OFF TOPIC//MICROSOFT, POWER AND E.U.

I`ve been writing this blog for almost seven years and until a couple of weeks ago had never gone "off topic" but my recent experience with Microsoft has so irritated me that the following can be taken as a simple story of personal frustration or an example of how a multi billion pound organisation with reprehensible practices is never  mentioned in the same sentence as alleged international tax evaders eg Google, Amazon, Starbucks etc either because it`s clean and/or its magnanimous founder is the greatest ever charity giver the world has ever known.  

About two years ago my main PC......I have another spare.......running on Windows XP Pro needed replacing.  I bought another  running on newly installed Windows 8.1 from a national supplier.  After about a fortnight the PC developed a manufacturing fault and I opted to return it for a full refund. During that period I realised I much preferred XP to 8.1 but knowing it no longer had support had a local dealer build me a new PC with Windows 7 Pro.  So far so good. Meanwhile I had my spare PC also upgraded to run on Windows7.  Using that machine a few months ago I took a deep breath and allowed Windows 10 to be downloaded to it.  After using it occasionally I decided that for my purposes I preferred Windows 7 and although after the four week simple uninstall process had expired eventually returned that machine to Windows 7.  Meanwhile like all Windows users I was receiving notices to upgrade free to Windows 10  each time closing down the page.  That was until a few days ago when after leaving my office I noticed upon return an hour later that the screen showed a page stating Windows 10 upgrade.  I thought at first that this doesn`t apply to my PC; I have not authorised anything but to be sure and against the usual  do not turn off instruction I pulled the plug because there was no other way to halt the process.  Yesterday I was at the machine when the upgrade instruction came through with no way to halt an upgrade to Windows 10; an upgrade I definitely did not want.  Only by going to Microsoft support was I able to have an operative  remove all data informing an upgrade.

On a personal level this intended imposition of an operating system I did not want was an annoyance but on a grander level it exposed me to the power and control of this financial monster; something I have rarely experienced.  The more I hear D. Cameron making his argument to remain in the E.U. and using the answer of all these organisations agree with me   to make his case whatever the question I wonder just how much control do we as citizens have in this  supposedly democratic country.