I have been helping seniors look after their personally owned PCs for some time now. They are not very computer savvy but they do get a lot of enjoyment out of a bit of web surfing and emailing friends and family. They are very aware of what viruses, malware, adware, spyware etc. are all about. They accept responsibility for their own actions and if they screw up on the computer they feel bad about it. When W10 was announced they asked me for advise and I told them it is best to wait and that I wanted to set their windows update to notify and hide the GWX updates on their systems mostly because they all have metered bandwidth contracts with their ISPs. None of them are on shared domains. They have between 800MB and 1GB max., ( about $35/mo) because that is all they need for what they do. If Microsoft had have sent them W10 without their consent, we calculated that it would have cost each of them anywhere between $750 and $1200 for that month depending on the size of the download. They did not get dinged but they have lost a lot of trust in Microsoft. They said 'MS would have had to know this - such a bone head decision'.
I think they had good intensions, but somebody really didn't think through how they did it. They could have done it a lot better. The get Windows 10 App install it self should have been a yes no, don't ask me again, don't call me I'll call you type of deal. IMHO. It was actually a big waste of time for me personally. All my PC's ground to a halt on the Verifying your PC, or some other screen. Getting things ready or something, don't remember now. They just sat there for hours and hours doing nothing. I eventually lost patience and did the Upgrade This PC Now from the MCT website. Much faster that way. Who wants to spend all day waiting for the GWX App to actually do its thing.
Computer Type: PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number: Pi Foundation Raspberry Pi 4B OS: Windows 10 IoT CPU: Broadcom BCM2711B0 quad-core A72 (ARMv8-A) 64-bit @ 1.5GHz Motherboard: Raspberry Pi Model 4B Memory: 4GB LPDDR4 SDRAM Graphics Card: Broadcom VideoCore VI Sound Card: Combined 3.5mm audio jack and composite video Monitor(s) Displays: 7 Inch Pi Foundation Touch Screen Screen Resolution: Two 4K displays at up to 4Kp30 or a single display at up to 4Kp60 Keyboard: Mini Wireless with touchpad Mouse: FT5406 10 point capacitive touchscreen PSU: USB C 5.1V @ 3A Case: Pibow Coupe Ninja Cooling: Heat Sink and Fan Shim. Hard Drives: 16 GB SanDisk Ultra Class 1 Micro SD card. Internet Speed: Gigabit Ethernet + 2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac Browser: Edge Antivirus: non Other Info: Dual Micro HDMI
2 USB 2 ports and 2 USB 3 ports
40 GPIO pins
Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
Camera interface (CSI)
Display interface (DSI)
Micro SD card slot
I think they had good intensions, but somebody really didn't think through how they did it. They could have done it a lot better.
I think MS knew exactly what they were doing. They knew the attention span for many is very short and the span of focus is even shorter so even though W-10 was Free they knew they were going to have to nag users and keep the upgrade info in their faces and, if necessary, slip the download in without the user knowing it, all under the guise of "Improving the user experience". Don't believe for a second that MS doesn't have plenty of PhD level psychologists and social scientists advising them on how to meet their goals. MS is arrogant YES but stupid? NO! From the comments of some, you would think Microsoft is just a big benevolent global corporation with the best interests of its users at heart and if anyone really believes that then Neil Armstrong really didn't walk on the moon and Elvis is still alive somewhere.
This is supposedly a free upgrade. The W7/8 licencee was asked if they wanted W10 - if they wanted it they were asked to reserve it within a one year period. If MS sends it to you without your consent, you could be paying 5 times the cost of a legal W10 license - in ISP fees. MS does not financially benefit from the massive overage charges imposed by ISPs, but they do get to use the bandwidth of others to distribute W10 to others. The ISPs are complicit as they too would have had to know or would have eventually figured it out. Greed has no bounds.
Maybe I didn't understand your comment about they would have to pay 5 times later or whatever. If they don't want the free one why in the world would they buy one. They like what they have and don't want the upgrade.
Maybe I didn't understand your comment about they would have to pay 5 times later or whatever. If they don't want the free one why in the world would they buy one. They like what they have and don't want the upgrade.
Emma
The poster meant that if someone was on a limited or metered connection, the overcharge cost could run into hundreds for an unwated 3.5GB download (though I think hundreds is excessive an estimate)
This whole fiasco ended up costing me an extra $120 last month.
I am on LTE wireless with a 10GB/month limit with overages costing me $10/GB.
the fist auto download failed at about 5GB and I had to use the Media Creation Tool to download and rerun the upgrade manually. That was the first extra 6GB.
Then on my backup Windows 7 machine even tho I hadn't reserved it, Microsoft downloaded the update files again. Goo thin I had my updates set to "manual". That was the 2nd 6GB for a total of 12 extra GB...hence the extra $120.
I hold Microsoft fully responsible for both instances, in as much as they obviously didn't plan properly for the massive download requirements on July 29th, hence the first failure.
And then, on top of this they take it upon themselves to chew up my cap and force the download on a machine they didn't have permission to download to.
I should send them a bill for $120 but that idea wouldn't have a snowball's chance.
