The default should be the most secure setting, not enabling things which many people don't need or know about.

That's a fine stance for engineers, but it turns out to be a useless stance when it comes to consumers.

Do you think that the average consumer wants to dig around in settings to turn on each of the 20 new features they've seen advertised on television? Half of them won't know *how* to change settings, but they still want to use Siri, universal search, etc.

I realise that it is human nature to try and impose one's will on the rest of humanity, but it's important to understand that techies and normal consumers represent strictly different use-cases for software.

The default should be the most secure setting, not enabling things which many people don't need or know about.

But what are things that people don't need or know about? What power users don't need is very different what grandma doesn't need. One of the big selling factors of Windows 10 is Cortana. And it needs access to all your crap to be able to do its job. Now seemingly sending all that data to Microsoft and making it hard for people to turn that off is a bit of a problem. But if people don't like all the features and privacy concerns then don't upgrade. Show Microsoft you don't like the direction they are going by not increasing the market share. Windows 7/8 are going to be supported for many more years yet. And unless playing games is your main concern Linux and OSX are more then capable of handling users day to day tasks. There is zero incentive for Microsoft to change once you have already installed it.

Do you think that the average consumer wants to dig around in settings to turn on each of the 20 new features they've seen advertised on television? Half of them won't know *how* to change settings, but they still want to use Siri, universal search, etc.

So you are saying that the average user is too stupid to answer "yes" or "no" when the installer asks him/her: "Do you want web search stuff installed? Do you want speech recognition installed?"

It's not like the installer isn't asking a lot of shit, 99% of which is useless, including a 20 or 25 character long product key, and people have no problem answering that. It could as well ask for stuff that matters.

What kind of Windows install do you want?

( ) Minmal (this installs the most awesome Windows ever, but without the super awesome extra packages)

(x) Recommended (this includes Cortana, your super new assistant and web search and other awesome stuff) see complete list

( ) Maximal (this also installs things few users will need, such as a webserver) see complete list

( ) Something different (select packages from list)

[ ] Also ask me about advanced install options (partitioning, changing directory locations, BitLocker encryption, etc.).

Do you think that the average consumer wants to dig around in settings to turn on each of the 20 new features they've seen advertised on television? Half of them won't know *how* to change settings, but they still want to use Siri, universal search, etc.

So you are saying that the average user is too stupid to answer "yes" or "no" when the installer asks him/her: "Do you want web search stuff installed? Do you want speech recognition installed?"

It's not like the installer isn't asking a lot of shit, 99% of which is useless, including a 20 or 25 character long product key, and people have no problem answering that. It could as well ask for stuff that matters.

What kind of Windows install do you want?
( ) Minmal (this installs the most awesome Windows ever, but without the super awesome extra packages)
(x) Recommended (this includes Cortana, your super new assistant and web search and other awesome stuff) see complete list
( ) Maximal (this also installs things few users will need, such as a webserver) see complete list
( ) Something different (select packages from list)

[ ] Also ask me about advanced install options (partitioning, changing directory locations, BitLocker encryption, etc.).

Almost all consumers won't even see the setup screen. They're going to buy it with Windows 10 pre-installed or have a store do the upgrade for them.

Even if they did install it themselves, the average user has shown time and time again that, given the option, they will repeatedly click the button to make the question go away then actually spend time reading it and thinking about what might be the best option. This is why well-designed UX makes sure to make the non-destructive button the default in a dialog box, because most people won't even read it.

But you can bet they'll yell at you for deleting their files because they clicked "OK" on a dialog box that asked them if they were sure they wanted to delete files.

The best thing MS can do is make sure all the shiny marketing features are turned on by default, make it as secure as they can, and then provide the power users the options to customize the experience. Which they seem to have done in Win10.

It's not like there is any shortage of websites clamoring for ad hits telling you how MS is going to impregnate their children and if they'd just destroy their OS with a few simple tweaks everything will be fine.

It's not like the installer isn't asking a lot of shit, 99% of which is useless, including a 20 or 25 character long product key,

I thought they got rid of that in Win8 and beyond, reading it from a location it's stored in the BIOS? Maybe that's just for OEM devices.

and people have no problem answering that. It could as well ask for stuff that matters.

People don't have "no problem answering that". The first thing my family does when they get a new computer is hand it to me to. Yes, they could go through it themselves, but it's a nuisance to them. Making it longer with more technical terms just increases the likelihood that people will just click things at random or call technical support or their nephews.

What kind of Windows install do you want?

( ) Minmal (this installs the most awesome Windows ever, but without the super awesome extra packages)

(x) Recommended (this includes Cortana, your super new assistant and web search and other awesome stuff) see complete list

Typical user: Oh I need web search! I use the web! So I have to use 'recommended' to gain access to the internet.

( ) Maximal (this also installs things few users will need, such as a webserver) see complete list

Wait, but this one also has "webserver". Maybe I use the webserver instead of the new 'assistant and web'?

( ) Something different (select packages from list)

[ ] Also ask me about advanced install options (partitioning, changing directory locations, BitLocker encryption, etc.).

