Have you restarted your computer this week?
Whether and how often to restart personal computers has become a proxy for deeper questions about stability, security, and workflow. Commenters compare habits across macOS, Windows, Linux, and mobile devices, weighing long uptimes and instant availability against security updates, memory leaks, buggy sleep modes, energy use, and full‑disk encryption. Many see periodic reboots or shutdowns as a useful “reset” for both systems and humans, while others treat high uptime as a mark of robustness and convenience.
Reboot Habits & Philosophies
- Users span a wide spectrum: some restart daily or at end of work, others only for OS updates, and some chase months/years of uptime.
- “Clean slate” camp values closure, reduced cruft, easier focus, and intentional workspace setup.
- “Uptime” camp sees frequent reboot as a failure or nuisance; value instant availability and persistence of complex multi-project setups.
- Several note that modern SSD boot times narrow the convenience gap but existing context (windows, terminals, VMs) still matters.
OS-Specific Behaviors
- Windows: frequent reboots for updates; fast startup means shutdown may not fully reset state, whereas Restart does. Some report RAM leaks and gradual slowdown.
- macOS: many rarely reboot, citing reliable sleep and session restore; others report increasing instability, lag, audio/input glitches, and reclaiming tens of GB of disk only after reboot.
- Linux/BSD: desktops often reboot only for kernel updates; servers frequently run for months/years. Sleep/suspend is reported as flaky on some hardware, especially with Nvidia.
- Mobile (iOS/Android): some security guidance and users recommend periodic reboots to clear non-persistent malware.
Sleep, Hibernate, and Fast Startup
- Mac sleep widely praised; wake is instant with state preserved.
- Windows and Linux sleep/hibernate described as unreliable by many (audio glitches, hangs, battery drain), prompting shutdown instead.
- Debate over whether sleeping vs shutting down matters for power, component wear, and convenience.
Security, Encryption, and Malware
- Full-disk encryption users often shut down when away; leaving machines on bypasses at-rest protection.
- Some emphasize that only power-off/hibernate clears keys; logout alone may not.
- Rebooting is framed as a defense against non-persistent malware, especially on phones with secure boot / attestation.
- Others argue long uptimes signal missing kernel security patches; live kernel patching and immutable OSes are discussed but seen as niche or limited.
Performance, Stability, and Bugs
- Reboots fix accumulated glitches (UI lag, cursor/monitor issues, VPNs, audio artifacts, VPN/ZScaler configs).
- Some corporate tools (e.g., security proxies, MDM, VPNs) either force reboots or discourage them by breaking workflows after updates.
Servers vs Desktops
- Many keep servers always-on, rebooting only for kernel/major updates, often with livepatching.
- Some admins intentionally schedule regular reboots to detect configuration issues under controlled conditions.