I think this is the other way around, Windows Updates always fuck up the user.
So, this is only to some degree Microsoft’s fault, but yesterday, we were basically on a workshop at $DAYJOB to learn about a hardware setup, which had some crucial software on a Windows PC.
And because you can’t run updates in the background on Windows, the internal IT has a nagware program to remind you, that you should stop working and install an update.And like, truly nagware. It pops up in the middle of the screen, overlays all other windows, but also minimizes them, and the only way to close it, is to either go ahead with the installation or to click “Defer”, which makes it ask again in 5 minutes.
It then also unminimizes your windows, but does so in the wrong order, so a different window will end up on top.But what truly made this a unique experience was that there were like 8 updates it tried to install. Each of those updates had its own nagware pop-up with its own 5-minute-timer, so we get one of those ridiculous pop-ups every 30-45 seconds.
Eventually, we did realize that it was different updates it was trying to do (and not just a BIOS update which had failed twice already), so we could make it go ahead with the installation of some of those updates, which reduced the nagware pop-up frequency somewhat.
But yeah, for innocent me with my Linux laptop, this was still absolute bedlam. Just genuinely a moment of “How the hell do you get any work done?”.
I tried windows 11 recently because I couldn’t get a game to work with WINE. Man, what a fucking shit show.
If a studio can’t even be bothered to get their game running through proton, then I can’t be bothered to give them my money.
Nah. Windows is stalkerware digital slavery of the soul. It comes back with shackles. The future will make this far more clearly the case.
Won’t someone think of the investors?
I just had windows update almost brick an iPad. I have this old iPad I use to watch movies or shows while working out. I almost never update it it just sits on my network to connect to jellyfin. Well it wasn’t playing some shows and it looks like I needed to update its codec and stuff but it refused to do it from the iPad guess if you let it sit to long or something. So I boot up my old windows 10 PC that maybe gets turned on once a year for shit like this. Sit through like 4 hours of updates and 4-5 restarts I can finally install iTunes to update the iPad. As its updating the iPad windows just goes fuck you and does a update and restarts itself. I look at the iPad it spazzes a bit then comes up with this recovery error please contact support… Fuck get back into windows try updating the iPad again says it won’t update and that I must wipe and recover it. Fuck. Recovering the iPad worked but it wiped everything from it then had to spend the next hour trying to remember my apple password the last time I used it was like 5 years ago. In other words fuck windows. I hate apple too, the iPad was a gift. It works for what I use it for.
this also happens to me occasionally when using wsl (i have to use windows at work). There’s an update to wsl? just force shutdown the wsl vm
I don’t mind that it just forces updates. I think for the vast majority of users that’s the right call, otherwise they just won’t update shit and blame everyone but themselves for when they get viruses and whatnot. Same really for Linux if it becomes popular enough with people who really don’t know about tech.
If I was using Windows I’d want to turn that feature off ofc.
If they’re allowed to force updates then they should be legally required to separate feature updates from security patches. Only security patches should be forced.
Feature updates that change or remove features users depend on should never be forced.
I do mind that it forces updates, in the sense that it decides when it’s going to start downloading them, even if I’m in the middle of things, and also it takes too long while blocking any ability to use the machine while installing. Let me pause the download without waiting an actual minute for the update screen to load, and figure out a way to install them without completely blocking my computer, dammit!
It could definitely be better implemented. Doesn’t it have a system where it starts the download process and stuff when the computer is idle? I think some Linux distros have such a system.
The update is downloaded in the background, and it asks you when to update, most folk just impulsively click later without thinking.
Hell, you can set preffered update hours!
Iirc the issue is that it people click later later later until it just forces itself upon the computer and of course that happens at the most inconvenient time. It should apply it somehow in the background and just automatically switch to that updated version when you next turn it on. So some sort of A/B model perhaps.
Power users and enterprise, that should be disabled by default. But for most users, you really need to force it at some point, even though it sucks
This post is kinda annoying to respond to. Not because of what you said, but because it’s hard to map my intuitions into words and convey exactly what’s wrong with Windows in the first place.
Linux doesn’t require immediate rebooting, it assumes the user will choose the right time. And if Microsoft actually gave a shit about user autonomy, there are smarter ways to handle updates.
For example: instead of forcing updates in the middle of the fucking day, just wait until the system would normally sleep or hibernate, or when the user is clearly inactive (like at night). At that point, the system could save the current RAM state to disk, reboot with updates applied, and restore the session exactly as it was.
This isn’t sci-fi. NixOS can already do this (barring kernel changes). The fact that it works proves the concept is viable.
before anyone fucking @'s me… I get that saving RAM state across system updates could break shit. But it doesn’t have to, especially if you implement a tagging or compatibility layer to track what’s safe to resume. That kind of bridging isn’t impossible, it just takes planning.
FOSS software routinely considers edge cases like this. Microsoft doesn’t. That’s not a tech limitation; that’s just not caring about user convenience.
For starters, instead of forcing updates in the middle of the fucking day, simply wait until the computer would usually sleep/hibernate, or the user wasn’t using the computer
I think that’s what active hours is supposed to do
I think the operative word phrase is “supposed to”
Anecdotally… It doesn’t seem to exist.
That’s why I always keep the machine offline when I’m setting up, then turn off or disable the Windows Update service first. Then I use the router and the HOSTS file to block every part of Micro$oft.
ok but have you tried linux
Naw man, Linux is too much work
I mean, it certainly can be and it definitely used to be. There’s a lot of Linux stuff that doesn’t “just work”. With Windows, the process I described is editing a file in a text editor (3 are provided in the OS installation), and editing one dialog box.
My main machine is now Linux Mint. And I have an Android phone.
I just installed Bazzite because my rig has been used for Steam 90% of the time and Firefox the other 10%.
Now I laugh when it tells me where the steam deck buttons are supposed to be, reminding me to choose the non-deck version next time.
But the ‘HAY LISTEN’ of Windows 10 dying and being forced to use Windows 11 at work was enough.
It’s always nice when new people come into this community!
My partner is a little bit technopobic and adopted to Linux 4 years ago. Mint originally as a gentle step and now on Debian KDE. They needed initial set up doing for them eg localisation for Libreoffice. Updates etc are really no different to Windows so they dont need to worry about using the terminal. The challenge for most non-tecchy people will be having someone to hold thier hand with trying and moving to Linux.
where linusx
Do Linux users still think Windows updates are unreliable? Can’t remember a breaking release, personally or for my users, for 6 or 7 years.
For me it was more about updates installing junk I didn’t ask for, undoing configurations I’ve made, and resetting my menu customizations.
Otherwise I agree - updates never actually broke my system. They just made me not want to use it anymore.
Yes, because I also have a Windows installation and use it at work. So yeah, I do think it’s unreliable.
When I still used this trash many years ago, it gradually made my PC slower. At that, consistently with every update.
many years ago
Yeah, like I said.
To my knowledge, it still happens. The concept’s called “Windows Rot” and has been there since the 90s. Hey, but maybe adding bloatware like screenshotting your entire screen, every five seconds will magically fix it. Also, Windows has moved away from its own framework for the start menu and has instead used the JavaScript React thingy, result being that if you spam the start menu button, you can saturate your CPU. That’s not a joke.
Two days ago Windows Update deleted my Linux EFI boot entry on another disk.
About a year ago an update broke Bluetooth so that I could never add or remove any devices. That had not been fixed last time I tried, several updates later.
About 5 years ago I was flat out unable to update Windows for 6 months, due to what turned out to be a bug when an unknown hard drive was attached.
Slow and randomly fails is my experience.
