News - Microsoft to make Windows 8 updates "a little less annoying"

[HEXUS]

Software giant to streamline the Windows Update experience in its next major operating system.

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[scaryjim]

I don't mind getting regular updates to my OS; it's the occasional restart without warning that annoys me. I don't know if it's a side-effect of sleeping / hibernating my laptop most of the time, but just occasionally (and it's happened to both me and the better half this week) my lappy will, without any warning, close all my open windows and restart itself. I'm guessing it's picking up an earlier postponement from before I slept / hibernated, but it'd be nice to have just a little warning. If they've improved matters in Windows 8 then that's all for the better (IMNSHO, obviously ).

[shaithis]

It's that nasty yellow countdown......if you miss it and it's sat behind another window it's still counting down to reboot....

I really like these changes TBH.....but it is just like Vista/7 again.....small changes that could (should) be patched into the current OS but they will expect another purchase instead.

I am thinking Windows 8 may be the first new version of Windows I do not want. There is nothing ground-breaking in it at all for me so far and most niggles got resolved from Vista to 7.

[badass]

They need to introduce an API to allow 3rd parties to use it as well.

I don't actually find windows updates as annoying as the:
Constant java updates badgering
Adobe flash player interruptions on logon.
Adobe reader system tray hassling.
Every other piece of junk software nagging for updates when you just want to use it.

The problem with this many different ways of updating is that criminals use this confusion to get malware on computers.

Get it all dealt with by Microsoft update once per month in one lump and you've got a much less annoying system to use and less people will go to Apple systems.

Implementation will have to be well planned and considered however, and IME, development teams are pretty good at making fundamental, obvious mistakes that get missed in testing.

[miniyazz]

I don't get along with forced updates. Having lost some piece of work or another due to a spontaneous restart (not necessarily MS Office stuff, which has autorecover), I no longer let my laptop automatically install updates - only to automatically download them, and then it can install them if and when I choose to restart.

[Tattysnuc]

90 quid for a version of the OS that you can install on any PC is my main bug bear.... The sooner that MS realise that the average household can afford to upgrade Grannys computer every 2-3 years is a serious flaw. About time that they came up with:

1. a household license
2. an upgrade model from prior OS'es that's affordable! Maybe even "send us your disks"

I really think MS's problem is that they are VISUALLY going for the mass market, which contains corporations. They are losing their userbase because they expect EVERYONE to buy each product as if it were real and distinct. The products may be, but they are not perceived to be.

As for MS's feedback - when was the last time any user was contacted after sending in a crash report?

They need to do more for their money @ £90. It's a great product, but to price is such and EXPECT people to change really does come across as very "Strong Arm" as opposed to "meeting consumer needs." - ie they release new versions of software only to make money - those consumers have already spent some of their hard earned - support them after the event.

The analogy I'd use is if your brand new car breaks, you don't take it to a garage and expect them to fix it to only run for that day - you want to use it for many more days. A computer is the same. Most of the updates MS provide are bug fixes because their product was flawed in the first instance.

I'm actually for MS licensing on a daily/monthly/annual basis. Pay for what you use!

[Hicks12]

ill be honest i did get called last month from microsoft, regarding an error i had submitted. We found the culprit and job done, i had a pretty good idea what the problem was but just didnt bother at the time .

Whens the last time you got an error message on a mac os? From watching my mates imac crash, you dont so you never know and hes never been called by Apple... You get far more from MS than you realise, Mac OS is really released as service packs and charged £50+(i think my mate paid £70?) where as MS do service packs for free, i admit this release is looking more like a service pack BUT its streamlining it over 3 devices so i expect it, end of the day having it boot up instantly and having a much improved task manager is brilliant and for me its free cause my uni has the MSDNAA service, so i will definitely be grabbing it .

[shaithis]

Lion - The newest major release from Apple costs £20 for an upgrade from the previous version..

That's the way it should be done IMO.

[aidanjt]

The reboot demands in and of themselves are obnoxious. Just show a restart notification in the systray and leave the user to reboot when it's at their own convenience.

And a BIG ++ to badass' suggestion. Package management is a core operating system feature which has been sorely lacking in Windows forever and is a huge detraction and a massive vector for malware.

[Noxvayl]

+1 to monthly/quarterly/annual license rather than purchasing a new piece of software that should of been a Service Pack.

We should really pay to use the software and in return get unlimited updates and new versions in return for supporting the developers of the software. That way you wouldn't get the stupid complaining you currently do when asked to purchase new software when your current software works fine. Developers probably wouldn't make sweeping changes that make it easier for customers to just leave the ecosystem all together and go to Apple or Linux.

