Windows 10 is a recommended update now

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 2, 2016
Updated • Jul 5, 2017
Windows, Windows 10
|
72

Microsoft changed the state of the "upgrade to Windows 10" update for Windows 7 and 8.1 devices to recommended on February 1, 2016 from optional.

Microsoft continues to push Windows 10, and as the company announced back in October 2015, made the upgrade to its latest operating system Windows 10 a recommended update on devices running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

The main difference between optional and recommended updates is that recommended updates may be installed automatically on devices running Windows depending on how the system is configured.

On some devices, on those where the option to handle recommended updates similar to important updates is enabled, the upgrade may be downloaded without further consent on the user's part (there is still a prompt though to initiate the upgrade process).

Microsoft notes however that most Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be able to decline the upgrade offer to Windows 10 in case they don't want to upgrade their computer systems to the new operating system.

Basically, Windows users may get the offer to Windows 10 if they have enabled automatic updates on their device. Windows may even download part of the update in advance prior to the user's acceptance of the download.

The reason behind the move, according to Microsoft, is to make it easier for customers to schedule a time for their upgrade to take place.

It is likely however that the change is going to irritate some customers who don't want to upgrade their systems to the newest version, something that at least some state is more difficult than getting the upgrade to install on machines.

It is likely that some users who use systems operated by Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 will be caught off-guard by the change even though it has been announced in advanced and been reported by major tech sites and other sites as well.

Windows systems that are configured either via Group Policy or the Registry to block the upgrade from being installed in first place won't be affected by the change. The option is best for users who don't want their machines to be upgrade.

Software like GWX Control Panel may also help in preventing the installation of the upgrade, even though it has become quite difficult to block it permanently.

Windows users who want to check up on their machines update settings may do so in the following way:

  1. Tap on the Windows-key, type Windows Update and hit enter.
  2. In the left pane, click on the "change settings" link.
  3. Under "important updates", select an appropriate option for the handling of updates (check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them).
  4. Under recommended updates, make sure the box "give me recommended updates the same way I received important updates" is not checked.

If Windows 8 is the operating system that is used, you may need to click on "advanced options" first before the selection becomes available.

Summary
Windows 10 is a recommended update now
Article Name
Windows 10 is a recommended update now
Description
Microsoft changed the state of the Windows 10 upgrade on Windows 7 and 8.1 machines to recommended from optional.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. john said on May 18, 2016 at 1:43 pm
    Reply

    not everyone has 100000TB super online speed, data is very expensive in our conutry, i go online with a speed like 96k, it will take months to download anything

    we have an old 44″ plotter, and some old programs like unknown image ripper, freehand, pagemaker, some 3d stuff, i dont think it will work under windows 10

  2. adam said on March 31, 2016 at 4:18 am
    Reply

    PEOPLE BE HONEST
    microsoft KNEW precisely wich phone lumia and when will recieve an updtae THEY PROMISED in exchange for help AND control , tests using DATA , AND BASICLY SOMETIMES WE COULDNT USE OUR PHONE BUT OK WE WILL HAVE STABLE VERSION OF WIN 10 ON OUR DEVICES FIRST YES IT WAS MORE THAN YEAR AGO..
    NOW AT THE VERY END IT SEEMS SOME MORE PPWERFULL LUMIAS THAN YOUR CHOOSEN ONES (I KNOW WHAT AND EVERY FORUM SHOULD KNOW what these models have in common
    WE.WERE stupid Stupid many many people helped.FOR A YEAR of and YOU WERE USING OUR PHONES LIKE NO ONE BEFORE YOU saved BILIONS BILLIONS DOLLARS it was great plan it is many years of testing.and you had all the world most of models and full controll to help US
    IT IS WORLD RECORD I AM SHOCKED AND APPLE AS WELL IT IS 4-5 YEARS OF TESTING AND STILL MILLIINS USERS NO ONE HAS EVER MADE SUCH A RESEARCHBON CUSTOMERS COST
    MILIONS OF DEVICES TOTALY USED BY YOU NONE OF YOUR RESPONSIBLE FOR NORMAL WORKING??? EXCEPT FOR SAFETY DATA…WE CANNIT CHCECK WHAT AND HOW AND WHERE IT IS SEND? OK BUT WHAT,IS IN EVERY WINDOWS 8.1 PHONE??? IT IS ALSO TIME SAVED
    AND NO DISCOUNTS OFFERS FOR.600 000 useres NOTHINS SPECIAL ?? even 10 dollars for wveryone of insider program it is still huge save for you but noooo you fu…
    NOT EVEN STABLE WIN10 for.LUMA 925 STILLto buy on your website??? still?
    opinions were to blind us younhad full lig ofbwhat and how is working and everything was legal??”
    1year and i can kiss my lumia and you spit in me.. smilie
    now plan was perfect no apologies phones choosen werrent realu helpfull more than.half of insiders suckers were kicked of course i cannot read nothin with sence cause it is all planned now forums were expecting some old phones not to be choosen??? give us a question if microsoft broken promises???? were are facts FEEE OF CHARGE USING AS THEY WISH IN ALL THE WORLD IN ALMOST EVERY WIN 8 ONE YEAR OF TESTIMG WHAT MEANS FIRST 8 MINTH ONLY FOR KIDS NO BUSINESS BANK BECAUAE IT WAS SO UNSTABLE…BUT OK YOU TRY TO CREATE SMTH TGHTR LETS CATCH APPLE AND ANDROID BE PART OF SMTH… MAY MAY AND YOU THINK WVERY ONE IS STUPID?? ONLY YOU COUNTING?? NONE OF THEM I CSN SEE ONLINE ??? MAYBE MY POST WILL BE ERASED..
    tBUT WE ARE OUTSIDE WEB TOU HAD LOST AND YOU MADE SMTH WHAT IS UNBELIEVSBLE… MANY IF INSIDERS HAS NO IDEA WHAT THRY DID FOR FREE FOE MICROSOFT OFCOURSE STUPID USERES
    APPLE WAS WATCHING …
    WE WERE WACHING
    MANY PEOPLE HAS.NO IDEAAND IT IS BECAUSE THEY DIDINT SPEND A FEW OURS TO UNDERSTAND AND READ YOUR POLLICY BUT MOST OF TKEM THEY READ AND YOU WILL FALL I FEEL STUPID AND IT IS MY FAULT
    APPLE SELLING THE SAME PARTS MANY YEARS? STILL SAME CSMERA JUST UNLOCKED LETS OH YEAH IT IS BISINESS LIKE NO ONE
    YOU SURPASSED IT ABSOLUTELY BUT YOU HAVE CHANGEND PEOPLE ARE TALKIN TO EACH OTHER NOT ONLY THROUGH WEB…
    AND YOU HAD DOCTORS HAKERS TEACHEES EVEN DRUG BARONS HELPING YOU ..YOUNSPIT ON THEM…
    maybe among childish facebook american socirty you can do such a thing and idiots are in the forums and net two weeks ago saying , one no thinking what google is saying about win 10 mobile update…
    good bye you thiefs (legal) you had lost more than you can see now Europa is angry .. different languages says different things than englisch
    LIARS THIEFS PAYBACK TIME NO MORE AND STILL OFFICIALY NOTHINNHAPPEND NO EXPLANATION
    germany france even uk or poland i wish you coild see peoples faces…

