In February of this year, Microsoft announced plans to expand invitations to upgrade more people to Windows 11. In other words, start nagging Windows 10 users with eligible devices to upgrade to Windows 11. Since Windows 10 is now getting close to its end of support, Microsoft feels like it is time to expedite the upgrade process. However, the company had to adjust its course of action.
Microsoft’s initial idea was to target non-managed domain-joined Windows 10 Pro and Pro Workstation computers with full-screen Windows 11 ads that would say something like “Upgrade for free to the latest Windows 11” with two “Yes” buttons and a small “Keep Windows 10” link somewhere in a corner.
Following the announcement, Microsoft received quite a lot of criticism and negative feedback from users, so it quietly made changes to its plans. Some time ago, the company updated the original announcement to confirm that it stopped showing those ads to eligible Windows 10 devices. Here is what Microsoft said in the updated post on the official Tech Community website:
To honor your feedback, this change will no longer occur with the April 2024 monthly security update. We will share a new timeline in the coming months.
Although the update was made a few months ago, there is still no “new timeline” for Windows 11 upgrade on non-managed domain-joined devices. Microsoft might take some time, considering that Windows 10 has over one year of active support ahead of it, plus the Extended Security Update program will give users three extra years of security (third-party services promise even more).
It is worth noting that “regular users” are exempt from Microsoft’s revised plans, so if you have a Windows 11-compatible computer that is running Windows 10, don’t be surprised to see a massive Windows 11 ad next time you restart your computer. There is just no escape from it.