"Microsoft reportedly broke Windows 11 by injecting ads"

As someone who spent most of this blog's early years documenting the evils of Microsoft's Get Windows 10 campaign (that's small "e" evil, as in the banality of evil... but yes, it was still evil), a headline like the one above is obviously going to get my attention.

The story itself is... well, a delightful documentation of the banality of evil, exactly as you'd expect it to be, by Rich Woods at XDA:

Ever since Windows 10 was introduced, Microsoft has been pushing through ads in its operating systems, and that’s obviously not changing with Windows 11. It started with the infamous Get Windows 10 app that would force itself upon Windows 7 and 8.1 users, often presenting misleading options that would trick you into upgrading. That was a long time ago, and today’s ads aren’t as nefarious.

Except when they break things. Yesterday after releasing new Windows 11 builds in the Dev and Beta channels (two different builds, mind you), Insiders reported that their Start Menu and taskbar were crashing. As it turned out, it was caused by Windows 11 delivering ads, as was reported by Daniel Aleksandersen, who dug into the issue.

First of all, Microsoft did publish a fix [...] in order to bring your PC back from a crippling issue that was caused by Microsoft sending advertisements to it, you need to make a change to the registry.

Yes, that's right... in order to prevent Microsoft from pushing unwanted advertising through your PC operating system, you have to edit the registry, something which Microsoft typically advises against for all but advanced users.

This means that Microsoft have, once again, turned the Windows operating system into malware... or, more precisely, adware, but of a type which the user cannot remove (since it's the operating system), and which only advanced users can work around, by doing something which Microsoft recommend against when they're not recommending you do it.

It's at this point that I'd just like to remind anyone who's interested that Linux exists, and that it's much more user-friendly now than ever. Seriously, System76's Pop!_OS distro, with its very slick Cosmic UI, is what I'm using right now, and I haven't had to open the damn terminal since I installed it. Everything just works, while leaving me as much in-control of the system as I want to be, and my OS isn't doing anything untoward while my back is turned.

Sadly, Windows users cannot say the same.

Here's another pernicious thing about Windows 11

I just came across this gem from Joel Hruska at ExtremeTech, and had to share it:

I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

Preach, Brother!

His reasons cover the entire gamut, beginning with the fact that Windows 11's new online and account requirements literally make it harder to him to do his job, and progressing to the fairly fundamental point that his PC is not, in fact, the internet:

To me, my PC and “the internet” are two entirely different things. I connect to the latter to download files, read news, and watch content, but it is not the totality of my personal computer. Using an online account to log into my personal PC breaches the distinction between the two. Weird as it is — because I’m willing to admit this is a personal oddity — I find that distinction matters to me. It actually matters a lot. I don’t want my local Windows account to be synonymous with an online login.

But that's not the biggest reason why Hruska is digging in his heels about this. No, the biggest reason, the real deal breaker, is simply that Microsoft keep trying to force the issue.

My problem with Microsoft and non-local accounts is this: Since the introduction of Windows 10, Microsoft has pulled every dirty trick in the book. It has obfuscated the ability to create a local account by hiding it in unclear language. It has deployed installers that hid the option to create a local account unless you were offline when you ran setup. It has deployed “Get Windows 10” tools that were so aggressive, they acted more like malware than a product built by a Fortune 500 company.

Plus ça change...Microsoft proves, once again, that they refuse to learn from past mistakes

I had to shake my head at this report from betanews:

Windows 7 may be an aging operating system, but there are still plenty of individuals and organizations using it. With the end of support date of January 14 fast-approaching, Microsoft is getting twitchy and is eager for everyone to upgrade to Windows 10.

Having already started to notify Windows 7 hangers on that support is due to come to an end, the company is now ready to get a little more aggressive. If you haven't moved on from Windows 7, soon you will see full-screen notifications warning you that "your Windows 7 PC is out of support".

The messages are due to be displayed from the day after support ends. So when January 15 rolls around, anyone who has doggedly stuck with Windows 7 will find that they not only have no support and no security updates, but also that they are pestered by an invasive message delivered by a program called EOSnotify.exe.

[...]

The good news is that it will be possible to dismiss the message and opt to never see it again.

Where do I even start with this shit?

Microsoft's mixed messaging Windows 7 users to get GWX upgrade nag screens again... and also DirectX 12. WTF, MSFT?

Before we get started, I just want to point out that Microsoft announced both of these Windows 7 developments on the same day.

First, from The Inquirer:

THE NAGS are back, and we're not talking about the invasion of the killer horses that we dreamt about after a particularly cheeky late-night cheeseboard.

Microsoft has confirmed that starting next month, Windows 7 users will start to see pop-ups warning them that their beloved operating system is reaching end of life on 14th January 2020.

This will send shudders of resigned recognition to all those who lived through the saga of nag screens that plagued Windows 7 and 8.x users when Windows 10 was rolled out as a free upgrade and made it very difficult to opt out.

The good news is that these "courtesy reminders" contain some learnings gained from that whole debacle, with a promise that this time you'll see far fewer, and that there'll be a definite "don't remind me again" checkbox to get rid of them.

And then, from The Verge:

Microsoft is making a very surprising addition to Windows 7 this week, with the support of DirectX 12 for the nearly 10-year-old operating system. While Windows 7 support will end in less than a year and Microsoft will start sending notifications to PCs next month, the company is allowing some game developers to implement DirectX 12. The first game to appear with DirectX 12 support on Windows 7 is Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.

Microsoft heard feedback from Blizzard that features like multi-threading in DirectX 12 were bringing substantial framerate improvements to World of Warcraft on Windows 10. Blizzard wanted these same features on Windows 7, presumably because it still has a large base of players on this older OS. Microsoft originally launched DirectX 12 as part of Windows 10, and has not made it available for Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 users.

This is just baffling, even for Microsoft. I can see bringing the new Chromium/Edge browser to Windows 7; Microsoft have a significant number of large-volume license-holders to whom they're trying to sell additional years of Windows 7 support ($300 USD per PC for three years, and only if you have a volume license), so adding new functionality to the platform for them makes a certain amount of sense. But WoW players? In a year in which they're trying desperately to convert individual Windows 7 users into Windows 10 Home (or Pro) users, for Microsoft to be giving those same individual W7 users additional reasons not to switch makes no obvious sense.

Oh, and these same PC gamers, who've mostly rejected both of Microsoft's ecosystems, i.e. Windows 10 and XBox Live? Microsoft has more goodies in the bag for them, too, even if they don't play WoW.

Microsoft gets petty with Windows 7 users

As of the end of December, 36.90% of all desktop and laptop users (not just Windows users, mind, but PC users in general) had spent three and a half years actively rejecting Windows 10. This isn't like OS version transitions of years past, where people on the old version might just be procrastinating; thanks to the egregious excesses of the GWX campaign, all of the people who didn't care enough to actively do something were switched to Windows 10 already. No, current-day Windows 7 users are the ones who did care, and who took steps to remain on their OS of choice.

