Microsoft responds to critical clicks on the cross-hairs for Windows10 upgrade

Microsoft is adding an additional pop-up to its Windows10 upgrade policy. The company is doing this after criticism that users who clicked on the closing cross still enter the upgrade process. In China, among other things, the upgrade policy is criticized, with which Microsoft would abuse its position.

At the beginning of this year, Microsoft began 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 several times “based on user feedback.” For example, it was previously unclear from the wording how users could reject the upgrade: they could only choose between ‘upgrade now’ and ‘start download, upgrade later’.

With a new text with a cancel option, Microsoft is a little more clear 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 crosshair still agreed to the upgrade, without realizing this, noted Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott, among others.

On the left the notification with the old text, on the right the new one with cancel option and crosshair confirmation

Despite the storm of criticism about this change to the crosshair function, Microsoft has not yet rolled back this method. The company responds by showing a second notification. “Based on customer feedback, we’ve added another notification that confirms the time of the planned upgrade and gives the customer an additional option to decline or reschedule the upgrade,” Microsoft said. Once again, customers must explicitly click on the cancel option: when clicking away the notification, the upgrade is initiated as planned.

Microsoft’s aggressive tactics to force a Windows 10 upgrade from users have been criticized 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. According to Reuters, the organization reminds customers that they have the right to sue Microsoft for allegedly violating their right to information and choice.