The constant marketing and sale of new products is wasteful and most importantly annoying for customers. By producing an OS you provide a service to your customers, not a product so it's about time they adjusted accordingly.

[crossy]

The reboot demands in and of themselves are obnoxious. Just show a restart notification in the systray and leave the user to reboot when it's at their own convenience.

So true - are we going to end up in the situation where the Microsoft stuff is a paragon, and everyone else's looks clunky and "just SOOOOO last century"? Although, with the exception of InstallShield-Nuance, I got rid of a lot of that nonsense by pruning my startup list. Actually I'm quite happy to have things like Java etc, do a check once per day if/when I use them, not every time I boot the PC.

And onto InstallShield - or at least as used by Nuance products (Paperport in my case). I just "love" (sarcasm) the way that it says that it needs to check for an update, spends a minute doing so, and then tells you that there's no updates to be had. This despite me having it on the auto-update setting.

And a BIG ++ to badass' suggestion. Package management is a core operating system feature which has been sorely lacking in Windows forever and is a huge detraction and a massive vector for malware.

So basically, Windows8 needs to implement something like repositories in Linux? if that's the case, because Windows strikes me as pretty poor in that respect. With my Linux box, the only software that has it's own updaters are NX (remote console software) and VirtualBox, and the latter only because I chose the "real" version rather than the older one that Ubuntu support. Everything else runs through the one, standardised, process.

The other thing about package management is that at least a lot of companies seem to have consolidated their updates. E.g. Apple has one updater that handles iTunes, Safari, etc. Adobe - for whatever reason - seem to think that Flash having an updater, Acrobat/Reader having a separate one, etc is a good idea.

[TheAnimus]

That's the way it should be done IMO.

What charging for a service pack?

The reboot demands in and of themselves are obnoxious. Just show a restart notification in the systray and leave the user to reboot when it's at their own convenience.

The issue is that too many users simply wouldn't! When an out of cycle patch is pushed its normally because there is fear of something really happening. Users are often the problem, as we saw with the spate of user mode malware on OSX a few months ago, ok that wasn't helped by the attitude of apple, deny deny deny, but you kind of have to force em.

And a BIG ++ to badass' suggestion. Package management is a core operating system feature which has been sorely lacking in Windows forever and is a huge detraction and a massive vector for malware.

And another huge +1, but guess what? Its only for Metro Apps, you know, those apps that represent about 0.1% of how people will use their PC! *rants*.

But the reason for this is the fear that has driven them to not do it so far, App A is in no way isolated from App B, thats a very good thing, I'm amazed that no other OS has caught up with windows 3.1s brilliant OLE system, excel in your publisher session, no problem, 3rd party app inside it, no problem etc.
However as a result the ability of one app to screw up, in the millions of combinations out there is I believe why MS don't push this, they have things for SUS so that company networks can push after testing their updates, but not for joe bloggs.

[aidanjt]

The issue is that too many users simply wouldn't!

It's been my observation that the majority of computer owners shut down their computers daily. Reboot nags are pointless enough, but forced reboots are just plain brain damaged.

[Flash477]

And there was me thinking that they were going to fix the following scenario:

Check for updates
Download x update
Install x update
Check for updates
Download patches for x update (why was this not included in the original download!!??)
Install patches for x update
Check for updates
Download service pack 1 for x update (ok, so why not give me this the first time)
Install service pack
Check for updates
Download patches for the service pack (wth!!)
Install patches
Restart required
Check for updates
Download patches for the patches (Getting bloody rediculous now)
Install patches
Another restart required
Check for updates
Download service pack 2 for x (I give up!)
Install update
Yet another restart required!!
Wait 10 minutes for machine to start as service pack is applied
Check for updates
Download patch for service pack 2 (Feels like hanging self)
Install patches
Another restart and long wait
Check for updates
Finally no more updates!!!

Instead it should be

Check for updates
Download x update with service pack 2 (latest verson with fixes)
Install updates
Restart
Long startup
Check for updates
No more updates

</rant>

[Hicks12]

Lion - The newest major release from Apple costs £20 for an upgrade from the previous version..

That's the way it should be done IMO.

thanks for that, i must have misremembered . Good pricing then lol! Thankfully i dont have to pay for any of it so its not bad for me .

[aidanjt]

...and VirtualBox, and the latter only because I chose the "real" version rather than the older one that Ubuntu support.

And even at that:

echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -cs) contrib non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list && wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update