Microsoft is removing the forced Windows Update installation during PC setup, ending the notorious 30-minute wait that greeted every new Windows 11 machine. Users can now defer updates until after initial setup is complete.
It only took years of complaints and countless returned laptops for Microsoft to realize forcing people to wait half an hour before using a computer they just bought is bad UX.
This should have shipped on day one. The forced update process was one of those baffling design decisions that makes you wonder if anyone at Microsoft actually goes to a store, buys a laptop, and tries to set it up like a normal person. You open the box, power on the machine, and then... wait. And wait. And watch progress bars. For thirty minutes.
For a consumer product, this was product suicide. People returned laptops thinking they were broken. Others assumed Windows was just slow. The tech-savvy were annoyed. The non-technical were confused. Nobody had a good experience.
The justification was always security - Microsoft wanted machines to be fully patched before users started browsing the web and downloading software. That's a reasonable security goal. But forcing updates during setup is the wrong place to solve it. Users need to feel like they own the device first. Then you can nag them about updates.
Apple figured this out years ago. MacOS setup takes minutes. Updates happen later, with clear user consent and control. It's not rocket science - it's basic product design. Put the user first, security second. Because if the setup experience is terrible, users will never trust the platform enough to care about security.
The fix is simple: let users skip the update, complete setup, and then install updates in the background or during the next shutdown. Users get their device working immediately. Microsoft still gets security patches installed. Everyone wins.
The technology is impressive. The question is why it took this long to ship. This is a self-inflicted wound that damaged Windows 11's reputation for years. Better late than never, but mostly just late.
