Clifford, I sort of see your point about MS putting the offer in one's face, but that cannot absolve the OP or any end-user of all culpability.
I liken this to an automaker's fuel recommendations for a particular model of car. Certain models have the ability to process certain grades/types of fuel while others do not. I know as an automobile owner - because I have a responsibility as an owner to read my BMW model's owner manual and/or checking their website - that the manufacturer recommends against using anything but premium high octane gasoline. I know, because of my due diligence, that I can use lower octane fuel, however, the manufacturer cannot guarantee performance or behavior. If I still choose to use a lower grade gasoline, and get undesired results, how do I in good conscience blame BMW or the fuel for this?
Yes, MS does indeed try to entice end-users to upgrade, making it easy to do so if a system check determines, at a high level, that one’s machine may be able to run W10. I certainly agree with you there. However, my local gas station offers three grades of fuel (regular, mid-grade, premium) and makes it extremely easy for me to pick up the nozzle for regular or mid-grade, and even entices me with decent discounts if I use their mid-grade fuel. If I’m sucked in by that incentive or any other incentive at the pump to do something not recommended by BMW, do I have the right to blame the gas station for ignoring my manufacturer’s warning? Or blame BMW?
As I stated earlier, MS does try to entice one to upgrade to W10 by making it easy and giving a decent incentive (a free OS upgrade!). No doubt about it. But if the end-user upgrades and does not first perform due diligence as to what the manufacturer recommends, then, IMO, it is no different than me putting regular gasoline in my BMW and then complaining if I have problems.
Let’s put aside the analogy for a second and talk something closer to home. I have a 5 year old Lenovo laptop. Before I upgraded to W10 I did a lot of research on whether my model was compatible. In fact, on Lenovo’s website, my model does not appear on the list of models they recommend for the W10 OS. After further research and thought, I decided to go forward with the upgrade, even though Lenovo didn’t bless it, because a) I have other laptops that I can use if this one went south, c) others with this model have successfully upgraded and b) I trust my imaging software and took a good, verified image before the upgrade so I could go back to W7 on my own terms and not have to rely on W10 to roll it back. In other words, it was not critical if this particular machine broke. If it was I would have never moved forward with the upgrade.
Now, I am one of the lucky ones where the upgrade appears to have worked 100% and have not yet experienced any problems. However, had something gone wrong and I was having problems, either big or small, I certainly would not be angry at Lenovo or Microsoft. How could I be? Back to the analogy: I chose to put a non-recommended grade of gasoline (W10) into a model of car (laptop) whose manufacturer (Lenovo) recommended against it. Again, I am lucky that the non-recommended OS is working for my model (at this time, anyway), but I am solely responsible if I suddenly start to have issues, no one else.
Thanks for reading.
Seymour
