Auto Update Equals Auto Exasperation

So Papa calls last night and has a full 30 Minute spew about his new, ADSL connected computer. After sorting through the confusion, I discover the evil culprit….Auto Update.

Case 1) ‘Whats Java and why do I care?’ So the Java Runtime environment was installed by default on Papa’s new pc. Fair enough, you need it to do lots of cool stuff on the internet. The problem started when the JRE decided to check the internet for an update and ask Papa if he wanted to upgrade. Now Papa has decided (sensibly) to say ‘no’ to everything he doesn’t understand (most things) but he still found the whole thing confusing (was it a virus?, was it adware? does he need it?).

Case 2) ‘Whats Adobe reader?’ Basically same scenario, Adobe auto updater this time but it was also tangled up with hotmail…Mrs Papa saves a pdf file local and then wants to forward the mail on with the document, double clicks the file, adobe reader checks for update, asks the question….Total confusion.

I am a power user, and am in front of a PC a lot. I think auto-update is cool because I like things to take care of themselves. but Papa (and a lot of people) just want their computer to be quiet and only do things when they ask it to do something. There is enough crap to worry about with Adware popups and scam emails, why should legitimate software add to this burden with auto-update confusion.