Updates turn from boon to burden

Automatic software updates are beginning to conflict with users’ best interests

Just about every piece of software seems to have the ability to automatically update itself via the internet, but this useful capability appears to be getting out of hand. Some vendors are pushing out updates users do not want, while the frequency has grown to the extent that they are affecting productivity. Have updates turned sour on us?

It seems almost churlish to bemoan software updates. After all, without the ability to deliver updates over the internet to cope with emerging threats, security tools such as anti-virus software would quickly become outdated. Or is this still the case? It certainly was a few years ago when there seemed to be weekly incidents of major companies falling foul of Windows-based infections. Nowadays however, the villains have moved on to more profitable scams such as phishing.

An online update mechanism has also allowed software vendors such as Microsoft to speedily address any vulnerabilities that might be uncovered in software, instead of IT managers having to frantically trawl through tech support sites to find out if a patch is available.

But you can have too much of a good thing, and these days it seems that nearly every application comes with its own built-in update function that checks back with the developer to fetch any available patches.

As someone who reviews IT kit, I regularly experience this with new systems, especially those with Windows Vista. Sorry Microsoft, I realise that knocking Vista has now become a fashionable sport, but whenever I boot up a PC in the labs and it has Vista on it, the first thing that happens is that Windows Defender pops up and screams at me that it needs updating, closely followed by the anti-virus software, Adobe Acrobat, Java and various other applications. Often, I cannot actually start to use the machine for several minutes until all the taskbar-resident utilities have taken a turn to pop up, stampede for the internet connection, and then nag to be updated.

But the Automatic Updates feature of Windows is also more insidious. It is enabled by default, and downloads any updates it finds without even telling you. The last Vista machine I tested was running appallingly slowly and I couldn’t quite figure out why. I soon discovered one big reason ­ - it was quietly downloading all 60MB of Vista SP1 in the background.

The ability to update software in the field might also lead developers to rush applications out sooner rather than later, even if a particular piece of software hasn’t been rigorously checked for bugs. After all, you can always fix any problems later, can’t you? Some experts suspect this is what happened with Vista, which was lacking drivers even for a common Intel motherboard chipset when it first shipped.

Then there is the subtle mission creep that has seen update services abused by some vendors to install things that users haven’t asked for. Microsoft is a culprit here too, pushing out as an “update” the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) notification tool that checks if your copy of Windows is properly licensed.

Apple has also been found guilty of this practice; its iTunes music service has an update function, but PC users recently found it offering to install the Windows version of Apple’s Safari browser as well.

Update facilities do provide a useful service, but if developers are going to start abusing them as a marketing tool or for other reasons, then they will become yet another problem that customers have to manage, instead of providing a solution.