Part of my new job is maintaining hundreds of PCs at local schools. This is starting to pop up on all the Win7 machines, though fortunately not on the XP ones yet. It's a disaster. Any kid could click it inadvertently or maliciously, and i wonder how far through the process they'd get. So, i'm wasting a huge amount of time this week going around to pretty much every PC in every building and turning off that notification, one at a time.

Grrrrrrrrrr.

It was a Windows update. You can uninstall it.

@ Chienworks

Are you saying all of your school PC's allow administrator privileges for all users?

That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, if not an ongoing one, without a Win 10 upgrade option popping up...

No, very few people have administrator privileges, but even without them, clicking it can lead to a few changes that we don't want to deal with.

> "the price is right"

Actually you have no idea what the price is. That's Microsoft's "dirty little secret". Windows 10 is free for the 1st year. That's all that Microsoft has said. What will Microsoft charge for it every year after that? You have no idea!

I would avoid Windows 10 like the plague. It sounds like Microsoft is getting into the subscription business for Windows like they did with Office 360 and they are going to spring the subscription on you after the first year of use. Because what are you going to do after you've been using Windows 10 for a year and all of your applications are installed and then you get a prompt to "subscribe for another year"!

I would be very cautious of Microsoft bearing gifts. They charge hundreds of dollars for their OS. They have no business model to sustain a free OS. This sounds like a clever bait-n-switch marketing tactic.

~jr

> "So, i'm wasting a huge amount of time this week going around to pretty much every PC in every building and turning off that notification, one at a time."

It looks like Microsoft snuck this little adware in as a patch. You can rad about it here:

Windows 10: 'Free' can potentially cost a lot

Here is a quote:

"...an underhand trick that Microsoft has pulled on Windows 7 and 8 users. Microsoft has recently used Windows Update to sneak "

~jr

I do not disagree jr.....but looks like the future of all software is heading toward the
good ole cable or direct or internet subscription.....

If you don't have to upgrade, then don't!

FUD.

Windows 10 is $119(Home) or $199(Pro) US for those who do not qualify for the upgrade or those who do not upgrade in the first year.

@DonaldT

How do you uninstall it? Can't seem to find the update folder...

Tom

Yea, I've read quite a few articles that all conflict but the ones that say it will be free forever stress that it's only for the original device. That means you can't install it on anther computer later and possibly if you change enough hardware on the original computer it may trigger a reauthorization and who knows if at that point you will have to pay.

~jr

Uninstall>View Installed Updates>KB3035583
I had to do it on my mother's computer. I didn't like the description so I did not install it on mine.

Thanks @DonaldT

DonaltT - Wow! Just read as much as I can take in about "KB3035583".

Hunted and reached- back for/to this: "Update enables additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1"

And:

"Thursday, May 14, 2015
This is a summary of the new and changed content scheduled for release on Thursday, May 14, 2015.
New non-security content:

Update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 (KB3035583)

Locale: All
Deployment: Recommended/Automatic Updates
Classification: Updates, Non-Security
Supersedes: KB3035583 on Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
Target platforms: Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
Approximate file sizes:
Windows 8.1 x64 update: ~ 599KB
Windows 8.1 update: ~ 418KB
Windows 7 update: ~ 419KB
Windows 7 x64 update: ~ 601KB
Description:
Install this update to resolve issues in Windows. For a complete listing of the issues that are included in this update, see the associated Microsoft Knowledge Base article for more information. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3035583"

I suppose that it wouldn't say that I would be getting an upgrade path to Win10 - would it? I suppose MS is just being caring.

Grazie

In reading more about this it does appear that the full Win 10 upgrade is indeed free (not just a 1 year subscription) on the computers operating Win 7 (but it is a non-transferrable license). I'm thinking of doing this upgrade on my laptop which is not my main editing machine to test it out. If it works fine, then perhaps upgrading my workhorse PC's will be a good idea.

Mike

Can you do a full reinstall of the free Windows 10 upgrade on the same hardware without issues? (To clear the inevitable cobwebs that appear.)

It's not free as in free for everybody, there are no hidden costs and there is no adware. Guy who wrote that article is an idiot..

It's free if you upgrade within the first year and it will not cost you anything a year, 2,3 from now. You can keep on using it without paying anything. People who upgrade after the year has passed pay just like we always have and people who buy new PCs pay just like they always have.

