My review of W10 Pro on a T601 FL

[ajkula66]

For those who are interested in a quick synopsis:

The good:

• Most of the drivers were found right away, the only missing one was for the WWAN card
  The machine feels snappy, definitely snappier than in W7.
  Almost everything* can be installed in the W7 compatibility mode
  Prettier UI than W8.x at least IMO
  

The bad

• The system idles 10 degrees C hotter than in W7
  RAM usage at idle is 29%. Why?
  Start menu is back? Huh? No. Not really
  Privacy? There is none.
  

So last night while I was waiting for a phone call that I knew wouldn't be coming before dawn, I downloaded W10 Pro 32 bit and installed it on my T601FL. The machine in question sports a Hydis LED UXGA LCD, Intel X3100 integrated graphics, T9300 CPU, 4GB RAM, Atheros 9380 wireless cards and a Micron 100GB SLC SSD.

I've opted for a clean install from scratch and when everything was said and done was left with 4 unknown devices in the Device Manager. By the time I came back from a quick smoke, the system was down to only one - WWAN card. Obviously, the approach to driver installation has changed from previous versions of Windows.

No registry tweaks, no third-party stuff such as Start Is Back. I've approached this OS as I were installing XP, Vista or W7. Level-playing field, pretty please.

After installing TPFC, Power Manager and Hotkeys - all in W7 compatibility mode - I rebooted the machine and was pleasantly surprised how snappy it felt.

What was less pleasant was the fact that the Frankie is idling anywhere from 10-13 degrees C hotter than what the case was in W7 64 Ultimate, depending on the power plan in Power Manager which lost all of its default settings and you have to create your own. Not a big deal, but I prefer having stuff that works OOTB. In all fairness, all the other basic programs that I installed - HD Tune, CDM, CDI, HW Info etc. - haven't shown any gltiches.

Why the RAM usage is at 29% on cold boot with 55 or so processes running is beyond me. Remember, this is the 32-bit version. No AV installed, no Office, numerous services disabled.

The UI is far more pleasant than what was found on W8.x - at least IMO - and have a *nix tone to it. Definitely an improvement in my book.

While MS was trumpeting that the Start menu would be back in W10, it leaves a lot to be desired. Yes, it's easy to get rid of the tiles if one finds them annoying - I do - but the continuity that was pretty much kept intact from W2K until W8.x has been lost in the translation. For those amongst us who like structured Start Menu with an easy access to their files and folders in order that they've created themselves, the new Start is likely to be a huge disappointment. It most certainly was for me.
The fact that I had to dig in order to get to Control Panel was also very annoying to say the least. Yes, I've placed the shortcut for it on the taskbar and can easily access it from there, but one shouldn't have to do that in the first place, at least IMO.

However, the aspect of this particular OS that I have the biggest problem with is the way deals with Apps and updates. Let me explain:

The user experience is - IMO - closer to what one would expect from a mobile device OS, than from a desktop one, and while I understand the reasoning behind it, there's a number of things that I found nothing short of irritating. Obviously, YMMV.

However, the fact that one can't uninstall things that they find useless is above and beyond annoying to silly old me. Cortana is here to stay, as is Windows Store, XBox, Maps, Movies & TV, Weather and Camera. Seriously?

You can turn the (useless) Defender off, but only temporarily. Duh.

There's a number of services - including Tile Data server, Windows Store and several others - that can't be disabled either. Duh again.

But the rigor mortis that one has to go through in order to minimize invasion of their privacy is by far the worst aspect of this entire OS.

I don't want various Apps accessing my pictures, documents or network. Jump through hoops left, right and center to disable most of that stuff. What a waste of time and effort.

No interest in sharing my usage data with MS on *any* level, but alas this is not an option. You WILL be sharing, whether you like it or not.

While I've chosen to defer updates, they got installed anyway. Yes, I know that there's a "tool" that is supposed to deal with this. Why wasn't it a part of OS to begin with?

