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Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

extremetech.com

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Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#81
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how its installer seem to not even do a basic check of disk space and computer capabilities before start to download loads of data If let's say, the installer takes 10GB it shouldn't start downloading anything unless there's at least 20GB

I tried to update my wife's lil' tabletish Acer netbooky thing, because while I don't like the pushiness I did like Windows 10. And it's been pestering us with little popups for weeks at that point. I go to update it, and it says, Sorry, Windows is 64-bit only. This is when I discover the machine that I purchased only about 2 years ago now was actually 32-bit. Didn't even know they were still making them at that time…

Here's a reddit thread about a different little notebook: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3fnj17/installin...

It's no wonder that people are reluctant to upgrade.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#83
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if stories like this are why Skype is so completely broken on Linux. If it worked, far more people would be comfortable switching.

I'm friends with a dev I respect that recently took a job on the Skype team. Skype is completely broken everywhere, because the code is a nightmare and people are scared to make changes - any change will break something . Linux is probably just low priority on a very long list of things that are terrible/broken about Skype.

I was about to say the same thing, is there any platform Skype is actually reliable ? I had problems with Linux, Windows and Android.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#84
Although I can't speak for Windows 10, in general it is best to upgrade to the newest MS OS because although older versions of Windows get security upgrades, the newest version generally has newer security features that the older versions do not have, some of it taking advantage of newer Intel hardware.

I currently run Mac with Windows 10 in Parallels VM.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have mixed feelings about this. I'm with you 100% on having the explicit opportunity to opt out of updates like this. That said, a large swath of Windows users are not nearly as technically literate as you and your mother are, and automatically helping people forward (if for nothing else, security fixes and ongoing support) is a Good Thing in my book (so long as it's free, and it is). There is no doubt there are co…

I wouldn't be upset if Windows 10 hadn't turned into a telemetry botnet for Microsoft. Edit: I see in other posts accusations of paranoia. But how can I not be paranoid when I cannot determine what is being transmitted.

^ This. It's not THAT there is telemetry and "phoning home," it's the fact that Microsoft flat out REFUSES to be up front about what it's sending home, how they're anonymizing it, and why these things can't be 100% disabled. If you say nothing then your users will (and should) assume the worst.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#86
This is probably a dangerous position as a software developer, but I think we should stop calling these things upgrades. What's being shipped are changes. Whether they're improvements or not is completely subjective.

It seems like splitting hairs, but terminology matters. It sounds harmless when you say "Microsoft reserves the right to update your machine" but things are clearer when you say "Microsoft reserves the right to change your machine, on their own schedule", which is effectively the right they've conferred on themselves.

Windows 10 (and patches) aren't upgrades, they're changes. They might be better for you, or they might be worse. Nobody should be bullied into changing their machines at a vendor's whims.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#87
post #37
post #16

I'm not a fan of class action law suits but if there ever was a case it should be applied this is it.

With a class action lawsuit, the lawyers will get millions while the rest of us will get a coupon for a free upgrade to windows as settlement.

In theory, at least, a class action lawsuit would also deter Microsoft and others from forcing bad OS updates on users.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#88
post #21

If they promise to remove the botnet entirely i'd be in.

What botnet? Take off your Tinfoil hat.

Calling it a botnet is meant to highlight that it's MS who is ultimately in control and a machine running W10 obeys them before the user.

If we're going for accuracy, it should probably be called spyware.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Example: Apple held my iPad 2 hostage until I stopped using iOS 8. I forgot my unlock pin (because I lent my iPad to someone else) and there is no way to factory reset it without also updating the OS. So now Flux no longer works, and there is no way to adjust the gamma on this device, which means I no longer like reading on it before bed. And there are plenty of other regressions in iOS 9 as well. And they forced me…

iOS 9.3 has Night Shift, which allows you to adjust display color temperature

Not on the iPad 2.

Re: Woman wins $10k judgment against Microsoft for forced Windows 10 upgrade

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have mixed feelings about this. I'm with you 100% on having the explicit opportunity to opt out of updates like this. That said, a large swath of Windows users are not nearly as technically literate as you and your mother are, and automatically helping people forward (if for nothing else, security fixes and ongoing support) is a Good Thing in my book (so long as it's free, and it is). There is no doubt there are co…

Those technically illiterate users are going to have trouble with Windows 10. My stepfather is in his 70s, and I had to help him set up the weather app - and it took me about ten minutes how to figure out how to set a default location! 10 is different enough from 7 that they're going to have to learn a lot of new habits - and while that's just the nature of modern life, some people are going to suffer significantly m…

I believe there must be a way of allowing people to live forever without growing old or dying. Unfortunately, neither of our beliefs are very helpful since we cannot describe an exact method for achieving our goals.
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