Honestly, as a person who primarily uses Windows over my Mac or Linux boxes, I do wonder if this is a harbinger for Microsoft where people just stop using it. I hated how bad Windows 8 was, but I didn't expect the general consumer public to have the same reaction. I can't see them being happy with the lack of stability and clunkiness that Microsoft seems hell-bent on implementing.
It won't be my primary OS--nothing without zsh will be, and Cygwin isn't sufficient--but I really enjoy using Windows computers again, which I honestly never thought I would say after I switched to OS X.
Cortana can be disabled, or never turned on even.
I for one will not upgrade to Windows 10 until other people have identified all of the crappy cloud-based features (Microsoft Account, OneDrive/SkyDrive, Cortana, etc.) and written blogs on how to disable them permanently. Then I will do a clean install, disable all the crap, and only then connect the external drive that contains all my files.
Most people, though, will not be so cautious. If something is enabled by default, 99.9% of users will just keep it enabled, even if it's possible to disable it. After all, that's the whole point of enabling something by default.
I tried skydrive on windows 7 when skydrive was first released, and instructed it to sync a few specific folders. I didn't like it enough to keep using it, so I uninstalled it and forgot about it.
In order to upgrade from 8 to 8.1, I had to put my microsoft account into the system (because the update was only offered through the store). Upon finishing the update, it immediately downloaded everything that had been in the "my documents" folder of my desktop when I had first tried skydrive, two years prior.
I never told it to sync "my documents" during that trial run, and I didn't know those files had been sitting on microsofts server for all that time. I had legal documents stored in there.
Windows 8.1 does things without asking me. Windows 10 will do the same. I don't want them to.
I shouldn't have to spend large amounts of effort making sure my own computer isn't doing things behind my back, regardless of whether microsofts engineers mean the best or not.
If I could remove skydrive (and cortana in win10, and whatever other new ~cloud~ features they dream up), I wouldn't care, but apparently it's all "integrated", so I can't remove it. Consumption is mandatory, it would seem.
Well I'm sorry, but I've worked jobs where the penalty for retaining information you no longer have official need for is 2 years prison. The penalty for leaking information in my current job is "merely" losing my job and consequently being deported.
I don't trust windows 8.1, and I don't trust windows 10. The best word to describe both operating systems is "treacherous".