Is this feature the reason why Windows 10 is being discontinued?
It used to be concern about someone slipping a keylogger onto your computer. Now you get the privilege of paaying for it.
Microsoft generally supports their OS for 10 years. It is a couple more years than Apple. I have 8+ year old laptop running W10. It isn't upgradable to Win 11 because it lacks the TPM chip. I only use it when I travel to browse the web. When support ends, I am likely to just keep using it. My main desktop is a Mac mini. I am on my second one. The first one lasted about 10 years with a couple of years of no support. I broke down last year and bought a new one.
“Is this feature the reason why Windows 10 is being discontinued?”
I still run Win 7, and will until browsers and anti-virus software no longer support it. It’s like our 97 Silverado, it still runs, so keep it.
I stayed away from Win10 because of reported spying features it supposedly had. Why else would Gates be giving it away? Since I’ve never had Win10 I do not know this from personal experience, but Win10 required periodic access to the internet and would not stand alone. This feature could be turned off by advanced users to make Win10 an off-grid OS.
My understanding of Win11 is that periodic accessing of the internet is required and cannot be turned off. Thus Win11 cannot be used as a stand alone off-grid OS.
So to answer your question, Win11 came out with enhanced spying features and when support for Win10 disappears most Microsoft users will have to rely on Win11. During the security updates just about any enhanced spying feature can be installed and the user will never know it.
Am I wrong? I doubt it. Am I paranoid? Yup.