Maybe being up to date ain't so great

If you are a PC user, you may have been getting automatic messages telling you that you are about to be updated to Windows 10, the latest version. Be very careful if so. Fiddling around with the operating system of your computer is a Big Deal. If you are happy with your PC as is, you may want to cancel any such updating. Read below:

A Californian woman has won $10,000 in compensation from Microsoft after Windows 10 automatically tried and failed to install on her Windows 7 computer.

The automatic install of Windows 10 failed, leaving her with a unstable and often unresponsive computer used to run her travel agency from an office in Sausalito, California.

Teri Goldstein reportedly said: “I had never heard of Windows 10. Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update.”

After attempting to fix the problem with Microsoft’s support, Goldstein sued the company for a new computer and loss of earnings, winning $10,000. Microsoft dropped its appeal to avoid further legal expenses, leaving Microsoft footing the bill.

Goldstein’s case is just one of a long line of complaints against Microsoft, which has followed an increasingly aggressive roll out of Windows 10. The operating system, which is still being offered as a free upgrade from Windows 7 or later until 29 July, was first offered as an optional upgrade in which users had to express an interest.

Microsoft then made Windows 10 a “recommended update” for Windows 7 or later, which meant that it started automatically downloading through Windows Update in February this year.

In March, users started complaining that Windows 10 automatically started to install on their computers without their permission...

Full story at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/27/microsoft-automatic-windows-10-installation