Microsoft Just Force Restarted My Windows PC Again to Install More Unwanted Apps...

I stepped away from my computer for dinner, halfway through writing a story for The Verge. When I got back, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Windows 10 had restarted my computer without permission yet again — to install yet another forced OS update onto my solid state drive.

The craziest part: When my machine finished rebooting, it now contained the exact thing I’d been writing about before I was rudely interrupted. Microsoft had installed unsolicited, unwanted web app versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook onto my computer.

A screenshot of the web apps that Microsoft force-installed on my PC. — *Seriously, the story you’re reading right now started off as a news post about this happening to* ***other*** *people.*

OK, it’s not as bad as when my entire computer screen got taken over by an unwanted copy of Microsoft Edge. That was truly egregious.

No, this time Microsoft is merely sneaking unwanted web apps onto my PC — and using my Windows 10 Start Menu as free advertising space. Did I mention that icons for Microsoft Office apps have magically appeared in my Start Menu, even though I’ve never once installed Office on this computer?…