Not only have Windows 7 users actively rejected Windows 10, but many of them appear to be actively rejecting Windows entirely, with MacOS and Ubuntu Linux gaining market share at Windows' expense for most of the last year: Windows gained user market share only in March and July of last year, losing market share in every other month of 2018 for a total loss of 2.31%,with MacOS gaining 1.63% and Linux gaining 0.66% over the same time period. Microsoft set out to change the paradigm of personal computing with Windows 10, and clearly succeeded, but not in the way they wanted; rather than making Windows 10 into the new paradigm, they seem to be ushering in an era in which Windows no longer dominates on the desktop.

And so Microsoft, being Microsoft, have responded to this slow-motion exodus by giving Windows 7 users yet another reason to dump Windows, without giving them any clear new reason to adopt Windows 10 in place. Because of course they have.

Hostility, demonstrated and quantified

Just in case you were thinking that my post last week about Microsoft's naked hostility towards Windows users was a touch on the hyperbolic side, today comes a great piece from the normally very MS-friendly Windows Central which illuminates the problem nicely:

Before Windows 10, a clean install of Windows only included the bare essentials a user would need to get started using their PC. That included software built by Microsoft, such as Mail, Paint, and its web browser, and it never included "bloatware" or "trialware" that one might find on hardware purchased from a third-party OEM that preloaded all kinds of crapware.

[...] With Windows 10, a clean install stays that way for about two minutes, because the second you hit the desktop, the Microsoft Store immediately starts trying to download third-party apps and games. And these apps keep trying to install themselves even after you cancel the downloads.

There are six such apps, which is six too many. These apps are often random, but right now they include things like Candy Crush, Spotify, and Disney Magic Kingdoms. You should not see any of these apps on a fresh install of Windows 10, yet they are there every single time.

[...] The only way I've found that gets rid of them permanently is to let them install initially, without canceling the download, and then uninstall the apps from the Start menu. If you cancel the initial download of the bloatware apps before they complete their first install, the Microsoft Store will just attempt to redownload them later and will keep doing so until that initial install is complete.

[...] For comparison, I recently did a clean install of macOS High Sierra on a Mac, and that experience was sublime. Once I hit the desktop, I didn't need to go in and start uninstalling extra bloatware that was automatically trying to install itself. All the apps that show up on the OS are Apple-made and not considered bloatware.

Writing as someone who recently spent most of a day doing a clean install of Windows 7, I can honestly say that this experience hold zero appeal for me; the fact that it will take less time to get to the point where the bloatware starts installing itself is simply not enough incentive.

Microsoft plans to win back consumers but doesn't want to admit what lost them in the first place

I've seen a couple of different versions of this story, but PC World's coverage was just about the best:

Consumers, rejoice: Microsoft cares about you again. Maybe. It depends on whether the head of Microsoft's new Modern Life & Devices group has substantive plans behind his statements.

For the past few years, Microsoft’s attention has been fixated upon the enterprise. While the company has built products like Azure and related services into thriving businesses, consumer-focused products like the Groove Music service, Microsoft Band, and Windows Phone have fallen by the wayside. 

Microsoft essentially acknowledged its neglect of the consumer market at the company's Inspire partner conference this week. Yusuf Mehdi, now the corporate vice president in charge of the Modern Life & Devices group within Microsoft, led a closed session on "Modern Life Services," according to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley. A tweet that Mehdi posted from the event includes the words, "we begin the journey to win back consumers with our vision," presumably this year.

That "vision" seems to revolve heavily around enterprise customers, basically convincing people who use Microsoft products at work to also use them on the week-end. "Xbox aside [...] most of Microsoft’s “consumer business” relies heavily on the blurring line between the business professional and the consumer, and the ease with which individuals can move between both worlds."

Here's the thing about Microsoft's relationship to consumers: they don't have one anymore, thanks to GWX. The problem goes much deeper than a couple of cancelled product lines, especially when those products' killing were more like euthanasia than murder.

Reminder: Windows 7 really is the new XP

Back during the darkest days of Microsoft's GWX campaign, when they'd abandoned all pretense of believing in the quality of the product and offering Windows users a free upgrade, and instead started switching users' systems to Windows 10 no matter how many times they'd refused previously, it was already becoming clear that Microsoft had done lasting harm to their own brand, and to the relationship of trust and goodwill that they'd previously enjoyed with users of Windows 7.

I wasn't alone in referring to Microsoft's GWX fiasco as "upgrade-gate," or to point out the consequences with which Microsoft would have to deal for the next several years; pieces like this one, from Makeof.com, were pretty easily found at the time:

Steve Jobs famously said “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Microsoft must think this is true for Windows 10. And so its developers keep finding new ways to trick Windows 7 and 8 users into upgrading because surely they will like Windows 10 once the see it. Or they’ll just surrender.

Personally, I do like Windows 10, but I also appreciate the reasons of those who oppose the upgrade. And I think what Microsoft has been doing is deeply disturbing and unethical. Microsoft acts as if its goal for 1 billion Windows 10 users supersedes the company’s responsibility for its existing Windows customers.

This reckless battle has unintended consequences, which not only hurt Microsoft’s customers, but also its business.

From loss of trust in the Windows; to users simply turning off Windows Update to avoid the hated GWX payloads; to actual monetary costs in the form of lost time, bandwidth, and productivity; reasons abounded why Microsoft's overly-aggressive GWX push was a bad idea. And while the worst of these for Microsoft, "Home Users Will Abandon Windows," hasn't yet come to pass, there's still no sign that consumers have forgiven Microsoft for the liberties, excesses, and borderline (or actual) abuses of GWX.

Microsoft's GWX push was of a piece with Terry Myerson's Windows-centric strategy, which Microsoft has since abandoned. Two years after GWX's failure, Myerson is no longer at Microsoft; his Windows and Devices Group no longer exists, its various teams having been redistributed across other business units which, according to Microsoft, are actually the future of the company. And Windows 10 is still not as popular as Windows 7... depending on who you ask, of course.

The fallout from GWX still hasn't stopped falling, either. Every month, Microsoft delivers updates for Windows 7, and every month, the description of those updates includes the same disclaimer: "does not include windows 10 upgrade functionality." That's still necessary, more than two years after GWX; that is truly epic levels of fail.

But it actually gets worse for Microsoft.

Victory! Kinda...

Happy April Fool's Day!

Don't worry, I won't be pranking on this blog... because, honestly, I've always hated that shit. I'll admit, though, that I thought for a minute that Windows Latest were pulling an early April Fool's prank yesterday, when I saw that they'd posted an article with this headline:

Windows 10 adoption is improving every month as Windows 7 is collapsing

Really, Windows Latest? Collapsing? Because, I could have sworn that Windows 7's usage share only dipped very slightly last month, while Windows 10 actually lost a bit of ground? Is that a "collapse?"

It turns out, though, that they were just combining some very selective memory with a reference to the 700-million-served claim made by departing Windows & Devices Group head Terry Myerson, literally as he was on his way out the door, as reported by WCCFTech:

While Windows 10 was introduced amidst keylogging, privacy and data collection controversies, the operating system continues to offer improvements with Microsoft delivering some pro-user controls. This change in strategy has translated well in the adoption rate. Arguably not as popular as Windows 7, the operating system will continue to gain more numbers as support for Windows 7 is ending in January 2020.

