Microsoft sued by PC users over Windows 10 upgrade
29 Mar 2017
Microsoft is being sued by over 100 PC users for more than $5 million over the Windows 10 upgrade which they opted for due to the company's aggressive marketing practices.
They claim that upgrading had damaged their computers.
Windows 10 was offered as a free update for a year following its release in July 2015.
According to the class-action lawsuit, many users had their hard drives damaged after agreeing to install the upgrade.
''Allegedly the Windows 10 installer genie checks the consumer's computer for compatibility; it does not, however, check the condition of the PC and whether or not the hard drive can withstand the stress of the Windows 10 installation,'' reads the complaint, which was filed in Chicago last week.
According to one of the plaintiffs, Stephanie Watson, Windows 10 got installed without her consent. She added that she took her PC to Geek Squad, which was unable to fix her computer after the upgrade destroyed some of her data, Courthouse News, reported.
According to plaintiff, Robert Saiger, he agreed to the upgrade but Windows 10 stopped some of his software from working and caused data loss.
In a statement shared with Courthouse News, a Microsoft spokesperson said, "We believe the plaintiffs' claims are without merit." Defending the free upgrade Microsoft described it as "a choice designed to help people take advantage of the most secure, and most productive Windows."
Windows 10 had been offered as a free upgrade for most Windows users for the first year, and most Windows users that upgraded had not reported any problem with the update, according to commentators.
The suit claimed that the update should have checked ''whether or not the hard drive can withstand the stress of the Windows 10 installation'' and that the ''Windows 10 upgrader does not bother to check for hardware or software compatibility prior to installation.''
