Sneaky Windows 10 Upgrade schedule prompts
Microsoft has been very pushy in regards to getting devices that run the previous operating systems Windows 7 or Windows 8.x to upgrade to Windows 10.
The company has been experimenting with various prompts and installation notices so far which seem to get less user friendly with every iteration and the end of the free upgrade offer.
We have already seen prompts that ask you whether you want to upgrade right now or later with no option seemingly to say no to the offer.
We have also seen reports in the past in which users stated that upgrades were enforced on their system without them ever agreeing to it or being notified about it.
Microsoft has also been very persistent in regards to system updates that prepare previous versions of Windows for the upgrade to Windows 10 by reissuing these updates frequently.
Users who hide these updates so that they are not installed will find them listed as updates again which in turn means that they have to repeat the process of hiding it to prevent its installation on the computer.
Great! Your Windows 10 upgrade is scheduled for
The latest version of the Get Windows 10 upgrade prompt is another sneaky attempt at getting users to upgrade to Windows 10.
It reads Great! Your Windows 10 upgrade is scheduled for and follows that up by listing a date the upgrade will be installed on.
There is a big close button on the screen but clicking on it won't stop the scheduled upgrade from being executed on the system as it will merely close the prompt.
If nothing else is done, the update will be installed on the marked date and the files required for the upgrade will be downloaded in advance using the device's Internet connection.
The reschedule or cancel upgrade link needs to be clicked on if you don't want the upgrade to be downloaded or installed.
So, if you don't want your operating system to be upgraded to Windows 10, you need to click on that link and select the cancel option to prevent that from happening.
While the prompt itself is less sneaky than the "upgrade now or later" prompt that lacked a visible option to cancel the upgrade -- you had to click on the close icon of the window to do that -- it makes the upgrade look like a done deal already even though you have not agreed to it at all at that point.
There are ways to prevent Windows 10 upgrade prompts from being shown on a PC, and those are without doubt the best way to prevent any issue with these upgrade offers.
Microsoft set itself the ambitious goal of getting 1 billion devices on Windows 10 in three years after the release of the operating system (which was July 29, 2015).
What’s even easier to use than GWX Panel?
Steve Gibson’s “Never 10”.
https://www.grc.com/never10.htm
One click blocks upgrading, and one more click does away with the stored upgrading files, if they are on your system. (It tells you whether or not the hidden files are present.) Later, just one click restores the upgrade capability if/when you’re ready for it (before July 29th, of course)
@ Simon S
Thanks for the link to GRC. I downloaded Never 10.
You are right, It changes the Registry to stop Win 10 downloads and GWX.exe.
Better still, the Win 10 files and folders, if they have been downloaded, are removed.
Incredibly, it is only 83 KB and does not need to be installed. Thank you very much !!! :-)
Microsoft Privacy Statement: “Reasons we share personal data” section…
“Finally, we will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to:
1. comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement or other government agencies;
2. protect our customers, for example to prevent spam or attempts to defraud users of the services, or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone;
3. operate and maintain the security of our services, including to prevent or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or
4. protect the rights or property of Microsoft, including enforcing the terms governing the use of the services – however, if we receive information indicating that someone is using our services to traffic in stolen intellectual or physical property of Microsoft, we will not inspect a customer’s private content ourselves, but we may refer the matter to law enforcement.”
@ James. EULA clearly say that Microsoft can and will change options for the greater good of its cuswtomers. James, you accepted the EULA by using Botnet 10 OS.
Install Gentoo Botnet 10 OS?? explain when I did this.
After reading this article I decided to check my GWX dashboard and I find that somehow it had been changed to allow
Win 10 upgrades. I didn’t do it and no one else uses my PC so ??
It’s amazes me that MS would let their customers know exactly how little they think of them.
Google and Apple do their best to make their customers not feel like sponges to be squeezed even if that is how they view them.
