The problem with ads (there are many problems, but in this context this one is the most relevant) is that it's inherently incompatible with productivity. Ads waste your time and try to influence you or make you buy things instead of doing whatever you initially planned to do. This means ad-supported tools try to maximise ad viewing time ("engagement" as they call it), so it's in their best interest to make the tool less efficient so you spend more time on it.

I want my operating system and other critical tools to work for me by saving me time, not against me by wasting my time so I get the opportunity to see more ads.

Imagine if you were a plumber, would you use a wrench that has a built-in screen and makes you watch a 30-second ad before it actually allows you to unscrew a pipe? And then periodically beeps while in your toolbox so that you have to take it out and stay "engaged"? No - any sane person would say "this is crap" and throw it in the garbage. Why should it be any different for IT tools?

The GDPR has yet to do anything regarding tracking because it's not being enforced at all - Google and Facebook's entire business models are based on violating the GDPR and yet they are still around. The regulation has some good ideas including around consent and dark patterns (tracking must be opt-in, should not be misleading, etc) but it has yet to be enforced despite there being millions of sites blatantly violating it.

> Apple products are expensive and will only become more so if everyone tries to buy it.

That would be the market at work. Maybe when the prices rise even more Microsoft will realise just how much money they're leaving on the table and go back to making good software?