So yeah. In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm deeply bothered with this particular aspect of the whole scenario.

Hence my verdict: kill it with fire.

Hold that thought. No reason to destroy a perfectly good drive. Secure Erase via Parted Magic to the rescue.

Done. For good.

I'll be holding onto W7 for a long, long time unless MS gets off of their Leon Trotsky chair.

And come 2020 - presuming that I'm still alive to begin with - it's the *nix world, baby.

[RealBlackStuff]

+1.
Shouldn't their new OS name be: W10ME (translated onto: Windows' 10th Mistrial for Everybody?

[hhhd1]

But the rigor mortis that one has to go through in order to minimize invasion of their privacy is by far the worst aspect of this entire OS.

I don't want various Apps accessing my pictures, documents or network. Jump through hoops left, right and center to disable most of that stuff. What a waste of time and effort.

No interest in sharing my usage data with MS on *any* level, but alas this is not an option. You WILL be sharing, whether you like it or not.

While I've chosen to defer updates, they got installed anyway. Yes, I know that there's a "tool" that is supposed to deal with this. Why wasn't it a part of OS to begin with?

So yeah. In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm deeply bothered with this particular aspect of the whole scenario.

+1

I am reading bits and pieces of information from different forums that says, the only way to have some privacy is using the Enterprise version, and not the Home or Pro versions, and even then it may not be a straight thing to fix.

[ajkula66]

Well, it seems that I'm not the only one who is concerned about the privacy aspect of the whole thing...

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/07/29/wind-nos/

[RealBlackStuff]

Great link, George!
Jeez, after reading about the personal data theft that Micro$haft has built into this W10, I will NEVER install this on any machine(s) for myself.

I must be an arch-conservative I guess, because I:
- don't have a Micro$haft account
- don't have OneDrive
- don't use any Cloud services
- don't do online banking
- don't do Twitter
- don't do Facebook
- don't have an iPhone or smartphone (got an old clamshell Pantech Breeze)
- don't use iTunes
- don't use Spotify
- etc.
I got a Gmail account back in 2009 but use that only VERY sporadically.
Between 2009 and today, I already have collected the enormous amount of 291 emails!

Guess I can very happily live without W10!

[pianowizard]

-1, because I don't share ajkula66's concerns.

The fact that I had to dig in order to get to Control Panel was also very annoying to say the least. Yes, I've placed the shortcut for it on the taskbar and can easily access it from there, but one shouldn't have to do that in the first place, at least IMO.

Windows 8.1 changed (improved, IMO) the way we open the Control Panel: Right-click the Start Menu icon, then press "P".

However, the aspect of this particular OS that I have the biggest problem with is the way deals with Apps and updates.

Nowadays most smartphones handle apps, privacy and updates this way. I think the majority of people are used to it, so Microsoft thought they wouldn't mind.

[ajkula66]

I find it extremely telling that two *very* different individuals (one of the reasons why we're such good friends, I guess) who belong to different generations, are of completely different ethnic origin and have very little in common when it comes to their education and/or respective careers choose to maintain a very similar approach to the entire "privacy on the web" topic...

I must be an arch-conservative I guess, because I:
- don't have a Micro$haft account
- don't have OneDrive
- don't use any Cloud services

+ 1 right here

- don't do online banking

I do, but with a small local bank whose security practices I'm personally very familiar with. One data breach and they're history. No TBTF accounts here.

- don't do Twitter
- don't do Facebook
- don't have an iPhone or smartphone (got an old clamshell Pantech Breeze)
- don't use iTunes
- don't use Spotify
- etc.

+1 and add Linkedin to the list of accounts that I don't have.

I got a Gmail account back in 2009 but use that only VERY sporadically.
Between 2009 and today, I already have collected the enormous amount of 291 emails!

Nope. None. No YT, Google Plus or anything along those lines. Ever.

And when I do use their search engine, Dolus to the rescue.

Guess I can very happily live without W10!

No questions asked.

-1, because I don't share ajkula66's concerns.

