Nagging Updates!!!

[zephead]

After installing updates, do Macs nag at you every 5 minutes telling you "Updating is almost complete. You must restart your computer for updating to complete."? I'm a PC user.. 🙁 🙁 and this would just add to the many more reasons why I'm desperate to get away from this s**tty dell and get a MacBook.

(AHH!! It nagged at me again!! 😡 )

 

[WildCowboy]

On Macs, when an update requiring a restart finishes, a dialog box pops up saying that you need to restart. You can click a button to restart immediately or if you don't do anything for two minutes, it will automatically restart. You can also cancel the restart and do it on your own later.

If the nagging bothers you, why don't you restart your computer? There's a reason why it's telling you to do so. If you don't want to restart, wait to apply the update until you're in a good spot to do so.

 

[Eidorian]

No, you don't get nagged by updates. If it needs to restart the Restart/Shut Down dialog box will pop up but it won't overlay itself every few minutes. I find that very annoying in Windows. You can do other work until you're ready to reboot. If updates are available the Software Update window will pop up whenever you tell it to check for them. I find it strange. In my Mac shop the Macs are ALWAYS up to date. But in my Windows shop the users never install them and I have to install 20-40 of them.

 

[zephead]

So.. if you tell it you wanna restart later, then.. there's no telling you to restart every 5 minutes? 😱

*tries to kill the update process, but it just starts back up again* 😡

Sorry.. I think the PC is controlling me, instead of me controlling it. o.o

 

[Eidorian]

So.. if you tell it you wanna restart later, then.. there's no telling you to restart every 5 minutes? 😱

*tries to kill the update process, but it just starts back up again* 😡

Sorry.. I think the PC is controlling me, instead of me controlling it. o.o

Well, you can't tell it to restart later. You can just avoid hitting the restart button. It won't REMIND you every few minutes about it though. You're just hiding it behind your work.

 

[zephead]

ACK! I can't do that either. The little window stays always-on-top. Wait, you just gave me an idea...

*grabs the farmost upper-right corner of the little window and drags it to a bottom corner of the screen*

HA!! Now it is nothing more than a single pixel of blue in the lower-left corner!! MUAHAHAHA!!! 😀 😀

😱 I really am going crazy. I need a MacBook. Thanks for the idea!

 

[Eidorian]

It doesn't stay on top in OS X.

 

[WildCowboy]

Thanks, Eidorian, for jumping in and setting the record straight on the restart prompt.

Yes, if you ignore the pop-up window, it will just stay in the background and you can continue working for as long as you like until you want to bring it back to the front and tell your Mac to restart.

 

[zephead]

Woohoo! One of the many more things to look forward to when I become a Mac owner. 😀

 

[Eidorian]

Thanks, Eidorian, for jumping in and setting the record straight on the restart prompt.

Yes, if you ignore the pop-up window, it will just stay in the background and you can continue working for as long as you like until you want to bring it back to the front and tell your Mac to restart.

Not a problem at all. I really found it annoying in Windows. You'd want to put off the restart for a few minutes and you'd tell it to restart later. THEN your focus is shift off as it prompts you again no matter that program you're in. It just keeps repeating after that. 😡

 

[zephead]

Exactly!! That's what happened to me while I was writing a few of these posts. I'd be typing, not even knowing the update window stole the focus, and then I look up and discover that all the typing I just did was for nothing. 😡

 

[velocityg4]

You can just turn off automatic updates and the feature in Windows that keeps bugging you when you turn off automatic updates. I do this and also turned off the balloon tips that pop up in the system tray and the ones in the start menu telling me that a new program was installed.

 

[PatrickF]

You can just turn off automatic updates and the feature in Windows that keeps bugging you when you turn off automatic updates. I do this and also turned off the balloon tips that pop up in the system tray and the ones in the start menu telling me that a new program was installed.

Not when you're using your machine and the domain administrator has overridden this. It's bloody annoying. One minute I'll be working on some code, then I get the annoying window popping up telling me to restart. No message telling me I need to install updates or anything! This just infuriates me "No you stupid computer I'm busy working! I don't have time to loose all my work and restart!"

 

[displaced]

Yeah, this is incredibly annoying on Windows.

If they're going to offer the option to restart later, they should actually accept that you're going to deal with it and just leave you alone! An amazingly brain-damaged usability foul-up.

OS X's software update offers a bit more control.

• It will never install updates without your permission
• You will always be told what the update is going to affect
• You'll be told exactly which updates will a restart of your Mac. None of this 'your computer MAY need to be restarted' that Windows Update vaguely states
• You can easily install any sub-set of available updates, and leave others to install later. Without having to choose any 'advanced' mode.

One thing to bear in mind is that Software Update will not offer you the option to NOT restart if one of your installed updates requires it. You'll be presented with options to shut down or restart immediately.

This is mitigated by the fact that those updates which require a restart are clearly flagged before you choose to install them. Far fewer updates on OS X require a reboot -- mainly just updates to OS X itself or QuickTime.

If you've installed an update that requires a restart and you've got the 'shut down/reboot' option screen, there's a couple of ways to remove it without restarting. First, with Software Update the frontmost app, just use OS X's usual 'hide application' option: just hit Command+H.

The other is to Option-Click the Software Update dock icon, and choose Force Quit. Don't worry about force quitting... at that point, all the actual updating is done.

Bear in mind though that depending on the kind of update, things might act a little odd until the machine's been restarted. In the past, I've installed an update to OS X, then quit Safari and it's refused to open until a reboot.

 

[PatrickF]

This is mitigated by the fact that those updates which require a restart are clearly flagged before you choose to install them.

Oh yeah I always love this on Windows. All you'll ever see in the description for an update is "You may need to restart your computer after installing this update." Well, do I or don't I? Ooooh I really feel like living on the edge today - let's just see!