  3. Tibbs said on March 24, 2016 at 8:38 pm
    Reply

    IT@S NOW MARKED AS IMPORTANT – I am begging Microsoft to stop this farce of the upgrade. Most small business users are using laptops or PCs with Windows 7 Home Premium and to upgrade them to 10 seriously damages their productivity. Some have just reluctantly upgraded from XP and some are running versions of accounting software donkey years old and the upgrade makes their software inoperable. Running this software in the way they do does make them unproductive or inefficient. Your upgrade to 10 does. How dare you, very very dare you inflict this on the business community for the sake of your pride and vanity. Most users have just upgraded to Windows 7 – stop this madness now, it’s bordering on if not downright criminal. I work in small business support.

  4. w said on February 5, 2016 at 9:48 am
    Reply

    Martin, consider changing the title of this article to something like this:

    MS now making Windows 10 a “recommended update”

    The reason is that when I first saw the title, and until I had read over the article and stopped and re-read parts, I thought “Windows 10 now a recommended update” meant that you, Martin, were now recommending everyone update to Windows 10. In fact, you don’t state your opinion (here, at least) of whether a user should update to Windows 10 at all; readers should at least know (as they will if they read all the comments) that there’s a debate about this.

    And this would also be a great article in which to briefly state your opinion, Martin, or at least to give a link to an article that does so. Thanks so much for all the info on your site!!

  5. Sammy said on February 4, 2016 at 2:36 pm
    Reply

    I have used Windows as an OS for as long as i can remember. The XP was amazing for a strong decade for me. I just moved to Windows 7. What’s the deal with the rush for Windows 10? I’m currently using both of them. I can’t say I’m impressed with Windows 10.

  6. Maou said on February 3, 2016 at 4:59 pm
    Reply

    I’m wondering if after the first “free upgrade” year, they will stop pestering the user to update since it’s not “free” anymore?

    Anyway, they should stop this BS, not every computer in the world can run Win10 properly.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on February 3, 2016 at 5:16 pm
      Reply

      There is a chance that they will continue to offer it for free after the first year.

      1. Maou said on February 3, 2016 at 6:10 pm
        Reply

        Thanks Martin!

      2. Jeff said on February 3, 2016 at 6:10 pm
        Reply

        I bet it will be free until they hit their 1 billion install goal.

  7. S0215 said on February 2, 2016 at 8:36 pm
    Reply

    Personally, again, RISK taking is NOT the way to get or simply EXPERIENCE the latest yet not OFFICIAL/STABLE Win 10. I am still (bit) suffering from its “white window” for upgrading my 7 to 10 right now, and I will disable it later… Yet, I will be pleased to see my i7 upgraded for free by MS LOL.

  8. DaFoo said on February 2, 2016 at 8:05 pm
    Reply

    “On some devices, on those where the option to handle recommended updates similar to important updates is enabled, the upgrade may be started without further consent on the user’s part.”

    False. As noted by other articles, the user STILL would have to manually accept the Windows 10 install prompt for the installation to take place.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on February 2, 2016 at 8:20 pm
      Reply

      You are right, I corrected this.

  9. Jeff said on February 2, 2016 at 7:34 pm
    Reply

    As a self employed tech with hundreds of Win 7 & 8.1 users, I can’t begin to tell you how angry this move makes me. This is going to cause me no end of headaches.

    MS, go fu*k yourself.

  10. AppleOrMicromuff said on February 2, 2016 at 6:47 pm
    Reply

    Would it make sense to change from Microsoft to Apple products ? Or has Apple a similar attitude towards its customers ? Right now I am considering an Ipad, but they are expensive.

    For portability I have tried a Samsung Tab3 lite Android system and I absolutely hated it. Advertising all over the place, no full control over the device (did not root it) plus questionable apps and Google behind everything. I did not trust the system to put any serious work or password on it. Actually I disposed it despite the device itself being well made. But Android, …. no thank you.

