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Microsoft tricks people into installing Windows 10 when clicking red X

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Korey

Member
Windows 7/8 people are now getting this popup informing you of a pending Windows 10 upgrade.

A lot of people don't thoroughly read the popup and assume clicking the red X will cancel the upgrade. However, it only closes the popup, and will go ahead and install Windows 10 while you're sleeping.

So a lot of people are waking up to a new OS they didn't authorize.

The only way to actually cancel the upgrade is by clicking the tiny one-word link under the huge date. Clicking anything else means "go ahead and upgrade me."

windows-10-and-the-x-100661228-large.idge.jpg



The previous popup from last year looked like the below, where the only way to say NO is to click the red X. So they basically trained everyone to click the red X and then now people are thinking they're safe from Windows 10 when they're actually acknowledging the upgrade.

Especially when you consider the fact that earlier upgrade prompts looked like this:

hc3gfrc.jpg


Here you HAD to click the red X, and there was nowhere in the dialog box to click to cancel. And now you get one that works completely the other way around.

Considering the fact that you get this above dialog EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY, one could be forgiven for not reading it through that thoroughly every single time.

It's shady as fuck. I don't see why anyone would want to defend it unless they're getting paid for it.


Check out this shit that greeted my work computer this morning upon boot.

KyL7sNj.png


That's 13 minutes 38 seconds. Click 'I need more time'

FHlQJ70.png


yM2Uj5q.png


Click 'reschedule'...

Rt3Hmd6.png


And there it is, the only way to cancel









Microsoft makes final, aggressive Windows 10 upgrade push
PSA: Closing the "Upgrade to Windows 10" box now counts as ACCEPTING the update, which will automatically occur 15 minutes after logging in unless canceled

Last week, Microsoft switched the automatically-offered Windows 10 upgrade to a "Recommended" download that in turn scheduled the upgrade process unless the user interfered.

...

According to both the latest and the previous versions of the support document, the upgrade and its scheduled implementation is approved when the user either clicks the "OK" button or the "X" in the upper right corner of the notification.

"If you click on OK or on the red 'X', you're all set for the upgrade and there is nothing further to do," the document stated. The "X" Microsoft mentioned is one way to close a window in Windows.

But Microsoft's interpretation of clicking the X is contrary to decades of practice in windowed user interfaces (UIs) and normal user expectations: To users, shutting a window by clicking the X tells the OS to remove the notification or application frame without expressing an opinion, selecting an option or calling up an operation.

Instead, Microsoft equates closing the window with approving the scheduled upgrade.

Microsoft has applied some unusual stratagems in its efforts to get customers to upgrade to Windows 10, but this behavior is among its most aggressive simply because it is deceptive in the context of normal Windows UI behavior.

In fact, it's very likely that many of the accounts -- and they have been widespread -- that the proffered Windows 10 upgrade began without user approval can be traced to this strange interpretation by Microsoft. Thinking that by clicking the X they were rejecting the notification, or at least ignoring it, users instead were actually authorizing the upgrade.

When the upgrade began later, they professed they had not approved it, not remembering an explicit affirmation, when in reality they had -- under Microsoft's rules -- given the green light.


On Windows 10 the update dialog is very deceptive too. It asks you IF you want to delay the update, so naturally the user selects a New date and clicks OK, except instead of the "OK" button it has "Restart Now" which straight up leads to blue updating screen.
 

Christine

Member
Something that may be good to know is that if you unintentionally let this happen, you can hit 'Decline' the first time the computer starts Win 10 and asks you to agree to the license. It'll revert the upgrade and restore the OS you were using.
 

Crayons

Banned
Something that may be good to know is that if you unintentionally let this happen, you can hit 'Decline' the first time the computer starts Win 10 and asks you to agree to the license. It'll revert the upgrade and restore the OS you were using.

Yeah and then it'll do it all over again for you. My desktop at home seems to have a fucking mind of it's own and it REALLY wants me to install their Windows 10 spyware
 

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Yeah, it's shady but I dunno why you wouldn't want to upgrade to 10 though. It is better in so many ways and also fast.
 
Something that may be good to know is that if you unintentionally let this happen, you can hit 'Decline' the first time the computer starts Win 10 and asks you to agree to the license. It'll revert the upgrade and restore the OS you were using.

Then continually try to force the upgrade on you again once you revert back. I had to do multiple steps of things including hiding updates, disabling things, deleting the downloaded windows 10 files, and deleting registry keys to keep it from forcibly re-installing on me again.
 
This is pretty scummy, shame Microsoft has to stoop to pulling what pop-up ads do even if the OS itself is good.

Edit: I'm currently on Win 7 with GWX tool and I'll update when I'm damn well ready!
 
I dont hate W10 or anything but man.. MS has no chill here.

If someone hasnt updated by now, after months of spamming pop ups about the update then maybe they have perfectly valid reasons not to? Like "I wont be able to run this super important software needed to do my job" or something.

