I honestly don’t get where all those “Windows is constantly updating” memes come from. The thing updates once a month - after Patch Tuesday. You can set it in your calendar if you’re the forgetful type and know exactly when to expect updates. On Linux, updates hit non-stop, not a day goes by without some packages needing an update…
Its because of how it disrespects the user. it keeps nagging you to update, then forces it at an inconvenient time and because the updates take so long in comparison.
Within 0-4 days (or therabouts) of a Patch Tuesday, updates hit your device.
Everything is happening 100% in the background at this point. Updates are getting prepped for installation.
If you haven’t rebooted to apply the updates for about 4-7 days, you’ll start getting notifications that you should
If you have Active Hours set up, the OS will not bother you while these are active.
After something like 10-14 days you might be forced to apply the updates.
To each their own, but I wouldn’t call this “disrespecting the user”. And “forcing updates at an inconvenient time” is just silly, with how much leeway you’re getting.
Also: maybe you’re used to something much faster, but, personally, I don’t find clicking “update and shutdown” when I go to sleep and then coming back to an updated PC in the morning that problematic. The longest I had to sit through the updates was 20 minutes because I wanted to apply a Feature Update.
I guess my point is: there’s A LOT to bash Microsoft and Windows for. No need to invent things that aren’t there.
Yeah right…come to tell this again when you DON’T want an update(because it may break something like what happened with SSDs or you just want to wait a little more than others so you get something more stable) and you need to keep postpone instead of blocking the update and then when you don’t expect it “shutdown and update” thank you! Right now that i was about to close my laptop because i have to exit my damn school!
At least with a Fedora i can just choose when i need it or with debian i don’t have to update often and if i must say at least with Linux i have to reboot my system only when the kernel get an update
Yeah right…come to tell this again when you DON’T want an update
As a guy who worked in IT for the past 20 years - yeah, fuck that, force the general public to update. I’d add a feature that if they try to fuck with the update system they get whipped.
There’s enough botnets already.
because it may break something like what happened with SSDs
That happened to, what? 0,000001% of devices? And got fixed pretty quickly - more than enough time for the built-in defer update options.
Right now that i was about to close my laptop because i have to exit my damn school
Set your Active Hours, mate…
At least with a Fedora i can just choose when i need it or with debian i don’t have to update often and if i must say at least with Linux i have to reboot my system only when the kernel get an update
It’s fantastic that we can do that on Linux, I love it. But 99,9999% of the population of this planet has no clue wtf they’re doing. Security updates are like vaccines - everybody needs them so we can build herd immunity.
I always prefer to wait at least 3 days to see if there is any problem with the update to be honest so i don’5 have to deal with it at all, why risk having my workflow compromised?
Set your active hours, mate…
I would have to change it every week since i don’t have fixed hours, it’s just too inconvenient.
It’s fantastic that we can do that on linux…
Yeah i agree but out there not everyone is a normie that can barely create a folder, if i want the update to be delayed i shouldn’t be limited by the OS!
I always prefer to wait at least 3 days to see if there is any problem with the update to be honest so i don’5 have to deal with it at all, why risk having my workflow compromised?
True!
Which is why Windows lets you defer updates for around 14 days.
Yeah i agree but out there not everyone is a normie that can barely create a folder, if i want the update to be delayed i shouldn’t be limited by the OS!
The issue is that there are TONNES of grifters out there who will peddle bullshit for Internet clout.
Back in the Windows XP days there used to be legends that if you disabled Windows Update, you’d get 10% extra FPS in games. And people with no clue would go and disable updates…
So, I’m glad I’m not forced to update on Linux. But I’m much more glad that Windows, with its, what, 75% market share, does force updates. We (as a civilisation) have already proven that we’re not mature enough to be allowed to disable them.
What? You can easily turn updates off entirely during situations where that’s going on. It’s a single switch in the settings.
EDIT: Fucking hell, they changed it to just being able to turn off updates for 35 days. You can reset that countdown back to 35 days indefinitely, but that is some grade A bullshit.
