Microsoft is opening a new chapter in its plan to increase the presence of Windows 10, and once again the chosen technique is to pressure the user, even when they have seven months to decide if they want the operating system or not. Apparently, the update tool now proposes, in the best "Godfather" style, an offer that cannot be refused: Update to Windows 10 immediately, or "tonight".
We have been closely following the Windows 10 situation for several months, and one would love to believe that Microsoft has acknowledged its mistakes. However, reality takes us in another direction. The latest statistics tell us that Windows 10 remains "stuck" at nine percent of the market. It is estimated that with the upcoming sales associated with the Christmas season, Redmond's flagship operating system could end the year at ten percent, but we must also take into account the updates. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 represent almost 70 percent of the market, and the vast majority of users within that percentage have received more than once the option to upgrade their platforms. The "option" will soon become a "recommendation", and we also find details such as unwanted downloads, or "accidental" installations.
So what's next? During the last weekend, several users discovered a new pop-up that reduces the upgrade options to a trap: Now, or tonight. If I'm not mistaken, sales experts call this an "assumptive close". Microsoft basically assumes that the user will upgrade their operating system, and the only thing presented is the possibility of starting the process immediately, or later. The solution is nothing other than closing the pop-up and avoiding the trap entirely, but that does not prevent the update system from trying again later.
The feeling is exactly the same as we have had for months: sooner or later, someone at Microsoft will try to make the update mandatory. Personally, I hope I am very wrong, but so far the evidence speaks for itself. Now, those who wish to eliminate this problem at its root have an ally: GWX Control Panel, previously known as GWX Stopper.
InfoWorld
