is there truth to the rumors that windows 10 'spies' on it's users

Unfortunately at some point you'll have to make that switch to 10. I hate 10 so much, but I had to make the switch because of a new set of headphones my brother got me, Windows 7 doesn't recognize the headset, but windows 10 does. My other reason for switching is because I kept getting logged out of websites where I chose the, "Keep me logged in" option on Windows 7.

Windows 10 does have some kind of feature where it collects data, but does it without permissions. It can be disabled, usually you can find those kinds of videos on Youtube. I don't even use the windows 10 start menu, I use something called Classic Shell, so basically my taskbar and my Start Menu look like they're from Windows 95, and I love it. It's what I'm most familiar with, they didn't have to change it, but they did, and Classic Shell gives you the option of having your Start Menu look like Windows 95/XP/7, and it's very customizable.

If you make the switch to 10, I highly recommend getting Classic Shell, make sure you disable cortana, disable all the news feed bullcrap because microcrap added all this unwanted junk that no one wants on their taskbar. With bill gates and Steve Ballmer no longer at the helm, microscrap has been on a nose dive ever since they hired Mr. Nutella 🙄