Windows Updates?? Why all at Once?

[Flysofree]

I only install the ones listed as important .. But why does Microsoft wait until they have 13 Important updates updates to be done all at once? It would seem highly unlikely they would discover 13 important updates at one time.. Security updates...to my knowledge are almost always the ones on top.

[GameTheory]

I only install the ones listed as important .. But why does Microsoft wait until they have 13 Important updates updates to be done all at once? It would seem highly unlikely they would discover 13 important updates at one time.. Security updates...to my knowledge are almost always the ones on top.
To annoy you less than if you had one or two every damn day...

[Canarsie]

I only install the ones listed as important .. But why does Microsoft wait until they have 13 Important updates updates to be done all at once? It would seem highly unlikely they would discover 13 important updates at one time.. Security updates...to my knowledge are almost always the ones on top.

Patch Tuesday

Patch Tuesday is always the second Tuesday of each month.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/termsp/g/patch-tuesday.htm

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What is Patch Tuesday?


http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-patch-tuesday.htm

[DJofSD]

I only install the ones listed as important .. But why does Microsoft wait until they have 13 Important updates updates to be done all at once? It would seem highly unlikely they would discover 13 important updates at one time.. Security updates...to my knowledge are almost always the ones on top.
First, I would ignore the labels. Any update to software could be construed as important in the correct context. Yes, some are more important that others, however, in order to decide which changes you would not install based upon some arbitrary label does not make any sense unless you know a lot more about the update. In my opinion, Microsoft is just paying lip service with the descriptions. Those descriptions do not provide enough information, especially for the normal user, to decide if this update is needed or not.

Next, these updates might be needed to be installed in order for another update in the future to be installed. In other words there are dependencies which must be satisfied before newer updates can be installed. What might have appeared to be not so important 3 months ago could very well be needed before a really and truly important update can be installed.

As to the number of updates, an operating system is a pretty complex piece of work. Leaving aside my personal opinions, I'm surprised there's not more. Given just the number of different items which goes into running Windows, 13 is not a very big number at all.

One of the axioms of computer science is it is impossible to prove a program is bug free -- much more so for an operating system. Given that bugs are always going to exist, receiving bug fixes is expected. Add to that new features are being added all the time, coupled with the axiom, and you can expect there to be regular parade of patches. It's the nature of the beast.