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This guy seems to be most upset that his XP machine interrupts him with updates.
Somebody should tell him that he can turn that feature off and do his updates manually. Some CIO.

Poser, I just reread through the entire WindowsXP section of Halamka's article and do not find anything like that in it.

Can you help me by pointing me to the section where he complains about being upset with being interupted with updates and where he indicates he doesn't know what to do about that issue???

Workarounds: Halamka made two decisions that helped him prevent annoying operating system and application slowdowns, lock-ups and interruptions that cramp his computing style.
Having used XP since 2002, he's noticed that the more applications he installs, the slower and more unstable the operating system becomes. So to keep it in tip-top shape, he's keeping his software stack simple. He vowed to install as few additional applications as possible and to install only Microsoft manufactured and branded software at that (except for Firefox).
The other action he took was to create two separate log-ins: one with administrator privileges, which he would use on the rare occasions when he wants to install new software, and one with no administrator privileges, which he uses on a daily basis. The latter prevents websites he visits from downloading Active X controls. Halamka says these Active X controls, in addition to creating security holes, can introduce the software conflicts and hardware incompatibilities that cause crashes and slowdowns. The user-only log-in also prevents his computer from automatically downloading software updates from Microsoft at inopportune moments, like during presentations.
By taking those steps, Halamka says he's achieved "a version of XP that actually hasn't crashed in 30 days. "As long as I keep [the OS] in that totally static state, it'll be OK."

This is the only mention of "interuptions" in the entire article.

From the description of how he set up his Windows laptop, it looks to me, someone who works in enterprise IT, that he KNOWS what he is doing.

You dismiss the entire article by putting up a "Strawman," misrepresenting what the article says, and then you shift to an "Ad hominem" attack on the CIO of an organization with at least 18,000 computers. Echo Talon is busy using Red Herrings...