Windows 10: Windows 10 upgrades: Microsoft sued for millions

I’m from Illinois (Chicago area) and more than likely this is a case where lawyers solicit people for a class-action lawsuit via advertisements. We see those ads around here all the time. I find it difficult to believe that W10 would upgrade on its own without user consent, but eh, we know anything could happen in tech. Even given that it sounds like some didn’t perform the holy grail of tech > Backup! > Backup! > Backup! as some have mentioned here and MS stressed since inception, especially in a business setting. I always backup on a secondary drive and a portable just in case. In my many years of installations, upgrades, and reinstalls I have never, ever seen an OS touch a backup drive.

The shame of all this is that MS will most likely settle the suit for less and these lawyers know that. And guess what? The cost of these types of product suits gets passed to we the consumers. It may only be nickel, a buck, or two, but we end up paying. Capitalistic lawyerism.

With that said, I had to answer to a citation one winter day. It was so cold I saw lawyers with their hands in their own pockets. *Biggrin

 

''The 100-plus members of the suit are seeking more than $5m in damages, excluding costs and interest.''

Costs will be added so they don't have to pay them.

 

Why would M$ open the floodgates to a multitude of claims by letting this lot succeed?
Money being no object, they can hire the very best in their defence, any claims could last for years, or until the claimants run out of money.

 

-sygnus21

It was never forced on me. That was one reason I never used auto updates in WU. I voluntarily chose to install Windows 10. I did read somewhere that MS was not doing this forced upgrade thing anymore or made the update that caused it allowed to be removed by the user. MS probably has two buildings full of Lawyers to deal with all of these lawsuits.

 

Then you can not equate your experience with theirs - you volunteered, others were forced. Two completely different experiences.

And MS is still forcing people to upgrade, just in a different way now by suddenly making a compatible OS, non compatible with Kaby Lake and Ryzen processors now - Microsoft locks Ryzen and Kaby Lake users out of updates on Windows 7

 

The hand writing was on the wall for this one. This isn't the first lawsuit over this

http://www.pcworld.com/article/30887...oft-10000.html

https://www.extremetech.com/computin...rade-practices

there are others, and the people have won. I suspect it will not be the last. Personally, I was always against the way Windows 10 was distributed and the auto - update policy, IMHO. I think it is a decision that has come back to bite them in the a$$, however, the article did say that Microsoft may change the way it's updates are handled. Sounded to me, one may have a way of deferring updates in the future.

Why Microsoft chose this method of distribution still baffles me, it certainly hasn't helped to ingratiate it's image with the public.

 

Updating a current OS with patches through auto update is hardly intrusive as being force upgraded to a completely different OS. Big difference.

While I personally don't have an issue with auto patch updates, I DO have a problem with forcing an OS upgrade on people without consent. At any rate I'm all in favor of having the ability to defer updates, but again, this is a different issue.

 

Sure they can, but large corporations do loose law suites, even Governments loose lawsuits, Add the negative press to that and they may see settling as the wiser option in the long run, even if it does mean thousands of suites.

 

I TOTALLY agree with you here. A little research, and you could've stopped the "upgrade" to begin with. Not only that, there's a rollback option. Not only that, but imaging your computer once a week, you could've EASILY restored your system.

To those with the so called "forced" upgrade, you CAN stop automatic updates from shagging your computer when you need it to run fast. You CAN stop the "spying".

I have WinX on three computers at home, one is an experiment that was loaded with WinX, right before the "free" (NOTHING is "free") upgrade ended.

I did the first round of updates, then, with a little tinkering, shut off updates all together, removed Cortana, removed Edge. Removing Cortana will require you to Ctrl-Alt-Del, then shut down from there, in order to keep your "fastboot" working, and you'll need to use Windows 7 search.

This computer was re-loaded with Win7, then given to a family member. From June, '16, until last month, WinX was still running, and running trouble free, and very fast, and not ONE, single update since the first one I allowed, not even the "anniversary update" .

I like WinX, but use BelArc Beacon, to keep it under control. With the "Hiberfile" fast boot option turned on, this is Microsofts fastest booting O/S to date, and an O/S that really brings an old Lenovo T400, springing to life.

