[Am-info] Microsoft Auto Update Proves Frustrating

[Fred A. Miller]

Read all of the editor's "note." :)

Fred
_______________

Microsoft Auto Update Proves Frustrating

People using older versions of Microsoft products have reported
technical problems with automated updates; when they contact
the company's support staff, they are advised to upgrade to newer
products. Some of the patches are available only through the automated
update system.
http://www.nyq.eweek.com/article2/0,6071,801273,00.asp

[Editor's Note (Shpantzer): Updates for the Office suite are sometimes
impossible without the physical CD's, which many users have not
retained or never owned (pirated software or legitimate software on
second-hand hardware). This leaves millions of systems out of the
update process and puts the rest of us downrange from their unpatched
applications.
(Schultz): I've never been very enthusiastic about Microsoft Auto
Update. Too often users who rely on this feature find out later
that patches they thought had been automatically installed were not
installed at all. If you look at Microsoft's web site, you'll see many
postings about types of update failures that occur and a variety of
solutions, all of which are bound to confuse the average user.
(Murray): Even rocket science can be mastered. If AOL can do it
routinely without even evoking comment, then Microsoft can learn.]

-- 
Fred A. Miller
Systems Administrator
Cornell Univ. Press Services
fm@cupserv.org, www.cupserv.org