jdhurst wrote:Microsoft is using this method to determine faults and errors and fix them.
Exactly, although some folks prefer the operating system to ask whether they want to submit the error to Microsoft. I don't mind Windows 10's diagnostic telemetry, but when a program or operating system has an error and asks me whether I want to send a notification to the manufacturer, I usually click "no" because I don't know exactly what information is being transmitted. Some folks are even more sensitive than I am, and I can see why they are concerned about what info is being sent automatically by Windows 10.
ajkula66 wrote:There's just as little evidence that they don't. At least on some level. Especially from folks who forget to turn various "sharing" features off.
Microsoft really should ship Windows 10 with all optional sharing features turned off, by default, and let users turn them on.
I don't think I have used someone else's Windows 10 computer yet, but that will happen sooner or later, and the first thing I'll do is check the privacy settings thoroughly.
jdhurst wrote:Based on Reliability History, I have the following quality ratings.
Windows 7 > 90%
Windows 8 < 10%
Windows 8.1 20% Windows 8.1 was a different OS to Windows 8.
Windows 10 Build 10240 50%
Windows 10 Current 1607 Build 14393.351 about 80% and getting better.
....I use Reliability Monitor and track the number of "Stopped Working" errors over time. On my ThinkPad X230, Windows 8 / 8.1 recorded a hardware error for the video component monthly for two years. Drivers did not help. I upgraded to Windows 10 on this same machine and ZERO hardware errors ever after.
It goes without saying that reliability depends greatly on the hardware. I used Windows 8 and 8.1 (which is essentially Windows 9) for close to two years and was very impressed by their outstanding reliability. I had them on at least four machines -- Sony Pro 13, Panasonic ToughBook CF-Y7, Panasonic Let's Note CF-Y9, and HP Pavilion x2 -- and during those two years, they froze just once, on the HP. That HP had only 2GB of RAM and a 32GB eMMC drive, and I had many programs and tabs running just before it froze, so it might actually have been a problem with the overworked hardware rather than with Windows 8.1 per se.
Windows 10 has given me a lot more stability issues than 8 or 8.1, though I agree with you that the recent builds are better than the earliest ones. I also agree that, right now, Windows 10 is nearly as stable as Windows 7, but
on my computers, neither of them is as stable as 8.1, 8, Vista or 2000 was. IMO, 10 is now either as stable as or slightly more stable than XP, even though I seem to recall that you used to say XP was perfectly stable in your hands. One more thing we agree on is that, without diagnostic telemetry, Windows 10 would almost certainly be not as stable as it has become.