Windows 7 was probably the last true Personal Computer Windows version in the original sense of the word. Your PC is yours, has a local account only, no real t

Windows 7 was probably the last true Personal Computer Windows version in the original sense of the word. Your PC is yours, has a local account only, no real telemetry, no cloud syncing, it really is your computer. The future for Windows is what you already have in your pocket, on iOS or Android. Cloud-based, linked to an account, every single thing tracked, and as many things as possible are deeply integrated, payment, health, and much more coming. It's going to be more convenient, secure, consistent, so consumers will embrace it. It all feels like a smooth transition yet people are missing the dramatic steps taken. As just one example: files. We used to manage them locally and only we had access. Now they're in the cloud and a private business has access, with a back door to government. Your cloud files will be auto scanned for violations, even if they're not public. In the physical world we'd call this an illegal search, requiring a warrant. Not anymore. The process may also flag you as a false positive, with no way to repeal, or it taking very long. Or, maybe you were born in the wrong country, which means no files for you. Sorry. Please just "overthrow" your government or something. You could of course make the same point regarding money. You can now be financially "cancelled" with the push of a button. No such thing is possible with cash. I am serious when I say that we're giving up an incredible amount of privacy and freedom in record time. Whilst simultaneously dramatically elevating the power of authorities. Under the assumption that it will not be abused. Before, if the government would want to track you, they had to hire somebody to physically follow you. If you made an offense, they would have to find you and go through a lengthy legal process. If they wanted to seize your financial assets, they wouldn't even know how much you have and where it is. Blocking you from making transactions would be impossible altogether. Now all these barriers are taken away. It's just a push of a button. I fully realize that I sound old and paranoid. I used to hate comments like these. Lately, I've been changing my mind. Mostly because the actual scenario is unfolding.