Myerson's ouster, and the massive restructuring of Microsoft which is happening now that he's out of the way, amount to a clear admission from Redmond that Myerson's WDG strategy wasn't actually working, in spite of having achieved its technological goals. Even his 700-million-served parting-shot claim only sounds impressive until you remember:

1. that WX is the only version of Windows that's currently available, and
2. that WX has been given away for free for nearly three years, and can still be had for free,
3. for W7 users who (during the GWX campaign) were forced to take active steps to remain on W7,
4. and that Microsoft had predicted that WX would be running on one billion devices by now.

In spite of all that, Windows 10 has only barely managed to edge out Windows 7 in usage share, and that only recently... an accomplishment that finally prompted Microsoft to abandon their "One Core" Windows strategy entirely, the better to focus on an Azure/cloud computing business which is actually growing, and on the Cortana/AI research which they're hoping will provide a decisive competitive edge over competitors in the future.

Which means that Microsoft isn't really Microsoft anymore. Now, having also failed to be either Apple, or Google, or both, they've finally settled on being Amazon... except without the retail dominance which fuels Amazon. (Good luck with that, Microsoft. You'll need it.)

Windows 10 can still be had for free, weeks after they claimed to have closed the last free-WX loophole

BTW, I've just decided to start abbreviating Windows 10 to "WX," which is both shorter and consistent with GWX branding already used by Microsoft. For brevity and consistency, I'll also be using "W#" for earlier versions (i.e. W7, W8, W8.1), and simply adding the appropriate suffixes for other flavours of WX when needed for clarity (WX-Home, WX-Pro, WX-Core, WX-S, etc.).

It took Microsoft until two full weeks after their Dec. 31st deadline, and change, to finally close the Assistive Technologies loophole, which allowed users to upgrade to WX for free if they were willing to say that they used any kind of Assistive Technology... up to, and including, hot keys. You might thing that the end of the last of the Microsoft's officially free WX offerings would mean the end of stories about how you can still get WX for free.

Well, you would be wrong. Check out the "most relevant" result that Google News returns for "Windows 10."

Yes, that's Forbes, with yet another piece on how WX can still be had for free, now two weeks after the last free WX window was allegedly closed.

Windows 10 was free for a year after launch for anyone who had an older version of Windows. For those who missed this transition period it was possible to get an upgrade right up until the end of 2017, a loophole Microsoft has now closed - although it wasn't much of a loophole, as the company knew all about it.

However there are other ways to upgrade to Windows 10 that don't involve getting the upgrade assistant from the official site.

Yes, apparently this has always worked... meaning that this also isn't much of a loophole, since Microsoft clearly also knows all about it, i.e. working as intended.

It's unclear as to why this works, but if you have a product code for an old version of Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 you should be able to enter this into a copy of Windows 10 and get an activation. You will be given access to the version of Windows 10 that matches the original product key. So Windows 8 Pro will get Windows 10 Pro, while Windows 8 Home will get, you guessed it, Windows 10 Home.

Hmmm.... so it's possible to upgrade from W7-Pro to WX-Pro? It's a shame the GWX app didn't work the same way; I might have been tempted to switch.

Right about now, you might be wondering why Microsoft would still have a WX upgrade left open that's large enough for an auto-truck to drive through? Well, Microsoft themselves are pretty quiet on the issue, but Forbes' Ian Morris has some ideas:

As I pointed out in my article about the closing of the accessibility loophole, I don't think Microsoft really cares about end users getting free upgrades. It makes more money from OEM sales of Windows 10 on new laptops and revenue from corporate users than the slender pickings of home users. Indeed, Microsoft makes more money - and more margin - on selling cloud offerings these days.

Windows isn't a cash cow when it comes to home users, so I suspect there's a lot of give built into the system.

Which makes a lot of sense, actually. It's just a shame that Microsoft are being so disingenuous about it all. I mean, they could easily partner with PC-OEMs to promote new PC sales ("Get the most out of Windows 10 with the latest AMD/Ryzen hardware!"), while also continuing to let tech-savvier users upgrade for free if they still want to... and without the fucking hard sell, this time. Because, honestly, the hard sell of the GWX campaign was a big part of the continued appeal of W7, which culminated in Microsoft simply switching over users who didn't take active steps to avoid the unwanted "upgrade," even after they'd repeatedly refused Microsoft's malware-laden Home version of WX.

Hell, Microsoft even have a better product to give away than they did a few years ago, with more features and (crucially) better privacy protections, and even better privacy tools due to be added to the platform in a couple of months. And if I can also use my W7 Professional license to upgrade to WX-Pro, rather than the gimped Home version, to gain even more features and even better privacy tools... when, that becomes one hell of a sales pitch, doesn't it?

So, what's the problem?

Still alive...

Months after announcing that they would tighten requirements on the Assistive Technologies upgrade path for Windows 10 on Dec. 31st, effectively closing the free upgrade path for people who didn't use a very limited set of accessibility devices, it appears that Microsoft has now missed that deadline. Yes, the morally challenged among you who still want to upgrade to Windows 10 for free can still do so, a situation about which Microsoft apparently give zero fucks, as reported by TechRadar:

Microsoft’s offer to upgrade Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10 for free for users who need assistive technologies was supposed to run out at the end of 2017, but according to reports the method is still valid right now.

The assistive technologies upgrade page is indeed still live, and allows you to download the Windows 10 upgrade executable, despite the page stating that the offer expires on December 31, 2017.

According to Ghacks, and other sources including readers who tipped MS Power User, you can fire up that file and still upgrade, so you haven’t missed the boat yet.

The caveat is that you may run into an error message during the upgrade process, but this is easily fixed as discussed by Ghacks (essentially, you have to copy a specific DLL file across).

[...]

It seems that the other route of upgrading to Windows 10 – using an existing Windows 7/8.1 product key to activate the installation of the new OS – also still works as we’ve headed into 2018.

Ultimately, Microsoft probably isn’t too fussed about closing these loopholes because pumping up the numbers of Windows 10 users is obviously not a bad thing for the company.

At this point, I would add only that I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

Of course the loophole is still open. Of course Microsoft are taking their own sweet time about closing it, now two and a half years after Windows 10 was released, and counting. By some projections, Windows 10 adoption may not surpass Windows 7 until November, even with this free upgrade path, and Windows 7 may well retain at least a 39% user share when its extended support window finally closes in 2020. With those numbers staring them in the face, the only thing which is at all surprising about Microsoft's indifference to "abuse" of the Assistive Technologies loophole, is that anyone is at all surprised by it.

If Microsoft want my advice (which they don't, but I'm going to give it anyway), not only should they continue to allow free Windows 10 upgrades indefinitely for all users, but they should allow free upgrades to Windows 10 Professional for users who have Professional licences of Windows 7 and 8/8.1 tight up until Windows 8.1's end-of-life date in 2023. No more cute games and sly winks; just do it, already. MS should either admit that they're still giving it away, or close the loopholes, in exactly the way they said they would, and clearly have no intention of doing. Because there's really no excuse for not having tightened up this policy loophole after a year and and a half of watching people abuse it; at this point, we have to assume that continued abuse is the desired result.