This is hurting MS. I’ve spoken with dozens of small companies who are asking, “can we use Macs instead?” They say things like, “I love my iPhone and iPad, it’d be nice if we could”. Alot of times the answer is, “No, you need this piece of software and it only runs on Windows.” However, for those that are in a position to switch, they are seriously considering it. In my 15+ years of working in the tech sector I have never seen so many looking to abandon MS completely. Quite a risky thing MS is doing.
Hi Gonzo. I read some other comments typed by your nick*, so I salute you!!
…Microsoft has a worldwde market. Even if they secede from, let’s say UK and the US, they are currently invading India and China. Just consider that. Those markets are 10 times bigger than USA and Europe. Are they really risking in here in the west (where the market is saturated)?
*I always change mine, with something related to the post :)
Just use GWX Control Panel by Ultimate Outsiders to disable Windows 10 Updates as well as Spybot Anti-Beacon which disables Telemetry in Windows Hosts File!
Use Windows 7 or Windows 10 Firewall Control by Sphinx Software,you can disable whatever is attempting to call home to MS or whatever programs attempt the same and should help ease the worry of MS and others Phoning Home!
If one is worried about Windows Updates being considered Spying, Don’t use Windows updates!Use a Free or Paid Anti-virus Program and cross your fingers!
Actually just Abandon Windows all together and get with Linux!
The first thing that Windows 7,8 and 8.1 does on a New or Fresh Install is call home Disable(EnableActiveProbing).
You can edit that in the Windows Registry,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\NlaSvc\parameters\Internet
Change th e Value from 1-0!
Hope that eases some minds!
Hi Van! I did what you say. But there’s more. Some services from Intel and Microsoft are locked to different Users (SYSTEM is above ADMIN) and can’t be opened with Process Explorer by Sysinternals. Most probably the Services and Applications that use SYSTEM as USERNAME can’t be blocked by standard methods. Some of these applications are related to INTEL Trusted Platform Module, recently discussed by Herr Brinkmann.
That attempt to convince end-user that this upgrade is amazing thing in words “Great! Your Windows 10 upgrade is scheduled for” is just disgusting; it’s almost like their PR division lives in some imaginary world of corporate-dictatorship where some variation of newspeak is the official language. The pretended sincerity and care about user is also sick – especially when you think about all these attempts of forcing upgrades on users who didn’t want to upgrade by all means possible.
This yet another dirty way to push people into “great” world of Windows 10 seems to be a worst software solution ever made in world of IT day after day.
Microsoft could not get away with this behaviour if it faced a class action law suit from those whose unwanted upgrades were botched and which cost them time and professional expertise to resolve. It’s certainly persuaded me to avoid Windows 10 and switch to Linux Mint. My next laptop, which I’ll buy later this year, will not run any Microsoft software.
I run Mint on an old laptop and it’s just beautiful, and a very easy transition if you already use Firefox, Thunderbird and other software that runs on both Linux and Windows. Operating system and software application updates happen in seconds and none has ever caused any problems. My last Windows update, this week, on my current (Lenovo X series) laptop running Windows 7 ended up with the sound not working and I had to spend time Googling for a solution and sorting it out. And that’s to say nothing of the efforts I had to expend ensuring we don’t get Windows 10 on any computer in the house.
Microsoft is simply not trustworthy.
My Windows replacement is scheduled for later this year. A little Debian… a little ChromeOS… a little something else; a little Win7 with updates turned off might linger on just for fun. No options needed.
with 2 months deadline closing, microsoft people think they need to be forceful. they need to meet the end quota I guess.
I’m using 7 and 10, I like 10 better. I got 10 because I free upgraded from 8, 8 is worst of the three.
10 has search bug, sometimes search won’t appear, I need to end task the search to make it working again.
Not to mention login screen bug, sometimes when I type quickly the text caret jumps from back to front.
And lastly some of the OS settings keep getting reset after every update and I can’t disable update at all.
XP is still the best, because there’s no ‘arrange folders as you like’ function exists in OS above it.
