We all love automatic things, don’t we? Unless they cause inconvenience – then we hate them more than anything else. Do we love automatic updates? Only when they don’t interrupt us!

You probably know what I mean. You boot up Firefox, and leave you waiting while it updates. There are a lot of very good reasons why you should update your software, but would it hurt to wait just a few minutes?

Sometimes we hate Windows update. It’s automatic, it’s good, and it’s the bringer of sneaky reboots. Have you ever been in a full-screen application when Windows informs you about its 10-minute-reboot-deadline? Did you wonder why they couldn’t make it minimize your current program so you actually could see it? I did.

Because why would your operating system force you to reboot? There are a lot of good reasons, really. If you leave your computer on all the time (in an office, for example), this helps a lot. If the system wants to reboot, but no one is available to click the “Ok”-button, it makes sense to let the computer reboot automatically. But why would Windows want to reboot when the user, for example, is playing a game? Is the risk of being hacked so tremendous?

That was Windows 7. What about Windows 8?

Well, apparently, Windows 8 can inform you about a reboot 2 days in advance, but it’s impossible to avert. Windows 8 will make a huge blue warning banner appear on your screen, informing you about the scheduled update-related reboot – and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Who thought this was a good idea? Delaying an important update for two days isn’t a good idea, and forcing a reboot isn’t a good idea. Would two wrongs make a right? Windows 7 did nag me about updating, but it never forced me to stop what I was doing and save my work in four minutes!

I believe the system should notify you immediately when updates are available, and inform you when it wants to reboot. If you’re not there, it can reboot - but if you’re using the system, it will wait. Windows 8 do inform you that your computer will reboot to install updates within a day or two, but it’s easy to forget. And where’s the reminders? Instead of rebooting, you forget, and put your laptop to sleep. Then you will be forced to reboot, when you might have important work to finish.

Meh.