Fair enough. That's why I stated that what was written above was *my* review, and not a holy book of any kind.

Windows 8.1 changed (improved, IMO) the way we open the Control Panel: Right-click the Start Menu icon, then press "P".

I got that. My dislike for the approach in question still stands.

Nowadays most smartphones handle apps, privacy and updates this way. I think the majority of people are used to it, so Microsoft thought they wouldn't mind.

I get beyond scared when corporations start thinking about my privacy and acting on my behalf. Having grown up in a (mildly) totalitarian regime, I maintain a set of warning lights which start blinking when I sense that someone is trying to pull a setup from "1984" on me.

My $0.02 only...

[Kilkenny]

Thanks for this review. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who's concerned about privacy. I had considered installing 10 on a spare drive for my T420 for the exceptionally rare times when I need Windows, but I'll stick with 7 for that.

I'm curious though if there's any way to block the data exfiltration with the firewall.

[ajkula66]

I'm curious though if there's any way to block the data exfiltration with the firewall.

Your question - in my opinion - begs for the following question being answered first:

Is the OS in question worth spending time on such major steps in the first place?

For me personally, no.

YMMV.

[Kilkenny]

I'm curious though if there's any way to block the data exfiltration with the firewall.

Your question - in my opinion - begs for the following question being answered first:

Is the OS in question worth spending time on such major steps in the first place?

For me personally, no.

YMMV.

Not worth it at all for me either. I'm wondering about it for securing my network in case someone with 10 comes over. Wifi Sense is just plain old fashioned malware as far as I'm concerned and I don't want someone accidentally or intentionally sharing my wifi with their entire group of Outllok, Skype Hotmail, and/or Facebook contacts.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/07/win ... -contacts/

[ajkula66]

Anyone and everyone remotely concerned about their privacy - or lack thereof - should read this article:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/01 ... by-default

I've got nothing to add.

[Temetka]

My experience with Windows 10 Pro on my T410 so far:

My machine has the Nvidia GPU, 8GB of RAM and an SSD.

I performed the upgrade from Windows 8.1 Pro which was running very, very smooth for me.

The upgrade process took about 20 minutes.

The entire OS is smooth and just fly's along. I wouldn't call it snappier than 8.1 was, but it's not slower either.

My machine runs at the same temp it always does when just browsing the web, between 48 and 52 degrees celcius.

My RAM useage is roughly the same as it was before. Maybe slightly higher because of Cortana.

Battery life is the same-ish. Sometimes I get 4+ hours, other times around 3. This is on a NOS 9-Cell that I picked up here on the marketplace.



Windows 10 has more services running than 8.1 and yet feels just as smooth. I don't know what the secret sauce it, but I give points to Microsoft for pulling that off. My CPU doesn't run hot or spike, and I'm not using that much more RAM than I used to. I idle with FF and 6-7 tabs open at around 2.5GB used of 8.

All in all I am very impressed.


My one negative. I don't like the new start menu. I actually liked how 8.1 did things better. Of course Windows 7 had the best start menu.


Just my input.

[Saucey]

I will need to try it when I get a T430 to see what you mean.
Sucks, it sounds like one must dedicate Windows 10 to a 'clean' computer, as in, one that you are fine with data being accessed.
The unavoidable updates, something that can hinder people who have limited bandwidth usage, I would hate dealing with an update while working or gaming.

I wonder if these privacy issues will hinder the sales of Windows 10, a plus for Apple even if they have a locked OS, I feel people trust Apple more than Windows.
Who knows, but it would be amazing to see gaming PC/laptops having Steam preinstalled instead of Windows.

I've only dabbed with Windows 8 shortly, 8.1 being a 'good' OS I can deal with.
Maybe when there's an service pack of W10 I'll check it out.

As far as the extra apps installed, that is quite annoying to hear.
Would be fun to have the PC run worse because its updating a program that doesn't need to be updated.

