Study: Windows Users Patch their OS Every 5 Days
Study: Windows Users Patch their OS Every 5 Days
Posted 03/05/2010 at 5:34am
| by Paul Lilly
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Do you download updates and plug up your Windows install every 5 days? According to security service vendor Secunia, such is the burden the average Windows user faces.
"It's completely unreasonable to expect users to master so many different patch mechanisms and spend so much time patching," said Thomas Kristensen, the chief security officer of Secunia
Secunia came by its numbers by analyzing the results of its Personal Software Inspector (PSI), a free tool that scans PCs and compiles a list of potentially vulnerable software. According to Secunia, half of those who ran the program in January had 66 or more programs from 22 or more different vendors on their machines, which was also concerning to the company.
"That's why we called for software vendors to create a unified patching standard last year," said Kristensen. "A few vendors said 'We want to hear more,' but a lot just ignored us or turned down the idea outright."
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fullur
March 05, 2010 at 1:42pm
One of the problems with studies like this is where they get their information. A person who has installed Secunia's PSI is not a typical Windows user. It's kind of like tracking browser usage by using the stats from a site that gives information about browser usage. You will not get accurate stats because you are not dealing with an average user base.
compro01
March 08, 2010 at 1:01pm
Yes, it is.
Updates for the OS, browser, flash, PDF reader, office suite, and all other apps you have installed, each with their own method of checking for, obtaining, and installing updates because windows has never bothered with a proper and well supported package manager.
Caboose
March 08, 2010 at 1:35pm
Um... If you have MS Office installed, you get updates whenever you either manually check, or automatically check for updates for Windows. In fact, any Microsoft app (except for games) are automatically obtained when you check for OS updates. Flash checks on its own every now and then, same with VLC, Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader, even FireFox automatically checks, and installs updates for itself and addons. Whenever I build or setup a PC for someone, I set the updartes to run atomatically in the background. Only time I ever get notified is if an update is found. I don't find it a burden at all. And I don't know many people that do.
Yes, a single software management system would be nice. I admit that, but the world of Microsoft Windows has far too many apps, developers, etc to really make something like that possible.
It'd be like herding cats to give them a bath... Impossible to do, and you'll just end up tired and in pain in the end!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Caboose
March 05, 2010 at 2:21pm
IT IS! All that clicking, and moving the mouse. And it's very taxing on your internet connection having to download a couple of patches. And your poor HDD and CPU!
OH THE HUMANITY!! Won't someone PLEASE think of the children (processes)
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
mls067
March 07, 2010 at 3:51pm
I now know why George Jetson was so stressed out after a day of button pushing!
HeartBurnKid
March 05, 2010 at 11:19am
... is package management. No dealing with a different updater for every program I use, each of them sitting in the system tray and sucking up resources; it all comes through the same package system.
Granted, patches are just as frequent through this system, but it's very much a "fire-and-forget" process.
Caboose
March 05, 2010 at 12:33pm
With XP, Vista and Win7, it's a one stop shop for any microsoft patches that are required for any MS apps installed (games excluded).
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
HeartBurnKid
March 05, 2010 at 2:31pm
... it's a one-stop shop for any patches, for any program, from any vendor that supports it. If a given product isn't in the official repositories, you can add the vendor's own repository in seconds, without having to run a separate update client for just that one vendor.
Caboose
March 05, 2010 at 2:37pm
fair enough
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Caboose
March 05, 2010 at 8:04am
I patch my system about twice a month. And usually only when I see the automatic update notification.
How long before Apple catches wind of this "study" and makes a commercial about it?
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
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