A word of caution for everybody in the US, but particularly PC users

[cactuswatcher]

Last night I switched on my computer and got yet another blurb for Windows 10 come up. This one was more insistent than the rest saying my computer was scheduled for update to Windows 10 on Monday. I don't need or want an upgrade on this old computer (one of the last sold with Windows 7). It took a little doing to find my way into the screen where I could cancel the "upgrade."

The thing is I don't know how many Windows 7 and 8 computers that Microsoft suddenly decided to change to Windows 10 at the same time without their owners requesting it. It could be millions. It could be a more reasonable number. I don't think it was a fluke that the notice of the upgrade came on a Friday night with the upgrade supposed to come on a holiday. I wouldn't be surprised if the Internet is a giant mess Monday and Tuesday morning when perhaps millions of computers in the US are trying to download the exact same thing from Microsoft. Maybe when the computers come on the owners will have the option to say no again. But the number of people who decide 'why the heck not' could be enough to create a huge mess.

Comments

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine alerted me to this several months ago, so I wasn't too surprised when suddenly it's shown up in the general press in just the last week. The popup window hasn't appeared on my (Windows 7 Pro) machine yet, but apparently the nasty bit is, according to the newspaper article, the "X" in the upper corner that normally closes the window without doing anything instead arranges you for a future update. It is then apparently a bear to stop said update from occurring.

This machine I have now is only about a year old, I held on to my two beloved Win XP machines as long as possible before getting this one exclusively for online use, and the XP machines are now offline but still regularly used.

I had the new machine custom built for me, and insisted on Win 7 as the OS, which was still available although Microsoft was already well into Win 8 by then.

Win 7 isn't bad, but frankly I still prefer XP. I have no interest in touchscreen machines-- I do a lot of work with photos, audio and video, and all the software on the old machines does exactly what I need, so why would I want to spend the money to "upgrade"?