UPDATED 06:05 EDT / JUNE 29 2016

NEWS

Microsoft backtracks: Clicking “X” will now stop Windows 10 updates

Microsoft has done an about turn on its Windows 10 upgrades policy, saying it will refrain from using a controversial trick that’s believed to have deceived dozens of users into downloading the controversial new OS by mistake.

The issue relates to how Microsoft interprets user’s behavior when they click on the red “X” in the top right corner of the window when the infamous “your-Windows-10-upgrade-is-ready” pop-up appears. As SiliconANGLE reported last month, Microsoft recently changed things around so that when users click on the red “X” to dismiss the update, Windows would interpret the action as the user giving their consent to begin installation of Windows 10. Not surprisingly, many users of Windows 7 and 8.1 were outraged that they’d been deceived into installing Windows 10, and the tactic was quickly branded as a “dirty trick” by Microsoft.

Microsoft actually tried to defend the policy, saying that the default setting for all users was to accept the update, which means users who chose to ignore the update message were therefore agreeing to install Windows 10 on their machines.

However, just days after it emerged that one Californian woman was granted $10,000 in compensation from Microsoft in a small claims court for forcing a Windows 10 update onto her computer (which consequently crashed her machine), the company has changed tack. In a statement to The Register, Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group executive VP Terry Myerson said Windows will no longer consider closing the dialogue box as users giving their consent to the Windows 10 download.

“The new experience has clearer options to upgrade now, choose a time, or decline the free offer,” Myerson said. “If the red-X is selected on this new dialog, it will dismiss the dialog box and we will notify the device again in a few days.”

The fix will be rolled out in a software update for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, The Register reported.

It’s not known if the recent court case had anything to do with Microsoft’s about turn on the issue, but the company has been widely criticized over the last year for aggressively pushing Windows 10 onto users.

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