I do love Windows 10. For me it has made Windows into an operating system that I really enjoy using. But there are also a couple of things about how it operates that annoy both me, and power users. Essentially, Windows Updates are a pain and force users to restart at times that aren't convenient, or might automatically reboot a computer with no notice.
Users, like Sergey Tkachenko from WinAero, on the Windows Insider preview program have noticed that a new option has been added to the Windows Update system that allows them to defer all updates for as long as 35 days. The setting lives in the "advanced" portion of the Windows Update settings page and is a simple on/off toggle, there's no real granularity to the control.
Some versions of Windows 10 (Pro, Enterprise and Education) have a control marked "defer updates" already. This is similar, and hold new features back for long enough for any serious problems to come to light. That's fine for business, but no use for home users who would have to spend the $99 updating to Windows 10 Pro to take advantage of this option - arguably not worth it, unless you also want RDP and the ability to join domains too.
I do find the way Windows 10 handles updates enormously frustrating, and while this change is welcome I don't think it goes far enough. I'm quite happy for Windows to apply security updates for Defender on its own, but if an update will auto-trigger a reboot then I feel like I should be consulted.
Now, there is a way to stop Windows 10 from rebooting itself after an update. You need to tinker with some settings, but open the Task Scheduler and open "library" then navigate to MicrosoftWindowsUpdateOrchestrator and find "reboot". From here you can right click, and disable that feature. This is obviously a risk, and many of us would just prefer that Microsoft made it easy in the update window to tweak how our computer works.
As Microsoft battles to make its operating systems a lot more user-friendly, it also tends to take away control somewhat. I'm all for making sure that non-technical users get updates properly, but at least give people a little bit of control how their PCs operate, after all, this is my computer not Microsoft's.
Windows 10 is also getting a new Game Mode that will optimise performance and a blue light filter, because those are all the rage now. Forbes contributor Antony Leather has the details on those features.
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