MBSA
It has been a long time coming, but Microsoft Baseline Analyser 2.0 may take away some of the headache of keeping machine(s) up to date with patches, and ensure that machines meet a minumum security level.
MBSA 2.0 was available on the Microsoft Beta Programme (now closed) - I guess it will be released in the next few months.
Upon starting MBSA, you are presented with the following screen
I am only interested in scanning my computer so click "Pick a computer to scan"
Picking all options top scan, I am given the following result
Upon first glance, it would appear that MBSA combines the scanning functionality of Windows/Office update, IISLockdown and other functionality, and will be useful when used in conjunction with Windows Server Update Services
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/updateservices/default.mspx
Microsoft Update
Replacing Windows update, Microsoft offers a unified patch management system for the desktop user (it is a subset of Windows Update Services), combining office/windows/SQL and Exchange updates. As can be seen from the link
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us
the service is now in it's six iteration. It appear to work reasonably OK with Windows updates (although the page only loads around 50% of the time) - I've not had a chance to test against the other types yet