5 reasons you need to install WSUS 3.0 once it comes out of beta

This is assuming that you are already running the current version of WSUS. If you're not running WSUS with a company or private network of more than 10 computers, you really should consider it, especially if your bandwidth (personal or data) is already saturated.

#1. Easy to use cleanup of expired and/or superceded patches and removal of "stale" computers.

#2. Rule-based auto"magic" approval or disapproval based on settings you want. The best program feature to compare it to is the rule builder section of Outlook 98/200[0|3|7].

#3. Native and improved support for SQL 2005 / SQL 2005 Express. Mass changes in approvals/disapprovals run much faster, especially compared with the first release of WSUS or SUS.

#4. Migration of the administration page from a web page to a MMC snap-in. This really exploits the new features of MMC 3.0 nicely. It is a good example of what you can build, application interface-wise, with the added features of MMC 3.0. The bundled administration tools in Windows 2003 R2 were just the tip of the iceburg for MMC 3.0.

#5. Configurable e-mail notification of new patches, sync logs, and overall "health" status of all the systems that feed off the WSUS server.

This is all my humble opinion of course, but it should be yours too.