Horrible development, just yet another reason why I use Linux on all my privately owned computers.
I've considered going back for certain programs, but thinking about windows now gives me the same sort of mental hesitation that I get from gas stations with those horrible video ads. It's not a dealbreaker per se, but I would go far out of my way to avoid it.
Sure there are compromises I have to make, but being Free, unmonitored, not treated like a resource to be extracted, and feeling like my computer is mine is worth more than the any of the issues I encounter.
If you don't like having ads forced on you, then use an OS vendor that agrees with you. Thankfully, there's lots of OSes (i.e., Linux distros) that don't have any ads in them, which you can download and use for free, so this isn't really a problem.
In other words: Don't like it? Don't use it.
> especially when so many people are perfectly happy to keep buying and using Windows OS?
Honestly, this is because a lot of people that would care are unaware that this is happening. It's impossible to stay on top on everything in your life but that doesn't make it ok to treat those people poorly.
The main issue is that for many, there isn't a choice since you can't go to most stores and buy a linux powered machine. You have to have special knowledge in order to even install it.