The three registry keys to disable GWX and the GWX advert in Windows Update are these...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX]

"DisableGwx"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]

"DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]

"ReservationsAllowed"=dword:00000000

Then open an elevated command prompt (search for cmd in the start menu, right click and Run as Administrator) and uninstall the following telemetry KBs...

wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart

In Control Panel > Windows Update > Change Settings, untick "Give me recommended updates the same way as I receive important updates" as some optional updates have been used to send down unwanted GWX/Telemetry updates.

Also in Control Panel > Windows Update, search for updates, then view the optional ones, then hide three of those KBs above (3022345 shouldn't appear as it's superseded) by right-clicking on them and choosing the hide option.

Now reboot the computer, search for CEIP in the start menu, run it, and change the setting to disable telemetry to MS.

If the C:\$WINDOWS.~BT then your computer is downloading Windows 10 in the background. Search for CleanMgr in the start menu and run it to remove the "Windows Update temporary files" category. Although that may unhide those three KBs above and you many need to rehide them.

Telemetry info from http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/28/microsoft-intensifies-data-collection-on-windows-7-and-8-systems/

Unless MS send a recommended update which adds more GWX or Telemetry stuff to Windows 7/8, your extended family's computers will look after themselves from now on.

Firefox's address box autocomplete comes from bookmarks and history and you can disable search box suggestions if you want.

Rather odd that people take for granted that autocomplete should phone home - you're not using a dumb terminal, you're using a fully-fledged computer. Anything on a computer which requires a home to phone to is a just way of a) locking you into an app ecosystem and/or b) monetising personal data.

You're right, code can be self-signed. Self-signed code be run without a complaint if Apple allows it or it can be treated as suspicious as unsigned code if Apple decides to do so, it all depends on how high the walls are on Apple's garden.

On this point I'm inclined to see the glass as half-empty.

They may have actively courted this market but they've just actively dumped it as Java used a lot here, both to run programs and as an interpreter for other languages. They've announced it's depreciated in 10.7 but they haven't announced any ordered handover to a 3rd party.

If Apple had said that Oracle or some other company were picking up and would have a JVM ready by 10.7 then there wouldn't be half the furore. As it is the timing along with the App Store announcement and the lack of Flash on the new MacBook Airs can be seen as suspicious and the first step down the road of locking down the platform.

Has anyone from Apple or Oracle said that Oracle's going to do a Mac JVM?

Half the Java team have walked, could they even do one by Lion's launch date if Larry told them to do it? And secondly, it's rather difficult to integrate it into Cocoa as well as Apple have done, if Apple haven't handed the source code to Oracle then they'd need to take Apple developers on.

If Larry is even aware of what's happened he's probably himself how many yachts he can get out of distributing a free JVM for Mac after taking costs into account, and the answer is probably less than one.

I'm betting on mandatory code signing for applications outside the Mac App Store, making freeware impossible and shareware only available if the App Store censor allows it by 10.9. All for the customers' own good, you understand (viruses, uncertainty of downloading off the internet, and stuff).

At that point the web browser starts to become less important as newspapers can be accessed by (paid-for) apps.

There's no app store because it's a new platform. This will in all probability change when Symbian becomes mid-range and Meego becomes top-range and both use QT for the GUI.

It's unpolished because it's a new platform yet the nerds still wanted to beta test it in their thousands and the platform was later tidied up for mass consumption. I assume we've forgotten Android 1.0?

Europe gets more in the bundle for the same price: Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort + Wiimote + Nunchuck + Motionplus. The bad part (for Nintendo)? There are people who might never buy anything else for it during the console's lifetime.

Nearly.

It's more like Front Porch/NebuAd/PerfTech "Edited and Approved" US Government Advice.

Don't worry, fingerprinting's being worked on...

The European Commission is about to announce the compulsory fingerprinting of all visitors to the EU, both visa holders and non-visa holders, along with automated border checks of EU nationals through the analysis of fingerprints and facial scans.

EU to announce fingerprinting for all visitors