Update to version 1511 build 10586 changed lots of settings...

dalchina said:

One of the most recent updates in the last couple of days (I've noted 3 updates in that period) is supposed to reset associations back to how they were before the 10586 TH2 November upgrade.

You're lucky to not have had Chrome replaced...

As to the replacement of uninstalled universal apps, that's part of the mechanism employed- basically a Windows reinstallation- I suppose MS then regards the universal apps as 'part of Windows' - an argument they once used about IE. Anyway, that's the package you get.

I suspect you're correct about those apps, but I think that argument would be harder to make legally since, unlike IE, those apps aren't rooted so deeply that Windows can't work without them. Similarly, I don't see how restoring default privacy settings does the customer any good.

Yeah, I know how that sounds, but this is a new paradigm that deserves serious customer feedback. Such resetting was never done with the service packs of previous versions, and the free upgrade doesn't make up for it since the upgrade benefits MS as much as users, if not moreso. I know these things can be re-reset, but that shouldn't be necessary. Some of the resets I encountered don't benefit anyone or even make sense, like restoring default font settings and re-assigning old Word files to some obscure software. This makes me wonder (cynically, perhaps) whether MS is using the updates to mine data, given how much flak they're getting for the nosey-ware they're building into Windows, and the numerous web pages that tell us how to shut it off.

The varied examples of alterations posted in this thread give me the impression that it might only be a matter of MS working out the kinks in this major update process. We shall see. Free is nice, but if two to four major default resets per year is the price, I'd sooner have paid for the upgrade.

dalchina said:

I'm not suggesting there's a legal argument as arose over IE and the EU, but it appears clear that MS may not respect user's preferences as they have in the past.

I apologize if I gave the wrong impression. I didn't think you were making a legal argument, I was just referring to the lawsuit(s) about IE in the EU. However, it wouldn't surprise me if disrespect for user preferences is at least a happy byproduct for MS.

Removing the universal apps is arcane, inasmuch as there's no straightforward uninstall option, so I could understand MS simply taking advantage of this new upgrade model to refresh what's provided as Win 10. Some view that as an advantage.

Not to be argumentative, but I don't see how that's an advantage since apps don't uninstall themselves. Some of those apps may be useful on a tablet, but on a desktop I find them pointless.

after the upgrade perhaps we will see an improvement next time. We can hope...

We can, indeed!