Will I be able to opt out of the Win10 upgrade?

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I just bumped into a great question….Hi,I’m an individual end user who does not want Windows 10 for many reasons.I do not have my PC configured to d
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Surely the important setting is Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-windows-update-installation-notification#1TC=windows-7

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@Bruce –

Not known, as yet, whether that’ll work against the update next year.

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@Bruce:

I have my updates set to recommended updates only for two years (ever since I discovered Woody’s blog) and I still have to hide updates that Woody & Co. have designated dangerous. I have already hidden KB3083710 for October with probably more to come.

I also would like to know why news outlets like CNN & CNBC, etc are not reporting on this announcement and its reaction. Too busy running Windows 10 ads?

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@Bruce:

Sorry I meant Important updates only!

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I have my windows updates turned off. The GWX Pannel thing worked for me in be able to do my updates.

I would really like if MS would back off and not force this.

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You won’t be able to install Windows 10 accidentally or inadvertently as it will require you to accept the EULA before proceeding to a full install, however running updates automatically may well result in your downloading the upgrade and the installation being started up to the point where you say no to the EULA.

At least, that’s my understanding of the recent announcement. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a hard sell and an unfortunate one at that. It isn’t going to win Microsoft any friends, that’s for sure. For a company that wants us to use their product, they’re going a strange way about it.

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I have been following the concerns about Windows 10 on many sites and cancelled my reservation. Many people have thought about using Linux, but think it is too hard to understand.

I started using Linux Mint KDE two years ago, dual booting with Win Xp. I disabled internet access for XP to keep it safe.

On my laptop I am dual booting Windows 7 and KDE. Having to read up on the monthly updates is a real pain.

Linux does everything I need, except some Windows only programs. Many of us have Windows programs we paid good money for, but chances are they do not need internet access. So we can keep them.

I rarely boot into Windows anymore, and create a backup image after each patch Tuesday, just in case.

I have been using Microsoft systems since the days of DOS, but Windows 7 will be the last version I will use.

It is sad things have come to this, but the upside is I am now a happy Linux user. Installing Linux is a little tricky, if you want to keep Windows, but the Mint forum is always happy to help.

I’m 63 years old, and if I can figure it out, anyone can. Download the ISO and burn it to a DVD or USB stick. You can then try it without installing it. You may be pleasantly surprised what KDE can do.

My blog has posts on how to prepare your Windows system and install Mint. You are welcome to comment on any of the posts.

Change is always annoying and frightening, but there has never been a better time or reason to switch to Linux. We don’t need to become guinea pigs for Microsoft.

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Woody. In my heart with all that I have been reading on ur site the newsletter and ur sites u recommend that Microsoft will definetly take away our choice to Update Oursleves as we wish and when we wish in Win 7 and 8.1 at some point? I have no intention of ever going to Win 10 unless I am tortured. It is unbelievable what is going on. Just my own feeling. Pat

don't know what a signature is?

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Woody maybe this is a generational thing or the different expectations we have with the typical Microsoft/PC user vs Apple users.

I have several friends who live in the Apple ecosystem and they do not fear an OS upgrade they impatiently wait for it then make sure their Macs are updated as soon as its available.

They are the same with their iPhones.

Anyone who has been in a college library or off campus coffee-shop will notice with Millennials Microsoft has lost the battle. Its a sea of overpriced Macs sitting on those tables while the owners check their iPhones.

Anyone at MS should rightly shudder to think the under 30 market has abandoned MS in masse.
(one Glaring exception is The XBOX)

Its true Apple is “Loved” by their users its going to take a Herculean effort for Microsoft to make such a change to their corporate culture and products.

The problems with Surface you posted this week are not helping. Who would pay 3K for a product with such failures. When an Apple store instantly retrieves any such wonky Mac,iPad or iPhone

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All.
There’s always alternative providers, willing to take your hard earned cash.
But, are all providers as, convoluted and dis-trustworthy. It used to be ‘customer is king’. Currently, it appears ‘product is all’, and customers are mindless technophobes.

When my ‘VISTA-32’ hits the ‘cemetery gates’ in 2017; I, just might give APPLE MAC a try. Unless, of course they field indeterminate products.

Spoilt for choice, again. HO-HUM !
Best regards. AK

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Why wouldn’t it be expected to work Woody? Directly quoted from your article by MS…

“Early next year, we expect to be re-categorizing Windows 10 as a “Recommended Update”. Depending upon your Windows Update settings, this may cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device.”

Of course I realize we can’t rely on Microsoft’s “word” anymore, but they clearly state that.