Of course, all of this assumes that there are Windows 7 and 8.1 users who (a) want to "upgrade" to Windows 10, and (b) haven't already done so, neither of which appears to be the case. I expect to keep reading about this on Windows-friendly tech blogs and media sites for months to come, though, which is something of a disappointment; I really was hoping that the high-pressure Windows 10 sales pitch would finally be over, but apparently, that glorious day (may it soon come) is still months away.

Le sigh.

UPDATED JAN. 4th:

It looks like Microsoft have finally, officially, extended the deadline on the loophole to their loophole, as reported by Winbuzzer:

We’ve been advising assistive technology users to grab a free Windows 10 for several months. It was due to end on December 31, but the new year came and the offer remained. A new update to the webpage reveals that Microsoft has extended the offer to January 16, 2018.

“If you use assistive technologies, you can upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost as Microsoft continues our efforts to improve the Windows 10 experience for people who use these technologies. Please take advantage of this offer before it expires on January 16, 2018,” says the webpage.

You can upgrade from versions of Windows 7 and 8.1, avoiding the regular $120. The only requirement is the use of some form of accessibility tech, but Microsoft doesn’t check. As a result, anyone with the earlier OSes can upgrade for free.

Winbuzzer end their piece with this knee-slapper:

It seems unlikely that the company will extend the deadline again, so make you take advantage of it.  

Really? Because, from where I'm sitting, Microsoft have done nothing but extend the deadline on their free Windows 10 giveaway, every chance they've had. Why would anyone believe that they really, really, double-pinkie-swear mean it, this time?

Le sigh.

Microsoft pinkie-swears, promises never to repeat one of the worse excess of their GWX campaign

Remember when Microsoft started automatically downloading gigabytes of Windows 10 "upgrade" to the PCs of people who'd repeatedly declined their free upgrade offer, putting lives in danger in the process? Well, they've now finally promised not to do that again.

From MSPoweruser:

Back in 2015 when Microsoft has pushed out the Windows 10 upgrade to Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, part of the process was pre-downloading between 6-8 GB of installation files, which famously nearly bankrupted a nature conservation service in Africa and which was blamed for causing issues to the PCs of many Windows users.

It appears German Windows users were similarly unimpressed by the move and complained to their local consumer protection council (Verbraucherschutz). After 18 months and many legal manoeuvres by Microsoft, they finally agreed to a cease and desist and promised:

Microsoft will not download install files for new operating systems to a user system’s hard disk without a user’s consent.

While it may be a case of closing the barn door long after the horse has bolted Cornelia Tausch, CEO of the Consumer Center in Baden-Württemberg noted: “We assume that Microsoft and other software manufacturers will pay more attention to the procedure which is not negligible.”

While my hat is off to the Germans for not letting this simply die, I'm not convinced that they actually accomplished much of anything, here. After all, Microsoft haven't yet apologized for essentially forcing users to upgrade by removing all other options from their GWX app, and with those class action lawsuits still be working their way through the court system, admissions of wrongdoing from MS won't be forthcoming anytime soon.

Today's statement is still a long way from the blanket apology that Microsoft should be issuing, though, and doesn't begin to cover all their other shittiness of the past two years, so I'm not filing this under "better late than never," the way Baden-Württemberg seems to be willing to do. No, I'm filing this under "much too little, and far too late," because it really is both of those things. It took Microsoft eighteen months to agree that they should stop putting lives in danger with a GWX campaign that officially ended over eleven months ago, and they still haven't actually apologized for forcing those downloads through.

Placed in that context, today's token, belated, and grudging concession to reality looks every bit as meaningless as it is. Today's statement does represent the first time that Microsoft has officially admitted that what they did was actually wrong, specifically because it was done without users' consent, rather than merely making their PR department's job harder, but that's all it does.

Another unforced error

Back during the dark days of GWX, when Microsoft were upgrading people to Windows 10 whether they wanted to switch or not, the fig leaves that they tried cover themselves with, were (a) that Windows 10 would run on basically any PC that could run any version of Windows from XP onward, and (b) that consumers, having switched, would never have to worry about their operating system ever again, because Windows 10 would be supported by Microsoft until the end of time. That was the "deal" -- switch once, and never worry about it again, ever.

You'll never guess what's happened now. Go ahead, try to guess. And if you guessed that Darth Microsoft has altered the deal, again, then give yourself a no-prize, because that's exactly what they've just done for some of those customers.

From The Independent:

A number of PCs have unexpectedly been blocked from receiving future Windows 10 updates.

Unless Microsoft addresses the incompatibility issue, the computers will be obsolete in early 2018.

That would be hugely disappointing for users, who would be forced to purchase new devices.

The issue affects computers built around Intel's Atom Clover Trail processors, reports ZDNet.

The chips feature in entry-level PCs that came out in 2012 or later.

These computers shipped with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, and Microsoft made Windows 10 available to them as a free update.

Windows 10 is both newer and much easier to use than Windows 8 and 8.1, so upgrading would have been a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, these computers have now been found to be unable to install the Windows 10 Creators Update. 

Psych! Not only did these folks upgrade to Windows 10 only to have the rug pulled out from under them, but now they need all new PCs! Or, maybe, just to wipe their hard drives and reinstall the earlier version of Windows that their "Atom" PCs originally came with. Either way, though, it's a significant loss of time and/or money.

But don't worry -- it gets worse!

To make matters worse, if the owners of these machines had opted to stick with Windows 8 or 8.1 instead of upgrading to Windows 10, they’d continue to receive support through to 1 October 2023, according to Ars Technica.

Oops!

When I first saw this story being reported this morning, I was thinking that it might not get a lot of traction; after all, how many Atom Z2760, Z2520, Z2560 and/or Z2580 PCs were ever sold? Apparently, though, I was wrong, and the fact that there are Windows 10 users whose OS version will stop receiving security updates a full five years before they would have, if they'd just stuck to Windows 8, is grabbing the attention that it deserves.

Por ejemplo, WCCFTech:

Microsoft Brutally Ends Windows 10 Support Early for Some Intel Systems

The biggest selling point of Windows 10, apart from the fact that it was offered for free, was the promise of regular and free future updates. Under the new Windows as a Service (WaaS) model, Microsoft said users will continue to receive security and feature updates for their devices. There will no longer be those annoying notifications telling you that your Windows version is outdated because you will be able to upgrade to the newer versions as soon as they are made available.

What many Windows 10 adopters missed was a small note that this promise of continued support is only valid for the “supported lifetime of the device.” ZDNet now reports that the end of support for some Windows 10 devices has already arrived, just two years after the release of Windows 10.

It cannot be stressed enough, at this point, that this latest black eye for Microsoft did not have to happen. It was only their own greed that saw them pressuring Intel Atom PC owners to adopt Windows 10 when their systems really weren't compatible; and the only reason that Microsoft are cutting support for those same users now is that keeping Windows up-to-date on such underpowered systems has clearly been judged to cost more than it's worth.

