Join up with the cool people
The message exclaims that you should “Join the millions of people who are up to date!” The suggestion is that there is some sort of exclusive club where all the cool people hang out and enjoy protection from violations of privacy in perfect harmony. There’s also a link in place which takes you to, amongst other things, another nagging tool online, reminding you that Windows Defender Antivirus is an all-in-one solution to protect you from the looming threat of viruses, malware and spyware. Yes, you read that right – Windows Defender…
This is a rather impressive claim from the company, considering their product actually ranked dead last in numerous bench tests and almost caused them to be sued by their rivals for engaging in non-competitive behaviour. But if Microsoft recommends it, who are we to say it isn’t good?
Why we have to say “fair enough”
The reasoning behind the nagging is understandable. Three months from now, the Anniversary Update will become essential if you want to continue receiving security updates. If you don’t download it, you will hardly be better off than users who are still running Windows XP. So, in all fairness to Microsoft, on this occasion they have the right to pester. Following the instructions is in the best interests of the user. Nevertheless, it is quite aggressive and typical of what we’ve come to expect from Microsoft – in a nutshell, they seem to think their customers are complete imbeciles who don’t understand basic tech.
Standards were set
Were it not for all the other nonsense Microsoft has thrown at users, we would probably be less cynical about this sort-of-helpful nag. If you don’t have the Anniversary Update at all, then you won’t be seeing this issue yet, but you soon will. Updates to Windows 10 have a 2-year lifespan, and the very first deadline for this will be arriving on 9th October.
Windows 10 itself has a scheduled end date of 13th October 2020, after which there are to be 5 years of support before all updates are discontinued.
As long as the nagging from Microsoft remains at a low level, as it is in this instance, users will probably be happy enough to give them a pass. But the first week of October will be an interesting time, as we are likely to see Microsoft get into such a blind panic that we’ll all end up receiving pop-ups while we’re casually browsing.
Consilium UK are an IT company with expertise in Microsoft products and software. We provide the IT support Glasgow residents can depend on. If you have any issues with Microsoft or other products that you need assistance with, please contact us – we will be happy to hear from you.
