I have totally given up on Microsoft, after what they did to my PC when they first introduced their Beta version of Windows 10. They can sell it to someone else! When everything started going pear-shaped, I rang their support people - I had a contract with them, on which I paid an annual fee for support! - and when they realised what they had done, they simply cancelled their support contract, refunded the premium I’d paid, and refused to help.
So now I refuse to be one of their customers - EVER!
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Generally those who take up beta releases are expected to do it with eyes wide open that there could be underlying bugs since beta = a final test release. Vendors want feedback and problem reports but IME most don’t support those releases beyond that, although Microsoft has issued patches to their betas.
It reads like you installed the beta, it went pear shaped and Microsoft ‘support’ made it worse and possibly irretrievable. I presume you and they assured you had viable backups prior to installing the beta? Even with ‘production’ Windows I have had to reinstall from my image backups twice in the last decade since in-place reinstalls failed. I keep 60 days currency and my backup software (Macrium Reflect) can extract selected files and directories from the images, simplifying my regimen; images are all I need.
Unfortunately many companies’ ‘guarantees’ (regardless of industry) are like that. They ‘guarantee’ to fix/help/replace but if they cannot they refund and have their ‘get out of jail free’ as having honoured their guarantee.
With the choices being Windows, MacOS and friends, and linux(es) that still sometime require one be an engaged techie, it seems like we are prisoners of sorts.
My partner uses an iPad and is not so happy with the way Apple ‘owns’ her life any more than I am with Windows. linux(es)? tempting but I have a financial app that runs on Windows, or Windows, or Windows that I am not happy to live without so am a captive. It does not work reliably on emulators and while there is a Mac version that is not a 1:1 equivalent and remains bug prone after many years post its release. So here I am.
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This is what my understanding the release of beta software versions are for…for those more risk adverse users to try and through use, find bugs, conflicts etc so that the software manufacturer can write these out in the final released version. As @PhilT outlined, one shouldn’t be using beta without adequate control in place to protect one’s own data. An easily solution is to run a beta version on a separate computer (maybe a old one which still works well) to that that used for everyday purposes and data storage.
We should all thank those who test beta versions (usually just for fun or interest sake) as their testing and reporting of problems reduces the pain to others when the final version is released.
If one choses to use beta versions in attempt to get usable software free, this is fraught with likely problems as this is not the purpose of the beta test versions. Some may pay off, but many will fail.
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They always advise that Beta are not finished products and should not be used on “Production” machines. If one chooses to do so then the responsibility rests with that user. It is part of the agreement, and in spite of the fact it was Beta they even went so far as to reimburse you the service arrangement fees you had paid. Several releases in their Insider Fast rings have been to say the least irksome but as always the clear advice is don’t run these on production machines unless you are willing to take the risk of having to reinstall and start over.
“Because Fast Ring builds are released so early in the development cycle, we recommend limiting feature exploration in your organization to IT administrators and developers running Insider Preview builds on secondary machines.”
" Slow Ring: Insider Preview builds in the Slow Ring are released approximately once a month. They are more stable than Fast Ring releases making them better suited for validation purposes. Slow Ring releases can be run on either secondary or primary production machines by skilled users."
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Does this mean it doesn’t work under WINE on Linux?
Have you tried it in a VM running Windows? That is, if there is just one app (the financial app) that is keeping you a captive of Microsoft and that app runs correctly in a VM then you could at least keep the rest of your life away from the prying eyes - or failing updates - of Microsoft.
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The long term reports are that it regularly breaks from either a WINE update or a product update and take weeks to months to get resolved.
It might well excepting that either requires two instance of Windows or one of linux to run Windows, and back to my earlier comment about needing to be a techie to manage it. I follow the path of least resistance and most reasonable sheep-like noises 
nb I spent 40+ years in ICT including custom and production OS development and maintenance for half of it, so am quite capable but disinclined.
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MacOS is as Unix-based as Linux. The real choice is Windows (with MS-DOS still lurking under the skin) or Unix.
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The day that I eliminated Windows - in fact all Microsoft products - from my life and replaced them with Linux and open source softwar was one of the days I’ll always remember. 
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We all have our preferences.
Most Windows users are well aware that from time to time updates are necessary, just as they are for nearly every connected device on the planet.
