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Microsoft Removes the 'X' From Windows 10 Update Leaving No Way Out (theregister.co.uk)
simpz writes: The Register reports that Microsoft has changed the Windows 10 update dialog and no longer shows the "X" close button. They say once agreed to there is no obvious back-out method and it is now out of step with Microsoft's own documentation on this. They have a screenshot of this. As noted above, the latest move is out of step with Microsoft's Knowledge Base documentation, which says you can re-schedule your upgrade.
Try Alt-f4. Works on many apps and usually forgotten by most devs.
The power of inertia is incredible. I can't imagine putting up with a vendor that treats their customers this way.
https://www.grc.com/never10.htm
Technically this is an improvement- it is no longer a dark pattern, there's no more trick. Obviously the sane thing to do is to simply stop forcing this OS change on the users, but each Windows 10 user must generate so much ad revenue that it is worth trying to stomp out each and every one.
Anyway, whatever. Install Linux, that's your only long term fix. You can turn off updates in Windows 7 or 8, or you can get some binary that tries to fight Microsoft on this, or you can do some doodlefuck in the registry. The point is, you're fighting the OS distributor, who is no longer trustworthy. Install Linux, or you must like this shit.
Shill prediction: At some point in the near future, the "free upgrade" goes away. At this point, however, they'll still offer it for free for users of assistive technology: ( https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.c... ). That's nice of them, but that *probably* means that pretty much anyone will still be able to get it for free, by turning this on. So the shill prediction is: that this becomes a "cool trick" that gets posted on forums and stuff, at some people looking to "pull one over" on Microsoft.
Windows 10 uses you. You're the revenue source, because they sell ads. Of course they are willing to let you be a revenue source at no cost to them!
Alllllll these workarounds. Man, wouldn't it be great if your OS wasn't overtly hostile?
All this time, I thought that was a joke.
Just reject the license upon reboot. Previous version restored!
Microsoft is just digging itself deeper and deeper into a hole, from which it may never be able to extract itself. Enjoy your sprint to the bottom, Microsoft.
The close button (red X) didn't work as users expected. It was a user interface failure, and Microsoft solved the problem. Now the dialog box correctly tells users, as MS intends, that their options are to upgrade now or schedule a time for upgrade. No more users getting surprised and outraged when closing the dialog box results in an unexpected Windows 10 upgrade.
Whether or not you are a fan of MS's upgrade approach, this is a solution to the UI problem. We can still be outraged about forced upgrades, but this isn't a terrible fix.
It seems like a thin line between what MS is doing and what ransom wear does. Both force you to comply with some demand or lose access to your computer.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
If you bought something, that doesn't give the vendor the right to later on take it away from you. And don't start with the "license" bullshit. Like any upgrade/downgrade, you should be able to accept or reject it.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Menu of Choices:
1. Upgrade to Windows 10
2. Upgrade to Windows 9 + 1
3. Get Windows 10 for Free!
4. Install the latest Windows version from Microsoft
5. Restart your computer, and then have it automatically install Windows 10
6. Let Microsoft decide for you
7. Ten, Windows, upgrade to. -Yoda
8. Just do it, dammit, it probably won't kill you
9. Go to 1.
Table-ized A.I.
it is insanity in this day and age to have to support multiple substantially different versions of an operating system for general population. its unjustifiably expensive and unsustainable.
Then Microsoft should not have sold WIndows 7 and 8 with support windows that extend to 2020 (Win 7) and 2023 (Win 8). Consumers purchased these products with the promise of support as per Microsoft's published Windows lifecycle. If Microsoft didn't plan to do this, and price their product accordingly, that is very much their problem.
there is always a choice. there is always a path to escape.
one of many.
http://cdimage.debian.org/debi...
There lies the domain of the MS Marketing director, who having submitted to the mandatory prefrontal lobotomy (a corporate requirement for the position), sits within the pallid cool glow of his curved LED monitor, simply cannot fathom what is making the users angry.
"It costs too much!" he mocks. "Make it free like OSX!"
So we do-- We make it a free update! We put it on Windows update, so it is convenient. Our telemetry tells us that most of our users dont subscribe to MSDN news sources, so we make it super easy to inform them about the update with the GWX app...
But there is no pleasing them!
First, they say that using windows update to spread awareness is a misuse of the critical update delivery pipeline-- So, we deploy additional telemetry software to verify the claim, and help synergize with development for the new programming apis we will use going forward, and now they complain we are spying on them!
So, we install those telemetry updates in updates more specific to that development harmonization, and they freak out even more!
Corporate wants to know why these users arent on board with windows 10, despite the free upgrade, and wont get off my back! What am I supposed to tell them, since those users keep uninstalling the telemetry suite that would let us know more about the issue!
Now, to top it all off, they complain about the functionality of the close button widget.
