> But outside of a short list of DLLs that are used by everything, files are mostly specific to a single program, and 90% of my programs are trivial to update by virtue of the fact that they aren't running.
Are we talking about the same thing? We're talking about Windows updates, not Chrome updates or something. Windows doesn't force you to reboot when programs update themselves. It forces you to reboot when it updates itself. Which generally involves updating system DLLs that are used all over the place.
I don't think most updates touch those DLLs. Most have a modified date of my last reinstall. Some updates do, but a whole lot more could install without a restart if microsoft cared at all (like if it cost them ten cents).
Are we talking about the same thing? We're talking about Windows updates, not Chrome updates or something. Windows doesn't force you to reboot when programs update themselves. It forces you to reboot when it updates itself. Which generally involves updating system DLLs that are used all over the place.