We’re nearly two years into the life cycle of Microsoft’s latest operating system. Windows 10 arrived as a free upgrade for most Windows users for the first year, and most Windows users that upgraded had no problem with the update. We’ve said plenty of times on plenty of reviews that Windows 10 is a solid operating system, but not everybody seems to be quite so happy. An angry group in Illinois is seeking class action status on their lawsuit, claiming that the Windows 10 updates damaged their computers, installed without the user’s permission, or both.
Three plaintiffs cite several different ways in which the Windows 10 update went sour for them. All of which note that the upgrade — whether they agreed to it or not — caused damage to their hardware and/or a loss of data. One claimed that the update installed on its own and that the damage to her machine was bad enough that she had to buy a new computer. The other two agreed to the install but said that the update damaged their hard drives, lost data, and incurred costs to repair.
The suit claims 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.”
The suit claims that there are hundreds of thousands of users that have suffered at the hands of the Windows 10 update, though they also have opened the class action to users that installed the upgrade on a machine with Windows 7 “or earlier operating systems.” They may want to re-think that considering the update wasn’t made available for any OS prior to Windows 7.
Microsoft’s response to the allegations? They don’t seem particularly worried:
If a customer who upgraded during the one-year program needed help with the upgrade experience, we had numerous options including free customer support and 31 days to roll back to their old operating system. We believe the plaintiffs’ claims are without merit.
What do you think about this lawsuit? Was your computer damaged by the Windows 10 update? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/03/unhappy-windows-10-upgraders-take-microsoft-to-court-for-lost-data-damaged-pcs/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Ars Technica[/button]
