My stability issues have to do with how ActiveX interacts with memory, and how Internet Explorer doesn't release the memory like it should when it should. The issue is less significant in Windows 10 vs Windows 7. 10 is similar to 8 in how it handles the memory, but 10 tends to release it more often.
I am waiting to understand the privacy issues presented by 10. If I cannot find out enough, or if the answers are unsatisfactory, I will end up migrating to Linux.
Linux works; I don't see much in the way of privacy issues - there's quite a bit of low level data gathering in Windows 10 that is aggregate data related to stability - does Edge crash, when does it crash, are people using IE more often, how much memory does x program tend to take. Vs using the Bing site where your searches are immediately attached to your Microsoft account and ads change almost instantly based upon your search queries.
Microsoft makes very clear (and you can disable all of the data mining) what they're gathering and why for Windows 10 OS, the same really can't be said for the Bing search engine. If you're particularly concerned, change your search engine page and don't use Cortana.
Thank you for the input.
I don’t use IE for much of anything, so perhaps that is the reason why I don’t see much stability issue with 7.