Windows 10 update removes software without permission

The latest update for Windows 10 is having unforeseen consequences -- deleting potentially important programs without asking for permission first.

The first major update for Microsoft'slatest operating system began rolling out on 12 November, alongside the New Xbox One Experience. The update was aimed at boosting overall performance standards, enhancing the features of digital assistant Cortana, and improving the Xbox experience on PC, along with introducing a handful of business-focused tweaks.

However, users have found that the update has also been removing programs, typically those that assist with hardware management or monitoring tools, without so much as a prompt or a permission pop-up. Among the affected are  Speccy and CPU-Z, which allow users to more easily see and control their system components, and AMD's Catalyst Control Center, the command hub for Radeon graphics cards used by many PC gamers.

The software packages were likely removed because they would no longer be fully compatible with the update, though in the case of at least Speccy, an update of its own has addressed any issues. While blocking software that may cause problems could be seen as a positive measure -- and one that, for mainstream users, could arguably be welcomed if it prevents irritating system errors -- Microsoft's arbitrary removal has been condemned by many users.

Posters on Reddit's Windows 10 subreddit have been vocally unhappy, lambasting the company for not providing users the option to remove software themselves, or warn them that programs would be removed. Others say the affected software can be re-installed afterwards with no problems, although that doesn't address the underlying problem of denying consumer choice over what gets added to, or removed from, their systems in the first place.

In Microsoft's defence, the company has long made it clear that Windows 10 updates are mandatory for home users, and that it would also remove software that it considered "dangerous". That its first major Win 10 update puts those principles into practice shouldn't be a huge surprise.

It seems there should be a middle ground here, where Microsoft could keep updates mandatory, but provide more information to users on what may be added or removed as a result. Although Win 10 users no longer have the ability to turn automatic updates off, they do have the option to set them not to install straight away -- a feasible stopgap measure, at least.

Microsoft recently announced that Windows 10 will be automatically rolled out to all users of Windows 7 or 8 next year -- but only for those who have selected to receive updates.