Microsoft plans to tackle the 'disruptiveness of restarts' of the operating system for automatic updates in the forthcoming Windows 8, the company said.
On the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft revealed that 90 per cent of Windows users worldwide had installed updates within a week of release and that 90 per cent of Windows users rely on automatic installation of updates.
In order to minimize the number of restarts, Microsoft will bundle all of the patches needing restarts into a single monthly security update on the second Tuesday of each month, or 'patch Tuesday' as it's known.
Windows 8 will also go through a process of notifying users of an update beginning with a message saying the OS will either restart in three days or install the updates on a manual restart, whichever is the sooner.
If, at the end of three days, Windows 8 believes there are 'critical applications' then the OS will wait until the next log in.
Interestingly Microsoft also said that the firm had been asked to add the ability update third party applications via the Windows update system. Microsoft scotched that idea, pointing out that the updates to the OS and third-party drivers were all carefully screened.
However the new Windows Store for Metro-style apps will update applications automatically, in much the same way as the other digital stores that Microsoft is aping in the new OS.

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