The fact that MS continues their strong-armed tactics aimed at forcing unwanted updates/upgrades, and that they seem totally unconcerned so many users now think of them as highly untrustworthy should sound an alarm for all, but then the majority of end users seem to be oblivious to what is happening with individual privacy. It’s truly easy to understand these days how so many people have come to be known as “sheeple”.
Being a long-time Linux user, I’ll continue to stick with that for most of my computing needs, and on the few machines in which I must run Windows , I’ll continue to block any forced Win10 upgrades with all my effort. If Win10 should manage to creep onto any of those systems, I’ll format the hard-drives immediately, then reinstall Win7-pro being more careful to not let it happen again.
Hopefully, it won’t be much longer before I’m able to totally eliminate any remaining Windows dependencies.
In the interim, best of luck to all in this battle over “control” of one’s own computer!
They have a non-arbitration clause, I believe. You can’t file a class action lawsuit against them…which is why companies like AT&T can’t be sued like that anymore. The precedent was set.
Maybe, but I don’t believe that can really stop a suit, maybe used as a form of defense, but doesn’t prevent a suit from happening.
I wonder if there’s a legal precedent here….. Windows 10 upgrade prompts on a computer, user unwittingly upgrades, his business software doesn’t work afterwards, costs him $$$ to fix it… maybe not that black and white….but still….
I’m pretty sure the EULA covers that, because that’s an issue with any type of update, not just Windows 10
You fucking liar POS. No means NO you microsoft pimp. Microsoft can and will be sued over this violation of privacy and freedom of choice. You Andy are a nigger who works for Microsoft you pathetic fuck.
Individual lawsuits are the way to go with suing Microsoft. And it will keep them occupied in court.
Sure, but remember, you don’t own the software, you’re paying for a license to use it
EULA does not precede law.
From what I read, this is nothing different from before. The only thing that has changed is they inform you when it’s happening.
Everything is still the same, you can cancel and whatnot. I Don’t believe this causes people who declined it before to suddenly be scheduled again.
I really can’t wait until August, by then this will all be done and hopefully people will stop complaining about it. At least I hope.
Like hell it doesn’t and you are a POS Andy and fooling nobody. You work for microsoft you punk faggot.
@Andrew
I am not complaining.
I LIKE freedom of choice and I CHOOSE to stay with Win 7.
I do NOT want Win 10!
I do NOT want MS attempting to force it on me.
END OF STORY !!!!!!!!!
This is very different. If by ‘before’ you mean before Win 10’s official release. That was an opt in scheduling. This is them *taking the liberty to schedule it for you*, and proceeding to do it unless you take action to opt out. And I suspect this opt out aggression will be for everyone for whom GWX is still enabled.
This is from the CNet article on this:
“Instead of simply giving you the option to install its latest operating system (or not), Microsoft now automatically schedules a date and time to update your PC to Windows 10. If you don’t want the software update or if you want to change the installation date, you have to take deliberate action: manually click a link in the message, then choose to reschedule it or cancel it altogether.”
So all you’re saying is they were this aggressive since Feb? Ok.
The underlying point here is they made it a ‘recommended’ update, which as savvy users know, is the same thing as just downloading it and installing it for many non-tech people out there. A lot of people don’t know what’s going on and recommended updates is checked by default on a new install of 7 and 8.1.
We both know the value of default settings when it concerns the masses. Their aggression in this is further illustrated by how they removed the ability to control ANY updates in Windows 10. They no longer want people to be able to disallow even recommended updates. They continue to remove controls (even for power users) and are harvesting data. The UWP initiative I’m sure has the long term goal of removing power and control from developers, and running all future apps through the MS store, so they get a cut of everything.
No, before meaning after they moved it to a recommended update. They only changed it to show the date. And, according to Thurrott, this change has been like this since the beginning of Feb.
This to me is mind-boggling. This is just 1 ladder step below a forced update. I wasn’t sure they’d take it to this level, but apparently they don’t care what people think.
