Problem is that Microsoft still enjoys a practical monopoly on workstations and desktops, so there's very little pressure for them to actual do what people are asking. Case in point: we still have forced updates and ads in the start menu.

If there were a worthwhile competitor, I know a lot of people who would switch in a heartbeat, but even then Microsoft probably wouldn't care. I am increasingly convinced that it is Microsoft's unstated goal to kill off desktop personal computing entirely so they can push people into a subscription-based cloud service for everything.