    So any respond to my inital question would be highly appreciated.

    1. Rocky said on February 3, 2016 at 9:27 pm
      Reply

      If control over your system is what you desire I think you may feel constrained in Apples “walled garden”. I agree with you about being uncomfortable with Google’s advertising and tracking. It is I think of looking for the “least worst” – Microsoft or Apple or Google. In the end they are all commercial companies looking to make a profit.

    2. Corky said on February 3, 2016 at 8:09 am
      Reply

      From my understanding Apple is no different when it comes to mobile devices, assuming that’s what you’re referring to as you mentioned Android, personally if i had to use a mobile device i would use one that i had control over, i.e a rooted Android device.

  11. A&L said on February 2, 2016 at 6:32 pm
    Reply

    GWX control panel works to keep win 10 away
    http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/

  12. Jason said on February 2, 2016 at 4:38 pm
    Reply

    > “Microsoft notes however that most Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be able to decline the upgrade offer to Windows 10 in case they don’t want to upgrade”

    This is totally disingenous from Microsoft (and of course they know it). How many people are going to click on the little X in the top-right corner of the window instead of clicking on the prominent “Upgrade now” displayed in the middle of the window? The type of user who leaves full automatic updates enabled is the type of user who gets fooled by this cleverly designed upgrade window.

    And let’s not be naive and think that this serves the user’s interests somehow. That’s just Microsoft spin. The reality is that Microsoft wants to switch over as many customers as possible to a new business model, and to do so as quickly as possible so that the company’s enormous market share is preserved. This has nothing to do with keeping people “up to date”. (You can happily use Windows 7 for the next few years without being left in the dark.)

    Microsoft’s behaviour here is an exercise in “social engineering”. But let’s understand that this is not the traditional kind of social engineering, i.e. a TV advert trying to build excitement about a product. Here we have a situation where people are being tricked to believe they MUST perform a certain action; it’s not presented to them as an option. This is the kind of social engineering we expect from hackers rather than from legitimate businesses.

    Another behaviour we expect from hackers is to download massive installer files in the background without the computer user knowing. … And yes, Microsoft recently did that too with the Windows 10 upgrade. They used 6 GB of bandwidth that the end-user pays for, and took 6 GB of storage that the end user owns.

    There’s always been an imaginery “line in the sand”, with ethical behaviour on one side and unethical on the other. If it’s not obvious to everyone, Microsoft has delicately stepped over this line, hoping that not enough people will notice to complain.

    1. T J said on February 3, 2016 at 3:45 pm
      Reply

      @jason

      Disingenuous. Translate as (pick any one) sly, sneaky, crooked, deceitful, conning the user.
      MS did not step delicately over the the line. MS trampled it into the dust !

      MS is guilty also of the following:
      1. Trying to gain financial (pecuniary) advantage by expanding market share, and increasing the share price,
      at the expense of the user. This is fraud.
      2. Hacking PCs and Laptops by using dubious “security” updates and downloading Win 10 without permission.
      This is a criminal offence, especially when it includes misuse of the user’s paid for data allowance.

      I look forward to the shills reaction and, possilbly, a letter from MS’s tame lawyers.

  13. exrelayman said on February 2, 2016 at 4:05 pm
    Reply

    Have given W10 a try on 2 desktops, a 6 yr old W7 Acer, and a 2 yr old W8.1 Gateway. The Acer suffered a contraction of the display to about 80% of the monitor screen, distortion, and no ability to change the resolution setting – also there was no ability to update to a workable video driver. The Gateway suffered a weak and distorted sound and lack of a volume control, with again no available audio driver update.

    Besides this, in my short time playing with W10, I noticed that items placed on the taskbar would not offer a drop down menu of recent usages when right clicked – a very nice feature gone missing. I would expect that over time this might be remedied, but I guess I will be running W10 only when present pc fails and I must buy a new one.

    1. DaFoo said on February 3, 2016 at 5:41 am
      Reply

      I just checked my computer, and VLC definitely has the drop down list on the taskbar, so again, that isn’t the normal behavior for Windows 10.

      1. Corky said on February 5, 2016 at 8:45 am
        Reply

        @DaFoo, Call it what you will but myself and plenty of other people see it as being all but forced into upgrading.

        On default setting Windows will download and start the install of Windows 10 on older operating system and the only time a customer has a choice is when they’re presented with the Windows 10 EULA, every time they boot or re-boot their computer, forever, until they click accept to the EULA that pops up halfway through installing Windows 10 each time they boot their computer.

        So sure their not forcing people to upgrade but that’s not what i said, i said all but forced, the only reason their not actually forcing it on people is because legally the customer must agree to the EULA, if as is going to happen to millions of customer who are using the default setting with Windows update they agree to to that EULA it will upgrade them, if they don’t it won’t but it will then ask them to agree to the EULA next time the boot or re-boot their computer.

        Perhaps it would help to read about how this latest change to ‘recommended’ is effecting people.
        http://www.infoworld.com/article/3029613/microsoft-windows/new-details-emerge-about-forced-windows-10-upgrade-and-how-to-block-it.html

      2. DaFoo said on February 4, 2016 at 11:18 pm
        Reply

        @Corky

        But they aren’t forcing anyone to upgrade, and that is the point. They want them to upgrade, but they have not forced anyone to do so, and of course they’re going to tell others how great their new product is, why wouldn’t they?

