I avoid this whole issue by using Linux.

No problem. Here is a link on how to disable onedrive too. The comments are amusing scary.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/wiki/odoptions-oddesktop/how-to-completely-disable-onedrive/b97a8336-62e7-476c-872c-3286c0a01cf6

I am sure it can be re-enabled by windows update, but its nice to know where to check for yourself.

Microsoft is a giant military contracting corporation.

Plus, 99% percent of Americans don't give a flying flip about "the government" in their computers as long as "hackers" can't steal their credit card number and mess up their Bed Bath & Beyond checkout.

Here are a few documented reasons they are offering a free upgrade

http://cryptome.org/2014/11/ms-onedrive-nsa-prism.htm

TL;DR

• so they can gain control of your system anytime via "automatic updates"
• so they can access your MS Office documents, that are now stored in skydrive\onedrvie
• so they can access your bitlocker encryption keys that are now stored in skydrive\onedrive
• so they can access your skydrive\ondrive information without a warrant or request.

If its free for you, they will be profiting off it somehow.

About #4:

Every time (seriously, every. time.) my computer has become inoperable (boot issues, execution problems locally, network issues, domain auth problems) it has ultimately been the fault of an automatic update. Nothing upsets you more than arriving to work to find a computer that no longer functions and seeing the notification bubble, "Updates have been installed!"

My win7 Pc does this also. I normally just say "Fuck off NSA, I'm trying to sleep." If it's them then meh (not like that'll scare them off). if not, i live alone so no one hears me.

I'd probably get slayed by the fanboys

No, you'd probably get riduculed for your whole "Illumunati" and "eye" mumbo jumbo, which is perfectly normal. It's just one step away from "ancient aliens" and "hollow earth" bullshit.

1. They are looking at more money in selling apps than in selling an operating system. They want to get people in their environment to get them using their app store.

2. Beyond my knowledge.

3. Of course, the NSA will have a backdoor. They already do. Windows 10 isn't changing anything on this front.

4. Because Apple does this. It allows them to control the user experience, making developing easier and preventing vulnerabilities in the casual users' experience. This is not how the NSA backdoors will be installed. They will already be there on day one.

Just to add. I don't buy that open-source is the solution. Open-source just means that the NSA has to be crafty in writing code. They know they have to get into open source software (http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netsecur/opinion-truecrypt-the-nsa-and-the-myth-of-open-source-security.html).

So Windows 10 will not be secure from the NSA. That should be a given. Are they saying that it will be? But it will supposedly be more secure to vulnerabilities exploited by other hackers for the casual user. I still have trouble seeing how a backdoor left open to the NSA can be secured from hackers. But I guess we haven't succumbed to an exploit in the previous backdoors that I know of.