Earlier this year, Microsoft began pushing upgrade notifications to Windows users, suggesting they upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge.
As the year marched on, the notifications became increasingly aggressive, to the point where there was no longer any way to opt out of the upgrade from the notification windows. Users were understandably livid that Microsoft wasn’t giving them a choice in the matter, but all of that changes this week.
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In case you missed it, Microsoft decided this week to pay out $10,000 to a travel agent by the name of Tori Goldstein who says she lost wages and had to replace her computer after Windows 10 installed itself on her machine. Microsoft initially appealed the decision, but eventually gave up and settled.
“Since we introduced a new upgrade experience for Windows 10, we’ve received feedback that some of our valued customers found it confusing,” Windows chief Terry Myerson told The Verge in a statement. “We’ve been working hard to incorporate their feedback and this week, we’ll roll out a new upgrade experience with clear options to upgrade now, schedule a time, or decline the free offer.”
In recent weeks, the upgrade notification had morphed into something more like ransomware than a friendly reminder about a free offer. Clicking the red X at the top of the window would actually initiate the upgrade, and Windows 7/8.1 users would have to find clever ways to work around having Windows 10 automatically installed on their computers without their permission.
Thankfully, the updates will be going away altogether when the free offer expires on July 29th, at which point Windows 10 will likely cost $119.