What gives them the right to schedule this, forcing the user to opt out? shouldn’t you have to opt IN ?? It is incredibly offensive.
GWX Control Panel and Never 10. Get them, and share them with friends, family and co-workers who don’t wish to be force-fed.
Of course they don’t care what people think… I’m willing to bet that a certain number of systems updated to Win10 until the deadline will translate into some nice bonuses for the executives inside Microsoft. That’s all there is to it, really.
@Andrew, Have you ever considered people are calling you uneducated because that’s how you come across? When you conflate checking for updates and product activation with the collection of measurements and other data it shows you have a fundamental misunderstanding of either one or both of those things.
While there’s no law that says Microsoft can’t end support early i think you’ll find if they did they’d soon find themselves slapped with a class action law suit, when people bought and installed a copy of Windows 7 they entered into a contact with Microsoft, a contract that doesn’t have the anti class action law suit clause written into it like their more recent operating system licenses.
Those support contracts have been published by Microsoft every time they released a new OS going all the way back to Windows 3.1, 95, 98, etc,etc. Those 10 year support life-cycles were the main thing that made Windows so attractive to business, at the time everyone questioned how Microsoft could offer such a long support contract, they asked how Microsoft could afford it, and it would seem they were right, in Microsoft’s usual fashion they embraced, extend and extinguished their competition and now their they de facto business OS their withdrawing those 10 year support contracts in favor of software as a service.
TBH it really seems you don’t know what your talking about as you can’t even see the difference between a smartphone and a desktop PC, you make sweeping statements about all OS’s eventually having telemetry built in when you can’t even tell the difference between updating an OS and telemetry, or that there’s such a thing as Linux.
RE: Market share, what’s this data your looking at then? Because Netmarketshare (who measures unique visitors) shows Windows 88.77% share of desktop PC’s, if you’re using Statcounter then i would suggest it’s not an accurate reflection of the install base as it doesn’t measure unique visitors, in effect it records how active particular operating system are on the Internet.
RE: Linux I’m afraid you’re very mistaken with the comment that “anything more serious, they will go with a major OS” fact is anything serious wouldn’t touch Windows with a barge pole, or are you saying their all running Windows at CERN or other serious research organisation?
As for the comment about people never installing Linux because they can’t get office that just goes to show your utter lack of knowledge on the subject your talking about, there’s many office type programs for Linux and what’s more there free and arguably better than Microsoft version.
RE: Your comment about what you perceive as spying being data that’s read by a human, i hate to tell you your once again showing how I’ll informed you are on the subject, data being read by a human is a very outdated view to have on what constitutes “spying” as the metadata is far more important than the content, perhaps this short video will enlighten you on how metadata can be used and abused.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2a8pDbCabg
What’s consider “spying isn’t subjective, what is though is how comfortable each individual feels with sharing their personal information with strangers, me recording *any* information about you would be considered spying, whether your comfortable with that is a personal choice.
RE: Not liking Windows 10, me not liking Windows 10 is about a lot more than just telemetry, there’s also the enforced updating, the combining of updates, the advertising, the moves towards a walled garden, the store, the take it all approach, the dumbing down of the GUI to fit the lowest common denominator.
@Corky, Sigh… here we go again with the “uneducated” remarks. Legally, I don’t believe they are required to do anything. In fact according to the terms they can change what they want. There is nothing preventing them from changing the EOL date. But by all means if there is some law that requires them to manage their software, gladly send it over so that you can prove me wrong. Besides that they are offering those guidelines to better streamline their service. I don’t even think they had anything as clear as now up until about half a decade ago or so, but that’s mostly based on my memory.
I never said that people has to use the latest version of windows, if you read my comment I stated install it, or don’t, I was talking about market trends and how eventually ALL major OSs will eventually have some form of telemetry because as how we are now connected to the internet 24/7. Take a look at smartphones, prime example, and with smartphones being more or less the most common form of communication there is probably more data being pushed than what is on Windows 10 now.
