I use Windows for one thing and one thing only and that is to run Trainz, I use Linux to do everything else but that's not an issue there are lots of things in life which are effectively 'Catch 22' and where you can't have one without putting up with the other. My gripe, and I think that of many other, is not that Windows from a User perspective is particularly bad, but that in many respects we have lost control of our own systems to Microsoft. Whether we have indirectly been coerced to upgrade due to the inability of Microsoft to make their OS security, either from an earlier version of Windows admittedly at no additional cost, but which at some point we did purchase either as a package or as part of a system, or have purchased retail spending our hard earned cash, we are stuck with this bloated beast which other than tinkering round the edges have such little if any control over. I will accept that with some knowledge and an even greater degree of in depth fiddling a fair bit can be uninstalled or disabled but only until the next upgrade when again Microsoft patches its shortfall and resets all that fiddling believing it know what I want better the I do myself. I think it was written about Microsoft Word that over 90% of work was being done with less than 10% of the program. I also think the same probable applies to Windows today and as a gamer I'd be happy to dump that other 90%.
That is not to say in respect of updates Linux is little better, there can be a few weekly, but the user does have control of when and what is installed and there is seldom the need to reboot the system afterwards. Unfortunately while TS2010 and earlier versions of Trainz run well, TR12 has a few issues and T:ANE/TRS19 are both beyond hope when it comes to Linux. So in the interest of Trainz we tolerate Windows and Microsoft's intrusion but we do get to enjoy Trainz which can't all be bad. Peter