Wrong configuration, unclear features, complex approach

Feb 27, 2019 10:38 GMT  ·  By

The process of updating Windows remains a challenging task for home users, according to new research, despite the obvious improvements that Microsoft has made in Windows 10.

Researchers Jason Morris, Ingolf Becker, and Simon Parkin of University College London looked into how the Windows Update process is handled on Windows 10 Home and published their results in a paper called "In Control with No Control: Perceptions and Reality of Windows 10 Home Edition Update Features."

Their findings draw a simple conclusion: the update process on Windows 10 is still too complex for many, the existing settings aren’t correct, and the unexpected reboots still happen.

A total of 53 percent out of 93 Windows 10 Home users said updating Windows is much easier now in Windows 10, while 8 percent described the process as more difficult than before. Furthermore, 43 percent of the users said that updating Windows 10 causes fewer interruptions when compared to Windows 8.1 and earlier.

Complex update model

But when it comes to how Windows 10 handles updates, there’s a lot that Microsoft needs to improve here. 97 percent of the users said the default 8 AM to 5 PM Active Hours configuration isn’t correct in their case because they typically work on their computers in the evening.

While this timeframe makes sense for office workers, it doesn’t for home users, who typically turn on their devices in the evening after finishing work. What’s worse is that 28 percent of the users didn’t even know Active Hours existed.

Many users don’t understand how the Windows Update process and they can’t distinguish the monthly cumulative updates from the OS feature updates published twice a year. The latter typically take more to install because they include significant changes and feature additions, so home users may eventually end up delaying any update because they don’t want their work to be interrupted.

The researchers suggest Microsoft must improve the way it receives the consent for a system reboot and clearly show when a restart is pending following an update. Furthermore, Microsoft should help users distinguish cumulative updates from feature updates and thus make it clearer that the latter could take more time to install.

Via ZDNet