Windows 10: Microsoft draws flak for devious upgrade feature

Microsoft adds a new warning feature to Windows 10 upgrade notification over public criticism.

Microsoft has drawn some serious flak for its crooked ways of hoodwinking Windows 7 and Windows 8 users into unwillingly installing the Windows 10 upgrade.

In its bid to achieve one billion targeted Windows 10 installations in the next couple of years, the company has resorted to some devious tactics such as reversing the functionality of the "x" close button. Clicking on this button will actually confirm the Windows 10 upgrade rather than cancelling the prompt.

Following widespread condemnation of its trickery from the public and media, Microsoft has added a new failsafe warning message which allows users to reschedule the upgrade or cancel it.

Although Microsoft hasn't restored the normal functionality of the close button for Windows 10 upgrade notification, it has just added a cosmetic confirmation message to either accept or reject the free upgrade offer.

Here is what the Redmond Company had to say in its recent public statement, according to Forbes:

Based on customer feedback, we've also added another notification that confirms the time of the scheduled upgrade and provides the customer with an additional opportunity for cancelling or rescheduling the upgrade. If the customer wishes to continue with their upgrade at the designated time, they can click 'OK' or close the notifications with no further action needed.

Quite bafflingly, users still face the ignominy of accidentally clicking the close button and ending up installing the Windows 10 upgrade unwillingly.

The most disgusting part is that both the Standard upgrade prompt and the new scheduling prompt still carry the reverse engineered close buttons on them which translate into double confirmation when you click those "X" buttons. This could happen if you failed to click on the link provided to reschedule or cancel the upgrade and instead lazily chose the quick exit.

Thankfully, the Windows 10 upgrade notifications will cease on 29 July as the free upgrade offer expires on that day. The nagging upgrade notices will then become a thing of the past as the majority of users who wanted a change would have embraced the new operating system while traditional users will be left untouched.

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