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Microsoft’s new Windows 10 upgrade dialog. (Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is changing how it prompts users to upgrade to its Windows 10 operating system after its aggressive tactics prompted complaints from some users who said the update loaded on their computers without their permission.

Terry Myerson, Windows and Devices Group executive vice president, at Microsoft Build. (GeekWire File Photo)
Terry Myerson, Windows and Devices Group executive vice president, at Microsoft Build. (GeekWire File Photo)

One problem with the previous update was that selecting a red ‘x’ to dismiss the dialog scheduled the update anyway. Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group, said in a statement Tuesday that Windows 10 update prompts will be easier to decipher going forward.

We started our journey with Windows 10 with a clear goal to move people from needing Windows to choosing Windows to loving Windows. Towards this goal, this week we’ll launch a new upgrade experience for millions of PCs around the world. The new experience has clearer options to upgrade now, choose a time, or decline the free offer. 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. We continue to recommend all of our customers upgrade to Windows 10 before the free upgrade offer expires on July 29

Teri Goldstein, who runs a travel agency in Sausalito, Calif., sued Microsoft after what she described as an unauthorized update to Windows 10 failed and crashed her computer, according to The Seattle Times. Goldstein won her case, and Microsoft paid her a $10,000 judgment to cover lost wages and a new computer, without admitting wrongdoing.

Microsoft is offering free Windows 10 upgrades to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, a switch from past years, when the company would charge for upgrades. The free update period ends July 29, and Microsoft has said it will stop prompting people to upgrade after that.

Separately today, the company appears to have prematurely announced an Aug. 2 release date for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update — publishing a post with a headline to that effect, before pulling it.

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