Settings>Windows Update>Advanced Options, Then Pause Updates down at the bottom.
That’s also where you can find some settings for disabling auto-restart as well.
My bad, I’ll check again when I get home. Could have sworn it was available by default, but it might be a Pro/Enterprise version thing, or something I had to do through Group Policy (Pro/Enterprise unless there’s an underlying registry entry you can snag to apply to Home installs).
Either way, 100% agree that you should never have to jump through hoops for such a basic piece of functionality. It’s your machine, not Microsoft’s.
EDIT: Yeah, you’re right. Can pause updates for 35 days. You can keep resetting those 35 days indefinitely, but that’s some bullshit.
And it looks like all my fancy ways of disabling auto-restarts for updates are all Group Policy, so restricted to Pro and Enterprise versions. That’s some shit.
Protip: If you need Windows then go with the Pro version for the most config options against the bullshit, but don’t pay for it. Get a super discounted price from a licensed OEM license key seller, or just use MASGrave to spoof the license for free.
It comes from people being unwilling to learn how Windows works or how to configure it, but being 100% on board to tinker to hell and back with Linux. So you get a lot of innaccurate info from people who think their Linux skills confer some amount of knowledge with Windows when they never took the time to learn it as well, or when they haven’t used it outside of corporate controlled work machines (if they even encounter Windows that way) in half a decade.
There’s an argument (which I agree with to a point) that you shouldn’t have to learn how such a big paid product like Windows works in order to avoid frustrations, while it’s understandable in an open source thing like Linux distros. But it ultimately boils down to a combo of “Windows bad!” and learned helplessness when it comes to Windows that people are willing to push through for Linux.
I kind of agree with you, with a caveat - I think people coming from Linux or Mac see Windows, and start poking around trying to make it do things that Linux or Mac do. And when that breaks the OS or is just not possible, they call the “Windows bad” card.
But here’s the thing - I gave my 80 year old mother a Windows laptop. She uses it to check her email, read the news and watch YouTube.
It’s a breeze. Everything just works, the OS updates itself automagically when she’s not looking, the photos from her phone magically appear in her Photos application on the laptop (by way of OneDrive), if she needs to switch to a newer laptop, all the bookmarks and files are already there when she logs in, because of MS Account/OneDrive/Edge profile, etc.
I love Linux, I have it on my gaming PC just to stick it to MS, but I would never think of giving my mother a Linux device because I know shit would break, or get weird, or just require attention from someone who understands how sudo works. On Windows she has a regular user account (there’s a separate admin account she can’t remember the password for so I always know when something requires it because she calls me - it’s around once a year at most), has no knowledge of anything other than “click swirly blue icon to browse funny YouTube videos or check email”, and… everything just works.
Corporate installs have constant updates, mandated by the IT department, not by the user. I can’t get through the start or end of a work day without the twirling dots waiting animation.
nah they don’t seem to roll updates all at once, i’ve had two win10 machines a few years ago (started from same fresh install iso) and they always got auto updated in different day.
this was before the 7day(?) delay option appeared, there was no config. and in many cases the update wasn’t shown on start menu and shutdown/restart looked innocent until i clicked them and it started updating lol. i later just killed wupdate permanently via registry from safe mode.
Deferring updates is one thing, updates being distributed to random numbers of devices each day is a different thing. MS has “update rings” with random devices, every ring gets the updates on a different date. You can “force” Windows to grab updates if you click “Check for updates” after Patch Tuesday if you didn’t get them automatically (I think).
You forget the other side of the coin with using a rolling distro like Arch - you more or less have to keep updating the system a couple of times per week, especially if you want to be able to install new packages with a lot of dependencies.
