Microsoft releases a big bunch of bug fixes for older versions of Win10

[Karlston]

Yesterday, Microsoft released bug fixes for Windows 10 1607, 1703 and 1709, as well as the usual Previews for Win7, 8.1 and .NET. On Tuesday we got new versions of this month’s Win7 Monthly Rollup, likely in an attempt to fix the chick-and-egg Servicing Stack Update problem.

Dana Vollenweider (CC0)

Remember how patches always came on Tuesdays?

 

Looks like we’re back to getting patches – sometimes large patches – on random days of the week. Let’s look at them chronologically.

Windows 7 Servicing Stack tag team

Microsoft has a mess on its hands because the Win7 update installer isn’t smart enough to update itself before installing new updates. I talked about that last week. Those of you still using the, ahem, most popular version of Windows have been treated to a roller coaster ride of behind-the-scene antics trying to get this month’s Monthly Rollup chicken to match up with this month’s newly refurbished “KB 3177467-v2” Servicing Stack egg.

 

In theory, the October patches were supposed to correct the mistakes caused by the September Monthly Rollup. Susan Bradley has details on AskWoody.

 

After several days of hide-and-seek, Microsoft finally settled on a preferred approach by re-issuing this month’s KB 4462923 Monthly Rollup on Oct. 15, with modified metadata (which is to say, the rules that dictate when a patch is installed).

 

As @abbodi86 explains, the latest version really makes things weird.

 

Will Microsoft get this sorted out next month? Remains to be seen.

New cumulative updates for Win10 1607, 1703 and 1709

No, we didn’t get new cumulative updates for Win10 version 1803. And the cumulative updates for the still-yanked 1809 are buried in the Windows Insider Slow Ring mess.

 

But what we did get are substantial bug fixes for 1607, 1703 and 1709.

• KB 4462932 brings Win10 1709 up to build 16299.755. It appears to be a kitchen sink bunch of bug fixes, although I’m surprised they weren’t caught in the similarly massive batch of re-released bug fixes from Sept. 26, the last Wednesday of the month.
• KB 4462939 brings Win10 1703 up to build 15063.1418. It offers another dozen-or-so bug fixes. Yes, version 1703 Home and Pro officially hit end-of-life on Oct. 9.
• KB 4462928 brings Win10 1607 (the Long-Term Servicing Channel) up to build 14393.2580. It still has the Key Management Service host key problem that was introduced at the end of August.

Previews for Win7, 8.1 and .NET

Our regular third-Tuesday Monthly Rollup previews appeared on the Third Thursday. But that’s OK because this month we have five Tuesdays. That's sure to confuse anyone intent on re-writing Pope Gregory’s calendar.

• KB 4462927 is the preview of the Monthly Rollup for Win7 and Server 2008 R2 that we should see for real in November. It still has the NIC-killing bug we’ve seen since May.
• KB 4462921 brings the Preview of November’s Monthly Rollup to Win 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 machines. There’s a reason Win81 is still the most stable version of Windows, by far.
• KB 4459929, 4459930 and 4459931 are Previews of the November .NET patches. As of Friday morning, it looks like the associated KB pages are all down.  

 

Unless you enjoy testing Microsoft’s errors for them – or you have a product that needs to be braced for next month’s fallout – all of these patches are well worth avoiding.

 

Join us for the perpetual patch bash on the AskWoody Lounge.

 

Source: Microsoft releases a big bunch of bug fixes for older versions of Win10 (Computerworld - Woody Leonhard)

[straycat19]

2 hours ago, Karlston said:

Unless you enjoy testing Microsoft’s errors for them – or you have a product that needs to be braced for next month’s fallout – all of these patches are well worth avoiding.

 

You would think that if anyone at Microsoft had any common sense they would quit releasing bug after bug and settle down and make one version of Windows 10 safe and secure.  But they haven't even been able to do that with Windows 7 yet, since they are still releasing fixes for it.  You really have to be a mental case to run Windows 10 as your primary operating system.  Ubuntu just released a special version of Mate made especially for two models of mini laptops so users are no longer stuck with Windows 10 on them.  If you don't want to run Windows  7 or 8.1 then Linux is the OS of choice, not Windows 10.  Microsoft's threats of not supporting an OS isn't a bad thing, that's the greatest thing that could happen since they won't screw it up any longer.  Since I have been running Windows since version 1.03 I am sure of one thing, people at Microsoft couldn't find their asses with both hands, a map, and a seeing eye dog.