Some interesting news coming from Microsoft, as the company has announced that Windows 10 is going to become an automatic download for both Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers. This means that Windows 10 is going to be automatically downloaded onto your computer, and you will have to actively cancel the download yourself if you do not want the Windows 10 upgrade. This new upgrade is available for anyone running Windows 7 or Windows 8, or if you expressed interest in the new operating system.
For Microsoft, this is a way that the company can get more users to upgrade to Windows 10, since it will begin showing up as a “recommended update” in the Windows Update program. If you have automatic updates enabled, which is set as default, then you will automatically get this Windows 10 download without being asked if you really want to install it. After Windows 10 has been downloaded onto your computer, you will get a popup that notifies you, and you will have to decline the update. The installer will automatically begin after downloading, but you can decline it even once the installer begins, and you also will be able to manually block the Windows 10 upgrade as well through the Windows Update feature.
Terry Myerson, who is the executive vice president of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices group, commented on this new Windows 10 upgrade option on the Microsoft Blog. Myerson said that if you do choose to move forward with the installation of Windows 10, you will still have 31 days to go back to the previous version of Windows that was on your computer if you end up not liking the upgrade. The issue though with this new feature is that many people multitask while on the computer, so it would be easy to hit “OK” on the Windows 10 installation without knowing that is what it is. That might be why Myerson has come out to explain you can always roll back in the first 31 days, and that also might be why there is a way to cancel the upgrade even when it starts to install.
Windows 10 Becomes Optional Update
The first step for Microsoft in trying to get more people to switch to Windows 10 is by making the upgrade an “optional” update, which is starting now. This means that a user could see this new operating system downloaded if they have manually set their Windows Update for automatic updates of both optional and recommended updates. Windows 10 actually has seen the best launch since Windows 98, which means that it is the most compatible with existing software and devices, but there are still millions who are running on Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Myerson also said in his blog post that people should not be turning off the automatic updates features in Windows because of the security risks associated with not having the latest security patches and updates for the computer programs. Even though there is risk, some people do turn off automatic updates due to the storage needed for the updates, and also due to how some internet providers have data limits as part of their service packages.
It is estimated that the new Windows 10 download will take between 3.5GB and 6GB, and since some internet providers only allow a user to download 40GB of data a month, this could end up putting some people over their limits if they have automatic updates installed on their computer. Even on computers storage space can be limited, including some Windows 8 computers only coming with 32GB of storage.
If you decide to decline the Windows 10 update after it being downloaded, you should know that it will not be automatically deleted. This means that the download will then just be taking up space on your computer, even if you do not continue on with the installation process. By early 2016, Windows 10 will be moved to a “recommended” update, but you should begin seeing this as an “optional” update today, so just keep that in mind if you need to adjust your Windows Update settings to allow or disallow this upgrade.