[precip9]

For those who are interested in a quick synopsis:
Why the RAM usage is at 29% on cold boot with 55 or so processes running is beyond me. Remember, this is the 32-bit version. No AV installed, no Office, numerous services disabled.

Big Brother had to squeeze in -- that's why.

[coolcat37]

I got a Gmail account back in 2009 but use that only VERY sporadically.
Between 2009 and today, I already have collected the enormous amount of 291 emails!

Nope. None. No YT, Google Plus or anything along those lines. Ever.

And when I do use their search engine, Dolus to the rescue.

What do you mean by Dolus ?

[RealBlackStuff]

Dolus:
(Law) Evil intent: malice or fraud.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dolus

[coolcat37]

I enjoyed reading the little review and it reflects what I feel.

Windows 10 seems like another product that the masses will happily chuck down. You can be d4mn sure the majority of the people aren't gonna bother putting the by default enabled privacy invading settings off. "I've got nothing to hide", right friends? The mining season is in full motion and now they've got access to your Windows Explorer. Yippee ki-yay folks, that's what we wanted all along, no? That's an upgrade, why can't you understand that? Stop being so conservative and b1tchy. This is for your own good. C'mon join me on the sarcasm slide, will ya? Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii. It's so fun! Look at the clouds, they're nice no?

I've stayed clear from Microsucks products ever since they squatted out "Vista". What I remember though from my forced encounters with their traps and tricks is the buggy Vista with it's 'relaxing' UAC, the 'refreshing and innovating' Windows 8 full of clutter laced with nonsense "Metro" and now Windows 10 with basically 0 privacy, forced updates and 'enhancements' like Wi-Fi Sense. Meanwhile the population just keeps on begging for more.

Keep in mind M$ wants to become a type of service. I guess it's something along the lines of Android but instead of Google Account to login they just need your Iris, Voice, Face and Thumb. Nothing to be scared off, M$ are friendly benevolent helpful people with the best intentions. For the 2nd time, stop being so pessimistic, it's getting to be a problem. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! This is fun isn't it?

Also I read that cracked 7's and 8's can receive 10. You can be sure, absolutely sure that M$ knows exactly which ones are cracked. Their whole policy of 'even cracked can upgrade' + Windows 7 and 8 get free upgrades is just a tactic. The only thing they want is to get you on Windows 10 followed by Operation Extract Information 24/7. Now they've got a neat little profile about you with a nice attribute that says 'cracker'.

Remember this is an OS manufacturer that's gonna mine your personal activity now. Not just your Internet activity but your entire digital life. Why can't you see that this is beneficial for you? You're never gonna learn I think. This is for your own good, but you fail to see that.

The terms trojan horse and wolf in sheep skins come to mind.

[sysiphus]

Thank you for your thoughts on this, George. Chalk me up as someone else coming from a different perspective/background who is also entirely disinterested and put off by Microsoft's data-gobbling new code. No way, no thank you. Beyond the use of Gmail (for limited non-academic/professional use), I too eschew cloud services, refuse to use "free" online storage, etc. All my work on personal hardware in recent years has been perfectly functional on Linux, though I do grudgingly keep a Windows virtual machine handy for making nice Microsoft Office documents. The glaring privacy problems in W10 have me thoroughly convinced that it'll remain a Vista/7 VM for the foreseeable future.

The old truism seems to remain relevant here: if you're not the customer, you're the product. Thanks, but no thanks here.

[pianowizard]

The entire OS is smooth and just fly's along. I wouldn't call it snappier than 8.1 was, but it's not slower either.

The more I use 10, the more I like it. In fact, perhaps I even *love* it now, after 4 days of use. I already have it on three computers and am so looking forward to receiving the upgrade on my remaining computers. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to get it on my Windows 8.1 machines (Sony Pro13, Panasonic Y9 and HP Pavilion x2) because I like 8.1 very much, but now I am convinced the upgrade is worthwhile.

