Hmmn never had a problem with that, maybe if you turned it off when it wasn't writing to the HDD then you wouldn't reboot with errors, but I guess if your too lazy to see if the HDD light is flashing or have a short memory and can't remember that you where installing something to the HDD then shutdown is perfect for you. (I have used Amigas since 1986 and have NEVER had an issue with messing up my Workbench from turning the computer off).