The good news is that MS with its substantial business user base, has a vested interest in ensuring their OS is as safe and stable and update as possible. It’s good to see other users sharing advice for when there are issues.
Simply put if I wanted a Linux based laptop I would have made that choice years back. Fortunately I’ve always had a PC with the option to boot into any of a number of Linux distros. It serves to remind me why it is not a solution for so many everyday tasks around here. Incompatibility in Linux of saved files and inability to install device drivers reliably turn most command lines into a whole new set of profanities. Problems I left behind with MS and MSDos 5.x
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Let’s not turn this topic into “operating systems religious war” and instead leave it to discussion only of issues with Windows updates (major or otherwise).
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Well I don’t have any issues with Windows 10.
I shut the PC down every night and turn it on every morning.
All my Chrome windows usually reappear, or if not, I simply open one and click on “Reopen closed tab”.
My MS Edge windows reappear, or if not, I click on "Re-open closed tab.
MS Word 2016 docs appear, and in the case of large docs, a “Pick up where you left off” tab appears.
The OS toddles off and updates itself automatically.
Windows 2016 provides virus and malware protection for free.
What is there not to like?
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When you thought you might be safe, not here yet but.
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Clearly it’s been a long time, if ever, since you’ve used Linux. Device drivers? Everything “just works” out of the box. It’s been years since I connected a device that didn’t simply work.
My professional life involved, among other things, managing a team of people supporting Windows users, so I know better than most just how awful it is.
But good luck to you.
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Nope not everything works “out of the box” for all Linux distros. I have wireless dongles which I have to compile the drivers for some distros I use including RasberryPi’s versions. Not always can I even find the files I need and have to change the dongles I use. Some of my video cards need driver compiling before they work properly (if they even work before building the driver). Ubuntu among a few others have great but again not perfect support and RedHat I pay to get the support. Windows has similar issues as does macOS for some devices, I mention this so I don’t appear to be totally supporting Windows, which I do curse now and then as I do for macOS.
What you use and prefer is great for you, for some the terminal among other issues can be a pain on Linux and others find Windows a pain and yet others find macOS a pain.
Hopefully this thread continues to provide advice, help and support for those who prefer MS Win 10. I encourage you & others who have the experience in other OSes to start similar threads for Linux distros and for macOS versions you and they know about. Of course we don’t need to reinvent the wheel regarding already existing support channels out there but often pointing someone to the solutions to the problems or queries they have is enough.
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No love for MS-DOS 6.2?
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Indeed I do (well 6.22) and even run a VM of that at times to play some very old school games that only run in DosBox or a “real” DOS environment. Avalon is one of them (https://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/avalon/) & Aethra Chronicles (https://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/the-aethra-chronicles-celystras-bane/).
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… some would ‘suggest’ VMS is lurking under the skin, but of course Dave Cutler remains (relatively) silent on the matter as a UNIX and UNIX-like O/S hater, he has aspired to even greater heights and now works on Xbox … history is as amusing as it is unforgiving …
There are many who would contend otherwise, but I agree, UNIX or UNIX-like, so what - unless you are a kernel developer it is a debate best had over beer or malt with no expectation of a winner and one I gave up even entertaining decades ago 
might as well debate VHS vs Betamax … It’s rather amusing considering many contend Linux has the largest installed base of any general purpose operating system. I’ve been happy to mess with it since the early '90s but still run Win10 on my UI boxes - except the pi that runs Kodi …
Same, though not quite as long. The thousands of boxes at work can run whatever they want but I get paid to keep them happy - at home I need something that is the path of least resistance, and as an old fart I care less about the religion of operating systems as I do about ‘does it just work’. Win10 has had a couple of notable detonations in the past, but I’ve sorted them quickly and for the last ‘quite a few’ updates it’s just worked and allowed me to focus on things that really matter - motorcycles (and consumer issues on this wonderful forum of course …)
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Been a while since this thread was started and all my machines are comfortable now. Yesterday I updated a microsoft surface that is hardly used except when travelling. All went well----except—Office 2003 was replaced during the update by windows 365??
No warning except that one of the scheduled updates was for Office 2003 and failed. ONly when I investigated did I notice the slight of hand. All fixed but not amused.
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