Upgrades versus Productivity

Today I had no less than 5 update/upgrade announcements, a Windows OneCare "reminder" to install no less than 16 updates and 4 different programs wanting to check or install updates. A typical day.

How did we ever let this insanity get so out of control?

If I interrupted you that many times by walking into your office or demanding to talk to you, you'd be ready to kill me after I'd killed your productivity this way. And rightly so.

Yet, meekly, we accept this nonsense online. Microsoft? - go ahead and reboot my PC three times today. This vendor, that vendor, this app, that app - go ahead and unmake my day.

No More.

So here's my plan to end - or at least contain - this shouting horde of time wasters. Just Say No - Until Friday afternoons. No updates, upgrades, program check-ins, installs or whatever until my week has pretty much finished, I'm doing my admin stuff and then and only then will I deal with you on my terms.

Comments

[Bob Walsh]

Ian, Pascal - I know, I know... I dream of a MacBook Pro at nights now... So the Mac world doesn't suffer from an endless stream of software updates, and interruptions to check for software updates?

[Matthew Cornell]

I agree - a pain in the ass. First, that dialog you show drives me nuts. There's no option to "Shut up and let me work," and turning off "reboot after auto update" requires a number of poorly-documented steps. Second, after a recent "hotfix," my Windows 2000 Pro machine started hanging for 60 seconds every time I logged out. Turns out their patch caused a registry problem. Solution: Spend one hour finding and installing *another* program to work-around that one. Ugh!

[Ian]

Pascal beat me to me comment :-)

[Scott Carpenter]

Let us know if you made it till Friday without resisting the temptation to upgrade/install/tinker.. ;)

Scott

[Pascal Venier]

... Next action: order a Mac!

;^)