<p>According to a study by Secunia, which makes software to detect and update third party application software, " [o]n a typical PC, users have to master 25 different update mechanisms to patch the 75 programs on it, in order to remediate vulnerabilities". Few of them are totally automatic, and so many users end up with vulnerable, unpatched programs on their systems.</p><p>Microsoft started to get their act together on updates about 10 years ago, steadily making Windows Update more automatic and more mandatory.</p><p>It struck me at the time, now seemingly a long time ago, that Microsoft was in a position to help improve the updating of third party applications by letting them use the Windows Update mechanism. It wouldn't be necessary for Microsoft to actually deliver these updates from their own servers, but to open up the Windows Update process to call updaters from the third parties. Windows Update could use special code signing keys to make sure that only vendors they allowed in got to deliver updates through Windows Update, and also to give Microsoft a way to revoke update status from those updates.</p><p>The benefits, I felt, were substantial: Users would have exactly one interface through which updates would be delivered and they could be trained to look for those updates. The fact that they came, at least in part, from Windows should make them more credible.</p><p><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-a-small-first-step-to-fixing-the-software-update-problem-7000022663/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/software/3476414/how-to-use-windows-8/?olo=rss">How to use Windows 8: 10 tips to get you started on Windows 8</a> (PC Advisor)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dLgPcytb4Nz0TjMTMkVuXxUL-IKRM&ned=us">2 additional articles.</a></p>