Ah....good.  Home users are going to be unwilling/unconsenting beta testers for capitalism.

I'm gleefully looking forward to the inevitable class action suit that will ensue WHEN a forced update goes tits-up and Joe Average is left staring at a blank screen.

IF users manage to get back online the guaranteed most-common search string in Google will be 'Windows 10 rollback' ...

Fortunately, for me, forced updates are not an issue.  My upgrades will be to Win 10 Pro, which is exempt from enforced updates.

As for Win 10 experience, well to date I have none to speak of.  Can't install it on my tablet/laptop because the BIOS won't permit me to dual boot, and I'm not overwriting my Win 8.1 installation just yet.

The story with my upgraded big beastie isn't a happy one, either.  For the most part it has been waiting on bits n' pieces [rare/hard-to-come-by 2 pin power cables] to fully complete the build.  The last parts arrive about a week ago, but for the last 3 - 4 weeks I've not been able to work on it anyway... and no, it's not because it's so heavy I can't lift it onto a table/work bench.  Yes, it's a heavy bastard, but that's not the reason.  I can get help with that.  No, it's because of the the colder weather and my painful arthritic hands.... cramping up and the fear of dropping stuff that costs waaay too much to replace.

Oh well, it's a good thing I've learned to have greater patience in my old age.  Not so long ago I would have been champing at the bit and getting frustrated over the lack of progress, but nowadays I accept there are things I cannot do, or do as well.  Thing is, this colder weather is short lived and will pass in a few days, so I'll get stuck in then... all things being equal.

Anyway, it's not like I need to hurry to qualify for the free upgrade, which I will get when the time comes.

I haven't even gotten the invite to reserve, even though my PC meets the requirements.

I guess I should count my blessings.

Pro and Business can hold off installing updates for 8 months (that allows testing and integration by IT Dep'ts...but then they have to install as well.

Quoting Borg999,

reply 5

I haven't even gotten the invite to reserve, even though my PC meets the requirements.

 

I guess I should count my blessings.

 

 

An invitation is not a demand. Those invited who reserved can still choose not to upgrade.

No, cannot do!  The BIOS does not allow it.  The option is there to disable it, but after rebooting it is enabled again, thus allowing only the OS to load.  I tried several times but it just won't let me.  According to a forum piece I read, HP has deliberately done this in accordance with MS wishes to prevent dual/multi booting, whether or not is is another Windows OS.  That's alright, it only has a 128gb SSD and I'm in the process of rebuilding my main rig, on which I'll be able to access all BIOS settings AND dual/multi boot.

No business should be forced to make such changes unless they determine it is in their best interest.  And the business's IT folks should be making that call, not MS.

 The entire concept stinks.

Yeah, it's damned frustrating that I cannot change various BIOS settings with this machine... that it keeps reverting back to factory settings after rebooting.  I have 3 other machines with UEFI BIOS' that give me access to all BIOS settings [a Gigabyte & 2 ASUS boards], but then they aren't proprietary machines and have no such restrictions.

When I tried and failed to disable SecureBoot, I went to the HP forums and one poster there suggested that HP had disabled certain BIOS features on Win 8 machines in accordance with MS wishes to prevent dual booting with other OSes such as Linux. How much truth there is to this I'm not sure, but the fact that SecureBoot on my HP tablet/laptop cannot be disabled would suggest that it could very well be.  Anyway, it's not an issue for me now.  I neither want or need to dual boot on it in any case.

Yeah, I have to agree.  It stinks alright.  I though MS was arrogant when it forced certain files and folders to be located in Public Documents.  That was bad enough, given that I wanted to store skin libraries on a separate drive, but this idea is considerably worse and MS will lose a shipload of customers.  I don't care how uniformed they think it will make thinks across the board, the idea is flawed and will create issues for millions of users.... of all editions.  Not everybody has the same hardware and software combinations, and a one size fits all approach does not cut it, regardless of how well MS thinks it has this issue covered

It so reminds me of the school bully who turns up at school with shit sandwiches. Instead of bullying other kids for their lunch, he finds more amusing to force others to eat his.  Okay, this might not be quite as unsanitary, but it's equally disgusting, given the harm it can and will do to end users machines.

And to think I was once looking forward to Windows 10.

I'd read about under-the-hood improvements and added features, but the run of calamitous events of late, none of those enhancement seem worth the bother.

What with butt ugly icons and GUI, then enforced updates and potential exclusions for necessary rollbacks [not to mention those gaudy looking tiles on the start menu, we can well do without those] Windows 10 appears to be a far worse disaster than Win 8/8.1 was ever accused of being. 

I happen to like Windows 8.1 and use it as my primary OS, but the more I read about Win 10 the more disappointed I become.  In fact, the likelihood that I stick with 8.1 and pass on 10 grows daily.  True, there are things I don't like about Win 8/8.1, and some of those were introduced in Win 7 [mandatory placements in Public Documents for certain files and folders etc], but Win 10 seems to be heralding in a dictatorial era that I'm finding difficult to abide by. 

There appears to be little to no respect for users/users rights... co consideration towards individual needs/circumstances.  It's like MS has thrown an blanket over everyone and said: "Like it or lump it, but this is what you're getting.... and stop yer bitching cos we're ain't listening."

Never mind, Win 7/8/8.1 still haven't reached their use-by dates, and I do have OS-X Yosemite on my miniMac.  There's also Linux, of which there are some distros I've enjoyed using in the past.

alaknebs, it might even be WORSE if ms for some STUPID reason decides to remove old patches, then with the patches NOT available, BUT NEEDED for updating, then the customer is STUFFED

harpo, the ghost NON-subscriber

The need would arise if prior updates were either missed due to long term inactivity, or if rolled back, and the machine becomes ineligible for future update and Store purchases/downloads as a result.  If this occurs the product key attached would then become invalid and a new one would needed to be purchased in order to qualify for updates/Store access.  In other words, this 'free' upgrade could end up costing users the price of a new license anyhow.

Yeah, it all sounded to good to be true, and with various caveats attached for the lifetime of the upgrade, it is... too good to be true.  In fact, the caveats apply to purchased copies as well - with "cop this update, like it or not" - so there is an arrogance about MS attitude towards consumers that hopefully results in class action suits against it.

Put bluntly, MS has gotten too fechen big for its fechen boots and NEEDS knocking down a peg or three.

 Now this is another point that hasn't been clarified.   The MS download pages have long hosted patches and other updated that seemingly will transition to the Store, meaning that users who somehow become ineligible to access the store may not have an alternative means to safeguard their machines.  It is increasingly looking like the Win 10 caveats are in fact designed to make 'free' copies redundant/obsolete to boost sales.

Nope, there's no gift horse here, just an Indian Giver company giving with one hand and taking with the other.

I was seriously thinking of a Surface Pro 3 as my next purchase.  Now not so sure.