Thank you for your response. I am unsure of how many other people have been affected by this issue but I can say from my own personal experience it wasn't too painful. That being said- previously using windows 7 I never had such a thing happen.
Furthermore, for all of those out there that aren't as technology savvy I feel Microsoft should find another way to update it's operating system without disadvantaging its user base by removing programs without their consent or knowledge. Microsoft is currently
undergoing a class action lawsuit brought by business users that were forcibly updated to Windows 10 causing them to lose thousands of dollars in revenue as a result of losing files.
Apparently Microsoft hasn't learned nor cares about the affect of its choices on its end users - but after enough legal action I suspect things will change. It is exactly this kind of behavior that has encouraged me to have "back up" systems including MAC
OS for when Microsoft lets me down.
Microsoft's consumers should be able to depend on the company - especially after the billions of dollars we have donated to your "beta testing" and faulty software.