        No one has been forced to use Windows 10. No older OS has been forced to upgrade. Yes, Microsoft has made it clear that it wants you to upgrade, but no one is forced to do so. I am typing this on a Windows 7 computer, and I won’t upgrade it to Windows 10, and Microsoft has no ability to force me to upgrade it. What promises has Windows 10 not lived up to? How has Microsoft lied to the customer? They believe in their product, they want people to upgrade, but they haven’t lied and for the people who have upgraded, the majority are satisfied with it. In fact, a recent article just came out showing that the majority of people ARE happy with Windows 10.

        For all OS upgrades, there is a small percentage where things will go wrong. This is just accepted by all OS developers. But as long as the overwhelming majority aren’t suffering from issues, it’s a success.

      3. Corky said on February 4, 2016 at 5:52 pm
        Reply

        @DaFoo, People aren’t angry because Microsoft “wants” them to use their OS, their angry because Microsoft is all but forcing people to upgrade and telling anyone that’ll listen how great their new product is and taking a slash & burn approach to older OS’s

        Its got nothing to do with the number of people experiencing problems versus those who aren’t, it’s how Microsoft are all but forcing people into using Windows 10 and telling everyone how great it is, strong arm tactics like that come with an implicit guarantee, when you’re marketing a product to people as being better than what their currently using and it doesn’t live up to you’re promises then reason or numbers don’t play into it, the fact is you lied to that customer.

        When you advise, or in Microsoft case pressure people into doing something, you take responsibility if something goes wrong because without your advise, without you pressuring them into taking action nothing would have gone wrong.

      4. DaFoo said on February 4, 2016 at 3:53 pm
        Reply

        @Corky
        When you have 200 million installs, it’s not unthinkable that a small handful of those 200 million will be angry for whatever reason. This has happened with EVERY upgrade of ANY OS. Again, being angry that Microsoft wants you to use their new OS is, to me, ridiculous. Of course they want you to upgrade, they want people to be on their new system and they want to make money. In your car example, for most people, the car runs great, and doesn’t break down. But yes, some cars WILL have problems and will break down for people. All car companies have a failure rate. It’s not indicative of their cars as a whole, it’s part of business. For the majority of the 200 million users, Windows 10 works great. For a small subset, there are issues, but that was true with every OS.

      5. exrelayman said on February 4, 2016 at 1:31 pm
        Reply

        Tried using the update feature instead of a clean install with my Gateway. None of the problems mentioned above. I am getting rid of windows.old since it wastes 16G of hard drive which slows down the startup and also slows down making and restoring images.Acer has been donated, so I cannot report about it.

      6. Corky said on February 4, 2016 at 7:02 am
        Reply

        @DaFoo, Again it seems apologies are in order, most sites reported the number as Windows 10 “has been installed on” but when going to the horse mouth the Microsoft blog post says “monthly active devices”

        Apologies for making the same mistake that a lot of other sites seem to have made. :)
        But i still stand by my original statement that if you’re pushing something (Windows 10) on people this hard that it’s understandable that there’s anger when things don’t go right, it’s like someone telling you how you can trade in your old faithful car that’s never broken down for this newer car, it’s free, it’s great, it’s all the things Microsoft have been giving people as reasons to upgrade, and when you decide to take them up on their offer the newer model car doesn’t work or breaks down.

        Numbers don’t really come into it though as when you’re crowing about how good something is and nearly forcing it on people just a single bad experience from a customer makes that bad experience entirely your fault, it is after all you whose been telling everyone how good everything is and strong arming people into doing what you want.

      7. DaFoo said on February 3, 2016 at 8:25 pm
        Reply

        @Corky,
        Sorry, but like I said, MS is counting active installs. This is from the ZDnet article when MS announced the 200 million figure:
        “Update: A company spoksperson confirmed the 200 million figure includes Xbox One consoles. And “active” means Windows 10 devices that have been “active” in the last 28 days, the spokesperson said.”

        This is from an official announcement by MS, not Netmarketshare or Statcounter.

      8. Corky said on February 3, 2016 at 5:17 pm
        Reply

        @Martin, Maths never was my strong point..LOL
        Apologises

        @DaFoo, Microsoft (afaik) reports total installs and that where the 200 million number comes from, Netmarketshare uses unique internet visitors and reports a percentage, Statcounter counts all internet visitors as a percentage, either way because my maths was wrong it don’t matter much. :)

        But i would say my original point that when when their pushing Windows 10 so hard on people it’s understandable that there’s anger when things don’t go right.

      9. Martin Brinkmann said on February 3, 2016 at 6:06 pm
        Reply

        No worries :)

      10. DaFoo said on February 3, 2016 at 4:29 pm
        Reply

        @Corky,
        Actually, the reports are of ACTIVE users, not simply installs. So, yes, 200 million active users as of last month.

      11. Corky said on February 3, 2016 at 4:04 pm
        Reply

        @DaFoo, 200 million installs doesn’t equal people using it, that’s just how many people Microsoft reported had installed it, they may have reverted to their old OS, they may have been testing it, they may have been doing anything.

        If we use the global amount of Internet users (around 3 billion) and take the percentage share that the bean counters report (around 10 percent) then Windows 10 has around three hundred thousand active users, obviously those numbers are very rough back of an envelope calculations but no matter how you juggle the figures it’s very difficult to get to Microsoft’s claimed 200 million.

      12. Martin Brinkmann said on February 3, 2016 at 4:27 pm
        Reply

        Corky, 10% of 3 billion are 300 million, not 300,000.

      13. DaFoo said on February 3, 2016 at 3:38 pm
        Reply

        But Corky, with over 200 million installs, the majority of people are having experiences more like me and less like exrelayman. So I would say that my experiences are the norm, while having a “nearly unusable system” is an outlier.

