Ask HN: Why are installer ETAs so way off being accurate

2 pointsfinchisko2 comments

Just installing latest macOS and wondering why ETA never match reality. Same for Windows. I remember win95 to be way off real install time. Why is it?

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I think it is not a big priority for installer creators to get them right. I've thought about adding something to my build process manager that would learn how to estimate progress by watching logs but it's never been a big priority compared to say, finishing up the software that it builds.

Why I can't get is why installers on so many OS seem to take forever to look at the system configuration database, determine what version you are running, what the latest version is, etc.

I understand it's not priority, but in case of latest macOS installer experience is worst since last 4 versions. Too many restarts, progress bars not even reaching 100% before starting from 0 again. ETA in final stage is way off. Most of the time only progress bar is shown, with no message about what is installer doing (but one can clearly see all those restarts in between).

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