Expecting consumers who bought budget PCs five years ago to be willing to buy new PCs now, just to run Windows 10, is just hubris. Microsoft richly deserves the PR black eye that they're taking over this latest unforced error.

UPDATE:

As reported in The Verge, Microsoft have confirmed that Windows 10 builds from Creators Update onwards will not be available for "Clover Trail" Atom systems, but that proud owners of those systems will be able to get security updates for the Anniversary Update until 2023:

“They require additional hardware support to provide the best possible experience when updating to the latest Windows 10 feature update, the Windows 10 Creators Update,” explains a Microsoft spokesperson. “However, these systems are no longer supported by Intel (End of Interactive Support), and without the necessary driver support, they may be incapable of moving to the Windows 10 Creators Update without a potential performance impact.”

Microsoft says it will be offering the older Windows 10 Anniversary Update to Intel Clover Trail devices instead, and the company “will provide security updates to these specific devices running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update until January of 2023.” This date aligns with the original Windows 8.1 extended support period, which means that these older devices will still be supported with security updates but no new Windows 10 features.

Well, at least those affected aren't being told to buy new PCs anymore.

To be clear, this was the absolute minimum that Microsoft owed to Atom PC owners, after fucking them over. I don't expect that this will be the end of the matter, though, given that Microsoft are already fighting multiple class-action lawsuits over their overly-aggressive Get Windows 10 campaign, and now have to admit that the "optional" offer that users couldn't refuse also included promises that MS not only haven't kept, but had no intention of keeping. If nothing else, businesses that were looking at switching to Windows 10 will now have to reassess their hardware, and ask how much of it will still be supported with the latest Windows 10 builds in five years' time; if the cost of switching to Windows 10 has to include the cost of replacing all their PCs sooner than previously planned, you can expect more businesses to delay switching for as long as possible.

Microsoft is doing what they can to control the damage, but make no mistake: the damage is already done.

Microsoft re-issues "zombie" patch KB3150513... for the tenth time!

I love InfoWorld's tagline for this article:

It won't die! Microsoft is pushing its 10th refresh of the hated 'upgrade enabling' patch to every version of Windows

That's right, it's baaaack!

Microsoft has issued the KB 3150513 patch 10 times in the past year. Each time it appears without notification or warning: There’s no entry on the Windows Update list or Windows 10 Update list, but it pushed out the Automatic Update chute nonetheless.

It's being pushed onto Windows 7, 8, 8.1, Windows 10 1511, and now 1607 systems. You don’t want it.

[...] I discussed this topic last month, and as best I can tell, nothing has changed. As AskWoody Lounger abbodi86 summarized:

Both KB 2952664 and KB 3150513 are only needed for upgrading to Windows 10; they have nothing useful for current Windows 7 users (well, except providing Microsoft with Appraiser statistics)

If you want to upgrade your current system to Windows 10 Creators Update, you might want to consider installing the patch. If you don’t, there are better ways to waste your time.

Don’t bother hiding it. History has shown that it’ll only appear again. Ignore it and maybe it’ll go away.

They just won't take an effing hint, will they?

Here's the thing; people that haven't switched yet aren't just procrastinating. It's not like we don't know that Windows 10 is available, or that we can still upgrade for free if we want to, or that Microsoft would really, really like us to switch. We've chosen to stay with our existing operating systems; in fact, given how hard Microsoft were pushing Windows 10 during the latter part of the official GWX campaign, most of us had to take active steps to avoid being switched in spite of our clearly and repeatedly expressed preference on the matter.

We don't want Windows 10. We don't care that you're still giving it away; we already know, for a fact, that the shit ain't really free. And every time you "helpfully" re-add an update that we've already refused multiple times to our Update queues, disregarding our clearly and repeatedly expressed choices in the process, it just makes us even less likely to switch... ever. It further erodes the little trust and goodwill that we might still be harbouring; after all, how do you trust somebody, or feel good about somebody, when they clearly refuse to respect anything that you tell them?

Look, I get it. Microsoft's strategic plans don't work unless they can push Windows 10 adoption to a tipping point, a share of the market large enough that the adoption rate inspires others to also adopt their new OS, and inspires developers to develop natively for the Universal Windows Platform as a result. Microsoft need that, badly. I get it. I just don't give a shit.

Allow me to turn the data collection off completely, allow me to turn Cortana off completely, allow me to (simply & easily) turn the advertising off completely, and for fuck's sake, stop pushing me. Start showing some respect, and maybe, maybe, we can talk. Short of that, though, Microsoft are out of luck... until 2020 at the very least, unless my current PC literally melts down in the meantime, something which shows no sign of being anywhere near happening.

In the meantime, I'm leaving Never10 installed, and if you're wanting Microsoft's "helpful" upgrading app to stop pestering you to change operating systems, then so should you.

How to keep Windows 7 (or 8)

We've all been seeing those "helpful" reminders that Windows 10 is still basically free (in spite of the GWX campaign having officially ended nine months ago) on tech blogs of all kinds for months, but I think that this may be the first article I've seen which helpfully reminds people that staying with Windows 7 or 8.1 is still an option, too.

From PC Advisor:

Windows 10 was a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users, but not a mandatory one. In case you're still struggling, here's how to stop the Windows 10 upgrade notifications and run Windows 7 or 8 forever.

Microsoft's free Windows 10 upgrade offer is now over. This should mean an end to those annoying uprade notifications. Or does it? We suspect the nagging won't cease one bit: Microsoft will simply want to you pay to upgrade to Windows 10 - Windows 10 home costs £99.99 and Windows 10 Pro costs £189.99.

Fear not, though as there are a few ways you can disable the upgrade and stay on Windows 7 or 8 forever. We won't go into all the reasons why you might not want to upgrade: those are covered in our Should I upgrade to Windows 10? feature.

Hmmm.... almost sounds like the GWX campaign left a seriously bad taste in consumers' mouths, doesn't it? 

PC Advisor then go on to discuss some familiar options, like Never10 (which I've used and highly recommend) or GWX Control Panel (which I'm less familiar with, but which looks to be more in-depth). They also have this helpful reminder:

Recently there has been a lot of confusion about when Windows 7 will cease to be supported. The table below clears this up: Windows 7 will be supported until 2020, and Windows 8 until 2023. You must have the specified updates or service packs installed, though. On Microsoft's Windows Lifecycle page, you'll also find the updated table showing that Windows 7 and 8.1 sales (to OEMs) ceased on 31 October 2016.

They also, however, include one bit of information which isn't quite accurate:

Do note that Windows 10 is now the only option for new PCs, as Microsoft has stopped OEM sales of Windows 7 Pro and Windows 8.1 to PC makers on 31 October. OEMs can still sell any licences they may have in stock, but once they run out it will be Windows 10 or Windows 10. Retail sales of Windows 7 ceased years back, and until now the only way to get a new PC with Windows 7 was from a manufacturer such as HP and Dell. Now, you won't find any PCs or laptops which offer a choice of Windows version when you first turn them on.