However, I STILL prefer Win7 for gaming.

 

As I side 've not noticed any difference in gaming under Windows, whether 7, 8, or 10. And definitely no decreased performance between 7 & 8, let alone 10. And I game a lot. The only thing I'll give 7 in the gaming department is native support for older games. That's it.

As far as being able to stop the update. What? I have to sit at my PC 24/7 to insure I'm not force updated? Again, the average joe/jane blow does NOT have the technical skill most us here have so a lot of these things go over their head.

"imaging your computer once a week" let alone using the image to recover from an issue is a foreign to a novice as a newborn installing a PCI card. Just because one owns a PC doesn't make them a PC wiz!

 

Thank you for your response.

I play mostly older games (I'm an avid Sims2, Beyond Good and Evil player), that's why I like Win7. Didn't mean to seem presumptuous, but computer maintenance is actually just as easy as changing your own oil. Just requires a little research, and a little effort. If you own a car, you know to at least, take it in for service, or learn to do some of it yourself.

I'm just saying that one should at least know how to do the basic maintenance, and maybe a few extras to save them a ton of money and trouble.

Basic computer setup:

When I sell a computer, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty as long as you own the computer, and a little education. It's not theoretical physics....it's basic know how.

When I sell one, it comes with a small (160-320gb) external HDD, in an inexpensive USB case with the HDD image, and a repair disk, instructions for using them, and my phone number, in case you get into a bind.

A typical system I was selling last year?

Lenovo T400, 8gb/ram, 500-750gb, 7200rpm hdd, LEGAL copy of Win7Pro.
1 external HDD with image.
1 Win7Pro repair disk.
Instructions, along with my phone number.

All, with maxed out ram, a new battery, and a new charger, if it was needed.

Completely refurbished, AND upgraded.

All for around $200-$250.

I sold 28 of these last year, and haven't had a single complaint.

I gave my Niece an old HP G60 that I rebuilt almost from scratch. Taught her how to do the weekly maintenance on it. She does it faithfully, and after a year, it still runs as quick (metaphorically speaking*Wink) and crisp as it did when I built it. She loves it, and uses it for everything!

The updates I'm talking about, are the weekly, sometimes daily updates you can't stop from the GUI.

 

You do know they'll loose the repair disk, don't you? One shiny bit of plastic is much like another, then one day there's a clean out of useless old CDs gathering dust... *Sad

I'd make a small bootable 2nd partition on the USB HDD and put the boot/repair files there - one less thing to loose. That's what I do for the HDDs I keep my system images on.

 

MS did not force the purchase of those products. I was referring to normal everyday users, there were many ways to remove that upgrade to 10 thing.

 

That's a good idea. For some reason, I didn't think of that. Thanks! However, some of the "freebies" I give away, won't boot from a USB drive. I repair some pretty old systems that will function properly, and give those to people who can't afford a computer. The freebies come with nearly the same warranty, that the sold ones do.

I like helping people.*Wink

I always keep spare repair disks, in case someone needs one. I also keep the original image for my clients computers, in case the external HDD should fail.

 

What's basic to me and you may not be so basic to a casual user.

I'm currently taking a basic computer class (mainly MS Office usage) because it's a requirement I need to fulfill towards completing by Bachelor’s degree. For me, I don't need it, but it's a requirement.

Anyway, there were some in my class who struggled with the basics using a PC just to work with Office. For them, they aren't interested in delving into the nuts and bolts of a PC beyond casual or work usage. For them, the basics taught in class is all they may ever use. For me, I'm beyond that.

It's no different than an auto mechanic being in a field they're interested in, but pondering ponder why people can't tune their cars... forgetting the masses just need to know the basics to operate the vehicle. That just because one owns a car doesn't mean they has to delve into the electronics of engine management. Well the same can be said of the casual PC user... Just because one owns PC doesn't mean they need to know the inner working of an OS. Those things go beyond normal use.

Now we can argue the minutia of things, but I think my point is clear.

Peace *Cool