The Windows Time Warp

Today my time was filled by upgrading Design and Technology PC's from Windows XP to Windows 7. And during this time I realized that the system of all systems can actually warp time.

When installing or transferring files or doing updates Windows, like many other systems, gives a time estimation of how long this process will take. It runs something like this:


New Update Available do you wish to install? Yes
Estimated Time - 5 minutes
Estimated Time - 4 minutes
Estimated Time - 3 minutes
Estimated Time - 2 minutes
Estimated Time - 1 minute
Estimated Time - 30 seconds
Estimated Time - 2 hours
Estimated Time - 20 seconds
Estimated Time - 6 Years
Estimated Time - 15 seconds
Estimated Time - 10 seconds
Estimated Time - 5 seconds


Error - Download Interrupted


And in real time this took about 20 minutes to complete which at no point was the estimated time. Windows really is useless when it comes to this. Then after a restart while the update continues to install you go make a cup of tea, grab some grub, go to party, get over the hangover and come back only to find out it was waiting for you to click OK. Surely it can't be that difficult for the worlds largest computer software company to make things just work, somehow, magically, on their own.


Still look at it this way, if they did know/choose how to do that, I'd be out the job. So in one way, Microsoft creating time warps keeps millions of people employed all around the world. May the time warps continue.