Patch sizes vary and may be as small as some kilobytes or go as high as a hundred megabytes and higher the larger the size, the larger the change the patch is bound to do. Typically, when media, such as pictures and sounds, are changed or added instead of program, files become rather large. This is usually seen in patches designed to update or modify computer games.
Unlike software designed for initial installation process, patches generally are faster to apply. Some patches may be acquired from the manufacturers and sent to users in diskettes or discs, while others may be downloaded through the Internet. Patches that are downloadable could take longer to acquire depending on the connection speed.
Most patches that are designed for operating systems and software for computer servers are created to fix important holes in the security system. Some operating systems allow automatic update or semi-automatic updating that allows the continual feed of patches whenever there are changes done by their authors.
A lot of people, especially those in the corporate world, decline getting totally automatic updates because there were many experiences of patches...