The Ability to Cancel or Schedule the Windows 10 Upgrade is Not New

I’ve seen a number of reports—CNET, many blogs—about an apparent change in behavior for the Get Windows 10 upgrader. But the ability to schedule or cancel an automated Windows 10 upgrade is not new, and is certainly now news. This UI debuted back in February when the Windows 10 Upgrade became a recommended update in Windows Update.

Admittedly, I was initially confused by the reports—like this one in Tom’s Hardware—and I’ve even been pinged about this “new” behavior on Twitter repeatedly this week. Then, with a bit of help from Mary Jo Foley, my mind cleared. This isn’t new.

As you may know, Microsoft changed the Windows 10 upgrade to “recommended” status in Windows Update back in February. That latter change means that millions of PCs around the world started downloading gigabytes of installer code whether users realized it or not. But give Microsoft a little credit, and just a little since it’s been generally tone deaf to complaints lately: Since this change, when the installer is ready to run the upgrade, the Get Windows 10 pop-up that appears actually includes a “cancel” option.

Again, this isn’t new. On the March 9, 2016 episode of Windows Weekly, we even showed off a screenshot that looks identical to the shots we see this week on Tom’s Hardware, CNET, and elsewhere. Notice the date.

The problem is, if you’re on Windows 10 already, you’ll never see this prompt. I certainly haven’t seen it myself, so I was momentarily confused when these new reports surfaced. But it ain’t new folks. It’s worked this way since February 1st. And as you can see, you can cancel the upgrade (or reschedule it).

Nothing to see here.

Thanks to Mary Jo Foley for helping me sort this one out.