Last time I used the OS disabling updates just didn't work reliably, at least not with a clear and simple setting(let's be honest, this helping link you posted should not need to exist). Deferring updates will only work for some time, until Windows 10 will just update it without warning the next time you wake it up from suspend, resetting your session with multiple reboots. This behaviour alone is inexcusable, no matter how the settings look.

Automatic updates are unacceptable for me, and that's not because I don't do updates(quite the opposite), it's just that I expect the behaviour to be predictable without nasty surprises, and with Windows 10 that became a gamble. I never knew if an update could suddenly run without my permission and wreck the OS(which happened multiple times to me, leading to some stressful weekends).

Maybe not everyone shares that opinion, but I rarely get annoyed by something more than software that tries to be smarter than the user, and automatic updates are just one part of that.

Does this actually work? I tried (permanently) disabling updates on my Surface Go (running Windows 10) a few months ago but kept failing. The worst thing is, you don't know if what you did works or not, because you need to wait until the next update :D

I've also seen user experience reports in the wild that say, “I tried those settings but I still had a forced update halfway through my Big Important Presentation”.

I haven't had that myself so far. Hate to say it works on my machine but that's been my experience to date.

Those users invariably have been blindly clicking away the update notification and have picky themselves to blame.

Clicking away the dialogue should never trigger the update. It's the opposite of what the whole UI of Windows has always worked like.

And you're wrong either way - I've had forced updates wreck Windows without seeing a single notification or update setting beforehand.

A work mandates machines with locked down control is always going to be awful. The machine in my house that is in this category gets opened every week or two for it’s mega updates, then closed until the next batch.

Agreed, the update experience for anything used occasionally or when someone else controls the update cycle is going to be miserable.

I've experienced the same with work-issued laptops, and also have an iMac I boot once every few months to be met with 20 software update nags from the OS and various apps. Probably means I should sell the iMac.