      14. Corky said on February 3, 2016 at 8:04 am
        Reply

        Well it is kind of normal behavior for Windows 10, some people like yourself DaFoo have not one problem, some have just a few little niggles, other like exrelayman end up with nearly unusable system, and sure Microsoft can’t fix every little problem all the time but when their pushing Windows 10 so hard on people it’s understandable that there’s anger when things don’t go right.

    2. DaFoo said on February 2, 2016 at 8:07 pm
      Reply

      Your update must be odd. I have had none of those issues and I still get a drop down of recent files on taskbar items. And I’ve updated 9 computers to Windows 10, and it’s the same with all of them.

      1. exrelayman said on February 2, 2016 at 9:02 pm
        Reply

        Made clean install from USB hoping to save disk space, maybe just updating instead would have worked better. Some windows things would create a right click menu at the task bar, Kingsoft writer and VLC player would not.

  14. Rocky said on February 2, 2016 at 3:51 pm
    Reply

    @BobbyPhoenix
    I tend to agree with you. Like it or not the OS is moving on – sure one can stay with Windows7 but if you do then it should be a conscious decision to stay with the old (I haven’t upgraded two business PCs yet but may do so soon) and understand the consequences. If everybody had taken this view about XP then we would never have experienced W7 .
    There seems to be a constant resistance to change (Firefox, Windows, even Linux – instance the furore over systemd) . In the words of the Borg ” resistance is futile , we shall assimilate you” !!

    1. Jeff said on February 3, 2016 at 2:17 pm
      Reply

      These shills show up every time like clockwork.

      “Win 10 is the future!”

      “I got Win 10 on day one and have been loving it!”

      “resistance is futile!”

      sigh

      1. DaFoo said on February 5, 2016 at 7:16 pm
        Reply

        @Jeff
        You’ve replied as many times to me as I have to you, so isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? I only reply when false information is supplied and I feel the need to correct it. I don’t care about the front page, because I don’t read this site, but I do get email notifications when someone replies to me. It only took me six minutes because I happened to be at my computer at the time. I also have a job, but that doesn’t keep me from spreading the truth in face of FUD.

        P.S. Tell Mr. Cook I said his products suck.

      2. Jeff said on February 5, 2016 at 5:09 pm
        Reply

        @Dafoo,

        Actually I was just testing to see if my hunch was true, that you are one of those obsessive compulsive ‘last word’ type of posters who hawk every thread they post in to see if someone replied to them. Even this 2-day old post which had fallen off the front page – took you a mere 6 minutes to find my response and reply.

        So go ahead and get the last word. I’ll submit. I doubt I have your stamina. I also have a job.

        P.S. Tell Mr Nadella I said hello.

      3. DaFoo said on February 5, 2016 at 4:07 pm
        Reply

        @Jeff,
        I don’t think you understand what “evidence” means. You are assuming that because new people are around who are defending Microsoft then that is evidence that they are paid shills. It isn’t. It is evidence that people disagree with you and articles like this, and that’s all. You want to claim that pro-Microsoft people are shills because then you can dismiss their claims easily, instead of arguing the facts they present. It’s a lazy way to argue.

      4. Jeff said on February 5, 2016 at 4:01 pm
        Reply

        @DaFoo

        “Sorry but that isn’t evidence. That’s your assumptions colored by your preconceived biases”

        It is evidence. Plainly and clearly. It is *your* preconceived biases that prevent you from seeing the evidence. I’ll admit though, for a shill, you’re convincing and persistent.

      5. Corky said on February 5, 2016 at 8:29 am
        Reply

        @DaFoo, On that we’re going to have to agree to disagree then because i don’t think you can compare adoption rates with previous operating systems and draw any meaningful conclusion, least of all if an OS is a success or not, even if it wasn’t for the difference in price you have different economics in play (people may have more or less money than in the past), you have an ever changing technological landscape (people may be using mobile devices more or less), and you have other factors like increases in the amount of people using the internet, IMHO there’s to many factors to be able to draw any meaningful conclusion.

        If you were being objective about it you wouldn’t be putting so much faith in what the CEO of Microsoft tells you or other sites with a Microsoft bias (it’s well know that Microsoft have paid for astroturfing and positive PR in the past) the fact is even with the first months spike in adoption rate Windows 10 has since failed to keep pace with previous OS (not that we can draw anything meaningful from that), if you are interested in how it’s slowed since release though i suggest reading this article.
        http://www.computerworld.com/article/2980867/microsoft-windows/free-upgrade-gave-windows-10-a-one-month-boost.html

        Also the article that you refer to saying that Windows 10 adoption rates are TWICE Windows 7’s in the business world isn’t exactly accurate, it’s twice the adoption rate of Windows 8 (not 7) in the business world, that’s unless you can provide a link to an article showing the recent PR release by Microsoft was referring to 7 because AFAIK the original source for that “news” was this article.
        http://www.spiceworks.com/it-articles/windows-10-adoption/
        When digging a little deeper into the spiceworks report you’ll find it’s very biased, one might even say all but useless, when scanning their customers networks they count a single device with Windows 10 as the company is testing it, and more importantly 3 or more devices with Windows 10 as “wide spread” adoption.