Sorry if it's a dumb question but isn't this anti-trust material?

It seems super shady and I would be shocked if someone doesnt take them to court over it + everything else MS has been doing to push the update.
 

Megasoum

Banned
It's fucking ridiculous all the trouble some people go through just to avoid a free upgrade to one of the best Windows ever made.
 
Yeah, MS's whole process of getting people to upgrade has been pretty damn shady.

It's weird, because 10 is actually really great, and from what I understand adoption rates are solid as hell.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Sorry if it's a dumb question but isn't this anti-trust material?

Not anymore than Windows update is in general.

Not to mention there is nothing indicating that closing the window would revert anything - it's telling you the updated is scheduled, not asking if you want to do it. It's shady due to the automatic scheduling, but I don't see how it's "tricking" anyone unless you just don't read it.

Yeah, MS's whole process of getting people to upgrade has been pretty damn shady.

It's weird, because 10 is actually really great, and from what I understand adoption rates are solid as hell.

There are still a lot of people who haven't upgraded and Microsoft doesn't want another XP situation. For every 1 person with legitimate reasons to use an old OS you have 10 people refusing to upgrade for stupid reasons which benefits no one.
 

ResoRai

Member
I've been seeing a lot about the x, but it's working the same as always right?
The autoscheduling isnt right though. I believe people should be able to opt in, not have to opt out.
 

Applebite

Member
I have noticed no upgrade in performance after Win10 was forced on me and have had more performance issues and multitasking issues than I ever had with Win7. Also, some of my USB stuff either doesn't work now or is wonky. So please don't tell me how great Win10 is and how everyone should accept it, choice be damned.
 
If someone hasnt updated by now, after months of spamming pop ups about the update then maybe they have perfectly valid reasons not to? Like "I wont be able to run this super important software needed to do my job" or something.
The funny thing is that sort of issue is by and large why they are doing this. Right now there's 5 OS's commonly installed that I see and remote into on a daily basis. 8, 8.1, 7, Vista, and yes, even XP. That's a shit ton of support. MS is trying to get everyone on one damn OS so people can only worry about one damn OS.

I have noticed no upgrade in performance after Win10 was forced on me and have had more performance issues and multitasking issues than I ever had with Win7. Also, some of my USB stuff either doesn't work now or is wonky. So please don't tell me how great Win10 is and how everyone should accept it, choice be damned.

Sounds like you had an issue after upgrading. It happens. Happened to me. There's ways of refreshing shit so those issues go away.
 

yami4ct

Member
The auto-upgrade is a bit shady. I wouldn't call the box tricking people, though. Maybe it's because I've just been using PC's my entire life, but I would definitely see that red 'X' as dismissing the message and not cancelling the upgrade.
 
In fact, it's very likely that many of the accounts -- and they have been widespread -- that the proffered Windows 10 upgrade began without user approval can be traced to this strange interpretation by Microsoft. Thinking that by clicking the X they were rejecting the notification, or at least ignoring it, users instead were actually authorizing the upgrade.
Reading from solely the image on the OP, though, it seems that the window is not actually asking for approval; it just bluntly says that it has scheduled an upgrade. So semantically, by ignoring it users convey that they are okay with the schedule (as opposed to actively seeking to change the schedule).
 
the pop-up says that there is an update scheduled, i don't see how clicking the x would be cancelling it imo. it's not as clear as it should be of course but as convoluted as some are saying

The auto-upgrade is a bit shady. I wouldn't call the box tricking people, though. Maybe it's because I've just been using PC's my entire life, but I would definitely see that red 'X' as dismissing the message and not cancelling the upgrade.

.
 

213372bu

Banned
Yeah, it's shady but I dunno why you wouldn't want to upgrade to 10 though. It is better in so many ways and also fast.

The argument is there are some programs that people regularly use for businesses in which Windows 10 is incompatible.

That or you have to change shit up in regedit or disable a few forced features in order for it to work, which leads to lots of unexpected and unnecessary side effects like key parts of the OS bugging out.

It's a good OS otherwise and they've been making it better since launch, but there's definitely a reason why some would prefer staying on Windows 8.1, which still gets updates.
 
I have noticed no upgrade in performance after Win10 was forced on me and have had more performance issues and multitasking issues than I ever had with Win7. Also, some of my USB stuff either doesn't work now or is wonky. So please don't tell me how great Win10 is and how everyone should accept it, choice be damned.

Yep, coming from windows 8.1 and there is no noticeable difference in performance. No benefit to update honestly if you don't care about dx 12. Lots of reasons not to though including the spyware stuff, them using your computer to torrent files to other computers, and the ridiculous thing of not being able to disable automatic driver updates.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
The auto-upgrade is a bit shady. I wouldn't call the box tricking people, though. Maybe it's because I've just been using PC's my entire life, but I would definitely see that red 'X' as dismissing the message and not cancelling the upgrade.

