back to article Microsoft cracks open patch mega-bundles for biz admins, will separate security, stability fixes

Microsoft has added yet another option to its monthly patch jumble for IT departments. The software goliath said that beginning with the Windows 10 Creators Update (aka Version 1703), which is now rolling out, admins have the option to install performance and stability patches separate from security fixes. The new bundles …

  1. Michael Habel

    Yes well without digging too deep into the things MicroSoft have deemed 'Critical' in the near past. (*cough* GWX *cough*). Would you still care trust them to have your best interests, instead of theirs? In their hearts.

    1. Mark 85

      I suspect that this is spot on but only one issue they're covering. The other is regular none IT corporate users (home types) are still the testers. Make them download all the crap and see what breaks before upsetting the corporates.

      Second thought.. probably more like they'll want to upgrade all of us who haven't gone to Win10 on of these days in the future and they don't want us to not upgrade. For some value of "upgrade" that is.

    2. Nolveys

      In their hearts.

      In their what?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Correction!

    The second Tuesday of each month will continue to be known to Microsoft as "Update Tuesday" and to everyone else as "Taco Tuesday" or if you are over 60 years of age; "Two For Tuesday" which is where old-timey "radio stations" would play a "song", over the analog "airwaves" not our beloved Intratubes, then immediately after that another song by the same artist, while simultaneously saying the words "two for Tuesday" over the song while it plays. This provides a nice break for the "disc jockey" to go for a bathroom break, or contemplate the failures in life that led them to this career.

    That is all.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Correction!

      Never heard of either. Your "everyone" might be territorially limited.

  3. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
    Linux

    Hells bells

    Is this a sign that m$ are listening to customer complaints instead saying "fuck you"

    Or is it more of a sign that they're going to be releasing major updates to win10 every 6 months and dont want to completely piss everyone off all at once

    In any case.. its too late here,... see icon

    1. J.Smith

      Pah! Yeah, well! They're still evil. Win98 all the way, does what I want an OS to do. They'll have to do better than that to get me.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        98?

        No thanks...

        98SE, now you're talking.

        1. Michael Habel

          Probably second ONLY to Win2k.

          1. PickledAardvark

            Perhaps we have positive memories* about Win2k (NT 5) because Microsoft killed it off before there was time to release a lousy update.

            Or maybe there was a lousy update, Windows XP RTM (NT 5.1), which upset almost everyone at the time. Whilst attempting to maintain compatibility with Windows 98, MS created a monster that offended those who wanted ease of use and those who wanted security. Windows XP SP2 was such a major rewrite that it deserved a new NT version number -- but that would have annoyed the marketing people.

            XP SP2 was a reputation changer for Microsoft. The company had to change its products and they tried to show it in a big way. Following the Vista debacle. MS created Windows 7, a version that most businesses and consumers wanted to adopt.

            Somehow, I don't think that Microsoft perceive Windows 10 in the same way as Windows 7 or XP SP2. They are still fiddling around, not having learned the lessons from Windows 8/8.1.

            * I occasionally wear my Win2k Rapid Deployment Program (sic) polo shirt.

      2. dmacleo

        WinME

        have fun... :)

    2. a_yank_lurker

      Re: Hells bells

      Probably more of damage control to keep from sinking. This smells like Slurp is catching hell from enterprise users. Thus an attempt to slow the flooding on the Titanic. I think extremely rapid and short support life of Bloat 10 releases will cause more long term damage than the patching issues. Most businesses need reasonably current technology but not the bleeding edge. In fact stability is more important than the last 'feature'. Whenever USB 4 or something similar rolls out, USB, USB2, and USB3 devices will still work just fine.

    3. ph0b0s
      Flame

      Re: Hells bells

      "Is this a sign that m$ are listening to business complaints instead saying "fu3k you"

      Corrected it for you. M$ are still not listening and saying "fu3k you" to non business users. To me this is worse that not listening. It means that they are aware that they have a problem, but only business users get a lifeline.

      Windows 10 is really turning into a two tier OS, with how it works for home users and how it works for business users. I know previous versions of Windows had these two tiers, but I don't think it has been to this level before. And before people say that we should be grateful as it was free. Well is is not free anymore and this treatment of home users while asking full OS price is pretty bad.

      And yes it would be great to move linux, if it supported all the games I play without having to go through emulator overhead, etc.

