If you are feeling (red) cross with Windows 10 seemingly installing without your say-so, you may have reason to feel aggrieved. Microsoft has come in for criticism from various IT fora this week for changing the pop-up box encouraging Windows users to upgrade to Windows 10.

Clicking the red cross on the right hand corner of the pop-up box now activates the upgrade instead of closing the box. Pardon!? Yes, that's right - if you happen to like Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 on your PC, be very careful how you dismiss this recommendation.

The upgrade may still be cancelled when the scheduled time for it to begin appears, but this solution is far from ideal. The change occurred because the update has now been reclassified "recommended" and many people have their PCs configured to accept recommended updates for security reasons. This means dismissing the box does not dismiss the update.

Microsoft said, "With the free Windows 10 upgrade offer ending on 29 July, we want to help people upgrade to the best version of Windows". It's still a free world. Choose wisely - but make sure it is you that makes the choice and do choose before 29 July.