The adware nonsense is just that, nonsense. Adware would be if it started puking out ads for other companies/products. As it is it's the same as Vegas' new version notification. If you don't like it just don't install or uninstall later. I disable automatic updates on all PCs anyway,

I have read where Windows 10 will be the last official version. That means no more version upgrades; just constant updates. That sounds a lot like an evolutionary step to a subscription model.

Like JR, I don't trust M$ either. Whatever is best for the M$ bottom line is always bad for mine. There is always a string or they have something up their sleeve. It will be a cold day in hell before I go to 10. Legacy software be damned. I'll go to Linux before going to 10.

I have been running Win 10 for 3 months and like it a lot. The last build 10122 caused some problems with a AMD GPU but solved in a couple days by 10130.The interface is a lot friendlier to non-pad tablet users than 8.1. I have used it extensively with Vegas, Prepare, Premiere, Resolve with BM decklink external monitor.
As to the rumors about cost:(from MS):
>I read somewhere that the free upgrade to Windows 10 will expire after one year and that the user will then have to pay for the upgrade. Is this so?
No, that’s completely wrong. Once you have installed Windows 10 and made a note of your product key, it’s yours forever. Well, you can use it until Microsoft stops supporting it, which is usually 10 years<.

> "I have read where Windows 10 will be the last official version. That means no more version upgrades; just constant updates. That sounds a lot like an evolutionary step to a subscription model."

I believe this is the statement that caused all of the subscription controversy. Microsoft said that they consider Windows 10 to be "a service". They claim that the intent was that customers would no longer have to worry about what version they are on because there would be no more versions. They said that they would ship features as they are ready and not in big releases anymore and that Windows 10 would get better over time. This eliminates the support questions of "what version are you using" because everyone will be on the same version. That's a great "concept".

There's only one problem with that statement... I don't see how Microsoft can make money from upgrades if there is no revenue stream to support the development because there are no more upgrades. I also read that Windows is the #3 money maker at Microsoft so maybe they figure they will still make a enough money from Office 365 and new computer sales, or maybe they realize that new computer sales have been declining as people move to tablets so they would make their money selling the Surface tablets where they actually can give away the OS because they are making money on the hardware?

I have 2x Windows 7 Home, 1x Windows 7 Pro, and 2x Windows 8 Home license (5 in all). I will probably upgrade some to Windows 10 to see how it is if it truly is free (probably the Windows 8 license since I don't use them, they are just for testing VASST plug-ins with Vegas Pro which I'll still have to do on Windows 10).

FYI Microsoft is also giving away a free 1 year subscription to Office 365 with new computer purchases. I just bought my daughter a new MacBook Air for college at Best Buy and it came with an Office 365 subscription card. We didn't install it because she uses Apple Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (free on her new Mac but $19 each on older Macs and you own them forever on as many Mac's as you own) but the precedence has been set. I'm sure people install it forgetting that in a year they will need to start paying $70/year for Office 365 so Microsoft is already in the subscription business and it could spread to the OS in the future. We'll just have to wait and see.

Edit: This is pretty funny... I had been running Windows 10 in a virtual machine to check it out and I hadn't started it in quite a while. When I booted it just now, I was presented with a screen that said that it had expired and I needed to press F8 to see my options. I realize that this was just the beta build expiring but I couldn't help but think that the code is already there to hold customers hostage to a subscription service. lol ;-)

~jr

There might be a bit of a clue in the small print at the bottom of the Windows 10 page which is used to reserve your free upgrade from W7.

"Windows 10 Upgrade Offer is valid for qualified Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices, including devices you already own. ......... Additional requirements may apply over time for updates. Security and features are kept automatically up-to-date which is always enabled."

I wonder what "additional requirements" will actually mean ... could it be a subscription model perhaps for updates?

"If you don't have to upgrade, then don't!"

I've been saying that since Win98SE.

I upgraded to XP because the new scanner & printer i bought way back when only worked under XP, a little hitch that HP neglected to mention in their tech details. In fact, the boxes said "Requires Windows 98, ME, or XP"

The only reason i have Win7 is because it came with my new laptops. To date, i have found one and only one feature of it that i like better than XP or 98, which is that i can drag the buttons on the task bar around to reorder them. On the whole though i find the 'pin to' stuff despicable, backward, and unintuitive. I installed 7TaskbarTweaker in order to get back all the usefulness that Microsoft took out. Fortunately the reordering still works even with the tweaker.