10 seems more stable than 7, which gives me minor errors several times a week, usually "Explorer has stopped". The user interface is superb, with an attractive modern look that's even prettier than Vista's. Doing away with the charms bar is a great idea. I like the new Settings menu accessible from the Start Menu. Windows Update seems much faster than in all previous versions of Windows. Updating automatically isn't a problem for me, since I have always preferred automatic updates anyway. I am not concerned about automatic updates forcing me to reboot my computer while I am in the middle of something, since Vista and all newer versions of Windows have given us the option of deferring the reboot. Regarding privacy, I care enough about it to disable almost all data sharing, but don't worry enough to lose sleep over the little bit of sharing that I can't disable. One thing that helps is that I do not log in to my computers through my Microsoft account, but instead locally, so there is much less synching or other kinds of sharing going on. I highly recommend everyone to do the same.

My one negative. I don't like the new start menu. I actually liked how 8.1 did things better. Of course Windows 7 had the best start menu.

To me, this Start Menu is the best ever. The default Metro icons are rubbish of course, so I have replaced them with the programs that I access most often. I much prefer these Metro icons over pinning programs on the Classic Menu, because the Metro icons are so big that I never misclick. Another nice thing about 10's Start Menu is that 8.1's fantastic right-click menu is still there.

Now, my one negative. I don't know why you find 10 as fast as 8.1, but on my HP 8300 Elite (Core i7-3770, 12GB DDR3 RAM, 3x3TB 7200rpm hard drives with 64MB cache each), it hesitates more often than when I had Windows 7. Not much slower than 7, but noticeably slower, kind of like how Vista (with SP2) is ever so slightly slower than 7. This small difference shouldn't be a problem for most users, but being pathologically obsessed with maximizing efficiency, I am somewhat bothered by it.

[rumbero]

The terms trojan horse and wolf in sheep skins come to mind.

What worries me even more are mainly the sheep...

[ajkula66]

What do you mean by Dolus ?

A FireFox/Pale Moon add-on that masks one's IP address with a fake one. Slows the browser down, but well worth it IMO.

and now Windows 10 with basically 0 privacy, forced updates and 'enhancements' like Wi-Fi Sense. Meanwhile the population just keeps on begging for more.

That aspect of the story is a huge problem in itself, and one of my own major concerns.

Also I read that cracked 7's and 8's can receive 10. You can be sure, absolutely sure that M$ knows exactly which ones are cracked. Their whole policy of 'even cracked can upgrade' + Windows 7 and 8 get free upgrades is just a tactic. The only thing they want is to get you on Windows 10 followed by Operation Extract Information 24/7. Now they've got a neat little profile about you with a nice attribute that says 'cracker'.

Remember this is an OS manufacturer that's gonna mine your personal activity now. Not just your Internet activity but your entire digital life. Why can't you see that this is beneficial for you? You're never gonna learn I think. This is for your own good, but you fail to see that.

The terms trojan horse and wolf in sheep skins come to mind.

This horse would make the ancient Greeks green with envy...

What worries me even more are mainly the sheep...

Indeed. That's what got us here in the first place.

[Temetka]

I liked Windows 10.

But it's privacy issues and forced updates.

Yeah, no.

I am now happily running Bunsen Labs (#! Crunchbang Linux successor) on my T410 as my sole OS.

When I get to work tomorrow I will setup a Windows 7 VM for those MS Office needs that I have.

So I've got my hosts file all setup (google mvps hosts), iptables is configured, and my browser plugins for IceWeasel work great. I use Ghostery, AdBlock Plus, NoScript, Flashblock, and CleanTube.

I am going to look into adding SELinux to this. It's based off Debian Jessie and although the BL guys call it an Alpha, everyone who is using it reports nothing but rock solid stability. That would be my report as well.

Oh and I get to use conky. I love conky.

[coolcat37]

Thanks Ajkula and Temetka for the add-ons. I already use NoScript and Adblock Plus everywhere. I dabbled with Ghostery but didn't like it at the time (quite a while ago). I'll check all of the mentioned out though. Another nice add-on is Clean Links, so you don't get tracked when pushing on a nested link. ZenMate which I've discovered recently, is to easily choose a VPN out a list and better your privacy.

