What if your car ran Microsoft Windows?

Imagine one day you hop in your car to drive to the grocery store to pick up a few miscellaneous items that you need to bake a batch of cookies. You haven't driven your car in 2-3 weeks because you are just coming back from a long vacation. No big deal, right? You put the key in the ignition, turn the key, put the car in drive and go about your way.

Now let's pretend your car is a Windows-based computer and you've taken the same 2-3 week hiatus from using it. This time when you put the key in the ignition and turn the key, the car still starts as normal but five red warning lights immediately appear on your dashboard.

Five warning lights

The first warning light tells you that there is a new driver available for the CD player in your car stereo. You don't have to update the driver but it is highly recommended to maintain the optimal performance of your car stereo.

The second warning light tells you that there is an update available for your air bags. This is a critical update. If you do not install the update before you place the car in drive, you could risk serious injury.

The third warning light tells you that you haven't downloaded security updates for your door locks in over two weeks. Your car is no longer secure and you must install the updates, turn the car off and back on again to complete the updates.

The fourth warning light tells you that you haven't run a full diagnostic test for your car in over two weeks. It is recommended that you let the car run a full scan, which can take anywhere from 5 to 40 minutes, before you use the car.

And finally, the fifth warning light tells you that your subscription to the on-board computer's software that monitors your car has expired. You will need to provide a credit card number and agree to a $69 charge to monitor your car for another year. But don't worry, the $69 charge covers up to three cars in your garage.

So much for baking those cookies.