Ok, so we change the behavior-- they are still mad.
Ok, so we REMOVE the widget-- Even angrier!!
What is it that these people want!!?
(at this point, an intern enters the dread specter of marketing's office with a thick slab of useless paper copy to make his daily delivery, since despite email being a thing for over a decade, there are those in corporate that still insist on old fashioned interoffice memos. In a quivering, mewling tone reminiscient of a prepubescent youth, the freckled mouse of a man hazards a conjecture to his corporate master, knowing the perils of doing so.)
Perhaps they just dont want the update, and dont want to be told about it anymore?
At this, the dread specter of marketing erupts into a ballmer-esque frenzy, toppling his chair, and spraying thick droplets of foaming spittle as he rages--
DONT WANT THE UPDATE!? DONT WANT IT!?
he shrieks, grabbing the thick slab of papers from the poor interns hands, then throwing them in the air.
FIRST THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT HAVING TO PAY EVERY 3 YEARS, THEN WHEN WE RESTRUCTURE FOR THE NEW ADVERT MODEL, THEY DONT WANT THE UPDATE!?
Cowering on the floor, desperately trying to recover and recollate the precious memos that justify his position in the company, the intern timidly responds.
Perhaps they wanted us to respect their choice of when to do the update?
FUCK-EM! the prince of darkness snarls, returning to his desk and grabbing the back of his chair in a livid clawing motion. WE HAVE A SCHEDULE TO MEET, AND WE ARE BENDING OVER BACKWARDS FOR THESE INGRATES!
Does that mean that we will proceed with the forced updates sir?
The room fills with a thick, suffocating silence for a good seconds, as the knuckles on the back of the chair turn white with rage-clenching, followed by unnatural relaxation. In a now buttery smooth, and altogether inhumanly relaxed tone, the dread specter of marketing smiles deeply..
Of course we will. We owe it to them, after all.
If you think this all stops July 29th, you're delving into some twisted fantasies far stranger than pr0n.
Individuals only got support for Windows 7 until 1/13/2015. They aren't included in the 2020 support plan, and Microsoft is under no obligation to support home users for Windows 7 anymore.
As per Microsoft's lifecycle policy, Extended Support applies to retail purchases, and entitles home users to security fixes until January 14, 2020 (Win 7) and January 10, 2023 (Win 8).
"She obviously wanted it! If she didnt, why was she showing leg under that slutty red and black dress, and wearing whore makup at night like that!"
Because that's what the "You did agree! You had had suggested updates turned on!" really amounts to.
You can do what I did, go to Frys with a wheelbarrow full of cash and buy a Mac. I'm an embedded firmware developer and often need windows based compilers for microcontroller development. (sorry, not everything iCPU is supported by open source compilers). After I was forced to work under parallels for windows work last year I have never looked back. Even windows is more stable under osx. It is hard to blame microsoft developers for all the instabilities as every peripheral maker drops their own conflicting and half baked drivers into the mix. I've been living with dos and windows since it was the next new thing and I'm glad to see the back side of windows machines. Only thing that still drives me nuts is the disjoint copy and paste meta keys when moving test between windows and parallels/windows - it just hurts my brains and muscle memory.
Pull the plug.
Take out the battery.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
cortaaaaanaaaaa
lucm, indeed.
disclaimer: i don't exactly have a dog in the fight, i'm a mac/unix guy.
If you wake up one morning and find YOUR Mac has been upgraded from "El Capitan" to "Death Valley", and some of YOUR apps have completely changed appearance, other apps don't work right anymore, still others (like your favorite media app) are just plain gone and can't be recovered, and YOU have a whole new flat ugly touch-based color scheme on some but not all of your applications, YOUR menu bar has been replaced with a ribbon, some older hardware doesn't have drivers anymore, and a bunch of ads are now rolling through YOUR dock, and the EULA now says Apple reserves the right to send info about YOU back to headquarters whenever it feels like it, my guess is you won't just smile and be happy because Apple's business model is not "insane".
it is insanity in this day and age to have to support multiple substantially different versions of an operating system for general population. its unjustifiably expensive and unsustainable.
You got it backward. Since when does the market (i.e., consumers... us) have to bear the burden for Microsoft's "insanity"? Let's see how YOU feel about the "insanity" when it's YOUR computer that's changed overnight into a platform for promoting tablets and phones that nobody wants to buy. If YOUR dad calls YOU in the middle of the night because he can no longer figure out how to view pictures of his grandkids, are YOU gonna tell him to be silent and act like a man and accept his duty to make sacrifices wherever necessary to support our Dear Corporate Overlords? "Gee, I know it's hard, dad, but think about (Microsoft CEO) Nadella... you and mom are doing it for the good of Microsoft and Nadella."
"Gosh, son, you're right. I guess I don't need those old picture anyhow. Hail Nadella."
