Never 10 is a good app which is actively maintained, and thanks for adding, Mark.

I'm not meaning to hijack.  If MS has indeed changed the "x" to mean yes, I want this; and since it is universally understood to mean the opposite, "NO,"  then why hasn't anyone brought legal action against Microsoft-gate? And where is Anonymous now? Talk about an appropriate target...

There is a great article on gHacks.com about Microsoft's insistence on upgrading people to Windows 10 and a lot of folks are angry over their aggressive methods. Having had my own bit of fun and excitement with the 1511 build, I have plunged into total insanity and joined the Insider Program.  If anything like that happens again, I will be in a better position to make it known to Microsoft. Of course, I am probably deluding myself but at last I might be able to help make things a little better by becoming part of the solution. 

In the meantime, Never 10 is a great option for those who wish to remain with Windows 7.  I confess that there have been several days when I wish I had stayed with Win 7 too.  I was part of the Windows 7 Insider Program and loved it right from the start.  I am trying hard to like Windows 10 but I find myself spending too much time in group policy editor and/or PowerShell fixing settings that used to be so simple. I will let you all know how it goes.   

That's okay, Seth, anything to support the cause...er, thread.

As for my capitulation, conceding defeat, MS ensured it was inevitable.  Despite programs like GWX Control Panel and Never 10, Microsoft has been enabling Win 10 upgrades via Scheduled Maintenance rather than Windows Update.... a method I believe has not as yet been addressed by 3rd party developers.   In fact, I'm not sure that they can, being that Scheduled Maintenance is probably performed separately via a closed/encrypted MS channel.   I may be wrong about this, but I don't know how else to explain the following....

I had 'Never 10' and 'GWX Control Panel' installed on the 2nd of my big beasties with Win 8.1 installed, yet it rebooted with Windows 10 two mornings ago... thus circumventing both programs, which I believe act like some kind of firewall that prevents MS downloading/activating Win 10 on one's PC.  As Scheduled Maintenance is a different process that interacts directly between MS and the OS, these 3rd party programs won't be completely effective in preventing Win 10 installing until they are updated [if possible] to disable installation via Scheduled Maintenance.

I've also heard from a few friends, etc, that the 'roll back' function has either been disabled/greyed out, or worked okay but was reversed a few days later to restore Win 10.  I had both instances happen to me, so yeah, I believe this is happening to people.  Such is the aggression of Microsoft to roll Win 10 out to over a billion devices by 2020, people are not being given a choice... and for mine, there has to be something illegal in what they're doing.  For a start, I doubt there is anything in the TOU or EULA of either Win 7 or Win 8.1 that states users are obliged to upgrade to any future OS.  Secondly, the physical/hardware component of the PC is the property of the user, much like his or her home, meaning that MS is guilty of breaking and entering/unlawful entry/burglary... or of hacking and vandalism at the least.

In a nutshell, Microsoft has become the tech bully boy of the world and has made many enemies through its tactics.  Me?  I wouldn't say I'm an enemy, but I sure as hell don't like what they're doing.  As for the 12 months free then $119 thereafter,, being that Windows was never its biggest money spinner anyway, Win 10 should remain free indefinitely to show good... er, better faith on MS part.  Moreover,. MS should allow people to move to Win 10 in their own good time... to show EVEN BETTER faith.

You might consider WinPatrol as it will warn you when a new exe is trying to load...and it has excellent potential for stopping ransomware by doing so.

I never downloaded the win10 protocol updates so I haven't yet been bothered. My son however, woke up pissed this morning with win10 installed on his computer. He was able to restore WIN7.

Nice thread, Seth!  K for you!

That's the same 'nagging' KB that several people reported as having ignored for several days before waking to find Scheduled Maintenance had 'upgraded' their Win 7 or Win 8.1 machine to Win 10.  In other words, MS is losing patience with the resisters to its latest OS.  It reminds me of Stalin and other dictators, only now it's Microsoft throwing its weight around and forcing its will upon others.... its own partners included.

