Well... maybe... but with a lot of asterisks:
Based on "customer feedback", Microsoft said that it had added another notification that provided customers with "an additional opportunity for cancelling the upgrade".
The pop-up design had been described as a "nasty trick".
Microsoft told the BBC it had modified the pop-up two weeks ago as a result of criticism: "We've added another notification that confirms the time of the scheduled upgrade and provides the customer an additional opportunity for cancelling or rescheduling the upgrade.
"If the customer wishes to continue with their upgrade at the designated time, they can click 'OK' or close the notifications with no further action needed."So... not exactly "backtracking," then. Basically, this is exactly the same bullshit rationalization that they gave for the dirty trick itself.
Senior editor at PC World magazine Brad Chacos, who describes himself as a fan of the Windows 10 operating system, had previously described the use of the cross to mean people had agreed to the upgrade as "a nasty trick".
He said: "I don't think that adding more pestering pop-ups improves the situation. At the very least they should add a large, obvious 'No, I don't want this' button."
Mr Chacos has been a vocal critic of what he described as the "heavy-handed tactics that Microsoft's been using to force people into the upgrade".
Previously, users had to press the cross to cancel the suggested upgrade, he pointed out, so the latest move is counter-intuitive - "akin to swapping out the brake and the accelerator in your car".
Once again, I have to agree with Brad Chacos on this one. Microsoft are just adding yet another annoying pop-up to the process, while leaving the final step in place, exactly as it was. Considering that people are clicking "x" to close these pop-ups precisely because they're so sick of seeing them, this actually fixes nothing at all -- it's a pure PR move.
Still... it is a PR move, something that Microsoft haven't seemed to feel any need to even attempt recently. Maybe the message is starting to seep through?
Yeah, and maybe pigs will fly, too. Who am I kidding? It's Microsoft! They won't change course until they actually run aground. Antitrust action, that's the ticket.