Windows 10 updates have serious problems:Even Microsoft agrees!

Microsoft finally went too far. The company’s obsession with forcing as many Windows 10 upgrades as possible saw it descend into dirty tricks, more typical of malware. The move has been widely condemned and even one of the company’s loyalist long term supporters labelled it a violation of trust that is “almost indescribable”.

And now Microsoft has been forced to issue a new warning to Windows 7 and Windows 8 users…


Having reversed the functionality of the ‘x’ close button to confirm rather than reject Windows 10 upgrade prompts, Microsoft has now buckled under public and media pressure to introduce a new failsafe warning prior to the installation beginning.

Windows 10 upgrade prompts now give this additional warning prior to upgrading. But using the x button to close it still acts as a confirmation. Image credit: Microsoft

In a statement issued to me the company said:

“Based on customer feedback, we’ve also added another notification that confirms the time of the scheduled upgrade and provides the customer 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.”

But this is certainly not enough.While the additional warning is welcome and will help reduce the number of Windows 7 and Windows 8 users hoodwinked into a Windows 10 upgrade they do not want, Microsoft has still fallen short of taking the most obvious first step: returning the normal functionality of the close button. Close both the standard upgrade prompt and this new scheduling prompt using the close button and Windows 10 will still take it as two confirmations to start installing.


New Windows 10 upgrade prompts on Windows 7 and Windows 8 turn the close button into a confirmation. Image credit: Microsoft


The ramifications of this also spread more widely. From now on Windows 7 and Windows 8 users will find the close button retains opposing functionality. For Windows 10 upgrade prompts it will act as a confirmation but everywhere else it will act as a cancellation.

Yes, it’s nonsensical but it’s also a measure of how far Microsoft is prepared to go to achieve its stated goal of one billion Windows 10 installations “within 2-3 years”.

So is there any light on the horizon? Thankfully yes. Because despite Microsoft’s increasingly farcical attempts to promote, pressure, push and now trick Windows 7 and Windows 8 users into Windows 10 upgrades this shouldn’t last much longer.

On July 29th the free upgrade period for Windows 10 will end and with this Microsoft has promised to scale back its nagging upgrade notices. Given most users who wish to upgrade should have done so by then, for everyone else this change cannot come soon enough…