Windows automatic updates

I always knew that allowing anyone unfettered access to my computer would be a mistake. Even Microsoft. But allowing automatic updates does exactly that.

They did another automated update to my Windows 8 box yesterday. And iTunes stopped working. Again.

So I did a rollback to the system as of a week ago, and then I disabled automated updates.

What do I lose?

Mostly, I lose security fixes, fixing holes in Windows 8, and I lose the thing that detects malware. But I have a firewall, and that should stop external people getting into my Windows box better than the Microsoft efforts. And I don't use that computer for surfing the web or email, so it isn't going to see any malware anyway.

But why, I hear you asking, am I running Windows at all? That's because there's three "must-use" applications (iTunes, GSAK and Memory Map) that I use for geocaching, and they'll only work under Windows (I've tried using the WINE Windows emulator, and that wasn't good enough).

So, fed up with Microsoft's updates stopping iTunes from working, I've disabled automated updates.