While there's no doubt that Microsoft intends for this to be the sitch, they haven't quite succeeded at taking Win7 off the market completely... at least, not yet. Lenovo, for one, apparently stockpiled Windows 7 licences while they could, and are still introducing new and refreshed models that come with the older OS installed, and some quick Googling will turn up other options, too, in both laptop and desktop form-factors, especially if you're just willing to buy a refurbished PC that can easily last until 2020, Moore's Law not being a thing anymore.

And there's one more option for folks that are determined to never switch to Windows 10: Linux. LaptopNinja makes the case for changing OSes entirely:

I know despite the posts about how great Linux is and why I like it, many of you are probably still hesitant to try Linux. I understand. I remember years ago when I first heard about it, even I was slow to try it at first. After all, Windows just worked. Everything I needed Windows would do, so why bother trying something else that may or may not work for me. Of course, back then, Linux was quite different from what it is today.

Over the years, Linux has evolved to become one of the most powerful operating systems in the world. In addition to computers, did you know that it powers a wide range of devices including routers, switches, your smartphones and even your televisions. That’s right, when your fancy television boots up chances are its running a customized version of Linux. Most web servers today are powered by Linux as well, including the one that is serving this site out to you.

As you can see, Linux is more popular than it ever has been. But, it has failed to capture a huge share of the personal computer market. That market is consistently dominated today by Windows 10 followed behind it by Apple’s Mac line of machines. However, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a great desktop operating system. In fact, it is one of the best out there. Most people just don’t realize it. After all, Linux doesn’t have a million dollar marketing budget to tell us how good it is.

Instead, it relies on people like me to drill it into your heads about how great it is and why you should try it. So today, I wanted to give you ten reasons you should try Linux today so you can begin your journey towards free computing and a life of not having to answer to Microsoft or Apple for your computer needs.

Just remember that "Never 10ers" still have lots of options, when it comes to exercising their fundamental consumers' right of choice. Microsoft don't have the right to dictate to you which OS you'll run on any PC that you've bought, or what other software you'll run under that OS, or where you'll buy your software from. Much to their chagrin, I'm sure.

A subtler form of hard sell on Windows 10

If you've been paying attention, at all, then you already know that Windows 10's free upgrade period never ended.

The main GWX campaign may have wrapped up at the end of July, but it's continued to be available for free to anyone who uses "assistive technologies," a term which is so broadly defined that it includes the use of hotkeys -- not programmable keyboards, mind you, but the standard hotkeys which have been part of most Microsoft OS software since MS-DOS. Do you use CTRL+C to copy, and CTRL+V to paste? If so, then Windows 10 is still free for you... if you want it.

And that makes a kind of sense. Microsoft had to end the GWX campaign, because OEM PC vendors were obviously having a harder time selling new PCs when users could simply upgrade the OS on their existing machines. Previously, getting Microsoft's latest OS cost cash up front -- either the price of a new machine, or a couple of hundred dollars for the software by itself -- but the Windows 10 business plan requires rapid, widespread adoption of the platform, and giving it away was (as still is) the fastest way to accomplish that. The Windows 10 giveaway has quietly continued long after the July 29th free-upgrade "deadline" because that adoption hasn't happened yet.

With the Creator's Update imminent release, however, it would seem that Microsoft's stable of friendly tech writers are turning this continuing giveaway of Windows 10 into a subtle pressure tactic, one which will feel familiar to anyone who's ever been on the receiving end of a "hard sell."

A, B, C, goes the hard-sell mantra, "Always Be Closing," and one way that you can pressure people into buying now, rather than waiting for a time when a purchase might make more sense for them, is by convincing them that the deal on offer won't be offered for much longer. "Limited time offer," "Only while quantities last," "Offer ending soon," all these familiar siren calls are meant to increase the buyer's anxiety, pressuring them into buying now, just to make the anxiety stop.

Well, behold the latest version of that -- like this example from 1reddrop.com:

On April 11, 2017, one Windows version will be born while another dies. Windows 10 Creators Update is expected to drop to the general public on April 11; the same day, Microsoft will cease all life support for Windows Vista. If you’re on an older version of Windows 10, that’s how much of a window you have to upgrade to Windows 10.

Fortunately, the free upgrade option for Windows 10 is still available to you

Yup, we’ve been reminding our readers – almost every week, to be honest – that the free Windows 10 upgrade offer is still open, and that Microsoft is well aware of that fact. Though they’ve purportedly kept the porch light on for users of assistive technologies such as screen readers and so on, their secondary intent is to provide an alternative for those who’d rather not pay for Windows 10.

Why Get It Before April 11, 2017?

On April 11, when Windows 10 Creators Update drops to all current devices running Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft could stop the free option forever. From that day, there will no longer be an ethical and moral way to get a Windows 10 upgrade for free – well, not unless you’re a charity organization, anyway.

Yes, get it while it lasts, people! Because Microsoft might choose to end this offer once the Creators Update goes live. Maybe. But probably not. Because this is the thing about the limited-time-offer selling tactic: it's almost always bullshit. Most limited time offers are offered time after time, time and time again, repeated ad naseum until it stops being profitable to offer the deal in question. 

Microsoft will continue to offer Windows 10 as a free upgrade until they achieve wide enough adoption to make their Windows 10 strategy self-sustaining. They have to; their Windows 10 strategy is built on the assumption that they can convince users of older versions of Windows to switch, thus giving Microsoft a captive audience for their built-in advertising, and a large pool of customer for their walled-garden storefront. 

As long as Windows 10 is languishing at 25% market share, this limited time won't expire, because Microsoft can't afford to let is expire. Never forget, though, that Windows 10 is not free. One way or another, you're paying for Windows 10. And if you've refused to switch until now because of its annoying advertising, or its insidious invasions of privacy, then there's nothing magical about this April 11th "deadline." April 11th is no more meaningful than July 29th was, when it comes to Microsoft's Windows 10 giveaway.

If you ever see that Windows 10 has crossed the 50% market share mark, and then start hearing rumblings from Microsoft that they plan to tighten up the "assistive technologies" loophole, then you may want to give some more thought to this purchase decision. But until that day comes, you don't need to worry about it. Free and legal Windows 10 will still be available three months from now, or six months from now, or even a year from now.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Especially in Microsoft's world, where repeating past mistakes that have already caused significant PR damage is just business as usual.

From ONMSFT:

A feature that current builds of Windows 10 have is the ability to prevent system downloads via metered connections. This metered connection setting mostly refers to mobile connections but it can also be customized to include select Wi-Fi signals as well. In theory, this setting is a good idea as it can potentially reduce data fees but not many users are aware of its existence and it doesn’t entirely work properly and often downloads data regardless (as I discovered while using my Surface Pro 4 in Tokyo, Japan last year).

It’s unclear if the metered connections setting is currently faulty or if it’s actually working the way Microsoft intends and is downloading certain system updates that it deems too important not to install ASAP. Regardless, the company will soon officially begin downloading some system updates while on metered connections anyway.

Was it just a week ago, that Microsoft were talking about how they listen to, and make changes based on, user feedback? Well, I call bullshit. Clearly, they are not listening, and have learned nothing.

