Posted on 10/16/2015 6:21:09 AM PDT by dayglored
Microsoft forced the Windows 10 upgrade on unsuspecting users for a week before correcting the 'mistake'
Yesterday Peter Bright at Ars Technica posted a jaw-dropping statement from Microsoft about its latest attempts to force Windows 10 down Windows 7 users' throats. Bright asked his Microsoft contacts why the "Upgrade to Windows 10" item appears in Windows Update's Optional list with a check mark.
For those Windows 7 and 8.1 users who have Automatic Update turned on, the check mark indicates that Windows should blithely start the Windows 10 upgrade. While there are at least two dialog boxes to prevent full automatic installation, Bright notes:
If you're not paying attention, though, you may find yourself upgrading sooner than you expected.More than that, initiating the Windows 10 upgrade process and then stopping it leaves your PC in a limbo state. We've had zero information from Microsoft about the various stages of Windows 10 installation -- how can you stop it, when are you destined to reenact bug on windshield? -- and this forced upgrade leaves all sorts of unanswered questions.
Microsoft's official response, in case you haven't read it yet, is:
As part of our effort to bring Windows 10 to existing genuine Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers, the Windows 10 upgrade may appear as an optional update in the Windows Update (WU) control panel. This is an intuitive and trusted place people go to find Recommended and Optional updates to Windows. In the recent Windows update, this option was checked as default; this was a mistake and we are removing the check.Golly. Imagine that.
(Excerpt) Read more at infoworld.com ...
Mine didn’t upgrade .. it’s still there in my “Updates” program file.
It’s probably because my system is not large enough to handle the upgrade .. but .. since I’m using my computer today, and everything seems to be working okay .. I guess I didn’t get the upgrade.
For later...
Thank you for the info.
BFLR - thanks for posting.
My bank’s website is sufficient for me to keep track of everything I need to keep track of. All I need for that is a this browser.
My bank’s website is sufficient for me to keep track of everything I need to keep track of. All I need for that is a this browser. What I want is my old designed for W95 MGI photo program. I do a lot of pictures and all the things I need are right up front and used by habit. I have photoshop but don’t use it. Most of it is bells and whistles that I don’t use.
I started looking through it and noticed all the different ways it can spy on your online activities if you jusy download and don’t change the settings
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First thing I did, change the settings, after going from Win 8 to Win 10, the only way to opt out of their spy ware.
I can’t tell a lot of difference between Win 8 and Win 10. I’m not all that computer savy though.
I have a bootleg i.e. “non-genuine” copy for the few times I actually need WIN so no worries here.
BFL
Yep, I had this attempt to happen on my computer last week. I do my updates manually and several weeks after seeing the Windows 10 “suggestion” I had the needed upgrades checked but I could not find the Optional one very easily. I installed the needed upgrades and came back to my computer and it said, “Click OK to continue with the Windows 10 installation.” I clicked Cancel. Later, I found the Win10 checkbox and asked that it Hide that upgrade. What a bunch of jerks.
Hiding the item gets overridden. Mine kept coming back.
All I need for that is a this browser. What I want is my old designed for W95 MGI photo program. I do a lot of pictures and all the things I need are right up front and used by habit. I have photoshop but don’t use it. Most of it is bells and whistles that I don’t use.
Sorry again, but I really have no recommendation beyond GIMP... Not that there aren't any others, but that is what I know, personally. I don't do much with graphics, beyond creating what I need in authoring programs - And that, likely as not, is seldom much more than icon design.
But I do know what you mean - My absolute favorite graphics application is a little gizmo called PaintBox, from somewhere back in Win98 days... It's just a great little program for doing simple work - Everything you might generally need. And because it's simple, and an old friend, it is a joy for me to use it. However, often enough, it cannot do what I need, so I fire up the Gimp, which I only became acquainted with because I would not put out the money for PS...
WRT a transition into Linux (and how that tangentially approaches the topic), I have almost always been on Linux, for it's tech value (servers and such), but before I started dedicating desktops to Linux, I looked high and low for cross-platform, open source programs that run in Windows, and committed to them over time: Thus, when I finally made the jump, the programs I was used to would be able come with me (as well as my data).
For me, that kinda meant leaving poor old PaintBox behind. Since I was already pretty aware of the eccentricities of the Gimp, I just moved on over to it, and never went looking for a lightweight photo/graphics editor. The Gimp will do just about anything - Though I admit that cranking out an icon on it is a bit like hitting a 6d nail with a 20 lb sledge.... Yeah. Overkill.
But do keep searching. There is sure to be many to pick from in the cross-platform environment.
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