Although Windows 7 is designed to minimize security risks out of the box, attackers are constantly developing new security vulnerabilities. To adapt to changing security risks, improve the reliability of Windows, and add support for new hardware, you must deploy updates to your client computers.

In homes and small offices, Windows automatically downloads the newest critical updates from Microsoft, allowing computers to stay up to date without any administrative effort. This approach does not scale to enterprises, which must manage thousands of computers. In enterprises, IT departments need to test updates to ensure that they do not cause widespread compatibility problems. In addition, having each computer download the same update across the Internet would waste your bandwidth, potentially affecting your network performance when Microsoft releases large updates.