This has really impacted on Microsoft's credibility and I would not be the least bit surprised if somebody launches a class-action suit. Probably too little, too late but it might make Microsoft sit up and take notice.
All that being said, my experience with Windows 10 Upgrade has been a mostly positive one.
One strange thing I've notice since I turned off automatic updates is that some of them now show in Optional in italics. I have no idea why.
Well this is the problem! Either you do or you don't! I think the original concept was to be able to deliver each newer version as you would have received a service pack. If the notification arrives that 10 is ready to go on you can still opt out simply by not clicking on it.
As for those who keep things set to automatic those are the ones who have found 10 was already on and some obviously not too thrilled about seeing 10 imposed on them without consent. And this is where the fur can fly when getting into cat fights with a monopoly like MS! You simply won't prevail.
But in order for a monopoly to keep it's hold it has to make sudden unexpected moves in order maintain the advantage in view of how the open source community for example has seen a tremendous growth over the last quarter century now celebrating it's own 25th birthday! MS has to fight back with enticements like making a new version "Free for You! see!" to be the attention getter. When they ended up trashing Windows with 8 in order to bring in a dual platform type OS they had to make a come back in some fashion after 7 had previously been the Champion of all versions up until that time!
Computer Type: PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number: Custom Builds OS: W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-790-UD4/Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H Memory: Kingston Hyper X DDR3 1600 1.5v 16gb - Hyper X "Fury" 8gb second remote pc Graphics Card: MSI HD Radeon 5750 1gb - MSI 6450 1gb Remote pc Sound Card: Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI Express Monitor(s) Displays: ASUS VW199T-P 19" HP 2082a Main dual display -HP 2082a 20" remote pc Screen Resolution: Asus 1440x900 - HP 1600x900 Keyboard: AZIO L70 Backlit Letters Gaming model Mouse: MSI DS - 11 button programmable PSU: Corsair 750TX 750w Case: Antec 900-2 SSD compatible Cooling: Zalman CNPS9900A Hard Drives: WD Black Edition 1tb Sata II 3.0 = 2 OS drives
Pending WD Heavy Duty PC/Mac/NAS/CCTVDVR = 2 to replace WD 1tb Black Edition Sata 3.0 = 2
WD 1tb Green Power HD In external enclosure temp internal install until new drives go in. Will be used in usb e Internet Speed: 30mbs upgraded from previous dsl Browser: WaterFox/Cyberfox x64 variations of FireFox, FF x64 Antivirus: VIPRE 2016 Internet Secuurity Life Time Subscription Other Info: Accomdata fan cooled usb 2.0 PIDE/Sata II, III external enclosure.
Sambient usb/eSata PATA/Sata II, III external enclosure
Computer Type: PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number: CUSTOM ASSEMBLY OS: Presently Pending W7 Pro x64/Open Source/ W11 Pro possible? CPU: AMD Phenom II 3.2ghz Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H Memory: Kingston Hyper X Fury 8gb Graphics Card: AMD Radeon DVI Sound Card: Realtek onooard Creative or Other separate PENDING Monitor(s) Displays: VIZIO 32" LCD TV Separate LCD Pending Screen Resolution: Pending Keyboard: Pending Mouse: Pending PSU: Corsair 600W - THERMALTAKE 600W in spare parts case Case: NXRT Micro ATX Cooling: Twin 120mm Top Fans - 240mm fan on Side Cover Hard Drives: Presently two WD Black and Black Caviar edition 500GB pending Internet Speed: Cable internet 5G Pending upgrade of main build Browser: Pending: Edge, FireFox Nightly, Chrome requirement, WaterFox and others Antivirus: VIPRE Internet Security suite Other Info: Restart TeamViewer remote PC project with main build on VPN
Evaluate Insider Builds once rebuild to upgrade complete
Examine Open Source OSs
I have been helping seniors look after their personally owned PCs for some time now. They are not very computer savvy but they do get a lot of enjoyment out of a bit of web surfing and emailing friends and family. They are very aware of what viruses, malware, adware, spyware etc. are all about. They accept responsibility for their own actions and if they screw up on the computer they feel bad about it. When W10 was announced they asked me for advise and I told them it is best to wait and that I wanted to set their windows update to notify and hide the GWX updates on their systems mostly because they all have metered bandwidth contracts with their ISPs. None of them are on shared domains. They have between 800MB and 1GB max., ( about $35/mo) because that is all they need for what they do. If Microsoft had have sent them W10 without their consent, we calculated that it would have cost each of them anywhere between $750 and $1200 for that month depending on the size of the download. They did not get dinged but they have lost a lot of trust in Microsoft. They said 'MS would have had to know this - such a bone head decision'.
OMG are you serious , i wish i could say the same , all the ones i know don't have a clue about all the dangers and different types of malware .
When i tell them to be careful and try to educate them they say , "it's a brand new computer , how could it have malware " OR " how can the computer be infected , i have anti virus protection" no joke.
Source: Microsoft begins new EU GDPR parental consent verifications for children's accounts - Microsoft on the Issues
How to Add or Remove a Child Account for Your Microsoft Family in Windows 10