Light shed on security updates

Were you wondering why Apple issued so many software and security updates in November? Chances are you didn't take the time to unravel it all, but the serious players at MacJournals did. This excerpt from their detailed report on Apple's Security Update 2005-009 and security vulnerabilities in OS X 10.4.3 tries to explain what happened and why. The authors walk you through a dense thicket of gnarly facts, which some of you may appreciate.

The rest of us will be most interested in the authors' conclusion — that Apple doesn't give its customers enough information to make informed decisions about updating.  The authors offer specific suggestions, like chucking the old euphemism "improves reliability" when describing what an update does, and giving updates meaningful names that make their purpose clear. Since I couldn't say it better, I give you their words:

"Apple's update language screams, at top volume, 'We don't want to tell you too much about this update because we're embarrassed about it.'
This does a disservice to the majority of people that are reluctant to install mysterious updates on working systems. If each of Apple's November updates had been clearly named, described, and presented,
everyone would have known what to expect. And imagine how much time the world could spend on more fruitful pursuits if no one ever had to ask what an Apple update does."