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
"Slackware is archaic". Old does not mean bad or even obsolete. Slackware is still quite alive and well and entirely usable on modern systems as a modern OS
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Septuagenarian Grandmother: "Friends have been suggesting I get an iPad".
"nerd" offspring: "Go right ahead. But I don't use any Apple products so don't come crying to me for support."
Father: "Grandma's dead."
"nerd" offspring: "Did she leave me anything?"
Father: "Her old will left you quite a bit, but she changed it soon after she got her iPad."
"nerd" offspring: "So, what did she leave me?"
Father: "Her iPad. and a note that says 'learn some fucking Apple products, you snotty little shit.'"
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
I absolutely agree with you. For an average user it does not matter what is the OS they run, just that it does not get in the way. And that is perfectly fine!
But here is my point: Why be hostile? What is the benefit of the forced upgrade? Why not just allow the user to press "Cancel"? Let them update when they are ready! if they don't: That is fine, just don't support them. If they come to complain: Just tell them the steps to upgrade.
From my past experience supporting such users, they get absolutely horrified of situations they can't back out of or can't abort. Anything unfamiliar on the screen sends them into a state of panic. And here you have the very worst example.
This is a perfect showcase of an OS getting in the way of the user. He/she could be in the middle of their daily email reading when all of a sudden a system dialogue comes up demanding they right there and NOW make a decision about their underlying system. No, you can't close it and come back to it later. At most you can do is schedule a time, but schedule something you don't even understand or indeed want! Your Windows 7 IE is showing your emails fine! Why (As you eloquently put it) do I need to care about the OS?!
Can you imagine what panic this user will go through if they say OK to the update?! All of the sudden your system is rebooting and installation screens are asking you questions and that only thing you know is that it deals with something you know nothing about!
Change your Serial to a known bad one so you fail validation, you don't get upgrade prompts but you do get security updates. It also changes your desktop to a classy black background. Yes, pirates are actually getting better service than paying users...
If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
Insightful? Really mods? Riddle me this.....how many of you know someone who actually went out and bought Windows because they LIKED it...anyone? Buelller? People buy Windows and PCs that come with Windows because they have hundreds to thousands of dollars worth of software that only run on that OS, its called the network effect and its the reason why despite Linux being free forever there are more people that pirate Windows than use Linux as a desktop.
So you might as well have typed "replace your PC with a potato! Up with vegetables!" for all the good Linux would do the majority as without the software the bought the PC to run in the first place you are offering them nothing of value and in fact are offering them nothing but frustration as they try to get their software to work or find an ersatz on Linux, which just doesn't fulfill their needs. Those few people that ONLY use a web browser, which so many here think is the majority? Would be better off with a tablet as they wouldn't have to deal with drivers or patches yet Windows PCs still number in the hundreds of millions.
This is why MSFT can get away with putting out an OS as shitty as Windows 10 and be as douchey as they want trying to shove it down people's throats because the majority have no choice but use Windows and until you can get the majority of Windows software vendors to port their proprietary software to your platform (which will happen when hell freezes over, with Linux being so openly hostile to proprietary they'll stay where they are at) its simply gonna provide no value to the vast majority of PC users, no matter how crap the MSFT alternative is. You want proof? Look at history...WinME was crap...Linux gained nothing. Vista was crap...Linux gained nothing. Windows 8 was a shitty smartphone OS designed by hipsters...Linux gained nothing. 8.1 was slightly less crap but was still shitty...you know where this is going.
More than half the MSFT OSes released the past decade has been deep fried dogshit while Linux has gotten easier to install and run than ever....and still Linux gained less than the margin for error. The reason why that is is beyond simple, its because people do not buy OSes, they buy programs and then choose an OS that will run those programs. And as long as those billions of dollars of proprietary software doesn't run on your OS? MSFT can do what it wants and the majority will stay right where they are at. This is why I predict MSFT will keep extending the "free period" of Windows 10 and keep getting more malware like in their pushing it and...nothing will happen, nobody will leave, and Win 10 will become the majority OS on the desktop just as MSFT wants. The few geeks that actually care about things like privacy and spying will have already run GWX or Never10 and will not be affected...well until the majority of hardware no longer has Windows 7 drivers, then even they will have no choice but get on Win 10, no matter how much we hate it.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
How long ago was it, a couple of days, since they said they were going to change the behaviour of the "x" so it did not automatically accept the update? I guess they kept their promise, there no longer is an "x".
This brings to mind an old joke:
A couple of guys are flying in a hot air baloon, fall asleep, and are completely lost.
As they drift over a building, one of them shouts down "could you please tell us where we are?"
"You are in a balloon", the man shouts back.
The first man then said "I know where we are. We're in Redmond, Washington. While the answer was technically correct, it was completely useless, so we must be over Microsoft."