In terms of market share, and i’m looking at data right now, their share has fallen only a little bit since 2011, being mostly picked up by OS X. If you are including mobile data, then that’s kind of obvious since the PC/Desktop sales has dropped below 2011 in sales, again because more people are using smartphones, something that tracks more of your data.
I am well aware of the difference between mainstream and extended support. Anyone who has visited their Lifecycle support knows the difference. I was just making the comment that they usually tell most people to contact their manufactures support instead. I am curious, you ever scheduled a call with them? What did they help you with? how did it go? Did they answer or solve your problems when your OS was on mainstream support? I never called them because I never had to, I tend to prefer figuring out my own problems, but that’s what I heard from friends.
I never said that the average joe can’t install linux, but linux has a much higher learning curve than windows or apple, and considering that most consumers just want a computer to work they will go with the easiest solution. Do you remember when Dell offered Ubuntu as an option instead of Windows? Did you ever read the articles or watch the news videos on reports where people mistakenly got the Ubuntu version and were too stupid to realized that they couldn’t install Office or software that was made for Windows or OSX? Pretty hilarious actually. The thing is, people are not going to install linux and try to learn a different program since they can’t get Office or whatever on their Linux Machine. Sure they can do wine, but why would they want to go through all that trouble. For average people that just browse the internet and checks emails, or basic stuff that might be fine, but for anything more serious, they will go with a major OS.
And that being said, I am only talking about the average user that has used only windows or apple. People that are are much more technological suave and more into problem solving are more capable of handling the necessary tweaks or commands to do whatever they want on Linux, or any OS. Except, though, if you’re a gamer… It still seems like that’s a no go for now.
As for the last part, It’s not me being “uneducated” as you put it, it just seems you’re missing my point. I wasn’t claiming that telemetry and windows updates are the same thing, as when I stated “Is it exactly the same? no, but it’s still the same no less, your information about your computer being sent back to microsoft.” I was talking about the history of people complaining about phoning home and spying. When WPA and windows updates started collected information about computers and sending it back to microsoft, there were reports of “spying”, Of course what is considered spying is subjective to the individual.
Let me put it this way, in my view. Having a company collect everything I type with an individual identifier, including passwords, location, and websites I visited, and being able to be read by a human. To me that’s spying. Having a company collect anonymous data based on what I search or when I click something. I don’t find that as spying, I see it as market research.
Now, as I was mentioning before people thought back in the day that WPA and data being sent back for windows update was spying, but obviously you and I don’t. Again, what people think in terms of spying is subjective.
Basically, it comes down to this; You don’t like Windows 10 because of telemetry, I couldn’t care less about telemetry and am fine with Windows 10. We have different opinions on things. We both have right to our opinions but in the end we won’t know what will happen with all this until the market shows us in the future. I guess it could go either way, but considering the polls on how many care about the NSA spying on everyone (which majority doesn’t seem phased by it), I have a feeling that this is how the future is going to be on the corporate side. Google already profited off of it, Microsoft is jumping on the band wagon, eventually it will be common place. I don’t like it either, but as I said in a previous post, I am trying to find common ground and not be too extreme on one end or another in terms of telemetry. It would be hypocritical for me to say otherwise towards Microsoft while not making any comment on the fact that I have a Android that uses google services.
Anyway, I think i’m done. I think i’ve written enough novels on this webpage.
@Andrew, The fact that you think checking for updates and validating a Windows install are the same as the collection of measurements and other data just goes to show how uneducated you are on those subjects, the two are worlds apart and if you can’t see that then may i suggest you do some research into the subject.
@Andrew, Sorry missed your reply to me.
To answer your question, no I’m not saying that developers don’t mind developing for multiple OS as well you know, I’m saying the EOS dates are fixed for Windows 7 & 8.x so no matter how much of a market share they hold Microsoft is still legally bound to address security issues with those operating systems, differing API’s don’t factor into it and the only time it would is if you were a developer of third-party software.