      6. DaFoo said on February 4, 2016 at 11:11 pm
        Reply

        @Corky
        Sorry, but it’s not disingenuous. You can compare the adoption rate between the two OS’s, and disqualifying the comparisons because Microsoft lowered the cost is uncalled for, in my opinion, because Microsoft lowered the price for the sole reason of creating an increased adoption rate. And they succeeded. Windows 10 IS a phenomenal success based on its adoption rate, it doesn’t matter if that is helped due to the price (or lack thereof). It’s on 200 million computers in six months, and that’s a success no matter how you slice it.
        Of course the adoption rate of Windows 10 will be lowered compared to the first few months, but in that case it is a victim of its own success. A huge number of people jumped on it right away, and after that large push, adoption rates will of couse have slowed. But that isn’t as important as to whether the adoption rates are outpacing the previous OS’s, and they have. In fact, a new article released just this week show that Windows 10 adoption rates are TWICE Windows 7’s in the business world (where Microsoft actually makes its money). Also this is from three days ago:
        “We crossed the 200 million milestone, and Windows 10 is outpacing adoption of any of our previous operating systems,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, in opening remarks during a recent conference call discussing the company’s FY16 Q2 earnings. “In fact, adoption is nearly 140 percent faster than Windows 7.”

      7. Corky said on February 4, 2016 at 5:28 pm
        Reply

        @DaFoo, I’ve no regret or sorrow about Windows 10 adoption rate but for you to compare its adoption rate with that of an OS that people paid money for is disingenuous, i may have misinterpreted the comparison you were trying to draw but (to me) it seemed like you were saying that because Windows 10’s adoption rate was higher in the first two months after release than Windows 7 that Windows 10 is/was a phenomenal success.

        Having researched the adoption rates you’re correct that Windows 10 saw faster adoption rates than Windows 7 but that was only in the first month, probably because the “free” offer drove early adoption faster than the previous best that people paid money for, after that first month though Windows 10 has consistently shown lower adoption rates than the previous best so the fact that it was free only served to drive early adoption.

      8. DaFoo said on February 4, 2016 at 3:58 pm
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        @Corky,
        You can’t lament that adoption rates are better because the OS is free when that is the entire reason Microsoft made the OS free in the first place. Their strategy worked! They wanted people to adopt the OS in huge numbers, and so far, that is exactly what is happening. Of course it helps that it was free, but that is tautology. If it were 500 dollars, the adoption rate would be almost nil! That is the point of making it free. Windows 10 IS the fastest adopted OS in history, and being free is a huge reason why. Which is what Microsoft wanted. So it worked out.

      9. Corky said on February 4, 2016 at 7:13 am
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        @DaFoo, Windows 10 may have a higher adoption rate than Windows 7 (I’ve not checked) but that’s really not saying much, Windows 7 cost something like $70 whereas Windows 10 is “free”

        Windows 10 should be the fastest adopted OS in Microsoft’s history seeing as their giving it away and it’s available on more devices, for the adoption rate to be even close to an OS that people paid money for speaks volumes about what peoples opinions are IMHO.

      10. Rocky said on February 3, 2016 at 9:23 pm
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        @ Jeff
        I do post here from time to time so I am not showing up to comment on this article. As far as “taking care to belittle people” is concerned is not ” These shills show up every time like clockwork” doing just that i.e belittling those who have a different opinion. On re-reading my first post above I realise perhaps I could have been more careful with my use of language and I apologise if you felt I was belittling anybody.

        Perhaps we should all just accept that there are sincerely held different opinions and engage in constructive debate and discussion for the benefit of all those who read Martins excellent articles.

      11. DaFoo said on February 3, 2016 at 8:22 pm
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        @Jeff,
        Sorry but that isn’t evidence. That’s your assumptions colored by your preconceived biases. Perhaps the simpler answer is that people who are fans of Microsoft’s products only comment when there are negative articles and feel like their voice needs to be heard, and aren’t around in general because people don’t usually comment on positive or neutral articles. Second, the only reason I am here is because someone who apparently reads this site linked to this in the comment section of a ZDnet article. Otherwise, I had never heard of this site. I would presume that many people probably have not heard of this site, and would only come here from a more popular site, which is why you would see an influx of non-regulars when the more inflammatory articles on this site are published.

      12. DaFoo said on February 3, 2016 at 8:18 pm
        Reply

        @Gary D
        MS counts active users. So, no they wouldn’t count uninstalls, but that is irrelevant, because all they care about is who is currently using the Windows 10 OS. If people have uninstalled it, then they wouldn’t be counted as active users. And, yes, these are all platforms, obviously. Windows 10 is available for computers, Xbox, and phones. However, the amount of Windows 10 installs on xbox and phones is minuscule compared to computers, so even if it is slightly less than 200 million computers that have Windows 10, it’s still a hell of a lot. And of COURSE there are still more Windows 7 (not XP, Windows 10 overtook that this week) users after six months. Windows 7 and XP have been around for almost a decade each. Why would anyone logically think that Windows 10, even free, would overtake that install base within just six months? The fact of the matter, and the most critical point, is that Windows 10 installs have reached 200 million in six months, and that’s phenomenal. The adoption rate meets or exceeds Windows 7’s record breaking rate, and in businesses, it’s TWICE the adoption rate as Windows 7 was. Microsoft wanted 1 billion installs by 2018, and I think it’s safe to say they’ll get it.

      13. Jeff said on February 3, 2016 at 4:29 pm
        Reply

        “Where is your evidence for that?”

        Around here, we get mostly regular posters with a history. But when there’s an article that in some way knocks Win 10, we’ll see new user-names using similar phrasing and usually not just praising Win 10, but taking care to belittle people that are not upgrading. Frequently we see them say things that attempt to make the holdouts look foolish or paint them as a conspiracy theorist when we point out the privacy issues in Win 10.

