

We'll keep listening to our customers, improving the experience month after month. This is what we mean when we talk about delivering Windows as a service, and it is one of our core inspirations for Windows 10.

Here's the statement I got: Once a machine is upgraded to Windows 10, it will remain current through Windows Update for the supported lifetime of the device, with safety and security, productivity, and entertainment value over time. And after hinting there might be a MacBook purchase in my immediate future, I asked a Microsoft spokesperson if the company was doing anything about forced updates. That's pretty much the direction I've been leaning in recent months. Or even an iPad with a keyboard cover - anything but a Windows machine that can just spontaneously restart while you're in the middle of mission-critical work. I know what you're thinking: "How many times do you have to get burned before you get a Mac?" Or maybe a Chromebook. Once, Windows 8 even force-updated CNET editor Stephen Shankland's machine when he was in the middle of a Skype interview with NPR. When I ask my fellow CNET staffers, many of them chime in with stories, too: how Windows decided to reboot in the middle of a liveblog, or an expense report, or while taking notes in the middle of an interview - or in the airport, right before boarding a plane, without enough power left to actually finish the install.