Ever since Windows 10 came out, the way I've been getting out of their "reminders" to upgrade has been to close the window with the X. MS shifting to just scheduling the upgrade so that using the same method to close the window results in an install is very much tricking people. I'd probably have not noticed were it not for the this and the prior thread.
 
Win 10 is great but it's very unfortunate they keep doing this shit. There must be some serious fires being lit under people's arses at MS regarding uptake targets for them to resort to this kind of thing.
 

213372bu

Banned
Yep, coming from windows 8.1 and there is no noticeable difference in performance. No benefit to update honestly if you don't care about dx 12. Lots of reasons not to though including the spyware stuff, them using your computer to torrent files to other computers, and the ridiculous thing of not being able to disable automatic driver updates.

Personally, Windows 10 was a huge performance increase.

But the spyware/shared download thing are all things you opt-out of during installation or once installed.

I'd recommend shared downloads because it increases your download speeds and doesn't really tax you on upload.
 
Code:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]

    "DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001



    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX]

    "DisableGWX"=dword:00000001

Go away Microsoft.
 
If you've used PCs your entire life, you would know the red X NEVER means "accept" when there's a choice to cancel, which there is on that popup in a tiny link.

The red X never meant "no" either when there's the option of "cancel/close" :)

(Think of it as like the kind of dialog box that pops up when you try to close an app while there's unsaved work. Yes, No, or Cancel? Clicking the X in that window usually means cancel and nothing happens.)

(Since the update is already auto-scheduled when the window pops up, you need to explicitly say no by clicking the link within the window and tell the upgrade to stop scheduling itself.)
 

ResoRai

Member
Reading from solely the image on the OP, though, it seems that the window is not actually asking for approval; it just bluntly says that it has scheduled an upgrade. So semantically, by ignoring it users convey that they are okay with the schedule (as opposed to actively seeking to change the schedule).

That is what I thought. People need to read and not quickly click out of pop ups lol. The text informing users is also pretty large.

But still, I think this window comes up even if someone does not want to upgrade and has turned off auto-updates, which is pretty odd and aggressive on Microsoft's part.
 

Mistake

Member
For casual users fine, upgrade, but I had quite enough between sharing my information, using bandwidth, and forced driver updates. Everything I read about windows 10 told me no. I even tried it on an older computer which seemed to make no difference at all in performance
 

yami4ct

Member
If you've used PCs your entire life, you would know the red X NEVER means "accept" when there's a choice to cancel, which there is on that popup in a tiny link.

It does not mean accept, but it does mean 'dismiss'. Dismissing just means making the message go away. If they've taken that as a cancel on previous updates, then cool. I just would never have assumed that was the case with a system message like that.
 
It's fucking ridiculous all the trouble some people go through just to avoid a free upgrade to one of the best Windows ever made.

Pretty fucking ridiculous some posters still can't figure out why people wouldn't want to have their OS forcibly changed on them.
 

Korey

Member
The red X never meant "no" either when there's the option of "cancel/close" :)

(Think of it as like the kind of dialog box that pops up when you try to close an app while there's unsaved work. Yes, No, or Cancel? Clicking the X in that window usually means cancel and nothing happens.)

(Since the update is already auto-scheduled when the window pops up, you need to explicitly say no by clicking the link within the window and tell the upgrade to stop scheduling itself.)

Yea, I actually misunderstood the popup. The popup isn't actually to start the upgrade (unless you pick Upgrade Now), it's just a notice of a later event.

So some people are hitting the red X to dismiss the popup, thinking they've canceled the upgrade, but they haven't. Then their computers get automatically upgraded overnight.
 
Win 10 is not optimized for some of the older tablets. I am sure some class action lawyers will make some money while the users get to claim 5 Microsoft gift certificate each.
 

JDB

Banned
It states pretty obviously that the upgrade is scheduled for a certain time and to click here if you want to change or cancel.

Maybe people should take the 5 seconds to read the notification before X'ing it out? Your Gianna Michaels video can wait
 

Roo

Member
The funny thing is that sort of issue is by and large why they are doing this. Right now there's 5 OS's commonly installed that I see and remote into on a daily basis. 8, 8.1, 7, Vista, and yes, even XP. That's a shit ton of support. MS is trying to get everyone on one damn OS so people can only worry about one damn OS.

Sorry, no.
I understand not wanting to support so many OS at once but actively shoving this shit down people's throat under shady practices is inexcusable.
 

Armaros

Member
Pretty fucking ridiculous some posters still can't figure out why people wouldn't want to have their OS forcibly changed on them.

Some peoples posts read like advertisements at this point, especially the gaming thread where people were making the usual pro-arguments without even reading the OP and later posts.
 

akira28

Member
hilarity

There are still a lot of people who haven't upgraded and Microsoft doesn't want another XP situation. For every 1 person with legitimate reasons to use an old OS you have 10 people refusing to upgrade for stupid reasons which benefits no one.

but holy fuck is that not Microsoft's call to make. its like bad IT admin X1000.

They've gone from "we provide software and services to you" to "this is our system, you just use it".
 
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