I think that Microsoft could fix this fairly easily: make an easy opt out for Cortana and telemetry, offer more control over security options.

I totally sympathize with Microsoft for wanting everyone to be on Windows 10, with continuous updates (security and otherwise). Better for them and long term probably better for users.

I don't use OS X anymore but when I did, I liked always being at the latest update.

Except for my iPad, I use Ubuntu Linux laptops and like keeping every device up to date.

Pardon a tangent, but: society as a whole really needs a "going to the moon" level global project to harden computing devices. As an end user of technology I am willing to keep my devices up to date and I try to be understanding of Apple, Microsft, and Ubuntu (and other Linud distros).