Peter Schott (4/17/2013)
I think that's one thing that is actually somewhat strong about the app-store/marketplace update model - the updates are done by the different companies. If they decide to push too many new updates that break functionality, they'll find themselves without a customer base to keep doing that. Yes, I'd love a "rollback" feature in those stores, but at the same time it's up to the developers to satisfy their customers so I can support that. It's definitely targeted at consumers.
I hear you, but there's an issue here. If you've purchased a service, breaking the service with a patch is an issue and there's little you can do, despite the contract that has been made with you. The ability to roll back one version would make sense here.
I don't see MS going this route for their major server products. They may bundle it in to Windows Update, but I can't see it going the way of the marketplace apps where you just get an update with no option to remove/rollback. That would break too many big customers and MS would find themselves in the position of losing customers rather than retaining them. I can see them doing it for the Modern/Metro apps as they aren't core to the OS functioning, though some may be useful. I can't see them doing this for server or OS level patches. Even their Surface RT patches for the OS and firmware go through Windows Update. Modern apps are updated through the store and I haven't seen too many major problems there (with the exception of one app introducing ads to their free version, which resulted in a bunch of negative feedback 🙂 ).
You'd think, but just this week we had Win 7 issues with patches (onsoftware.en.softonic.com/microsoft-recommends-uninstalling-faulty-windows-7-patch). This will happen with Win 8, WS2012, etc. Deliver enough patches and you'll make mistakes.
Right now there are multiple ways to update machines in Win 8. Windows Update, the Store, and maybe others. Right now there hasn't been a lot of consistency as MS tries to move from the desktop to a more Metro, cleaner style. I like the direction, but it appears to be done in Win 8 inconsistently. I worry that may carry through to the patching processes.