It’s also not about “getting with the times” at least not when those times mean ceding control of your device over to some faceless corporation, you seem to be operating under the illusion that everyone has to use a version of Windows so it may as well be the latest when that’s just not true, fact is people are already abandoning Windows, in case you didn’t notice Windows has fallen bellow a 90% market share for the first time in history this month.
Also Microsoft is only spending time directing people to answers for Windows 8.1 as that’s the only OS still in mainstream support, Windows 7 mainstream support ended at the start of 2015 and wont reach the end of extended support until 2020, maybe you need to look up what differences there are between mainstream & extend support.
Lastly re Linux: Maybe you’ve not tested out a modern version of Linux lately, i assume so as you seem to think it’s some form of arcane art, that your average Jo could install and use it when nothing could be further from the truth, fact is most modern Linux distros are just as easy if not easier to install and use than Windows.
@Corky, Both are sending data back to microsoft. At least that’s what I read in the privacy policy of windows update. I would be surprised if microsoft wasn’t using that data for analysis as well.
Also, I remember reading that people were complaining about spying back when WPA was introduced, a long with other of microsofts software like WMP. I swear it seems like its the same complaint that gets reharshed over the years for different products.
Is it exactly the same? no, but it’s still the same no less, your information about your computer being sent back to microsoft.
@Andrew, You seem to be conflating phoning home to check for updates and checking product activation with telemetry, the former is nothing more than a check of something, the later is the collection of measurements and other data, the two are distinctly different so please don’t attempt to conflate the two in an attempt to make what Windows 10 does seem benign,
@Corky, are you saying that developers don’t mind developing for multiple OS that have various different APIs? Then why’s a lot of software dropping xp support now? why did they drop 2000 and windows 9x? A lot of them are even dropping support for Vista.
It’s about market share, and it’s about getting with the times, and eventually that time will come. Windows 7 and above has practically all of the windows market share but eventually that will be EOL with the only ones really developing for older systems would be enterprises to support their custom software because they don’t want the cost to rebuilding whatever software they need. This is why at my last company a few years ago I was stuck on an XP machine when windows 7 was already popular.
You’re right that microsoft will offer support for whatever is still active, but their support for consumers is usually pointing them to the horrible microsoft answers community where the microsoft moderators know nothing but to copy and paste from a script, that is unless you pay for their support. Or, they will tell you to go to your manufacture’s support. Though that might change with the microsoft stores, but again, probably no more knowledgeable than the genius bar which is no better than geeksquad over here.
Yes, they pushed windows 10 to push UWP and their ecosystem, all tech companies does that, Google, Apple, even blackberry one time…. and that’s it I guess. They can’t afford for the windows store to fail because they were losing the competition to Google and Apple who pretty much already had that in place. I remember when they tried to do their horrible attempt on Windows Marketplace in both XP and pre-Windows Phone smartphones.
If people don’t like it, then they don’t have to use it, it’s simple as that, but eventually they will have to move to something that does what Microsoft is doing now, or stay on Windows 7 until it just wont function that well as they don’t find the drivers for any new hardware… or move to linux, but that itself is a whole journey that can’t be handled by the common user, especially with all the de facto standards that run on only Windows or OS X.
If you want Microsoft to fail, then buy apple, build a hackintosh, or move to strictly linux. Microsoft, though is expanding their market, and they have to to survive, like any company that wishes to stay or become profitable. If common people REALLY cared about their privacy then facebook or any social media would survive and google would have gone down the drain. And if people really care about not having windows 10, then they will manage a way not to install it. Hell, there’s a “reschedule or CANCEL” on that screenshot above. If they unknowingly got windows 10 installed, it’s their fault, much like if they got and malware installed. It’s up to them to decide what happens to their computer.
It’s not like Microsoft made the windows 10 update mandatory where you couldn’t opt-out. My mom did it just fine and she’s a 70 year old woman.
