I woke up today to my main computer humming gently, preening at me with an off-kilter leer. It had restarted in the night sans my express permission and I lost the usual dozen tabs that I had left open for later reading. Well, Chrome saved the session, but dealing with a reboot is always a bloody pain when your computer is as cluttered as mine.
Perhaps that habit is why I’m not a Mac user. My reboot last night was induced by the ever-present Windows Update function, having decided that I had put off its advances for long enough. This is a common occurrence. Every Windows user deals with it.
Happily, there appears to be some good news to report as Microsoft is now claiming that its forthcoming Windows 8 operating system will have a much less rage-inducing system of installing updates, and therefore, restarting your computer.
The Brass Tacks
- Restarts will be ‘consolidated’ to the start of a month, to match the release of new security patches. This will dramatically cut down on the number of required reboots.
- A three-day warning will be provided, telling the user that an update is ready to go. At any point, the user can induce that update if they so desire.
- If your machine does not appear to be ready for the update after three days, it will wait for you to login. This is to say that the risk of data loss will be diminished.
That all seems very reasonable. What I want to know is what the hell took so long? How many times have you clicked that damn ‘Remind me in 4 hours’ button? At least help is coming.
In other Windows 8 news, Microsoft appears set to Windows 8 Embedded in the first quarter of next year.
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