I also enable this by default: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tr ... on-firefox

And the most indispensable (after Adblock Plus): Image-Show-Hide & Hide all images. Seriously, the number of websites cluttered with random stock photos of people you don't want nothing to do with, is too overwhelming. Thanks to those add-ons I can keep their influence on my life to a minimum. I seriously hate random stock photos and don't understand (can't even process) why people (not brain-dead monkeys, mind you), but conscious people would want to put stock pictures on a public website. As if the world was not already polluted enough. No, now they've got to pollute my life (and eyes) as well. Thanks a lot @ssholes.
And don't get me started on selfies and the people that engage in those retarding activities. Venn-diagram: people that have internet & people that take selfies = steady stream of retarding traps uploaded to the internet which have to be avoided if we are ever to become enlightened beings. Hm-kay the species really loves their meaningless gadgets and are keen on giving virtual strokejobs to each other on a daily basis just so they've got a higher chance of getting a virtual strokejob in return which in turn fire actual neurons in their mutated brains and gives them a temporary egotrip (a.k.a. likes, shares, the influence of them on a massive scale and all that fuzz).

[erik]

I am reading bits and pieces of information from different forums that says, the only way to have some privacy is using the Enterprise version, and not the Home or Pro versions, and even then it may not be a straight thing to fix.

two three things you can do are uninstall onedrive, edit the hosts file to block any "call home" processes, and make a few settings/registry/group policy changes.



batch file to uninstall onedrive:

Code: Select all

@echo off
cls

set x86="%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe"
set x64="%SYSTEMROOT%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe"

echo Closing OneDrive process.
echo.
taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe > NUL 2>&1
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 5 > NUL 2>&1

echo Uninstalling OneDrive.
echo.
if exist %x64% (
%x64% /uninstall
) else (
%x86% /uninstall
)
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 5 > NUL 2>&1

echo Removing OneDrive leftovers.
echo.
rd "%USERPROFILE%\OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "C:\OneDriveTemp" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "%PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1 

echo Removeing OneDrive from the Explorer Side Panel.
echo.
REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" /f > NUL 2>&1
REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" /f > NUL 2>&1

pause

take ownership of c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and add these lines:

Code: Select all

127.0.0.1       localhost
127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1             localhost
127.0.0.1       local
0.0.0.0         134.170.30.202
0.0.0.0         137.116.81.24
0.0.0.0         204.79.197.200
0.0.0.0         23.218.212.69
0.0.0.0         65.39.117.230
0.0.0.0         65.55.108.23 
0.0.0.0         a-0001.a-msedge.net
0.0.0.0         choice.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0         compatexchange.cloudapp.net
0.0.0.0         corp.sts.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         corpext.msitadfs.glbdns2.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net
0.0.0.0         df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         diagnostics.support.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         fe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0         feedback.microsoft-hohm.com
0.0.0.0         feedback.search.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         feedback.windows.com
0.0.0.0         i1.services.social.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0         oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0         pre.footprintpredict.com
0.0.0.0         redir.metaservices.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         sls.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0         sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0         statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         statsfe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
0.0.0.0         statsfe2.ws.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         survey.watson.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0         telemetry.appex.bing.net
0.0.0.0         telemetry.appex.bing.net:443
0.0.0.0         telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         telemetry.urs.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         vortex.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         watson.live.com
0.0.0.0         watson.microsoft.com 
0.0.0.0         watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         watson.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0         watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0         wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com

privacy-related settings / registry / group policy changes:

• http://www.ghacks.net/2015/07/30/window ... d-privacy/

[csioucs]

Erik, hats off. Thanks a ton.

Haven't tried it yet, but I will have to work with W10 for work issues in the foreseeable future.
This is definitely a list to keep close and execute.