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Microsoft has agreed to pay a Windows user $10,000 (£7,500) after an automatic Windows 10 update left her computer unstable.
California-based Teri Goldstein used the machine to run her business, but it became unstable and unusable after an automatic update installed Windows 10 without her permission.
There have been wide-ranging reports of users on older versions of Windows having issues when downloading the software, with cases of it crippling computers or interrupting key tasks regularly being reported on social media.
As a result she sued the technology giant, seeking compensation for lost wages and the cost of a new computer. Microsoft has now settled the case to save on legal costs.
The Windows software maker has been notoriously aggressive in seeking to make users update to Windows 10 – and still offers it as a free upgrade to those running the older Windows 7 and 8 versions of the software. Many users have been caught out by sudden, automatic updates that began without warning.
In many cases, these were created by users who had selected a date to upgrade to Windows 10 months previously and forgot it was due.
However, Microsoft has also been accused of trying to “trick” users into upgrading after making Windows 10 a ‘recommended update’, bundling it in with a security update in February. A move that would automatically download and install it unless specifically blocked by the user.
