Linked by Adam S on Tue 28th Sep 2004 22:29 UTC
I've been using Windows as a network administrator for just over 6 years now. I've used NT4 servers, 2000 servers, and Windows 2003, and there has been a tremendous improvement with each version. There are still some things that drive me nuts in my job, though, and this is a chronicle of the top five.
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On Windows Update:
Firstly, if you want to automate Windows Update _at all_, you should be using SUS. That removes the need to manually run Windows Update on your servers. It can also automatically reboot the machines after patch installation, if that's what you want to do.
Secondly, in general you can install multiple updates at once without rebooting. True, there are some that must be installed separately (and are clearly indicated as such), but they aren't common and most of them can be bundled in together, installed all at once and only require one reboot for multiple items.
Licensing:
I agree completely. There needs to be a single place admins can go to check that their licensing obligations are being met. I imagine this is what the Licensing Service is *supposed* to do, but in practice it's so flaky as to be worthless - most Windows admins I've ever talked to refuse to use it (it's not actually required for anything to work, AFAIK).
Bundled software (WMP, OE, etc):
I really don't get why people get their undies in such a twist about this. The amount of disk space used is insignificant on any remotely modern machine. No processor time or memory is used unless the programs are actually run.
These applications are included by default because largely the same codebase is used. I'm pretty sure, if you really want to, you can completely uninstall them with a little bit of fiddling in the INF files, but really I don't see the point - they don't do anything if you're not using them.