Microsoft has expanded its criticised Windows 10 update reminders to a full-screen pop-up, which will be pushed to users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
"Sorry to interrupt, but this is important. Windows 10 free upgrade offer ends 29 July," the new pop-up says, urging users to upgrade their operating system free of charge before they will have to pay $119 - about R1 700 - for the update.
Recipients of the pop-up have four responses to choose from: "upgrade now", "remind me later", "notify me three more times", or "do not notify me again".
The full-screen notification may be an attempt to curb the furore surrounding previous pop-ups, which have drawn criticism for going ahead with the update when users click the "x" button in the corner of the pop-up, which traditionally allows Windows users to ignore a notification without taking further action.
In June, Microsoft agreed to pay $10 000 (over R150 000) in damages to a US small business owner after a Windows 10 update she had not explicitly consented to rendered her computer too unstable to be used to run her business.
Teri Goldstein won her case against Microsoft, despite its reassurances in the full-screen pop-up that "you can easily roll-back to your current operating system within 31 days if you decide Windows 10 is not right for you", and that Microsoft will confirm the computer's compatibility with Windows 10 before beginning the update.
While the new pop-up Window forces users to choose a specific action instead of unknowingly consenting to the upgrade when trying to close the Window, the "upgrade now" and "remind me later" buttons are in larger, bold, outlined type and situated on the opposite side of the screen, compared to the "notify me three more times" and "do not notify me again" options, which are smaller and not in bold or outlined text, meaning some users may not notice the latter two options.
Commonly-cited reasons for not wanting to upgrade to Windows 10 include running incompatible hardware or software and being reluctant to adjust to a different operating system.
Many tech writers have criticised the new Windows 10 update notification for being obtrusive.
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