>>>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/01/microsoft_backports_data_slurp_to_windows_78_via_patches/
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>MS is sacrificing its remaining point of difference- that you may have had to pay $, but they wouldn't make a commodity of your electronic life for sale. Do they really want to compete on Google's playing field? Apparently so.

By giving away "free" updates to Win10 to existing 7+ users, I suppose MS is in line with the old saying that if the software is free, the user is the product.

It's harder to swallow that from this date forward users are effectively paying (via new OS license fees) to get their data slurped, regardless of which version they choose. Nice work if you can get it.

I think users should be aware that this stuff is going on. Everyone will make their own value judgments. To many, the cost of change is too high so they'll hold their nose and stick with MS.

Perhaps the slimiest aspect of this is that these updates are already opted-in by default, if indeed they even have any formal means of opt-out (disregarding hacks/workarounds for now). In many consumer scenarios that's a no-no and can be actionable via government or NGO watchdogs.