Windows 8, the jazzy new OS from Microsoft that will premiere in 2012, is going to look much different from its predecessor. The upcoming software, with its touch-friendly interface, could also perform much differently, too, requiring far fewer restarts for system updates, if a new post on the official Building Windows 8 blog proves accurate.
The blog post details a new method for installing updates to Windows in Windows 8 with a big selling point: system restarts only once per month, which should make updating your system "a little less annoying."
"When it comes to Windows Update," the blog post begins, "one of the most discussed topics is the disruptiveness of restarts in the course of automatic updating. And for good reason—restarts can interrupt you right in the middle of something important."
To ease this disruption, the engineering team behind Windows 8 is consolidating all updates, for both system and security, into one restart per month. Once the updates are installed and need a restart to go into effect, Windows 8 will flash a reminder on the login screen for three days urging the user to restart; if the user does not restart within that three-day time-frame, Windows 8 will automatically restart at the next opportunity when there are no critical applications open and there is no chance of the user losing his or her data, after a brief countdown.
One exception to the one-restart-per-month rule: Urgent security updates, such as those to protect against worms, will trigger automatic restarts to protect the system, no matter what time of the month it is.
Microsoft has been showing off several new facets of Windows 8 as it gears up for its 2012 release. Previously, the Windows 8 team shared a video of Windows 8 booting up on a PC in under 8 seconds. Days later, Microsoft hosted its Windows Build conference, where the system, with its dual Metro and Classic views, were fully unveiled to developers and the world. (See all the surprising photos of the new Windows 8 here.)
In other Windows bugaboo news, the Building Windows 8 blog also detailed the updated Task Manager in a post about a month ago.
Below, check out the new Windows 8 system update process (and catch another glimpse of the Windows 8 login screen):
