First link has some interesting info that adds to what we already knew, the one thing I had never checked was the 10 end of support date, that is interesting. Can't say I'm too worried yet, if MS shoots itself in the foot too badly then we'll see an even stronger widespread support for Linux. I'd love to see that, so bring it!
So far 10 has been a good experience for me, but I have no doubt that they'll try to find a way to better control how their OS is deployed and what its deployed on, and now that they're tracking more based on HW UID, that makes it easier to drop support for previous operating systems (LAME). I can't say I agree with their logic for not letting users in the next couple of years with brand new PC's have a choice for using their old operating systems...especially when it comes to enterprise situations that I deal with regularly where old operating systems can be a requirement rather than spending thousands of dollars (or far more) replacing infrastructure for compatibility with a $200 OS upgrade. Again, the more crap like this they pull the stronger shares we'll see from the Linux side of things, and if that's the way mainstream goes...so be it.
I'd be curious to see if Microsoft actually answers those questions he submitted rather then replying with a declining to release a statement in the future...
Someday we could see Windows365
or likely will see it..and that's about the time I'll be done with it. I also don't think MS will go too far off the deep end as they'll start losing sales, OEM support and huge chunks of customer bases...they can only push so hard imho...but I guess we'll find out the truth soon enough. I for one could care less about losing 7 (and even 8) support, I've had far more successful 10 upgrades and deployments than not, and even being built on 8 as that article points out (which duh, we already knew this...), IMHO and in my experience, 8.1 was a solid operating system that was fast and stable (8 however had some major annoyances until 8.1), and 10 is looking to continue that trend, and if it keeps going the way it is, I'll be happy overall...just depends on what they implement and how they do so...
The second article is kind of a wash, admitting that even Chrome, Safari and Firefox do similar things with their private browsing. If it caches to your hard drive, it's gonna be traceable. Privacy hasn't truly been private in some time, many don't seem to be truly aware of this. Edge has kind of been a joke since its release more than a serious option in modern browsing, that's for sure. I don't know anyone that uses Edge as their primary browser nor would I ever recommend it. Who here uses Edge? willingly? regularly? primarily?
I test it here and there, mostly to see if they've actually fixed anything to make it compare to FF or Chrome...hell on most deployments I usually have a Ninite installer ready to deploy Chrome and FF on a system so I don't usually open it on a new system!
Maybe articles like these will get Canonical, Valve, and the folks behind all the other awesome versions of Linux to step up their game even more and try to get a bigger piece of the pie if MS actually follows through with what they state in these articles and the dozens of others that spout similar claim. I don't doubt for a minute that MS's actions to drop update support is fake, it's the easiest way for them to wash their hands clean of something that costs more to upkeep than it makes...it's another organization ran by bottom line maximizers, we just get to be pawns. They forget that while the competition isn't huge, there's plenty of competition...and with Valve pushing gaming on Linux, and services like PlayOnLinux constantly increasing support, there's going to be fewer reasons to require Windows in any end-user PC situation moving into the future. I suppose we'll see soon enough... 2017 could be a make or break year for a lotta folks building new systems and what OS they go with... or not, it could be a small cry for some and no issues for many. I'm more interested in how they treat 10 in the long-term, and if they're going O365 subscription-style with it (has always been a concern of mine)..