For those who have made the switch to Windows 10, there are some changes to how the new operating system updates are handled.
While users were previously notified of the availability of updates and were prompted to install them, these changes are now made automatically. Most Windows 10 users are likely unaware of this change because the only notification from Microsoft is a brief line in the licensing agreement that states users will “receive automatic downloads without additional notice.”
Microsoft doesn’t have any nefarious intentions (or at least we hope they don’t) by making this change; its intent seems to keep the most up-to-date version of the operating system on users’ devices.
There are, however, some potential drawbacks to having automatic updates without user knowledge. While the updates make it easier for Microsoft to keep up with changing technology, knowing its users are basically all on the same page and developers have a consistent target audience, these updates can potentially cause systems to interact differently with other hardware devices that aren’t part of the updates.
A particular printer’s driver, for instance, may lose functionality with an automatic update, and affected users would just be dumbfounded as to what happened, ultimately having to replace that hardware device.
Although Microsoft isn’t making any settings changes widely known, there is a way to configure your device to only install security updates automatically. This keeps your PC or tablet safe from the latest security threats while keeping your computer system as stable as possible.
Unfortunately, this option is not available to users running the Home version of Windows 10. Thus far, only the Enterprise Edition provides this capability, which is an important consideration for business owners.