One concerningly large bonus that many new GNU/Linux users cite when switching over is that they don't have to be bothered with automatic updates (or updating at all) anymore. It's sad because automatic updates (and updates in general) are actually a really good thing when executed right, however Microsoft does such a piss poor job at it that it's left a sour taste of automatic updates for near everyone that uses Windows.

I think there are roughly 3 major issues with how Windows handles updating, here's what they can learn from GNU/Linux

One huge problem is the fact that on Windows, application updates, system updates, and driver updates are all separated from eachother. Windows Update doesn't update your installed applications, and rarely updates your drivers. Usually for your apps and drivers, you have to rely on them having a built in automatic updater to update them. If they don't have a built in updater, you have to update them manually which can be time consuming depending on how many applications those are. Even if you use something like winget as a package manager, it doesn't integrate with Windows Update so you can't update everything at the same time even if all your applications are installed via winget.

Compared to Windows, updating on GNU/Linux is much easier. Chances are on GNU/Linux, you have probably installed everything from a package manager (or on easier distros) a graphical software store that acts as a frontend for a package manager. There is no real distinction made between system updates, driver updates, and software updates, so they can all be updated at the same time. Depending on the default configuration of your particular distro or the method you use in your package manager, it may update some things that have a chance to cause system instability after a restart, or it can be all updated at once without a restart unless it's something like your init system or the Linux kernel.

Much of the time, updates to Windows contain antifeautres. This can range from AI ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ generators, to more telemetry that collect information to profit off you, to updates who's purpose is to tell you to upgrade to the latest version of Windows. These are often times also hidden within other important and genuinely beneficial system updates. By updating, you are often sacrificing privacy for security. Since Windows is proprietary software, it is often unknown exactly everything that a particular update might do.

Most GNU/Linux distros have no incentive to profit off your data, and most of the FOSS contained within their repositories don't either. Development is generally directed by the users, for the users, rather than by large soulless corporate entities trying to profit off you. The result is that updates are almost always (except in the case of regressions - which happen on every OS) going to be a net positive, introducing actual features that people want rather than what makes some corporation the most money. That is how updates should work, not forcing garbage that nobody wants down their throats like Microsoft does.

For Windows Home edition, you can't disable the automatic update feature, you can only delay it. Combined with the last point, many people don't like forced updating because updates tend to introduce antifeautres. Windows Update also tends to require reboots for pretty much every update it installs. Windows will often nag you to reboot, than eventually force a reboot once enough time has passed.

As a general rule of thumb, automatic updates should be as out of your way as possible or else they cease to be truly automatic. Distros that have automatic updates enabled by default (such as Fedora) usually at worst just give you a little notification that says that updates are ready to be installed after they are done downloading, and in that case only if you have it configured (which Fedora does by default for system stability) to not install certain types of updates until reboot. Automatic updates generally stay out of your face, and you rarely notice when they are even happening.

Updates are one of the big reasons why I avoid Windows like the plague on my tech-illiterate family's computers, as easier GNU/Linux systems (such as Fedora Silverblue) are just flat out better than Windows in this regard. Even for people who are tech literate, most GNU/Linux systems will save you much time and effort in regards to automatic updates compared to Windows. With how poorly Microsoft has implemented updates, this is far from all there is to talk about in regards to this topic so I will be writing an extended version of this post on my blog that should drop in around a day or so.