Microsoft, don’t be evil

Microsoft is like an annoying salesman who pitches a product you don’t want then refuses to leave you alone after getting a loud and clear "No". So, it keeps trying, again, and again, and again, hoping that you will finally make the "right" decision. It does not care why, when or how you do it, just as long as it gets you on the Windows 10 bandwagon.

This is the Microsoft of today, a company that risks being in the position of having what I consider to be the best Windows release yet and a user base alienated by its overly aggressive tactics. Desperate people do desperate things, I know, but this feels like a step too far in the wrong direction.

Many of you seem to be put off by the way Microsoft is trying to get you to upgrade to Windows 10. We’ve all seen the comments, we’ve all read your emails, we’re all feeling your pain. There is little leeway that the powers that be want to give us, like we are some kind of pets and they are our owners.

And it’s offensive. Who does Microsoft think it is to try to control us in such a way? We’re not a bunch of idiots, we know what we want. That's a PC that works and doesn’t try to mess with us each time it shows us a prompt. It’s supposed to work for us, offer a predicable user experience, and not get in our way.

It is stupid, to put it bluntly, that we have to rewire our brains to think twice before clicking on a close button or look at Windows Update to block an upgrade for the fear of it installing quietly in the background and us waking up to a whole new operating system running on our PC.

Imagine reading the above before Windows 10 came along. You would have told me that I’m trying to spread FUD, that I’m a Microsoft hater or that I’m clickbaiting. Now, it’s reality and it doesn’t sound crazy. It’s the new normal. I am quite sure these plans were long in the making, well before the big release last year.

Microsoft is run by very smart people who know exactly what they want to achieve. They may test the limits to see how far they can push us and how much we can take before lashing out, but their intention and the way they are going about it is quite obvious now.

On one hand, I can’t help but believe that there is only a vocal minority who is speaking out in reaction to Microsoft’s moves. But, on the other hand, even if there is only a minority who is affected I imagine just how lost some of these people may be feeling at the moment. And that doesn’t feel right.

They are forced to use what is a completely new operating system to them, even though they may not have asked for it or consciously agreed to it. There are folks out there who have no one to help them navigate this foreign OS, who also have little knowledge of how Windows or PCs work.

I've helped a few of those people. I can understand how it feels to be helpless. It is not pleasant. There is no need to inflict that kind of pain when you don't want to sit in front of a jury of your peers. Well, I assume you don't. I could be wrong. It happens.

It feels wrong to take advantage of those people’s innocence to trick them into helping you reach your goals. Microsoft, do you have no shame anymore?

We’re the crowd who knows you. We know you’re losing ground and desperate. And we know how to deal with you. But there are people out there who don’t and shouldn’t have to, because such a huge, successful corporation shouldn’t be in a position where "evil" feels like an accurate description.

It may feel like it is hard to know where to draw the line, but in reality it really isn’t. Just be forward about it, Microsoft, and let people choose what they want to do.

There is a thing called free will. Respect it. Otherwise it may come to bite you in the behind, and you won’t like that one bit. It’s happened before a few years ago, if you remember that whole Windows 8 fiasco, and if it happens again I am not sure there will be much love for you then.

There’s a saying that goes well here: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". Fool me thrice...

Unlike the times of old when you were the only company in town with a platform to sell, now there are more options. Some of those options you could have created yourself, but you were too blind at the time to realize people may want them. So, now, us consumers are in a position where we can choose to use something different and not miss your shtick one iota.

Be real here: no average user really gives a damn about your "legacy" Office software to put up with all your crap anymore. So, the little leverage that you think you have is pretty much gone with the wind. So, for your sake, realize that we are the ones keeping you alive and not the other way around.

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