How Microsoft's tricky new Windows 10 pop-up deceives you into upgrading

[JMH]

This morning, the unthinkable happened: My wife, an avowed PC user who long ago swore to never touch an Apple device, started shopping around for a Mac Mini. And it’s all thanks to Windows 10. Or rather, the nasty new way that Microsoft’s tricking Windows 7 and 8 users into automatically updating to Windows 10.

I adore Windows 10, but I’ve long been a vocal critic of the heavy-handed tactics that Microsoft’s been using to force people into the upgrade, all to hit a goal of migrating 1 billion users to an operating system brimming with freemium services and ads. The annoying “Get Windows 10” pop-up began using deceiving malware-like tactics months ago, but it recently received an overhaul that seems purposefully designed to confuse users who have been wearily slogging through the nagging for half a year now.

That nasty change trick resulted in my wife’s beloved Windows 7 PC being sneakily upgraded to Windows 10 this morning. Sure, she has 30 days to roll it back to Windows 7, but she feels so betrayed—like Microsoft forcibly removed her control over her own PC—that she’s strongly considering embracing the Dark Side and buying a Mac, instead.

http://www.techconnect.com/article/...afa390a9a2c42aa#tk.TECHCONNECTNLE__2016-05-23

 

[JMH]

Microsoft accused of Windows 10 upgrade 'nasty trick'

Microsoft has faced criticism for changing the pop-up box encouraging Windows users to upgrade to Windows 10.

Clicking the cross in the top-right hand corner of the pop-up box now agrees to a scheduled upgrade rather than rejecting it.

This has caused confusion as clicking the cross typically closes a pop-up notification.

The upgrade could still be cancelled when the scheduled time for it to begin appeared, Microsoft said.

The change occurred because the update is now labelled "recommended" and many people have their PCs configured to accept recommended updates for security reasons.

This means dismissing the box does not dismiss the update.

Microsoft accused of Windows 1 upgrade 'nasty trick' - BBC Newshttps://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3095675