Computer Upgrades !

One of the vexing questions that computer owners face is the manner of closedown at the end of the day.  More and more people now elect to put their computer in " sleep " mode because it can be awoken by a tap on the space bar instead of the usual long startup process.  Simply tap in the password and you and the computer are ready for work.

Those that follow the conventional close down procedure know that the morning startup may be interrupted by the computer electing to do " updates " of the installed operating system.  Bad luck if you have urgent work to do because the system takes over the computer and virtually locks the owner out until it has finished - and that can easily take half an hour.

Those that use sleep mode to keep upgrades at bay will eventually encounter onscreen messages seeking permission to perform system upgrades.  This usually has the option of " now " or " later " and the latest version for one of the most popular operating system takes the computer out of use for an astonishing hour and three quarters.

Surprisingly, these requests for owner permission do not indicate the time factor involved and that needs to be an expected courtesy.  Unfortunately the majority of updates occur automatically when the owner makes an overnight shutdown and attempts to restart.  The system refuses the upstart procedure until the update programme is completed.

The people who service the computer industry generally make no objection to use of the sleep option but they do caution that upgrades should not be  delayed indefinitely.  Owners would be wise to integrate a complete close down at least once a week, chosen for when the upgrades would least inconvenience them.

When we choose an operating system to install on our computer we are buying a work in progress. The reach of the computer is still evolving and the option of artificial intelligence means that eventually computers will learn to do their own thinking - and decision making.  The price we are asked to pay for the information they place at our fingertips took many centuries to collate to its present form.

We now take the computer for granted.  It is no longer a novelty but what humankind does with the information freely available will probably decide if - and how - the human species survives.