      1. Michael Habel
        Linux

        Re: Hells bells Re: Games

        Perhaps it's time to wrap up the Ones you are currently playing and just jump ship. If you are only 1/16ths as valuable to Epic, EA Bethesda etc... They will get the message And push for Valve or their own Linux Service. Or in turn just go outta business. If your just gonna wait for these Companies to make the hard choice for you. Then don't complain about being stuck on Windows

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hells bells

      "Is this a sign that m$ are listening to customer complaints instead saying "fuck you""

      No its a sign that they understand that Enterprise use of the OS is what keeps them alive so they will "Allow" them some wiggle room but still FU*K individual users or SME who use retail copies of software as they are not large enough to be a volume or enterprise customer.

  4. chivo243 Silver badge

    Interesting, but too late

    MS has given us the nice little nudge, and we felt it, Windows on the Desktop in our shop is reading the writing on the wall. I think 2017 will be the last year we support MS on the Desktop...

  5. bombastic bob Silver badge
    Trollface

    oh, wow, whoopee twiddle, it's chocolate and vanilla now!

    two new flavors! AMA-ZING!

    I oughta give it the flying fickle finger of fate award while I'm at it, but at least it's getting the WHOOPEE! award, complete with twiddling finger. OK it's the index finger. For now.

    regardless, it's still a FORCED UPDATE being pounded up pushed onto your computer.

    I didn't see in the article whether Home and Pro users get these "flavor" options or not. Probably not. Yeah, for the rest of us "masses and minions", we're damn lucky if we get lubrication beforehand...

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just a sign...

    Just a sign that MS have "settled on" (in agreement with Security Services) all the Telemetry they need to Slurp, for the time being. They can now just offer security updates, because they have all the data they need to construct a picture of you, via the feature updates to date, to provide a MS conduited data feed out.

    Mainstream "McDonalds" Windows 10 should now be seen as the equivalent of "benign" CCTV covering public areas, now also sitting inside your PC. They (powers that be) are moving the definition of "public" as what happens between the keyboard/mouse "interactions" and what appears on the screen.

    The equivalent of saying, anything you do on your PC should be "acceptable", as though that PC was located in a communal room within the home, where other family members would be present/have distant line of eye visibility, also have access/use of that machine.

    It's Amber Rudd/Theresa May's moral equivalent of putting Easter back into Cadbury's (Easter) Egg Hunt, ignoring all the negatives of such daft policy such as Blackmail/Bribery/Opportunism and general supression of expression resulting in knowing such data is been collected/visible to others. But the real reason, she's a clueless authoritarian after your data.

  7. Naselus

    So...

    the 'new policy' is 'let's go back to the policy we always used until the last 12 months'?

  8. PickledAardvark

    Corporate IT problem solving after a Windows update

    In the old days, MS used to release a dozen individual patches each month. I despatched the updates to test devices -- test environments and to real users trying to get their jobs done. Some patches -- e.g. anything related to .NET framework -- were tested intensively. If something broke, I had to determine whether it was patch related or other change related. And with all of that testing, I still discovered problems on live PCs months later.

    With the switch to two release bundles, testing (or the identification of a problem update) becomes easier; the security bundle or the improvement bundle broke something, or something else did it. My problem solving is also easier -- I won't release the bundle that broke things. Until I work things out.

    Unfortunately, I have agreements with customers that I will provide them with Windows updates. I have signed contracts with financial trade bodies promising that my PCs fit their regulations. If I can't install an old fashioned individual fix, I can expect perseverance on their part. If I can't install a bundle -- and a later bundle won't install as a consequence -- I'm heading for trouble.

    My software suppliers promise fixes if I have a problem; one of my suppliers is Microsoft and one of their hotfixes took 18 months with no guarantee that the fix changes would survive other security patches.

  9. Tezfair
    Happy

    My computer says no

    No matter how many times I attempt to go to 1703, the computer has a hissy fit and refuses. Maybe it knows something I don't and is protecting me from future torture?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    BOFH still can't manage an evergreen estate? In 2017?

    What a bunch of zoomers if they can't automate regression testing and patching!

  11. Novex

    Typical...

    Businesses using Enterprise versions of Win 10 seem to be allowed to stop an update completely if they don't want it, and can stop all (or nearly all) of the telemetry, but consumers are considered to be fodder for advertising and constant destabilizing updates.

    I'll stick to Linux Mint and Win 7.

  12. doke

    pendulum

    The pendulum is starting to swing back. I feel like I'm in a pit...

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