Microsoft's latest self-inflicted injury comes on the heels of the discovery of yet more advertising in Windows 10, and just before the release of a Creator's Update which is supposed to redeem the OS in the wake of the disastrous rollout of the Anniversary Update last summer. And, make no mistakes, stakes are high for the CU.

Just ask Paul Thurrott:

As I noted yesterday, Windows 10 Insider Preview build 15055 is what Microsoft would have called a Release Candidate in years past. Given recent history, let’s hope they get this one right.

I’ve written about the issues with Windows 10 updating in general, and about the issues with last summer’s Anniversary Update in particular. To its credit, Microsoft is serious about making sure this never happens again. But the issue is simple: In this Windows as a Service (WaaS) world, where Windows 10 is updated monthly at the very least, and often more so, update reliability is key. And the situation is worse with gigantic upgrades like the Creators Update, which Microsoft says it will ship 1-2 times per year.

Well, the biggest Windows 10 upgrade yet is arriving next month: Since last fall, we’ve known that Windows 10 would be upgraded to version 1703 in early 2017, courtesy of what Microsoft calls the Creators Update. This update will be finalized this month—right on schedule—and will start heading out to customers over Windows Update in very early April. Again, right in keeping with the original schedule.

Maintaining a schedule is great, but I have concerns. I believe them to be well-founded.

Those concerns include half-baked features being added at the 11th hour, and clearly inadequate testing, in spite of Windows 10's extensive (and unpopular) telemetry system. And, of course, there's the fact that you have no choice about whether to install the CU, or not:

Making this situation even worse, of course, is that Windows 10 updates and upgrades are compulsory. Sure, you can defer updates for a little while, but those updates/upgrades are coming eventually. You can’t stop them.

Looking beyond the Creators Update, Microsoft promises to be more transparent about what it’s doing, and it is changing Windows 10 to allow users to delay updates and upgrades for longer periods of time, and to prevent unwanted PC reboots. But that won’t help anyone looking to install (or not install) the Creators Update: You won’t get these benefits until you do upgrade.

Good luck with that.

Thurrott goes on to question whether "Windows 10 is perhaps too complex for this WaaS scheme that Microsoft wants so badly," which is an excellent point. With Windows 10 slowly losing market share to Windows 7, and a steady drip feed of bad PR that looks likely to keep that happening, the last thing Microsoft need is to remind users (and potential Enterprise customers) about the most annoying aspects of the GWX campaign, or the disastrous Anniversary Update rollout, yet Microsoft appear poised to repeat both events.

Good luck with that, indeed.

Microsoft needs to stop scaremongering on WIndows 7

Microsoft spent years convincing PC users that Windows 7 was safe as houses. Now that Windows 10 is out, however, they want to scare people into switching to their new operating system by claiming that Windows 7 really isn't as safe as they've always claimed it to be. That's... awkward, to put it mildly.

From Softpedia:

Windows 10 is now running on more than 20 percent of the world’s desktop computers, and yet, Microsoft’s bigger challenge isn’t necessarily to boost the market share of its latest operating system, but to convince those on Windows 7 to upgrade.

Even with Windows 10 on the market, Windows 7 continues to be the preferred desktop operating system across the world, and third-party data shows that it’s still close to 50 percent market share.

With Windows 7 support coming to an end in 3 years, Microsoft is well aware that it could very well experience another Windows XP moment when users might refuse to upgrade despite the obvious security risks.

So it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that Microsoft has already started the offensive against Windows 7, with a blog post published by the German subsidiary of the software giant pointing to the setbacks of this old operating system as compared to Windows 10.

Here's the thing: with Windows 7 users firmly convinced (by years of Microsoft's claims about that operating system's security) that Win7 is just fine if kept up to date, and Microsoft committed to keeping it up to date until 2020, there's very little chance of those same users believing that they really have to switch after all, for their own good. If Microsoft had made this pitch a year and a half ago, i.e. before pissing away all the trust and goodwill that they'd spent years building with their PC user base, then this might have worked, but GWX happened, and now can't be made to un-happen. 

Bottom line: Users who weren't convinced enough of Windows 10's security superiority to switch OSes for free are almost certainly not going to switch now that switching will cost them, and unlikely to believe anything Microsoft says to scare them into switching. Microsoft just don't have much credibility left with Windows 7 & 8 users, which is why we didn't switch to Windows 10 during their GWX campaign, and they haven't done nearly enough to win back our trust and good will since the GWX push ended. Until they do, I think Microsoft can expect their transparent scaremongering to yield little, if anything, by way of results.

Give Windows 10 Home users the right to opt out of data collection entirely, give Windows 10 Home users the right to update their PCs on their own schedule, and make new features that, e.g., tap users' webcams to monitor whether they're at the keyboard something that users have to opt into, rather than out of... do all that, and give current Windows 7 users some sort of incentive package to want to switch OSes, and maybe they'll consider switching. But with Windows 10 Home coming laden with a bunch of Big Brother corporate bullshit and a US$150 price tag, Microsoft shouldn't be expecting too many takers.

Windows 10's market share creeps upwards, along with Windows 7's

Happy New Year!

It's not just the first day of 2017, it's also the first day of a whole new month, which means NetMarketShare has posted new OS Market Share numbers for the month just ended.

To recap, the end of November/start of December looked like this:

with Windows 7 & 8 finally losing some market share to Windows 10, after Microsoft ended sales of the older OS versions.

The end of December/start of January, however, looks like this:

Yes, Windows 7 appears to be right back to it's end of October/start of November level, meaning that last month's market share dip was probably just statistical noise. Windows 10 has managed to tick upwards by 0.64%, but that's significantly less than Windows 8's 1.11% drop, meaning that Windows 8's losses didn't all translate into gains for Redmond's new OS.

Oddly, Windows XP also ticked up slightly after ticking downward last month, but since that's been XP's pattern for several months now, it's probably also just statistical noise at this point; Linux also ticked down slightly after ticking up last month, which is also likely to be noise in NetMarketShare's data.

The only OS version showing what looks like a meaningful shift is OS X El Capitan (10.11), which dropped 0.38% while MacOS Sierra (10.12) gained 0.10% -- again, not exactly a shift from 10.11 to 10.12, and 10.12's uptick is in the same sub-1% range as the likely noise that we're seeing for other OS versions.

So, what does it all mean? Here's my take.

With Windows 7 & 8 no longer available for purchase, we're not going to see any significant gains for either OS, but Windows 10 is not rushing in to fill the gap, either. People are just not switching, now that switching isn't free anymore, and they're not buying new PCs, either, and I'm not expecting the upcoming Creator's Update to cause a significant in shift either trend, especially after the bungled Anniversary Update rollout left such a bad taste in so many mouths.

A fresh year might mean fresh budgets for both business and governmental IT departments, but the economy is not so robust (anywhere, really) for IT departments to be planning to buy all new hardware for their users, and that seems to be the only way that new Windows 10 installations are happening. Microsoft had made avoiding GWX nearly impossible for non-technically savvy users, too, meaning that there's no-one using Windows 7 who doesn't know a thing or two about their PCs... which probably also means that a fair few IT professionals are included in their numbers, something which, if true, will complicate Redmond's efforts to push Win10 onto enterprise PCs to no end.

