Microsoft wants Automatic Update for Windows

Edward Dao writes "After the embarassment of last week's blaster worm, Microsoft is weighing the possibility of automatic update. Microsoft not only wants to upload the latest patch on to users' computer but also installing it for them." This will work out really well for everyone I'm sure. Yikes! Can I at least press 'Ok' first?

Comments

No thanks

[GeckoFood]

Some of us are still on dialup, and an automagic update of Windows via 56K modem would literally take HOURS if the connection even holds at all. I don't think I should be forced into high-speed access just so I can update my Windows partition periodically.

You can do this already

[dlur]

You can do this already with Windows XP if you set it up to do so. In the system properties go to the Automatic Updates tab and then click on the radio button next to the bottom option, "Automatically download the updates, and then install them on the schedule that I specify".

Of course you'd have to be out of your gourd to do this regarding MS's history of untested patches. Also I noticed that MS is including driver updates in the critical updates as well (nVidia driver). I've NEVER installed a driver from MS on my computer and every time a customer of ours does it, it seems to totally screw up everything.

People are lazy? People are stupid? Good heavens!

[lambadomy]

From the article:

"What we're finding now is that through a combination of the availability of broadband and customers wanting to stay up to date with security patches, and, most importantly, considering the kinds of threats out there now, that customers want us to keep them up to date automatically -- not just by downloading the patches for them but installing them as well."

I'm not sure who these customers are that want this...but to me this amounts to saying "our customers are lazy and stupid". Maybe I'm trolling, but...the "kinds of threats" that are out there are caused by microsoft writing vulnerable code in the first place! Sure everyone has bugs, but maybe, just maybe, they'll write a buggy patch too! I don't see how anyone could even be considering this as the default. If these people want microsoft to automatically update their computer...they can turn it on right now!

I know you hear this a lot here, but people need to either

a) have a working knowledge of their computer/operating system, including how to maintain it.
b) have their computer regularly maintained by another live human being.

This isn't that hard. People have this perception of computers as the same as their television or washing machine in terms of support - don't touch it unless it's obviously unusably broken. They don't work that way, they're much closer to cars. Sure, some people don't maintain their cars either, but those people aren't in the majority.

I'm rambling at this point, but really this is a disaster waiting to happen. What, are we going to end up testing EULAS in court finally when microsoft breaks ten million computers automagically and then says "well, you clicked the agreement"? I guess that could be agreeable. Please, I know most people here know what they're doing with their computers, but this problem is not just caused by microsoft. Educate everyone you know about the needs for computer mainenence! Make them pay you, I don't care, do something. Of course, the stupid IT department here got the worm too, so maybe it's completely hopeless.