Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The Windows 10 scourge continues

Here's another example of Big Technology Companies messing with the heads of unsuspecting consumers, all in the interest of forcing them to buy stuff they don't need.

This time, it's Microsoft's turn in the needs-to-be-spanked chair, but let's be honest with ourselves: They all do it. Microsoft's sin? Making it all too easy for the computers of otherwise-occupied folks - they have lives, imagine that! - to be automatically updated to Windows 10 even if they explicitly did not click the Update button.

So if you're happy with your old version of Windows 7 or 8.1 and don't really want to go through the hassle of upgrading to Windows 10, pay attention. Because you may find Windows 10 installing itself on your machine, anyway.

The problem: When no one was looking a few weeks backMicrosoft quietly made Windows 10 a "recommended update". Which means, depending on how your Windows settings are configured, could, according to Terry Myerson, Executive Vice President, Windows and Devices Group, "May cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device.”

If the automatic download or auto update feature is activated on your Windows PC, and if you've enabled the “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” feature, don't be surprised if Windows 10 starts to install all on its own over the next few days.

My $0.02: Deactivate the auto-update feature. Stick with your current OS. Windows 10 works best when it's pre-installed on a device right from the factory.

One wonders when this anti-consumer idiocy will end. Probably never, because most consumers simply don't take the time to notice. They should. Because ignorance comes with a cost.

2 comments:

Tabor said...

Since my free install of W-10 a few months ago crashed my computer and the tech guys who fixed told me never to install it again on my PC, how can MS get away with this?

rashbre said...

I really didn't like Windows 8 when I first installed it a few years ago. In fact I kept W7 on my work system (as was the corporate recommendation at that time).

Some time last year I tried W10, initially on a virtual machine on my Mac. It was a much better experience than W8 and I've since progressively installed it on the Windows machines round here, where it has worked pretty well and without incident. Even my 'work PC' now runs W10.

I'd still always rather have the option to install than having it do something automatically. I always think that Windows is somehow 'rude' compared with OS/X regarding the way it foists updates without asking.