The Seattle Times reports:
A few days after Microsoft released Windows 10 to the public last year, Teri Goldstein’s computer started trying to download and install the new operating system.
The update, which she says she didn’t authorize, failed. Instead, the computer she uses to run her Sausalito, Calif., travel-agency business slowed to a crawl. It would crash, she says, and be unusable for days at a time.
“I had never heard of Windows 10,” Goldstein said. “Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update.”
When outreach to Microsoft’s customer support didn’t fix the issue, Goldstein took the software giant to court, seeking compensation for lost wages and the cost of a new computer.
She won. Last month, Microsoft dropped an appeal and Goldstein collected a $10,000 judgment from the company.
There is no doubt that Microsoft has taken its aggressive pushing of Windows 10 onto users’ computers too far, with many users claiming that it has been installed on their PCs without their explicit consent.
If a malicious hacker made unauthorised changes to your computer without your permission you would expect the police to take an interest.
So what makes it any different when it’s a company called Microsoft messing around with your computer?