Microsoft is going to start pushing Windows 10 onto small businesses

Microsoft is changing its policy on promoting Windows 10, according to a company blog post.

Small business users who run either Windows 7 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro will start to see promotional pop-ups for Windows 10 in an effort to encourage upgrades.

Microsoft describes this as "making it easier for small businesses to upgrade to Windows 10."

Users will start to see the Get Windows 10 app, something that everyday users of Windows 7 or 8 see regularly - even if they do not want to.

Microsoft has provided a set of instructions for switching off the updates, but they will be turned on by default.

Research firms, such as Gartner, are seeing increased interest in Windows 10 from businesses. The new operating system, which was released in April last year, has over 200 million users, many of which have upgraded since Black Friday in November.

Promoting the operating system more heavily means that more users will upgrade, but the notifications can be jarring for the everyday experience.

Business Insider has reached out to Microsoft to ask about the new policy. We will update the post when we hear back.