Micro$oft Update Alternatives + Top Ten Reasons NOT to use Windows Update!

How many of you out there are not fond of the Microsoft Update site? I am sure there are many of you. How many of you are fed up with the Genuine Advantage nonsense every time you want to make sure you are up to date? Not to mention if you have a “legally questionable” Windows or Office installation. Don’t fret, there are other methods for getting your updates so you can stay patched up. I will talk about two of my favorites.

The first one I like is called Autopatcher. Every few months they create a core distribution, almost like a service pack, which contains all previous patches. Then every month they come out with a big update that you install to keep your system patched up. Autopatcher is really nice if you don’t like to reboot. How many times have you built a new machine and installed Windows from scratch, then tried to patch it up? You have to reboot about 3 or 4 times before everything is patched up! With Autopatcher, everything patches at once, and you only have to reboot once! Autpatcher is also nice because it comes with some cool, optional, tweaks and other apps for a more enjoyable Windows experience. If you want to download the latest Autopatcher core and monthly updates directly from Autopatcher’s website, they only offer it as a bit torrent. If you are not fond of bit torrent like me, you can slow download the installers from FTP here.

My other favorite is Windiz Updates. I mentioned them once in a previous post, but never really got into it. Windiz Updates is good if you want to completely remove Internet Explorer out of your browsing equation. If you go to Microsoft’s update site, they require you to use Internet Explorer because they use active x controls which Firefox doesn’t support. Windiz Updates allows you to use other browsers including Firefox, Netscape, Firebird, Opera, and K-Meleon. If you still need convincing, they offer these ten reasons why you should use them: