Windows 10 upgrade: Where misunderstanding and confusion has led to “accidental” installs

[Batu69]

It’s been written ad nauseam that Microsoft has a Windows 10 update problem. When consumer complaints about upgrading transgress into headlines such as Windows 10 upgrade could cause Sudanese deaths are used as kindling in an ever-growing fire of anti-Windows hatred, Microsoft is now finding itself on the wrong side of a public relations wildfire.

 

From reports of upgrades downloading and installing onto personal and commercial desktops wholly independent of user intervention to installation processes sucking down exuberant internet bandwidth, Microsoft’s free Windows 10 operating system is costing more than expected for some users.

 

Windows 10 upgrade alert

While the majority of user who make up the 300 million active Windows install base are content with Windows 10, some believe Microsoft’s upgrade is a nefarious undertaking executed by a barbarous company scrambling for relevance in an irrelevant industry. Others are a bit more forgiving, chalking up the mishaps to a woefully inept plan poorly enacted by a forever-bumbling enterprise.

 

However, there is a third, much smaller and soft-spoken group of people who see Microsoft’s supposed Windows 10 upgrade fiasco as an entirely different affair. At best, the Windows 10 upgrade is a calculated measure to bring an aging user base into a foundationally superior computing experience and at worst, a poorly timed enforcement of socially engineered practices that have coalesced as 30 years of misunderstandings.

 

To make heads or tails of the ongoing Windows 10 upgrade debacle I suggest taking a bird’s eye view of Microsoft’s predicament while making use of a litany of applicable quaint analogies to put things into perspective.

The red X isn’t your friend

When Microsoft released Windows 95 August 24, 1995, unbeknownst to itself, it ushered in subtle social engineering behavior that would blow up in the company’s face at the most inopportune time. Windows 95 brought more than just a visual overhaul, it brought with it, what I call “the red X of dismissal” to Windows users. The red X of dismissal was a clear and obvious way for Windows users to close programs within the operating system.

 

From the file explorer to Microsoft Paint, the red X of dismissal rested at the top left corner of any application as an anchor for program closing neophytes. To this day, Windows users make utility of the red X of dismissal as a quick way to close a prompt, an open window or a running application. Unfortunately, the imbued power given by users of the red X has led many astray, especially those suffering from supposed phantom Windows 10 installs.

 

Open applications. Windows 95

Many reports of unwanted Windows 10 installs involve a persistent use of the red X of dismissal as an immediately gratifying stop-gap measure to prevent the imminent installation of the free Windows 10 upgrade. Unfortunately, according to the end-user license agreement each and every Windows user is greeted with when installing or booting up a PC for the first time, the red X of dismissal is as effective as hand-pulling weeds.

Quote

6. Updates. The software periodically checks for system and app updates, and downloads and installs them for you. You may obtain updates only from Microsoft or authorized sources, and Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates. By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice.

 

If Windows 8 did anything correctly, it ushered in a new EULA that was intended to be more consumer legible. Going from dense almost indecipherable legalese to a much shorter and upfront agreement between Microsoft and its Windows users. Microsoft’s new Windows EULA spelled out what, who, when, where and how the operating system was intended to be used. Sadly, few ever saw this change due to an overwhelming visceral angst about installing Windows 8, but thankfully those who installed and set up Windows 7 saw a familiar prompt beyond the EULA.

 

Windows 7 installation process

Even Microsoft understood the limited attention span its Windows users had when it came to reading EULA’s that explicitly explained that the operating system they were using would “periodically check for system and app updates.” Instead of solely relying on the EULA, Microsoft then began putting installation prompts front and center in the view of users.

 

A prompt would appear as users began setting up their copy of Windows 7, 8 and 10. Each prompt led to a screen that informed users they needed to designate how Windows updates would be handled. Windows users could choose from several options that ranged from passive deference to granular meddling when it came to how updates hit their devices.

 

Windows 10 Express Settings

Putting the pieces together

So, Windows users have a EULA that accompanies their operating system and explains that periodic updates can and will be applied when available unless otherwise instructed. Windows users are also offered several settings in which they can determine when, how often and who (Windows or users) can apply updates. Lastly, Windows users are armed with the red X of dismissal, to ward off any further annoying reminders of a Windows 10 upgrade.

Where does it all go wrong?

The fundamental misunderstanding by users of what the red X of dismissal does has confused the process of how to actually cancel the Windows 10 upgrade. Granted Microsoft doesn’t go out of its way to highlight the cancellation option to users. As it stands now, the option remains an 8-point font copy with a highlighted click here section that resides smack dab in the middle of the upgrade prompt. Beyond selecting that click here option, nothing else will stop the juggernaut that is the Windows 10 upgrade. Hitting OK will only accepted the scheduled update and going to the trusty red X of dismissal will only dismiss the prompt for the time being, not cancel the upgrade.

 

Some would-be social justice warriors have even taken the time to meticulously go through Microsoft’s prompt guidelines in an attempt to dismiss user error as the company “breaking its own design rules.” An argument has been mounted that Microsoft recently changed the wording around its guidelines regarding the red X, switching its functionality from close or cancel to outright approval.

Quote

However, this spring — by March 23 at the latest, but perhaps earlier — Microsoft decided to redefine an X-click as approving the upgrade. “If you click on OK or on the red ‘X,’ you’re all set for the upgrade and there is nothing further to do [emphasis added],” stated a Microsoft support document on the auto-scheduling of the Windows 10 upgrade.

Although some argued that click-on-X was to be treated as a “Close” button, not an “Exit” button — the former makes the dialog vanish, while the latter cancels the under-consideration process — and implied that Microsoft did not violate its own design guidelines, that’s not correct.

At least not by Microsoft’s own documentation.

 

The argument is weak at best and dishonestly confusing at worst. No where does Microsoft claim or state that using the red X functionality will approve of anything. Instead, what the company does highlight is:

Quote

This notification means your Windows 10 upgrade will occur at the time indicated, unless you select either Upgrade now or “Click here to change upgrade schedule or cancel scheduled upgrade”. If you click on OK or on the red “X”, you’re all set for the upgrade and there is nothing further to do.

 

Read carefully, the Windows 10 upgrade prompt is a courtesy reminder that an update has ALREADY been scheduled. Clicking on the OK or red X essentially does nothing to stop the scheduled update, users are encouraged to click here to cancel the scheduled upgrade or intervene, NOT X. So, while Microsoft has changed its wording around the red X, is hasn’t changed its functionality. Microsoft’s new wording around the red X is equivalent to people saying, “the sky is blue” and then changing it to “the sky is still blue, when viewed through binoculars.”

 

Windows 10 upgrade prompt

In an effort to bolster its user installs, Microsoft is leaning on a EULA that’s been in place for over thirty years that helps the company treat Windows 10’s free nature as a seemingly necessary update to the Windows system. In doing so, Microsoft can feel free to “periodically” check for Windows 10 and “download and install” it for users, all “without any additional notice.”

 

Combine Microsoft’s enforcement of its updated EULA language with the fact that most Windows 7, 8, and 10 users breeze through the installation process by selecting the “automatic” or “express” update process, the company is essentially able to run rough shod over the Windows 10 upgrade. Unless users were savvy enough to meticulously go through the “Advance” settings during their Windows 7 installation, to pick and choose when updates get applied, many find themselves at the mercy of the Windows 10 upgrade prompt.

 

So we see, using the red X of dismissal as an attempt to cancel the Windows 10 upgrade is a futile attempt at best and a sign of laziness at worst. The red X of dismissal has never canceled the actions of a program or app but merely closed out the window, this functionality has never changed. Microsoft, wrongly or right, has chosen to clamp down on the meaning of “update” to seemingly bolster its year one installation numbers.

Analogy time

To put things into perspective, the free Windows 10 upgrade is essentially an update for Windows 7 and 8 users. Similar to a firmware, cumulative, or critical update, Microsoft is treating Windows 10 as a necessary service and support update to an aging operating system. And like a support update, Microsoft is heavily suggesting that users download and install the update, perhaps to a fault.

 

Windows users are empowered to stop and cancel the Windows 10 update as they are to any other update to Windows, by taking the time to bump the OS off its fast track of automatic maintenance. Users who used the automatic or express settings when installing Windows 7 over seven years ago are now being confronted with their past decisions.

 

To make a poor analogy, Microsoft is the fabled imp-like creature Rumpelstiltskin who is coming to collect its promised first born child. Similar to the daughter of the lying miller in the story, the necessity to compute and the limited amount of operating system choices has put Windows users in a bind.

 

Agreeing to Micro-stilskin’s terms as is, most Windows users have essentially given up their first born in the form of seemingly losing the ability to ‘automatically’ cancel the Windows 10 upgrade. Micro-stilskin has waited in the shadows for years allowing Windows 7 years to blissfully go about their computing business unaware of the fine print in their contract. Unfortunately, Micro-stilskin has recently been cornered by market trade winds and massive industry shifts into calling upon its contract with Windows users to save itself.

 

Micro-stiltskin

And just like the miller’s daughter, it is now it’s up to Windows users to arm themselves with the necessary information about their EULA and update settings configuration to ward of intrusive persisting of Micro-stilskin.

 

With a little less than a month until the end of Microsoft’s Windows 10 upgrade promotion and only a bit over 300 million installs of Windows 10 the company’s is enacting its last ditch effort to get the last few holdouts to join the fray. While distasteful to some, Microsoft’s seemingly aggressive update tactics for its free Windows 10 upgrade are nothing new. Hopefully, when the free upgrade promotion ends this July, Microsoft and Windows users can go back to their previously established ambivalence towards common rules.

 

Article source

[Karlston]

4 hours ago, Batu69 said:

With a little less than a month until the end of Microsoft’s Windows 10 upgrade promotion and only a bit over 300 million installs of Windows 10 the company’s is enacting its last ditch effort to get the last few holdouts to join the fray.

 

Ummm... "the last few holdouts"? Pig's *rse!

 

The combined Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 market share is 57.34% vs Windows 10's measly 17.43%. So there's about 3.5 W7/W8.1 users for every 1 W10 user. Last few? Yep... last billion (1,000 million) holdouts! ROTFLMAO

[VileTouch]

hey, look at the bright side!, once the time is up you will no longer receive that "evil" update! then you can come back and demand a crack for it, because it's "so expensive"

 

whatever, man. sooner or later you will have to upgrade...or start using linux or mac!

[steven36]

1 hour ago, VileTouch said:

whatever, man. sooner or later you will have to upgrade...or start using linux

 

 

 

 

Start ? some of us  already are !

 

 

[straycat19]

1 hour ago, VileTouch said:

whatever, man. sooner or later you will have to upgrade...or start using linux or mac!

 

What do you mean start?  Already doing that.  And I never have to upgrade, all I have to do is die, everything else is optional.  Why would anyone ask for a crack, everyone has already  cracked it or found an illegal way to permanently activate it so they could run it without upgrading their current systems.   I suppose you think I had to upgrade my Windows 95 system at some point in time too.  Wrong.  It still runs fine on the Dell Inspiron 3000 laptop I bought in 1997 and runs special software that I still need occasionally.

[Sylence]

There's no forced upgrade, Microsoft can't force anything even if they really intended to do so, i mean if they could they would make their OS uncrackable. some people just act like they're rape victims lool 

after reading the whole article the only thing the writer is talking about is Internet bandwidth.

doesn't say Windows updates are bad, doesn't say Windows 10 is bad, just worried about bandwidth usage. come on, your phone uses more Internet than your computer with all the apps and stuff downloading/uploading every day, plus app updates etc.

this B.S campaign is lunched by Microsoft rivals  

[TheDude]

Make no mistake Microsoft wants everyone on Windows 10.

I'm pretty sure they really don't care how they achieve that goal.

 

It is very underhanded that by default Windows update automatically downloads Windows 10 in the background and installs it on the next reboot or scheduled reboot with very little user interaction. 

 

The real question for me... is it Microsoft that wants you running their latest Windows or is it the NSA, CIA and GCHQ?

No one really knows to what extent the telemetry stretches to, how compliant and what gag orders Microsoft have been handed. 

[Conley Powell]

     How did VileTouch get to be a "VIP member"? Clearly intelligence isn't a requirement!

[steven36]

3 hours ago, TheDude said:

The real question for me... is it Microsoft that wants you running their latest Windows or is it the NSA, CIA and GCHQ?

No one really knows to what extent the telemetry stretches to, how compliant and what gag orders Microsoft have been handed. 

If you are this paranoid you need to switch to Linux

 

3 hours ago, TheDude said:

Make no mistake Microsoft wants everyone on Windows 10.

I'm pretty sure they really don't care how they achieve that goal.

 

The drama is all most over if  seems ,  if they wanted everyone on Windows 10 they would extend the free upgrade  one more year

.

Quote

 

Windows 10 free upgrade promotion will not be extended

 

Those who want their free upgrade to Windows 10 need to make sure they get it before the promotional period expires.

 

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users who want to redeem their free upgrade to Windows 10 need to ensure they install it before 29 July.

 

That’s the word from the Windows business group lead for Microsoft South Africa, Anthony Doherty.

 

Doherty warned that Microsoft will not extend the free upgrade period beyond this.

 

Booking a reservation for the upgrade and scheduling it is also not enough.

 

To qualify for a free upgrade, Doherty said you need to ensure the update completes before or on 29 July.

 

He said the deadline is one of the reasons Microsoft decided to make the Windows 10 upgrade a recommended update.

 

Doherty said customers told Microsoft that despite reserving their upgrade, they had not received it.

 

In response to this customer feedback, Microsoft made Windows 10 an optional update.

 

Further feedback regarding the number of steps needed to upgrade to Windows 10 by applying the optional update resulted in Microsoft making it a recommended update.

 

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/software/167981-windows-10-free-upgrade-promotion-will-not-be-extended.html

 

 

According  to Anthony Doherty. , Microsoft  is blaming windows users for the reason they put it in auto updates . I would not be shocked if they are they blamed the end user  for the reason Windows 8 didn't have start menu  on customer telemetry that everyone  would rather pin there programs to the tray . There going blame windows users no matter what they do

 

[Sylence]

Quote

If you are this paranoid you need to switch to Linux

 

Oh so only paranoid people switch to Linux instead of using the great almighty Windows 10. screenshot this !

 

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental disorder characterized by paranoia and a pervasive, long-standing suspiciousness and generalized mistrust of others. Individuals with this personality disorder may be hypersensitive, easily insulted, and habitually relate to the world by vigilant scanning of the environment for clues or suggestions that may validate their fears or biases. Paranoid individuals are eager observers. They think they are in danger and look for signs and threats of that danger, potentially not appreciating other evidence.^[1]

 

 

 

 

 

[Karlston]

17 hours ago, VileTouch said:

whatever, man. sooner or later you will have to upgrade...

 

No, I don't. If I want to, I can stay on Windows 7 or 8.1 forever.

 

I'm sure it'll come as a surprise to many that my newly built Skylake box has Windows 10 on it.

 

I'm not silly enough to dismiss Windows 10 forever. Once Microsoft stop effing about with unimportant things (Edge, dialogue box background colours, etc) and start dealing with the greater problems/annoyances (forced updates, wi-fi-only metering, the control panel/setting dog's breakfast, etc) I have no doubt it'll become worthy.

 

What I intensely rile about is Microsoft's offensive, despicable, unethical, and immoral "upgrade-at-all-costs" behaviour. No respect for the user. Incompatible software gets deleted, so the poor user can no longer use the PC to do his job. Force the UI-challenged users to use strange, unfamiliar UI, etc. All for the sake of adding one to their "X million devices installed" deceptive BS.

 

THAT'S what is evil and untrustworthy about Microsoft, not it's new OS! Heil Microsoft! Vindows 10 ueber alles! Für den Vindows 10, sieg heil... sieg heil...

 

15 hours ago, saeed_dc said:

There's no forced upgrade, Microsoft can't force anything even if they really intended to do so,

 

Perhaps if you opened your eyes, removed the blinkers, and left the cave, you'd see that they're only one step away from that.  It's all that's left after nagging, bribing, and tricking.

[VileTouch]

10 hours ago, Conley Powell said:

     How did VileTouch get to be a "VIP member"? Clearly intelligence isn't a requirement!

<sarcasm>

    I gave BJs to the admins...you should try it too... wouldn't be out of character

</sarcasm>

[steven36]

 

Quote

 

Woman claims Windows 10 tricked her into upgrade

 

Microsoft is under fire from thousands of customers, who claim it is tricking them into downloading its new Windows 10. Some say it is just like unwanted malware, which downloads itself when you try to cancel it out.

 

Among them, woman who says Microsoft installed it despite her attempts to block it.

 

Didn't Want to Make Change

Things move slowly in the country. For Melinda Yates and her horses, the only change they like is a change in the wind.

 

So when she woke up the other morning, she was stunned to find her PC had a whole different look.

 

"The screen was bright blue, and it said Welcome to Windows 10, Melinda," she said. "I said no, no, no, no no! I didn't ask for this."

 

Overnight, her old Windows 7 PC had upgraded to new Windows 10, without her ever asking for it.

 

"I couldn't make it go away," she said. "I didn't want it, but I couldn't make it go away."

 

Yates had been turning down the upgrade requests, because the last time, she says, "when I upgraded from XP to Windows 7 I lost a lot of my files."

 

Report: Declining Update Very Tricky

But PC World magazine says Microsoft recently made it much trickier to reject the upgrade.

 

PC World showed the typical popup people are seeing, with one box on the popup saying "Upgrade Now" and the other box saying "Start download, upgrade later."

 

No matter which of those two boxes you click, you've accepted it. "It's no choice, it's really no choice," Yates said, who believes by trying to decline the download, she accepted it.

PC World says even hitting the "X"on the popup box is no guarantee any more.

 

Yates says she wanted 7 back, worried about all her personal files. She says it took a couple of hours, but she was able to reach someone on on the phone with Microsoft, who helped her roll her PC back to Windows 7.

 

Microsoft: No Reason to Worry

Microsoft says most people love 10 when they try it, and says anyone can roll back to Windows 7 after the upgrade, just like Yates did, by following its simple instructions.

 

But to Melinda Yates, it's just how they did it that still upsets her. "I don't like it," she said. I felt like I was held hostage in my own kitchen."

 

Microsoft claims the free upgrades will end in July, at which point it becomes a $100 upgrade. That means the popup boxes should disappear as well.

 

And Microsoft says people who like their Windows 7 will be able to keep their Windows 7 ... for now.

 

As always, don't waste your money.

 

 

http://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/woman-claims-windows-10-tricked-her-into-upgrade

 

 

[steven36]

 

Quote

 

Automatic Microsoft upgrade leaves customers unhappy

 

Don’t do it.

That’s what Mary Finnegan, of Mesa, says she’d heard about Windows 10 before her computer unexpectedly loaded an upgrade.

 

“Here comes this stupid Windows 10 that I do not want and there was no way for me to say, ‘I don’t want this,'” said Finnegan.

 

A business consultant for 20 years, she’s familiar with computers but found the new operating system difficult to navigate.

 

“It was not working well at all and it was frustrating to me because when I get on to the computer, I want to get going and I don’t want to have to spend all my time looking for things,” she said.

 

Mary isn’t the only one.

 

Our Call 12 for Action volunteer investigators have fielded a series of similar complaints.

 

So, what can be done?

 

“Microsoft really wants the whole world to move to Windows 10,” said Ken Colburn, The Data Doctor. “They’re basically doing everything they can to encourage people o,r in some cases, maybe trick people into getting their latest update.”

 

Colburn says Microsoft is offering the Windows 10 upgrade for free for one year from its release date. That ends in July.

 

After that, the upgrade could cost you up to $200.

 

But he says, there is a trick to get the upgrade for free and still get your computer back to the way it was.

 

“If you allow Windows 10 to fully upgrade your machine, you have up to 30 days to roll it back,” said Colburn. “It’s built in to the Windows 10 upgrade.”

 

That way, your free copy of Windows 10 is saved with a digital marker.

 

“Problem solved, at least for the time being,” said Finnegan. “I was thrilled.”

 

She is glad Data Doctors helped her computer get back to normal. But so far, her experience with Windows 10 has left her unimpressed.

 

“I don’t need this hassle,” said Finnegan. “I don’t need this program and I don’t want it to come on to my machine.”

http://www.12news.com/money/business/consumer/call-12-for-action/automatic-microsoft-upgrade-leaves-customers-unhappy/242720847

 

 

 

 

[VileTouch]

4 hours ago, Karlston said:

 

No, I don't. If I want to, I can stay on Windows 7 or 8.1 forever.

sure you can, but soon every hardware and software will be made Windows 10 compliant, the same way every other old api is deprecated and phased out. this is a move not to éclat Windows 10, but to finally put old hardware to rest.

"but why?", you say.

because backwards compatibility hinders progress.

namely the lack of CMPXCHG16b.

 

 

4 hours ago, Karlston said:

I'm sure it'll come as a surprise to many that my newly built Skylake box has Windows 10 on it.

 

I'm not silly enough to dismiss Windows 10 forever. Once Microsoft stop effing about with unimportant things (Edge, dialogue box background colours, etc) and start dealing with the greater problems/annoyances (forced updates, wi-fi-only metering, the control panel/setting dog's breakfast, etc) I have no doubt it'll become worthy.

 

What I intensely rile about is Microsoft's offensive, despicable, unethical, and immoral "upgrade-at-all-costs" behaviour. No respect for the user. Incompatible software gets deleted, so the poor user can no longer use the PC to do his job. Force the UI-challenged users to use strange, unfamiliar UI, etc. All for the sake of adding one to their "X million devices installed" deceptive BS.

 

THAT'S what is evil and untrustworthy about Microsoft, not it's new OS! Heil Microsoft! Vindows 10 ueber alles! Für den Vindows 10, sieg heil... sieg heil...

 

 

I,for once, i'm glad Microsoft is pushing everyone into the same codebase. It's something they should have done years ago. that way therere's no need to make multiple patches for the same problem. for developers, there's no need hack in workarounds for older versions of windows, and for users, there's no need to learn multiple ways to do the same thing.

i think we can agree that everyone is sick and tired of folders and settings changing places every time a new version comes out. not any more
 

[steven36]

1 hour ago, VileTouch said:

,for once, i'm glad Microsoft is pushing everyone into the same codebase. It's something they should have done years ago. that way therere's no need to make multiple patches for the same problem. for developers, there's no need hack in workarounds for older versions of windows, and for users, there's no need to learn multiple ways to do the same thing.

i think we can agree that everyone is sick and tired of folders and settings changing places every time a new version comes out. not any more

The problem with that  the code is forever changing it will change for everyone on 10 in 49 days .  Its going too change  2 times a year  major releases  this is like installing two major updates a year only computer geeks and beta testers are interested in this. kind of stuff. is in a rolling release   A lot of people stayed on XP for over 10 years .

 

Windows 10 is not the last windows that's just a illusion you get major updates of windows  2 times a year they be just be like Mac 10 OSX were they only change the code name when the code name changes that's a new O/S witch Apple don't force updates on you by the way  Windows still uses the same NT kernel  that was in Windows 2000 and its all been just about the same code since Vista when they started to really use the x64 architecture   Vista, Vista 7 Vista 8  Vista 10  and Windows 10 will be the same way Threshold  update 1 and 2 , Redstone will be a new version of windows ... Redstone update 1 and 2 , then a new version of windows . on and on . its just Windows =code name the 10 part is just a illusion .

 

Its not really changed its always been like this just now new versions are forced on you .

Windows codenames

https://namingschemes.com/Windows_codenames

 

If the whole world  done the same thing  and looked the same  used the exact same programs  we would all be boring clones  and that's what windows is becoming a unified windows were it becomes boring and stagnated  were you just pay them a fee every so many years . There trying to make it were you can keep using it without reinstalling but after so many updates its going to backfire and you're hardware is not too going work on it . Because vendors  are going to stop supporting after they lose so much money they lost a ton already with it being free this long.  Everything Microsoft makes they are depended  on other vendors  for it too run  and the  way its done vendors expect you to upgrade every 3 years  and with Windows 10 being free its already 300 million and growing  who are not shopping for pcs