Shhh, "Silent Updates" In Progress

For the last 20 years, Microsoft has swooned over the idea of the "silent update," in which your software gets automatically upgraded without your knowledge or approval, and now it's taking action.

I've always thought this idea was inspired by AOL, which used to force updates on users no matter what they wanted. The real risk with this practice is that with an OS, you might load in some faulty code that will prevent further updates, be unfixable, and ruin the machine.

But there is more to it than that. The PC is not an appliance and users often develop what is called a work-around, used to circumvent any pesky bugs. Often when the software is updated with these work-arounds in place, it performs oddly or even fails. If the user knows of an update in advance, he or she can forestall it and wait for someone to remove the work-around or just ignore the update.

Also, one of the problems with Windows has always been the fact that with each patch the system seems to operate slower and slower. Many of the updates seem unnecessary, too. I always like to check the list of recommended upgrades since many are for products I do not use or are for very minor bugs. I pass on these.

Read the details HERE!