When you copy files from one location to another in Windows, an estimation of the remaining time is displayed. This estimation may fluctuate widely and it has been at the center of many jokes.
Microsoft has added a similar estimation to Windows updates in the latest Insider builds.
Some Insiders in the Canary Channel will begin to see an estimated time for how long their PC will be offline to install Build 27695. This estimate will be shown on the Windows Update settings page and via the Start menu power button.
If you have installed updates in Windows before, you know that you never know how long an update will take to install.
When you hit the restart button, it feels like a game of chance. Sometimes, updates seem to install quickly, at other times, they seem to take ages.
New builds or feature updates take longer, naturally, than the monthly cumulative updates or minor updates.
It is a good idea to avoid installing updates if you are in a hurry. If you just have a bit of time before you need to leave the computer, you better postpone the installation until you return.
There is another reason for that: if something goes wrong, you may not have the time to start fixing the issue immediately.
Microsoft hopes that the displayed estimates help administrators; but does it?
Windows Update downtime estimation
Problem is, Windows Update displays a range and not a fixed number. The screenshot that Microsoft published shows a downtime between 15 and 50 minutes.
Is that helpful? Would not it be better if Microsoft would either display just the maximum, e.g. up to 50 minutes, or the average, e.g. 35 minutes to the user?
The feature is in testing right now and only some Insiders see it. It is shown on the Windows Update settings page and the start menu power button after an update has been downloaded and prepared for installation.
How do you handle updates in Windows? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
Quite often I feel my pc is using more resources to incorrectly guess how long a task will take then it is on the actual task. Obviously that’s not true but it still “feels that way”.
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I think they should leave it alone. The current method of showing a percentage “feels” more accurate even though there no real way to know if it is.
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How we feel about the OS is very important. Something M.$ should pay closer attention to. This will only become important as they try to advance AI. No one is going to use an AI assistant they don’t have like.