Windows Update web site

Windows Update web site
Windows Update version 3 in Windows 98

Windows Update was introduced with the launch of Windows 98 as a web site. A link to Windows Update on the Start Menu gave access to additional downloads for the operating system. At the time of Windows 98's release, Windows Update offered additional desktop themes, games, device driver updates, and optional components such as NetMeeting.[1] The initial focus of Microsoft's marketing of Windows Update was on free add-ons and new technologies Windows, and security fixes for Outlook Express, Internet Explorer and other applications appeared later, as well as access to beta versions of upcoming Microsoft software, most notably Internet Explorer 5. Fixes to Windows 98 to resolve the Year 2000 problem were distributed using Windows Update in December 1998. Microsoft attributed the sales success of Windows 98 in part to Windows Update.[2]

Windows Update requires Internet Explorer or a third-party web browser that uses Microsoft's MSHTML layout engine. This necessity stems from the use of an ActiveX control to house the software that is executed on the user's computer. While the underlying implementation details have changed from version to version, its basic purpose of scanning the user's computer to see what operating system components and software is installed, and comparing the versions of those components with what is offered by Windows Update. The ActiveX component then interfaces with Windows Installer in order to install or update those components, and to report the success or failure of those installations back to Microsoft's servers.

The first version of the Windows Update web site (usually referred to as "v3") did not require any personally identifiable information to be sent to Microsoft. In order for the v3 ActiveX control to determine what updates were needed, the entire list of available software on Windows Update was downloaded to the user's computer when they visited the Windows Update web site. As the number of updates offered by Windows Update grew, this resulted in performance concerns. Arie Slob, writing for the Windows-help.net newsletter in March 2003, noted that the size of the update list had exceeded 400KB, which caused delays of more than a minute for dial-up users.[3]

Windows Update v4, released in conjunction with Windows XP in 2001, changed this by having the ActiveX control submit a list of the hardware components to Microsoft's servers, which then returns a shortened list of device drivers that are available for that machine. It also narrowed down the list of available updates for the operating system and related components by sending details of what operating system version, service pack, and locale are installed. German technology web site tecchannel.de published an analysis of the Windows Update communication protocol in February 2003, which received wide attention on technology web sites. The report, which was the first to contain extensive details of how the Windows Update communication protocol worked, also discovered that the make and model of the computer, the amount of free disk space, and the Windows product key.[4]