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Microsoft wants to update your Windows 11 PC without forcing you to reboot
(www.windowscentral.com)
this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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I love linux and been using it for decades, personally and professionally, but no, linux doesn't have "hot patching" the same way as that article describes it. At most it can live patch the kernel (and only few distros actually use that), but definitely not for the last 20 years, and definitely not running processes. However, it does usually restart background processes after an update without requiring a reboot, but in my experience, often times the system becomes unstable after several such updates and rebooting is effectively necessary (though not forced, and that's why I like it).
Yeah, the security in knowing that if you're way top busy right now, you don't have to install or even download any updates. And you don't have to worry your system will suddenly become crashy, glitchy, and unstable because it decided on its own to install some things and let you know you can reboot whenever.
It's so freaking annoying I have to use Windows at work. It takes liberty to do what it wants and then my workflow gets hosed.
I get that there is security, but if you force updates, I should have some kind of notice or "hey, we need to install mandatory updates. You can schedule in the next 24 hours when or you can get them over with"
For the home user, this is a giant PITA for which I wholly blame MS.
For business machines, I lump the company IT in with MS, because there are Policies for this stuff they should be managing.
I say this as an IT person responsible for things like this. The first rule is don't fuck with user machines during business hours, the second is to allow them to postpone stuff as needed.
Can only imagine getting an update, then a reboot, while I'm on an outage call trying to get a critical system back up. And hoping my laptop comes back up and my VPN still works.
Can’t say I’ve experienced forced reboots on either my home or work PC; I always have gotten an option.
Do you have to ignore updates for a while until they’re forced? I’m pretty quick with updating when I’m notified- typically that evening when I’m done with the computer.
I’ve been building my own windows PCs since 99, using every main version of consumer Windows except ME. Never been forced while in the middle of something.
With Win10 and later (I honestly don't remember with Win 8), by default updates happen in the background, and will be applied and a reboot scheduled.
It won't necessarily force a reboot, but it can reboot when you're not there. I've had updates with reboot happen when I was away for 30 minutes, on a machine I was setting up and hadn't yet configured policies.
The updates quietly happening in the background are still a problem because they can't be paused or canceled and they use a lot of sysrme resources to get done. And when they're complete, your experience is less stable till the reboot.
I usually notice them when my work computer slows down and things start having more bugs than usual. My work computer has very respectable specs
I agree, but this echo chamber doesn’t accept such alternate realities.
Security? HA! If business realized they could eliminate 85-95% of their attack vectors by getting rid of Windows, we’d all be better off.
They won’t, though. Realize it.
Edit: Oh i see, you meant security patches. Yes, true. I stand by my hinged rant though.
Current versions of windows literally let you set an update reboot window. So set up the times you use it, and then forget about it and let it install whenever it wants.
I honestly, and sincerely, do not understand all the hate Windows gets with current updates. The alternative at the moment is “hope the user remembers to update” which we have seen in action and which does not work.
Is it annoying when you don’t set things up properly? Sure! But that’s a failing on the users side.
I’ve been using Windows for decades, and the last time I had it unexpectedly reboot for an update was years ago. Because I’ve actually taken the 10 minutes to understand the system, and how to configure it to do what I want.
I haven't used Windows 11 interestingly, so I don't know if they've changed their update habits, and I wouldn't be surprised either way. Windows 10 is the last edition I've used. Since Windows 8, I had plenty of issues with Windows and Microsoft, and it got worse every release. I'll bullet-form my personal complaints at the bottom of this page.
My final straw for Windows 10 in my personal life was a forced restart, and I had all my update settings where I wanted them, and still, I lost a really important session to that reboot. Since I was pretty comfy with Linux, I went that direction. Since then, Linux has gotten more user-friendly and plays videogames, way more than Mac. It's still not something I recommend to most people, but probably someday, it'll get to a Mac or Windows ease of use.
At work, most of us haven't been migrated to Windows 11 from Windows 10, and I still get updates installing in the background a lot, causing issues even on our Windows servers. I'm sure our ops team can tune these abhorrent update defaults, but it's just a frustrating experience nonetheless.
I think a prompt or reminder could go really far to let the user configure that during setup.
Here are some of my complaints over time:
Overall, I don't want to do business or help in the success in an organization I do not like by offering up my data, watching their ads, and using their products less than necessary. I like some of the things Bill Gates has done, but it doesn't change any of my views on this.
This is a weird response to one comment on a specific thing.
You’re essentially saying “yeah well that might be fixed but here’s a bunch of unrelated things you didn’t talk about that I don’t like.”
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I felt like clarifying that the updates issues I faced were the last straw and that if anyone was interested, I listed the other reasons I quit working with them and never looked back. That's why I wrote all that at the bottom.
Even if Microsoft does some things right, they still have a history of doing things wrong and have a bevy of other dark patterns. I do not trust them to get it right anymore. They could go back to their old ways tomorrow and I wouldn't be surprised. Thankfully, it's not my problem except at work
Win 11 Pro user here. It doesn't care what time you set for updates, it'll do them when it feels like anyway, or annoy the piss out of you with notifications.
Annoy you with notifications, yes. But if it’s restarting outside the window set, you’ve likely messed something up.
It might be that I don't leave the PC on all the time, I just hit sleep. But still, it shouldn't strong arm me into updating after a day or two of the download. Also hate having to RegEdit Edge off the thing after each one.
yeah but even if you need a reboot, linux just needs a regular reboot.
not that long ass 25-minute windows update reboot
I frequently reboot, so for me, something like SteamOS’s a/b atomic update process would be ideal: no instability, no forced reboot.
Windows doesn't force you to do anything. You can reboot or not reboot, or skip updates altogether.
Windows lets you pause updates for some time, maybe a week or so, after that you're going to take them whether you like it or not. Granted, you had a week or so to prepare, so it's ok to some extent, but don't tell me Windows doesn't force you...
No, you can disable them completely through local group policy. Windows doesn't force you to do anything.
Hmm, good to know, I'll have to try, just out of curiosity. Is that available on Windows Home or just Pro? Anyways, it's not something that many people would easily figure out, so for most non-technical people they effectively cannot disable them.
It is available in all versions, but there's no UI in Home Edition, you have to modify registry by hand.
As for non-technical people, these are the people who should be forces into updates.
P.S. The how to is available directly from MS knowledgebase https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1351413/how-do-you-turn-off-windows-10-updates-which-are-r