        Couple that with the extreme level of aggression MS is showing in attempting to get people to upgrade. With my customers I see the tactics daily. Presenting WIn 10 as just another update and doing things like in the screenshot in the above article — no obvious way to DECLINE the offer. We hide KB updates that pertain to Win 10, and MS brings them back out of hiding, when other hidden updates *stay* hidden.

        MS reps have all but stated that they intend to force feed it to people. It is no stretch to think that they are employing shills to scour the web for Win 10 posts and then offer their ‘praise’.

      14. Gary D said on February 3, 2016 at 3:52 pm
        Reply

        @Jeff

        Maybe we should apply to be paid MS shills. I am sure that we could be much more subtle and do a far better job than the current crop ! :-)

        Oh God, another one appeared between your comment and mine. I had to edit the reply.

        Dafoo, MS may count the installs but you can bet that they are not counting the uninstalls within the 30 day grace period.
        Also, these installs are on ALL platforms, not just PCs and Laptops !
        Win 7 and XP still have many more users even after the 6 month “free” install period.

      15. DaFoo said on February 3, 2016 at 3:40 pm
        Reply

        So, you’re saying that with 200 million installs, it’s impossible that there are simply fans of the Windows 10 operating system, and they must be “shills”? Where is your evidence for that?

    2. Gary D said on February 3, 2016 at 12:17 am
      Reply

      @Rocky

      “The OS is moving on”. Oh, you mean like the Win 8/8.1 fiasco which forced MS to launch an unfinished OS called Win 10 which cannot be classed as a stable release. It has as default a very rough and ready browser called Edge which does not have extensions or add ons support.

      Let me enlighten you once more. I live in the UK.
      In the UK, nearly all Bank ATMs use XP.
      All National and Local Government and the National Health Service (NHS) use XP.
      The reason? They are all using “legacy” software to run their organisation which is totally incompatible with Win 10. They are using hardware whose drivers, probably, will not be supported by Win 10.

      To “upgrade” to Win 10 would require a massive staff retraining operation and a huge investment in new hardware and software. Not only that, the majority of businesses run Win 7 which, again, would need massive investment in new software and hardware.
      The investment would run into Billions of GB Pounds for all the above.

      If MS wants everybody, including the above organisations, to upgrade, WHY are they allowing OEM versions of Win 7 to be installed on PCs and Laptops and sold to businesses until at least October 2016 ???

      1. Rocky said on February 3, 2016 at 9:13 pm
        Reply

        Hi Gary D,
        I am just across the water from you in Ireland. I suspect the same situation pertains here with Local Government, health Service etc.

        But is it necessarily a good thing that these bodies are stuck on legacy software . I agree that upgrading for the sake of upgrading does not make any business sense and they are of course paying Microsoft for ongoing support for XP. Surely though they cannot stay forever on XP – even if they switched to Linux there is still an upgrade required at some point ?

    3. Jason said on February 2, 2016 at 4:46 pm
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      “the OS is moving on”

      To what, exactly? Windows 10 is not more technologically sophisticated than Windows 7. If people want to move into something more sophisticated they can install a copy of openSUSE or Mac OS X and just get over it.

    4. Tom Hawack said on February 2, 2016 at 4:16 pm
      Reply

      ” resistance is futile , we shall assimilate you” !!
      I’ll remember that next time I happen to be half-tipsy, targeting a lovely lady daring oppose resistance : “I shall assimilate you”… sounds nice :) Of course she may answer “Not even in your dreams”. Funny, that’s what I had in mind for Microsoft :)
      Perhaps when a man is bothered by a company which first chooses to seduce, then to threat, then sometimes even to rape its customers, maybe then a man, a male, can start to imagine what a woman can go through when we, males, behave as those companies that we denounce.
      That’s all folks. Don’t thank me, my pleasure to participate to a better world :)

      1. Velocity.Wave said on February 4, 2016 at 11:03 am
        Reply

        @tom hawack:

        Your rape-metaphor has to be one of the absolutely creepiest comments I have ever read on ghacks.

  15. Bobby Phoenix said on February 2, 2016 at 2:58 pm
    Reply

    My way of seeing this is if you are on Windows 7 you should have all automatic updates disabled anyway, so this should be a non-issue. If you want to stay on an old system you should know what you are doing, and not need/want automatic updates installed. This process of having 10 come through automatically is really for those normal users who may not understand what is going on, and Microsoft is helping them move forward. I made the move to 10 the day it was available, and have been loving it. No issues at all.

    1. Corky said on February 2, 2016 at 4:52 pm
      Reply

      If normal users are people who may not understand what is going on how on earth are they going to cope with having a new OS foisted on them?

      1. T J said on February 2, 2016 at 11:48 pm
        Reply

        @Corky

        Well said Corky! I would NOT like to start my computer and find a totally alien Desktop facing me, especially a Win 7 user.
        Where are the short cuts? What has happened to the Start button? What do I do next? How can I find my applications? How can I find my spread sheet, my photo editor?
        THESE are the sort of problems which will hit “normal” users. For “normal” users read unsophisticated users who just want to check their emails, bank balance, Facebook, etc, etc.

  16. cdr said on February 2, 2016 at 2:23 pm
    Reply

    I have updated 3 laptops so far to Win10. Ashampoo’s free Windows 10 privacy program is being used to manage the settings that potentially infringe on my desire to be left alone. Classic Shell handles the menu, making Win10 look like Windows 7. I did clean installs for each, meaning I had to spend a few extra hours downloading and installing the ancillary programs that make my laptops go.

    So far, no issues. In fact, Win10 seems to run much better than Win 7 and the annoying Win8 charms don’t exist anymore.

