I agree that you should force them into making the change. You won't make the most friends doing it, but it'll be less of a hassle.
You need to take the 'facebook approach.'
A lot of people HATED the new facebook design when it originally launched. I'm sure you remember, there were groups with millions of members saying "bring back the old facebook" and complaining about everything.
Months later everything has calmed down, for the most part people like it and the change needed to happen. Facebook needed to make the change to implement new features, design elements, etc.
It's a gamble you have to take. Facebook has enough users and enough people depend on the platform that they can make a change (not too drastic) and not many, if any people will leave.
You need to take the 'facebook approach.'
A lot of people HATED the new facebook design when it originally launched. I'm sure you remember, there were groups with millions of members saying "bring back the old facebook" and complaining about everything.
Months later everything has calmed down, for the most part people like it and the change needed to happen. Facebook needed to make the change to implement new features, design elements, etc.
They'll be mad at first but eventually get over.