Microsoft quietly made its optional Windows 10 update for Windows 7 and 8.1 users into a “recommended” update, and your system may automatically upgrade to the new operating system depending on your Windows Update settings. The news should not come as a surprise – Microsoft detailed exactly this in an October 2015 blog, where the company stated that we would see the change this year and explained that existing Windows 7 and 8.1 users who have Windows Update set to download recommended updates will see their system begin the installation process automatically.

The good news is that the Windows 10 installation will not finalize without first prompting the user. However, some home users may want to double check what they are clicking when the notification pops up to avoid an unintentional operating system upgrade. Home users can disable recommended updates in the Windows Update settings, and Enterprise IT administrators can disable the upgrade using Group Policy settings or by using the DisableUpgrade registrykey. In a worst-case scenario where your PC is updated to the new OS but you don't want it, the process can be rolled back for up to 31 days after the upgrade.

The change from "optional" to "recommended" may come off as an aggressive move from Microsoft, with the perceived pressure of upgrading to Windows 10 coming from the company's mission to update one billion devices to the new OS this year -- an ambitious goal that some contest may make the company eventually force users into an unwanted OS upgrade.