only way to back up a Win 10 virtualbox is by actually copying the folder. Using the export changes some critical IDs forcing an re-activation that you can't do.

Best thing is to do the initial install, then copy the install elsewhere as a back up. You can change the HDD image all you like, you just have to edit the relevant files to keep the ID the same.

Also, for obvious reasons, the support for Win 10 in VB isn't particularly mature.