Microsoft's Windows 10 forced update is so aggressive, it got sued big time

Microsoft's Windows 10 forced update is so aggressive, it got sued big time

With only a month left of Microsoft's offer to a upgrade users to Windows 10 for free, we can imagine what some of you are thinking: "Good. Maybe then, those annoying upgrade reminders will go away."

It's no secret that Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 hard, leading to some heat for making opting out of updating difficult and even reports of installing it without the user's explicit permission.

However, that aggressive expansion may be coming back to bite Microsoft, as the company just agreed to pay a California woman $10,000 (about £7,515, AU$13,554) over an unwanted installation of Windows 10.

Teri Goldstein, a realtor whose work computer was rendered practically useless from installing Windows 10, despite claiming she never authorized the upgrade, successfully won her lawsuit against Microsoft, requesting compensation for lost wages and a replacement for her computer.

Windows Ten-tative

"Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update," Goldstein told The Seattle Times, adding she hadn't even heard of Windows 10 in the first place.

We take it you know what Windows 10 is, but it's certainly not uncommon to hear stories of older computers auto-installing the shiny new OS out of the blue.

While it allows Windows owners to take advantage of Microsoft's free upgrade offer before it goes away in July - not to mention ensures more people are all on the same platform - installing the OS without their express permission/knowledge is an easy way to rub them the wrong away.

Will this open up the floodgates to more unwilling Windows 10 inductees filing suits? Might Microsoft ease up on the gas when pushing its software?

We won't know for sure, but we can imagine new strategies are being discussed right now in both Microsoft's marketing and legal departments.

Parker Wilhelm
Parker Wilhelm is a freelance writer for TechRadar. He likes to tinker in Photoshop and talk people's ears off about Persona 4.