On a side note: I really need to stop typing these novel of comments :)
My assumption on why XP wasn’t is because it was EOL, opening that up would mean also opening it up for others like Windows 2000, plus with the significant changes to the OS it might not make sense. Also they didn’t allow you to update from Vista or XP to windows 8. I am not sure if this is because of a software or fabricated limit on the upgrade. In order to upgrade, you had to do a clean install. Also, there’s essentially a moment when you have to stop supporting an OS, giving away a free OS upgrade on an almost 10 year old OS doesn’t make sense, especially considering how quickly technology changes. I assume this is similar to the reason why Google won’t offer upgrades on phones after 2 years regardless if the phone can handle it. There’s a lot of work that goes into seeing if one OS can be upgraded to another.
I highly doubt majority of people would buy the upgrade, especially considering that it was given away for free. I would think the only ones that buy it would be OEMs or system builders. As you said, most will get it when they buy a new computer, as it was done mostly.
In terms of spying, that’s still questionable because I don’t know what you consider spying. Telemetry is considered spying to some but not others. Windows has been phoning home since they introduced WPA in Windows XP (and even prior if you installed the windows update notification in Windows 98), They started phoning home more when Vista came out. And, as long as you are using windows update, they are essentially spying on you. But that is how the industry is. If you use any smartphone, google things, use a popular web based email, you will be spied on in one form or another. Majority of that is saved anonymously for market research, a la telemetry, but there are some that uses that data to sell to third parties, again it’s usually just globs of data, not like your individual profile. It’s not like people are looking at when you click the start button, just machines/software.
It’s not like Microsoft is saving everything you type in documents or downloading your naked selfies. Bing/Cortana aside, they are mostly just collecting data on what is used to better understand how people use their OS (unless you’re using an insider build, then you’re an idiot to use it as a primary OS). (Cortana and bing are just doing what all search engines are doing now).
For me personally I try to find middle ground between “tinfoil hat luddite” and “tweet every thought I have”, because being against “spying” in one specific category (windows) doesn’t mean you can be for (or not care about) spying in another category (smartphone). Personally I am more concerned about the level of government spying then I am about some company using it for market data. One can be used to sell you things to your liking, the other can make you a criminal.
I do wish people would stop peddling the rubbish about fragmentation costing more, it’s rubbish because no matter how many people are using Windows 10 Microsoft’s support cost aren’t going to change, the EOS date for Windows 7 & 8.x are fixed dates so Microsoft are going to be spending money supporting those until that date, even if Windows 7 & 8.x had less than a 5% market share Microsoft would still be spending the same amount of money on patches for those OS’s.
The only reason Microsoft are pushing Windows 10 so hard is because if they don’t get the numbers it will be seen as a failure and they can’t afford to abandon the software as a service model, they can’t afford to allow the Windows Store to fail, they can’t afford to give up on using their OS as an advertising platform.
@Andrew … they’ve always had fragmentation, since Win 98. And if unification was so important to them, why didn’t they allow XP and Vista users to upgrade for free? There’s still a huge base of XP users out there. Further, why end the ‘free’ update period at all, if the goal is unification and a 1 billion device base for UWP?
If people are resisting now, just wait till it’s $119. “Hi, would you like to pay $119 to be spied on and have your data harvested by us behind your back? Yeah? cool, now’s your chance!”.
The only way they’ll get to 1 billion is by normal attrition of dying PC’s and them being replaced by new units for which the buyer has no choice. And that will take a lot longer than 3 years.
Yes, but no tech company likes fragmentation. This causes the amount of bug fixes and support issue costs to increase. Microsoft wants everyone on the platform because it will push UWP to be more accepted and give them another stream of revenue since the desktop market has been in a decline for the past few years. From a business standpoint it makes sense, and it benefits the shareholders, which is the whole point of a public company.
Install Pentoo
I have GWX control panel monitor.