Microsoft Tricks Users

Microsoft Tricks Users Into Windows 10 Upgrades, Windows Phone Is Dead… 

Written by Dave ParrackMay 23, 2016

Microsoft resorts to dirty tactics with Windows 10, Windows Phone is deader than a dead thing, Reddit introduces embeds on other sites, Edward Snowden says no to Allo, and the new Star Trek Beyond trailer debuts.

Windows 10 Upgrades Are Hard to Avoid

Microsoft is getting increasingly desperate in its bid to persuade us all to upgrade to Windows 10. And its latest effort employs dirty tactics, essentially fooling people into upgrading to Windows 10 by changing how the nagscreen works.

Up to now, users who don’t want to upgrade to Windows 10 could just keep Microsoft happy by closing the nagscreen whenever it popped up. But that’s no longer the case. Now, closing the nagscreen means you’re giving Microsoft permission to upgrade your computer to Windows 10.

This is because the nagscreen now tells you Windows 10 is a Recommended Update which will be scheduled for a date sometime in the future. Clicking X, as you have been doing for the last six months, is you agreeing to the upgrade. In order to cancel it, you need to click the tiny link instead.

It isn’t clear whether Microsoft changed this on purpose in order to catch people out. And anyone caught out by this can downgrade to their previous OS for a limited time. However, it’s annoyed a lot people, including a host of angry Redditors, and Brad Chacos from PC World. 

If Microsoft wants people not only to adopt Windows 10, but to actually love it, tricking them into installing it in the first place is not the way to go about things. So, if you see this new nagscreen, don’t blindly click the X in the top right-hand corner, click the link under the date instead.

Windows Phone Is Deader Than Dead

Just in case you were holding out some hope for Windows Phone, its market share shows it’s deader than a very dead thing. In the first quarter of 2015, Windows Phone managed a 2.5 percent market share. In the first quarter of 2016, Windows Phone managed a 0.7 percent market share.

This is all according to Gartner, which estimates that around 2.4 million Windows Phone handsets were bought in the last quarter, compared to the 8.6 million bought over the same period 12 months ago. Microsoft sold the vast majority of these handsets, so other manufacturers are doing even worse.

Microsoft seems to be taking a break from the mobile side of things, with no new Lumia handsets on the horizon. There are rumors of a Surface-branded handsetbeing launched in 2017, but the time being at least, Microsoft’s mobile business is a complete non-entity. Which is why we stopped covering Windows Phone quite a while ago.

Source: www.makeuseof.com