    Wake on Lan didn’t work, although downloading a driver from Realtek fixed it. The default wired Ethernet driver works fine, except for wake on lan. Acronis full drive backup files are much smaller, perhaps Win10 is less bulky?

    I was once concerned about privacy and forced updates. Privacy concerns appear manageable. Forced updates are the new way of the world, my phone is an example. Hopefully Microsoft will prove to be more careful with patches than in the past. Thankfully, I use Acronis backup on a regular basis.

    1. Pete said on February 2, 2016 at 2:59 pm
      Reply

      I wouldn’t count on end-user being able to manage privacy with latest Microsoft stuff. I mean they do for example already circumvent hosts blocking.

      Also I completely disagree about forced updates, it’s not the new way of the world.. if it is, I don’t want to be part of it. I don’t know what phone you have but I’ve NEVER EVER seen any forced updates, either to apps or OS, in phones/tablet.

      1. Pete said on February 2, 2016 at 6:39 pm
        Reply

        @cdr: that is incorrect!! It’s not forced, you can change the update settings. On my Android tablet & Windows Phone, I get notifications, and I update EVERY app separately, nothing is updated automatically.

      2. cdr said on February 2, 2016 at 3:52 pm
        Reply

        Re forced updates: you know when the apps update. Unless you need to grant new permissions, you get them whether or not you want them. Android updates say now or later, not do you want it.

        Ashampoo makes a good privacy manager. It’s easy to use and it’s free, Same with other developers.

  17. Gary D said on February 2, 2016 at 12:16 pm
    Reply

    This move by MS could be interpreted as desperation. I have not seen any (lies, damn lies and) statistics released recently about the uptake of Win 10.
    If the installations of Win 10 had been rising quickly, we would have seen a LOT of crowing by Nadella et al about the success of the OS.
    With all the negative publicity about telemetry, private encryption keys uploaded to MS, etc., it is possible that personal users are becoming less enthusiastic (cynical?). MS has already picked off the “low hanging fruit” of early adapters.
    For enterprise users, the cost of upgrading old programs which are not compatible plus the upheaval caused by transferring data and training staff to use new systems, could be a step too far.

    Comments pro or con my thoughts will be appreciated.

    1. Nonyaz Bizz said on February 5, 2016 at 6:57 pm
      Reply

      I agree. I keep seeing all these shill articles saying that “Windows 10 is great”, “10 reasons to upgrade”, etc. After every pro-10 article I have read is a list of comments. A majority of the comments contain negative experiences.

    2. Doc said on February 2, 2016 at 6:40 pm
      Reply

      You haven’t been reading the appropriate blogs (Ars Technica, Gizmodo, et al). Between the beta of Windows 10 Mobile, the latest Xbox One update (which is Windows 10 under the hood), and desktop/laptops, Nadella has been crowing about Windows 10 being installed on over 1 billion devices. Ars Technica released an article today stating that Windows 10 has more installs than Windows XP *or* Windows Vista (not combined).
      Updating older systems (Windows 7/8/8.1) is reducing the number of different operating systems Microsoft has to support – coding new patches, testing them on every OS, validating device drivers, etc.
      On the other hand, average users don’t care about telemetry, privacy, etc. – they just want everything to work, like a blender or toaster; they don’t have the background in security, encryption, and the surveillance state to know or even care; they’ll scream loudly if their account is hacked, but don’t have the vaguest idea about how it happened. It’s users like us who have to watch out for them, and get them to lock down their PCs.
      Just yesterday I had to walk a user through downloading CCleaner to her Mac and installing it; she’d done NO disc cleanup whatsoever in 7 years of using her MacBook.

      1. Corky said on February 3, 2016 at 7:57 am
        Reply

        It’s a myth that updating older systems would reduce Microsoft’s cost, they’ve promised to support those older systems for a certain length of time so no matter if there’s hundreds, thousands, or many millions of those older system the cost would remain the same, and besides WTH should i care about what it’s costing Microsoft, when i bought a copy of Windows i entered into a contract with Microsoft and i expect them to honor it regardless of how much it costs them.

        Although if past history is anything to go by Microsoft isn’t shy about reneging on the contacts that they entered into with their customers, how much did cost us (people, companies, etc, etc) when Microsoft decided to end support for an integral part of older systems before they were contractually obliged to.

        As for It being users like us who have to watch out for them i assume you’re speaking for yourself, personally i have no interest in keeping up to date on an OS that I’m never going to use, if people want help with Windows in the future i for one won’t be able to help them as i would have long ago moved over to Linux, I’m guessing i won’t be the only “geek” to do so.

    3. Tom Hawack said on February 2, 2016 at 1:08 pm
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      The funniest thing with this Windows 10 odyssey, as far as I’m concerned anyway, is that it has made me focus on the Windows 7 indiscreet settings and has pushed me, not to install Win10 but rather to wonder if anything of the like existed with Win7, and it did : does a little less now that I’ve installed/hardened a few anti-intruders.

      Amazing what has become of Microsoft. I remember Ballmer getting furious, hilarious, a phenomenon and another approach, perhaps. Well, companies change, not always for the best. I guess if you consider the circumstances, that is the relationship between users (who happen to be customers as Microsoft seems to forget it) and companies, the best to do is to consider them as a cat-mouse scheme : everyone is in its own logic, get as much information as possible, and keep determination alive.

    4. Karol said on February 2, 2016 at 12:28 pm
      Reply

      Windows 7 users still have time if they don’t want Windows 10 for free. Windows 7 support will end in 4 years. Then people will have to decide if they want Windows 10 or another OS. In my case, it’s Windows 10 vs Linux. :)

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