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Microsoft pays $10,000 to unwilling Windows 10 updater

Microsoft dropped its appeal of a suit brought against the company by a user unhappy with the results of her Windows 10 update experience. Will other similar suits follow?
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

A travel agent unhappy with a failed Windows 10 update which she said she didn't authorize and made her PC unstable received a $10,000 judgement from the company.

The Seattle Times reported the pay-out to a Sausalito, Calif.-based travel agent as part of a bigger June 25 story about Microsoft drawing flak for pushing Windows 10 on PC users.

A Microsoft official confirmed that the company dropped its appeal in the name of trying to cut its losses.

"The company dropped its appeal to avoid the expense of further litigation," said a spokesperson via email to me on June 27.

I asked Microsoft whether there are other outstanding cases involving others unhappy with the results of their Windows 10 update, but still haven't heard back.

There were rumblings in Microsoft support forums starting last year that users unhappy with their Windows 7 and 8.X machines auto-updating to Windows 10 might try to sue or join class-action suits against the company.

Microsoft officials have continued to state that they believe moving customers to Windows 10 is a pro-customer decision. Last Fall, officials said they planned to make Windows 10 a free, recommended update for Windows 7/8.x users with Automatic Updates turned on. The company did so earlier this year.

Microsoft execs maintain that users still have a choice as to whether to update. But the hoops users have to jump through to block the Windows 10 update, especially once an auto-update begins, are difficult. Microsoft's decision to change the behavior required of users who -- for a variety of reasons -- don't want to move to Windows 10 has made matters worse.

Microsoft plans to end its free Windows 10 update offer on July 29, 2016, and will begin removing its "Get Windows 10" prompt starting on that date. Microsoft officials still haven't said definitively whether they'll also no longer make Windows 10 a recommended update after July 29, though it would seem likely, given the free update offer will end then.

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