Not saying I personally have any problems with it, but it’s worth mentioning when talking about how quick and easy it is to update the system (which it truly is)… ;-)
I honestly don’t get where all those “Windows is constantly updating” memes come from. The thing updates once a month - after Patch Tuesday. You can set it in your calendar if you’re the forgetful type and know exactly when to expect updates. On Linux, updates hit non-stop, not a day goes by without some packages needing an update…
Its because of how it disrespects the user. it keeps nagging you to update, then forces it at an inconvenient time and because the updates take so long in comparison.
The process is simple:
To each their own, but I wouldn’t call this “disrespecting the user”. And “forcing updates at an inconvenient time” is just silly, with how much leeway you’re getting.
Also: maybe you’re used to something much faster, but, personally, I don’t find clicking “update and shutdown” when I go to sleep and then coming back to an updated PC in the morning that problematic. The longest I had to sit through the updates was 20 minutes because I wanted to apply a Feature Update.
I guess my point is: there’s A LOT to bash Microsoft and Windows for. No need to invent things that aren’t there.
Yeah right…come to tell this again when you DON’T want an update(because it may break something like what happened with SSDs or you just want to wait a little more than others so you get something more stable) and you need to keep postpone instead of blocking the update and then when you don’t expect it “shutdown and update” thank you! Right now that i was about to close my laptop because i have to exit my damn school!
At least with a Fedora i can just choose when i need it or with debian i don’t have to update often and if i must say at least with Linux i have to reboot my system only when the kernel get an update
As a guy who worked in IT for the past 20 years - yeah, fuck that, force the general public to update. I’d add a feature that if they try to fuck with the update system they get whipped.
There’s enough botnets already.
That happened to, what? 0,000001% of devices? And got fixed pretty quickly - more than enough time for the built-in defer update options.
Set your Active Hours, mate…
It’s fantastic that we can do that on Linux, I love it. But 99,9999% of the population of this planet has no clue wtf they’re doing. Security updates are like vaccines - everybody needs them so we can build herd immunity.
I always prefer to wait at least 3 days to see if there is any problem with the update to be honest so i don’5 have to deal with it at all, why risk having my workflow compromised?
I would have to change it every week since i don’t have fixed hours, it’s just too inconvenient.
Yeah i agree but out there not everyone is a normie that can barely create a folder, if i want the update to be delayed i shouldn’t be limited by the OS!
True!
Which is why Windows lets you defer updates for around 14 days.
The issue is that there are TONNES of grifters out there who will peddle bullshit for Internet clout.
Back in the Windows XP days there used to be legends that if you disabled Windows Update, you’d get 10% extra FPS in games. And people with no clue would go and disable updates…
So, I’m glad I’m not forced to update on Linux. But I’m much more glad that Windows, with its, what, 75% market share, does force updates. We (as a civilisation) have already proven that we’re not mature enough to be allowed to disable them.
What? You can easily turn updates off entirely during situations where that’s going on. It’s a single switch in the settings.
EDIT: Fucking hell, they changed it to just being able to turn off updates for 35 days. You can reset that countdown back to 35 days indefinitely, but that is some grade A bullshit.
Settings>Windows Update>Advanced Options, Then Pause Updates down at the bottom.
That’s also where you can find some settings for disabling auto-restart as well.
Dude there is only “suspend updates for [number of weeks, max 5]” and even if you should usually update the system often, not everyone want or can
My bad, I’ll check again when I get home. Could have sworn it was available by default, but it might be a Pro/Enterprise version thing, or something I had to do through Group Policy (Pro/Enterprise unless there’s an underlying registry entry you can snag to apply to Home installs).
Either way, 100% agree that you should never have to jump through hoops for such a basic piece of functionality. It’s your machine, not Microsoft’s.
EDIT: Yeah, you’re right. Can pause updates for 35 days. You can keep resetting those 35 days indefinitely, but that’s some bullshit.
And it looks like all my fancy ways of disabling auto-restarts for updates are all Group Policy, so restricted to Pro and Enterprise versions. That’s some shit.
Protip: If you need Windows then go with the Pro version for the most config options against the bullshit, but don’t pay for it. Get a super discounted price from a licensed OEM license key seller, or just use MASGrave to spoof the license for free.