I was always disappointed with Apple's methods and attitude, but sad to say, Microsoft has far surpassed Apple with its attitude, methods and bully-boy tactics. What Microsoft is doing now is downright criminal.  Sadly, the powers that be - the only people/entities that can act - are sitting on their hands while MS continues to break into peoples personal property [their PCs] and make unwelcome changes without as much as a whisper of consent.  Nobody can tell me that is right, though some might try, but if it were their homes Microsoft was breaking into, they'd soon be up in arms and laying complaints with the relevant authorities.  Point made !!!!

Now ya just gotta hope, Daiwa, is that those machines don't get 'upgraded' via Scheduled Maintenance.  Another person I know say her machine was likely 'hacked' that way... going to sleep with Win 7 and waking up to Win 10.  She too had Never 10 and GWXCP installed, so they're no guarantee against MS' tactics

What Microsoft is doing is patently wrong and I sincerely hope that enough pissed off people can successfully mount a class action suit that rightfully stops MS being a tech bully boy.

For Windows 7 users...and I'm assuming others after as well...here the list again of updates to be on the lookout for if you don't want Windows10 installed...so if before you click ok to update make sure these aren't in there...and you can hide these updates but they don't stay hidden...windows updates tries to sneak them in after awhile.

KB2506928
KB2545698 (IE9)
KB2592687
KB2876229 SKYPE
KB2976978
KB2977728
KB2978092
KB2923545 RDP
KB2970228
KB2990214
KB2994023
KB2660075
KB2952664 x2
KB2726535
KB3021917
KB3022345 Replaced by KB3068708 Telemetry (Caused false sfc result)
KB3035583
KB3044374
KB3050265
KB3065987
KB3068708 Telemetry
KB3075249
KB3080149
KB3095649
KB3102810

KB 2952664 - Labeled a compatibility upgrade for upgrading Windows 7, its purpose is to "make improvements to the current operating system in order to ease the upgrade experience to the latest version of Windows".

KB 2976978 - A compatibility update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 which "performs diagnostics on the Windows system [..] to determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed.

KB 2990214 . Does the same as KB 3044374 but on Windows 7.

KB 3021917 - Does the same as KB 2976978 but on Windows 7.

KB 3035583 - According to Microsoft, this update enables "additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available".
    
KB 3044374 - This update for Windows 8.1 enables systems to upgrade from the current operating system to a later version of Windows.
   

so true... looking at my update history I did install [and deinstall] KB2952664 several times over the course of the good part of a year, because stay hidden doesn't seems to work that well. And ofc, the descriptions given my MS are as vague as possible, which means if you don't still remember the exact KB number after some months you'll get it again.

This is just horrible business practice.

Ironically, the "stay hidden" option doesn't even hide the update, it just will turn the pen-ink from black to grey. Now if you're sitting in front of a bad monitor, or it's not well placed (light falling onto screen) or forgot your glasses (or else....) it doesn't take a genious to realize these hidden updates may be selected as well as they can't be distinguished from the proper ones. IMO this is also subtle  calculated manipulation.

A few months ago, in winter IIRC the continued proposal to get this update stoped. At least for me, it's not available anymore. Still, MS were busy, inventing another update which twice a day starts several .exes which keep on searching completely through all drives and not even in background mode!

I sometimes wonder if I should even go through all the hassle with these eternal updates. A clean Win7 installment from disc start amazingly fast, needs less RAM & let's me basically do everything I want to do as well (I always keep such one on another disc in case of a disc failure). But then there is this fear of security problems someone found a way to gain entry and MS needs to patch to close that. On the other hand, some of these updates (skype eg) seem to posse a security issue in itself, and the more you update naturally the more tasks will keep running in the background.

But I don't have the time, the understanding nor the patience to indepthly inform myself about any existing WinUpdate that there is, what it precisely does and if it's specifically needed on my rig... It's a loose-loose-loose situation; what do?

The Register has reported that now MS is taking away the choice to Upgrade or not. MS is denying that.

https://forums.wincustomize.com/477854/page/1/