I thought it was impossible for GOG to screw up anything more.

Boy was I mistaken.

Like Symantec? lol

Symantec has been shit for eons, it doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand.

The backported telemetry stuff in Windows 7 and 8.x is only active if you've actually joined the "Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program", I think.

I'm mostly talking about Win10 where MS can change settings as they want.
Win7 has only the annoyance of disabling all CEP and then having to avoid updates with surprises.

Some of it also applies with that off, which also includes the fact that every 30 minutes some information is gathered. Just a little bit, but it's something, and also just a little bit of additional system resources used without the user's consent and not in the user's benefit.
But if you don't apply certain updates, you don't get all of that. So far. So I avoided those while they were still separate, then once it all became bundled I only installed the first... two I think, the next one having some telemetry stuff in the non-security part, so from then on I'm sticking to security-only. Let's see how long that's still viable.

As for you saying that 10's just fine if you know a few things... So tell me, can you just click a bunch of settings (or even dig deeper really) and make sure that:
- No "telemetry" is sent and no stuff is saved in the cloud if you don't want that.
- Disabling such information sending doesn't also disable functions that shouldn't have any excuse to be tied to it (like searching, even local I mean, updating and whatever).
- You can choose when or if to install updates, and which ones (of course, this last part doesn't apply to 7/8 anymore either, though you at least still have the security and non-security branches).
- Changes made to these or other settings aren't reversed, usually by updates.
- You don't end up with other system changes or programs blocked or uninstalled (!) just because MS decides it.

Symantec isn't (ironically) atypical when it comes to corporate computer security.

Microsoft's business client's aren't that far ahead of it's home users in terms of acquiescence.

Depends on license.

That stuff can be disabled.

Depending on license and config updates can be fully manual. I don't get any updates unless I intentionally install them and W10 cannot touch drivers at all during updates.

Only ever had that occur during a manual install of the creator's update since it restored some things to default doing it that way and added some additional functions/options.

Never had that occur once.

Plenty have.

As for your other comments about the license, I may agree that those who "upgraded" for free may be guinea pigs, if you don't pay for it you're the product being sold and all, but anyone with a paid license, even a Home one, should be able to control all that from both installation options and an easy to find settings panel after installation and be confident the system will never override their choice.