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> Know what? I don’t know if you remember or not, but they tried this scam before.

I remember. Hell, I remember when they released WinME, intentionally broken, to force Win95/98 users over to Win2K. Of course, Win2K was a substantial improvement over Win95/98, being NT based.

Microsoft is DESPERATE to get people onto Windows 10.

Partly it's so that they can solidify their telemetry base. Win7 has gotten some "enhanced telemetry" updates (some call them "spyware injections") in the last two years, but they are, of necessity, merely cobbled onto Win7, and can in theory be more easily disabled. Whereas in Win10 they are an integral part of the operating system, and can't be entirely avoided. Microsoft needs that telemetry.

And partly it's so that they can migrate Windows from being an license-install-once-run-forever operating system, to a subscription model where you have to continuously send money to Redmond or else your computer stops working. Win7 users can't be subscription-ized, until they've switched to Win10.

You might call it protection. "Nice little operating system ya got there, be a shame is somethin' was to happen to it..."

BTW, I don't have a fundamental objection to a subscription model for products that are upgraded and improved periodically, as long as it's voluntary. I have purchased a number of products that release a new version every year or so that costs money. That's fine -- the company needs to get paid for the work they did to improve the product.

But I should have the choice of whether to take advantage of that offer to upgrade (new features, bug fixes, continued tech support, etc.). If I don't care to do so (e.g. the existing version works just fine for my purposes), I expect that I won't have tech support any longer. But I don't expect my copy of it to stop working. That's extortion, IMO.

No... not protection... I would call it deceptive business practices, Unfair business practices, extortion, slavery, and hidden privacy violation. But I understand the premise of the “protection racket” Antivirus software does this too. Give you a bug to make you pay to remove the bug. All issues Linux CURES.

You see what I have been watching come about for years now. I actually filed a formal complaint with the better business bureau and the FTC proving these very things when they hit us with WIN 10 and it’s dependency on the internet, apps, and cloud extortion let alone the monopoly. We are “hog tied” and we let them continue to do it.