Updates are part of every OS. The big difference is the intrusiveness of updates
in Windows and the sheer number of updates. In Windows you need to re-boot for
many updates and when you decline, it nags you every ten minutes until you give
in. It is very in your face and you lose productivity waiting for updates to
complete and for rebooting. In contrast, in Linux you can even update the kernel
and while it says you need to reboot afterwards, you can ignore it and work for
days or weeks without rebooting. All you lose is the advantage of the update.
I rarely boot into Windows because it is at least 10 minutes before I can do
anything. This is because I use it so seldom that there are tons of updates
(we're talking weeks or months between Windows uses) and some need to re-boot,
guaranteed. Some have even re-booted without my wanting them to. This is very
heavy handed. They just say, Windows will re-boot now and it does its thing,
disregarding the user's needs. There simply is no question posed. Sometimes
after I have re-booted once, it will even want to do it a second time. This is
frustrating in the extreme. However, if I did use Windows regularly, I suppose
that there would not be so many at once.
In Linux you can shut off updates or just ignore the reminder in the system
tray. The number of updates will grow, but there is no necessity, unless it is a
major security flaw, which do come from time to time.