Microsoft responds to criticism clicking on closing cross for Windows 10 upgrade
Microsoft is adding an extra popup to its Windows10 upgrade policy. The company is doing this after criticism that users who clicked on the closing cross still enter the upgrade path. In China, among others, there is criticism of the upgrade policy, with which Microsoft would abuse its position.
At the beginning of this year, Microsoft started serving new pop-ups to Windows 7 and 8 users who are not on Windows 10, stating that it is a “recommended upgrade.” Since then, the company has modified that pop-up a few times “based on user feedback.” For example, it was previously unclear from the wording how users could decline the upgrade: they could only choose between ‘upgrade now’ and ‘start download, upgrade later’.
With a new text with a cancel option, Microsoft makes it a little clearer that the upgrade is not mandatory, but at the same time the company quietly introduced a method that led to even more criticism. Those who clicked on the closing cross still agreed to the upgrade, without realizing this, observed including Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott.
On the left the notification with the old text, on the right the new one with cancel option and closing cross confirmation
Despite the firestorm of criticism over this change to the locking cross feature, Microsoft has not yet reversed this method. The company responds by showing a second notification. “Based on customer feedback, we have added another notification that confirms the time of the planned upgrade and gives the customer an additional option to decline or reschedule the upgrade,” reports Microsoft. Once again, customers must explicitly click on the cancel option: when the notification is clicked away, the upgrade will be initiated as planned.
Microsoft’s aggressive tactics to force a Windows 10 upgrade on users have drawn criticism for months. According to a lawyer from the Internet Society of China, the company is abusing its dominant market position and acting in violation of fair play. The organization points out customers there according to Reuters that they have the right to sue Microsoft for allegedly violating their right to information and choice.