Brace yourself, Windows 7 and 8/8.1 users: a full-screen upgrade nag is coming. It seems that Microsoft is ending its year of offering Windows 10 for free with an impossible-to-ignore prompt, one that takes up the entire screen and doesn’t have an obvious close button.
Even on Windows 7, the full-screen notification resembles the “modern” apps seen in Windows 8 and 10, meaning it will immediately stand out. And with no obvious “close” button to be seen, users will have no choice but to do a little reading, TechReport is reporting.
At this point, there are likely three kinds of users who haven’t yet upgraded: those who want the upgrade but keep putting it off, those who aren’t sure what Windows 10 is, and those who actively don’t want to upgrade. If we had to guess, Microsoft is targeting the first group: those who keep putting the upgrade off.
“Sorry to interrupt,” the full-screen notification tells users, “but this is important. Windows 10 free upgrade offer ends July 29.”
It’s clear enough language, if you’ve been delaying. The upgrade won’t be free anymore, so get on this.
It’s also relatively clear language if you’re not sure what Windows 10 is, though we suspect some readers will still get calls from uncles and grandmothers about a Windows 10 virus taking over the entire screen.
But if you don’t want the upgrade, this is the latest in a long series of annoyances. Such users might note that, after nearly an entire year of related notifications, the ending of the free-upgrade period hardly constitutes news. And this particular prompt is even harder to ignore than previous ones.
At the very least, the end of these notes is coming. Microsoft has said that such prompts will stop after the July 29 deadline, giving relief to long-suffering users who have no intention to upgrade.
If you go ahead and install Windows 10, it’s possible to roll everything back. The upgrade process makes a complete backup of your original operating system, and keeps it there for thirty days, giving you an easy way to get back to where you started.
And even if you roll back the upgrade, you’ve reserved your free upgrade for later. So if you’re even a little bit curious about Windows 10, it might be a good idea to finally install. Come August doing so will cost you $110, so get it done before then.