Windows 10 has, by hook and by crook, achieved a significant footprint in the OS marketplace, so it can't be deemed a failure, exactly, but new gains are going to come very slowly from here on out, which spells trouble for a company that went all in on an entirely new way of doing every aspect of their business. Windows 7, meanwhile, is looking to be every bit the new XP that Microsoft clearly feared it would be, steadily and stubbornly occupying a huge chunk of the OS landscape, with users who are simply refusing to abandon a perfectly functional OS unless and until they absolutely must.

It seems inarguable now that Microsoft did a lot of damage to their own brand and reputation with the GWX campaign, and while they're finally starting to acknowledge that simple fact, the damage remains well and truly done; it doesn't look like users are in much of a rush to embrace anything new from Microsoft, regardless of the hype behind it. The hard part, for Redmond, is that gaining consumers' trust is not easy, and regaining it, after pissing it away, is even harder. I'm not saying that it's not possible, but it's going to take a lot more than a mildly self-pitying statement from their CMO to shift hearts and minds that have been hardening against them for more than a year now.

Do they have it in them, to do more? I guess we'll see. We're still awaiting details of the deal that they're doing with CNIL to avoid regulatory penalties in France, which will probably be our first hint of just how much Redmond is willing to change their struggling corporate strategy, but I have a feeling that they'll need to do more than just the legally-required minimum in order to truly turn things around; right now, simple inertia has Windows 10 stalled in its own tracks, and Windows 7 digging in for a long, long stay. If they want to change that narrative, then Satya Nadella's team have a lot of work to do, work with only gets harder, the longer they wait to start doing it.

Better late than never, I guess?

It's a far, far cry from an actual, official apology for their bad behaviour, but someone from Microsoft has finally actually acknowledged that their GWX campaign went too far. No duh, dude.

From Softpedia:

Microsoft has often been criticized for how aggressive it was with the free Windows 10 upgrade offer, with some users complaining that the new operating system was installed on their computers even though they refused the upgrade.

One particular moment that fueled all this criticism was when Microsoft change the behavior of the X button in the Get Windows 10 app, as clicking this button no longer canceled the upgrade, but ignored the setting and prepared the install in the background.

Chris Capossela, Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft, said in the latest edition of the Windows Weekly that this was the moment when the company indeed went too far, pointing out that the two weeks between the moment when users started complaining about the unexpected behavior and the one when a patch was released were “very painful.”

“We know we want people to be running Windows 10 from a security perspective, but finding the right balance where you’re not stepping over the line of being too aggressive is something we tried and for a lot of the year I think we got it right, but there was one particular moment in particular where, you know, the red X in the dialog box which typically means you cancel didn’t mean cancel,” he said.

“And within a couple of hours of that hitting the world, with the listening systems we have we knew that we had gone too far and then, of course, it takes some time to roll out the update that changes that behavior. And those two weeks were pretty painful and clearly a lowlight for us. We learned a lot from it obviously.”

Apparently they didn't learn how to simply say, "Sorry," but whatevs.

Considering how much bad PR Microsoft garnered with their ham-handed GWX tactics, and how much consumer trust and goodwill they pissed away in the process, the fact that they've never publicly apologized for any of their bad behaviour is plainly ridiculous. Users had to resort to 3rd-party software to block their damn upgrade, for crying out loud, and with 47% of PC users still stubbornly using Windows 7, after Microsoft spent an entire year giving Windows 10 away for free, the damage has clearly been done.

It would seem that Microsoft are finally starting to realize that they need to address the issue, though, rather than simply waiting for it all to just blow over. So, here's the question: Is this the entirety of their response to the issue? Or do they have something more active planned, by way of outreach, to win back the hearts and minds of Windows users who now have clear and substantive reasons to distrust everything they say?

UPDATE:

Lots of discussion about this on Slashdot, including one commenter who pointed out something I'd missed:

They don't have to do it again. Windows 10 is the final version of Windows.

Which is totally true, isn't it? We'll never get another GWX debacle, because there will never be a Windows 11, just "updates" to Windows 10, all of which will also be pushed to users who have almost zero say in the matter, with no sign that Microsoft intend to change anything about that setup. This half-hearted mea culpa seems even hollower, now.

UPDATE #2:

It would seem that a lot of people were waiting for this news to finally break.

A sampling of the headlines:

Twas the week before Xmas ... not a creature was stirring – except Microsoft admitting its Windows 10 upgrade pop-up went 'too far'

Microsoft finally admits that its malware-style Get Windows 10 upgrade campaign went too far

Microsoft finally reaches step 1; admission

Microsoft admits its aggressive Windows 10 push was a low point for the company

Microsoft Exec Admits Windows 10 Push Was Too Aggressive

Microsoft admits it went ‘too far’ with Windows 10 push

I get it; the fact that one of the company's executives have finally kinda admitted they did wrong is the validation that a lot of us had been waiting for, but this admission still soft-pedals the issue, and it's still coming from their marketing chief, and not Satya Nadella, himself. When Microsoft issues an official apology for their bad behaviour, or when Nadella himself makes a public statement on the issue, maybe I'll be more excited about things. As it is, though, this latest PR exercise is still months late, and well short of winning back my trust or goodwill.

UPDATE #3:

Another decent take from Gordon Kelly at Forbes:

Capossela is right. Changing the operation of the red X was Microsoft hitting rock bottom but there remain several aspects to his confession that don’t ring true:

1. Windows 10 upgrade tactics were dirty long before the red X debacle. Bombarding users with nagware-like upgrade notices was the first step. Secretly downloading Windows 10 on all Windows 7 and Windows 8 users’ PCs even if they said no to the upgrade was the second. Removing the ‘Cancel’ button from upgrade prompt windows was the third and increasingly crippling the control and longevity of Windows 7 and Windows 8 by removing granular control over updates and compatibility with new silicon were the fourth and fifth.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

2. It doesn’t take two weeks to change how a single red X operates. For a company capable of rolling out complex security patches to a billion PCs within 24 hours of a threat being discovered, this just doesn’t wash. My personal opinion is Microsoft waited to see if the initial outcry would die down and it could get away with this. They couldn’t.

3. The red X was not some innocent misstep by a random software engineer, it was a calculated move that required senior approval to implement and came at a time when Windows 10 upgrades were slowing dramatically. It also came after (as mentioned above) nagware attempts had failed, secret downloading had failed and removing the ‘Cancel’ button from upgrade notifications had failed (‘Upgrade Now’ and ‘Upgrade Tonight’ were the only written options!).

Only then was the behaviour of the red X changed (and in violation of Microsoft’s own developer guide for how the button must work) because it was the only cancellation option left.

So yes, it is nice that Microsoft has publicly admitted the pinnacle of its malware-like efforts to get Windows 10 onto users’ computers by any means necessary was a step too far. But it should be apologising for the rest of these dirty tactics as well and the claim that “for a lot of the year I think we got it right” is a laughable attempt to rewrite history.

[...]

So yes, saying (a partial) sorry now is better than nothing, but for millions this is much too little far too late…

What can I say? I agree with all of this.