MASgrave is life, MASgrave is love
It comes from people being unwilling to learn how Windows works or how to configure it, but being 100% on board to tinker to hell and back with Linux. So you get a lot of innaccurate info from people who think their Linux skills confer some amount of knowledge with Windows when they never took the time to learn it as well, or when they haven’t used it outside of corporate controlled work machines (if they even encounter Windows that way) in half a decade.
There’s an argument (which I agree with to a point) that you shouldn’t have to learn how such a big paid product like Windows works in order to avoid frustrations, while it’s understandable in an open source thing like Linux distros. But it ultimately boils down to a combo of “Windows bad!” and learned helplessness when it comes to Windows that people are willing to push through for Linux.
I kind of agree with you, with a caveat - I think people coming from Linux or Mac see Windows, and start poking around trying to make it do things that Linux or Mac do. And when that breaks the OS or is just not possible, they call the “Windows bad” card.
But here’s the thing - I gave my 80 year old mother a Windows laptop. She uses it to check her email, read the news and watch YouTube.
It’s a breeze. Everything just works, the OS updates itself automagically when she’s not looking, the photos from her phone magically appear in her Photos application on the laptop (by way of OneDrive), if she needs to switch to a newer laptop, all the bookmarks and files are already there when she logs in, because of MS Account/OneDrive/Edge profile, etc.
I love Linux, I have it on my gaming PC just to stick it to MS, but I would never think of giving my mother a Linux device because I know shit would break, or get weird, or just require attention from someone who understands how
sudoworks. On Windows she has a regular user account (there’s a separate admin account she can’t remember the password for so I always know when something requires it because she calls me - it’s around once a year at most), has no knowledge of anything other than “click swirly blue icon to browse funny YouTube videos or check email”, and… everything just works.Nothing stops you from apt/dnf/… install every first Tuesday of the month on Linux.
Corporate installs have constant updates, mandated by the IT department, not by the user. I can’t get through the start or end of a work day without the twirling dots waiting animation.
If they’re using WUfB or Autopatch, it should be happening once a month, some time after the Patch Tuesday (depending on internal policy).
If they’re just grabbing whatever Microsoft publishes (like “civilian” gear), you should be getting one update a couple of days after Patch Tuesday.
There might be a second update, if it’s a critical fix, some time after the first, but that’s super rare these days.
If your corpo laptop updates non-stop, talk to your IT, it’s not normal.
nah they don’t seem to roll updates all at once, i’ve had two win10 machines a few years ago (started from same fresh install iso) and they always got auto updated in different day.
Yeah, I know - that’s why I said “after Patch Tuesday”. It usually happens between 0 and 4 days after PT, depending on which “ring” your device is on.
That would likely be the default settings trying to avoid times when you normally use the machine to install the update.
this was before the 7day(?) delay option appeared, there was no config. and in many cases the update wasn’t shown on start menu and shutdown/restart looked innocent until i clicked them and it started updating lol. i later just killed wupdate permanently via registry from safe mode.
That’s a different thing.
Deferring updates is one thing, updates being distributed to random numbers of devices each day is a different thing. MS has “update rings” with random devices, every ring gets the updates on a different date. You can “force” Windows to grab updates if you click “Check for updates” after Patch Tuesday if you didn’t get them automatically (I think).
I update my arch every day, takes maybe 30 seconds. So easy.
You forget the other side of the coin with using a rolling distro like Arch - you more or less have to keep updating the system a couple of times per week, especially if you want to be able to install new packages with a lot of dependencies.
Not saying I personally have any problems with it, but it’s worth mentioning when talking about how quick and easy it is to update the system (which it truly is)… ;-)
Yeah I update every day I use the computer. But I like that… :)
And yet the meme goes “not again!” about Windows, not Linux…
I know, just so happy to run Linux. Honestly wouldnt bother with computers if windows or mac was the only OS. They have no spirit of sharing.