Partitwat? Directions to locations - like google maps? BitLocker, isn't that that new virus that's locking peoples' computer down and demanding money?

But you can bet they'll yell at you for deleting their files because they clicked "OK" on a dialog box that asked them if they were sure they wanted to delete files.

This. My neighbor handed me his Android smartphone about a year ago, because a prompt appeared on-screen asking him if he was sure he wanted to "Format the memory". He mistook that for 'defrag the memory', and lost his family photos. I had to use a forensic tool to recover them - which I didn't have any personal experience with.

The difference with "tech savvy" and "not tech savvy" is just the willingness to explore, research, and make educated guesses.

99% of the time, when someone asks me to fix something for them, I don't know the answer. But I know how to figure it out - first by looking at the program and guessing what the developers intended (solves 95% of the problems), second by googling (solves the other 5%), and finally by experimenting (solves the remaining 0.001%).

So, for the 90% of the market using computational devices, showing anything onscreen is confusing. They want three buttons: "The Internet Yahoo Webplace", "Your Email Mailbox", "Family Photos".

Honestly, there should just be a separate OS for that. Oh wait, that's a Mac*.

*Just kidding. Apple software can be stupidly confusing to the average consumer also. Use iTunes lately?

Tech savvy users can always find out to turn off a feature. Regular users can't find how to turn it on in the first place.

All that's needed is for Microsoft/Apple/etc... to actually give the option of turning a feature off, and actually honor that choice.

The default should be the most secure setting, not enabling things which many people don't need or know about.

That's a fine stance for engineers, but it turns out to be a useless stance when it comes to consumers.

Do you think that the average consumer wants to dig around in settings to turn on each of the 20 new features they've seen advertised on television? Half of them won't know *how* to change settings, but they still want to use Siri, universal search, etc.

I realise that it is human nature to try and impose one's will on the rest of humanity, but it's important to understand that techies and normal consumers represent strictly different use-cases for software.

Well, the ad I saw was only telling some stuff about the feeling of people growing up using windows 10, the best windows ever. I hate ads where they only want to invoke feelings, without informing people about the product or its features. I would guess many consumers share this feeling.

When people use their new device for the first time it can easily start some program to ask a few things in a way normal people understand:

Hi, thank you for buying this awesome device including the most awesome Windows ever.

Would you like to activate Cortana, the most awesome artificial intelligence personal assistant (warning: sends live microphone recordings and information about everything you do or save on this device to MS over the internet without asking again)? no/yes

Would you like to share your Wifi passwords with all of your social network contacts (warning: these people may abuse this privilege to do illegal things)? no/yes

PS: The grandma example: My guess would be she would feel awkward speeking to a liveless thing, but would have difficulty navigating complicated settings dialogs to deactivate it.

Well, the ad I saw was only telling some stuff about the feeling of people growing up using windows 10, the best windows ever. I hate ads where they only want to invoke feelings, without informing people about the product or its features. I would guess many consumers share this feeling.

The last time I checked the ads were there to make people buy things, not to inform about features :)

When people use their new device for the first time it can easily start some program to ask a few things in a way normal people understand:

People don't understand things if they don't read them. "OOoohhhh SHINY!!!! My new precious! Just a few pesky messages and I will finally start using you!... hmm.. why they don't get rid of those "setup screens so I can start using my new precious faster?"

So, here's a security audit. http://aeronet.cz/news/analyza-windows-10-ve-svem-principu-jde-o-pouhy-terminal-na-sber-informaci-o-uzivateli-jeho-prstech-ocich-a-hlasu/

Here's some key points.

-It sends all text you type anywhere (not just into search) every 30 minutes to MS. If you type about a holiday to your blog, next day you'll see holiday ads.

- every 30 minutes it sends your geolocation and network info

-if you type a telephone number into Edge it sends it to MS after 5 min

-if you type anywhere in windows a name of some movie, windows will start indexing all your media files after a while and will send it to MS after 30 minutes of your inactivity

-after installing W10, it will send about 35MB of data once

-after turning on your webcam for the first time it sends data to microsoft once. Seems to be a photograph

-everything you say is transferred to MS, it works even if you disable and remove and uninstall cortana. Parts of Cortana are needed for the core of the OS to run. Confirmed by MS helpdesk. You can be identified by your voice anywhere near a microphone after they get enough data from you.

-Voice to text is transferred instantly

-voice is transferred every 15 min, 80MB of data

-after 15 minutes of your inactivity or when screensaver is on, network activity ramps up and everything else is being sent to MS

-blocking in hosts doesnt work, IPs are hardcoded into their code and DLLs

Keep in mind that the servers are all known, and accept incoming traffic, so as soon as there's a 0day that affects them, everyone's information's out there.

So I'm pretty much only going to upgrade out of windows 7 in 5 years, when crackers have ripped all that out.

By way of comparison, here's Windows 8.1's privacy settings (during installation) - I've highlighted some exciting parts for you:

Frankly, people are getting themselves all worked-up over something that was mostly always already there. The Cortana stuff is the only new part, really. But hey-ho, yayy internet.