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@Ed –

There’s a lot of variables floating around – uninstalled patches, registry settings, and other things that GWX Control Panel may twiddle. Hard to say at this point if those will be sufficient to flash a garland of garlic at the coerced Win10 upgrade.

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@DeWayne –

It may well be a generational thing. That’s a big spot in my brain that keeps lighting up. I don’t know enough about the inner workings of OS X security patches to tell if Microsoft is simply adapting the Apple way of doing things. (Again.)

MS PCs vs tablets isn’t a generational thing, I think, any more than horses vs cars. (Which, come to think of it, may have been partially generational.) There are differences in the form factors that make one way of work easier on one than on the other. If we’re witnessing a shift in the kind of work people are doing – yeah, that could be the case.

I wonder what’s going to happen when we get full-fledged voice interaction… where you don’t need a PC or a tablet except for the most specialized tasks. That’s going to mark another watershed point, and it’s going to happen pretty soon.

Then there’s AI….

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@Pat –

I don’t think MS will ever force you to change. But they’re going to make it increasingly difficult to dodge the bullet.

At the same time, Windows 10 is getting better — if you don’t mind the snooping and the forced stealth upgrade. I have reason to hope that the forced stealthy upgrades will get a little better. Stay tuned.

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@Seff –

That’s absolutely correct, in all regards.

The problem is what happens if you say “No” to the EULA? That’s exactly the problem we had when Microsoft “accidentally” started the installer automatically a couple of weeks ago. People were left in an indeterminate state, where the files were downloaded (taking up 6 GB of space) and the GWX nag continued. I know I’m being pedantic, but I want to know if saying “No” to the update (at whatever point) really, truly means “No” — or if Microsoft interprets the action as a coy “Maybe.”

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@Deborah –

Seriously, Microsoft is a HUGE advertiser.

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I am another one who has installed Linux Mint. I chose the MATE interface, which reminds me of Windows XP. My machine is now dual boot, but I now usually go for days without booting into Win 7. Right now I need Win 7 for Netflix and Hulu, for complex Word documents, and for my recording software, but I am finding solutions for those needs.

I am actually kind of afraid to boot into Win 7 for fear of what I will find. I have removed and hidden the Win 10 updates several times.

Linux Mint comes with most everything you need to do real work. I had to download and install a printer driver and click a radio button to get audio working. There is little need for the command line. I often forget that I am working in Linux. It has come a long way.

My goal is to eliminate Microsoft from my life. I think it is doable.

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I’M stil thinking of looking into Linux. Some one said online they would help install it if i choose to use it. Or if i could some how find a used Apple Laptop that be awesome.

On CBC they had a right up about the Force Windows 10 Upgrade and how it sucks up peoples Limited internet usges. EHH!!!

I’M still not sure what i will do. All i really use the compture for is to Use the internet and music on ITunes. So Linux is free? Would it take up much space on the harddrive?

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@Krissy –

Stick with what you have. Don’t install Windows 10 unless you understand the pro’s and con’s. If you aren’t sure, wait.

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Just read an interesting post from a person who got hit by the Upgrade to W10 when it was pre-selected as an Optional Update. The poster did not see it on the WU list before he hit OK, however, the OP got the EULA question and accepted it and went on to download all the W10 updates. Another several restarts and the PC was close to unusable.

The OP spent $200 with an OEM help line to get the PC reset to full W7 working order again and found out that the PC was not a candidate for W10. The PC was on the OEM list of PCs that can not upgraded to W10. This is not because the PC does not meet W10 requirements. OEM PCs often have driver sets that ‘freeze’ the PC at a specific version of drivers – they say to deliver the best experience for that model of the PC.

MS does not use OEM lists – WU discovers the hardware components and issues the latest driver or a generic one. Unfortunately some OEM PCs react negatively to these W10 drivers and in some cases the install can render the PC unusable – which is what happened with this OP.

This OP learned the hard way and it cost him. He explained that he accepted the EULA because he believed that MS had checked his system for the upgrade and determined it ready. Yep, he got that right.

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I think i will do just that. I’ll be safer that way/

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Matias Duarte, Google’s vice president of design, thinks Windows 10 is no better than Windows XP. Duarte says Microsoft’s modern design is barely a step up from the usability of Windows software from 2001.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/2/9659658/windows-10-design-flaws-google-matias-duarte-tweets

And he tweeted that.

I had no complaints with the look and feel of Windows 10

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@DeWayne –

Have to say I disagree with Matias. I use his products, too, but I doubt that he’s as buried in Windows as many of us.

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