I agree that a hack should not be needed but then it depends on the hack and how it is done. Still using Updates in the Control Panel as an example, I don't even do the hack. I use Winaero Tweaker which I have often mentioned. This is a 'novice friendly' method as you just go through the list and select what you want. If you mess up you just select to undo changes or however it is named.
Still all that is a bit off topic except for the fact that you can easily get back a lot of things that are removed from Windows and the article listed things being removed. The direct point, as you mentioned Windows Backup (WBU in the future) in the initial post, is that it is not going away. There just is not going to be any more work done with it. Actually WBU has been depreciated since the release of Windows 8 hence the Control Panel listing of 'Backup and restore (Windows 7)'. Another way of thinking that would be pretty close is to forget the word depreciated and thinking of it as a legacy app.
Personally I'd prefer if MS kept developing WBU to make it operate quicker and take less disk space along with a better interface. I have never had it fail that I can recall but it can be difficult for a novice to setup. Still I suppose that, as they add new stuff, some old stuff must go. If not a new Windows install just keep growing more than it does as to disk space. Do I agree with all that they get rid of and keep? Heck no! I mean who really uses Notepad or Character mapping? OK, now and then I use Notepad but don't really need to and it is just an example. The point is that I'd rather see other things improved over keeping redundant items such as Notepad. OK, even if you don't have Office Word are you really going to use Notepad over Wordpad?
It also must be kept in mind that most installs of Windows 10 are done with the default settings for telemetry. MS DOES look at this stuff or it would make no sense to write the code. They don't look at individual users but trends. Yes, I'd LOVE to have Windows Imaging developed to the point where it blows everything else out of the water. Then I would not have to pay for Acronis...
Still the feedback through telemetry tells them what people are using. The following numbers are totally arbitrary and, I'm sure, totally wrong; just an example. So telemetry feedback tells you that 1% of users are using WBU but 90% are using Notepad. Which are you going to develop?
Sadly our wishes are a small percentage compared to what most users want and use. Most users want games and Facebook. Shoot, I have 2 desktop systems and a laptop running networked. I know that you also have multiple desktops set up between yourself and GG. How common are we? What percentage of people that you know even have one desktop any more? More likely a laptop or notbook with many just using a phone. We are becomming antiques and MS will, and probably should, cater to what the majority of the users want. Eventually, mayhaps not in our lifetime but not real far off, your only option for backups will be in the Cloud. Shoot, you may not even have a full operating system on your device. This aspect is already in development. Check out the following link...
http://www.silveos.com/
