Posted on 08/17/2016 12:33:22 PM PDT by upchuck
Starting in October, patches will be cumulative and Win7/8.1 customers will effectively cede control of their PCs to Microsoft
Windows 7 and 8.1 have had a good run, but that's about to come to a close. According to new guidelines, Microsoft will start rolling out Windows 7 and 8.1 (as well as Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2) patches in undifferentiated monthly blobs. The patches will be cumulative, which eliminates the need to exercise judgment in selecting the patches you want. At the same time, though, the new approach severely hampers your ability to recover from bad patches -- and it allows Microsoft to put anything it wants on your Win7/8.1 PC.
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To a first approximation, Windows 7 and 8.1 customers have two choices: Stop updating entirely or accept everything Microsoft ships. There are some nuances: Admins for Win 7 and 8.1 PCs attached to an update server will be able to independently juggle the security and nonsecurity blobs, while Home users get both security and nonsecurity patches together. Monthly Flash updates and .Net cumulative updates will roll out independently.
It's going to take Microsoft a while to fold all of its old patches into the new scheme, but by and large, starting in October it's Microsoft's way or the highway.
As you might expect, many longtime Windows 7 devotees (present company included) are livid. After years of picking and choosing patches based on their KB numbers, Microsoft is taking full control of the billion-or-so Windows machines that aren't yet absorbed into the Win10 fold. If one of the new patches breaks something, your only choice is binary: Remove all of the patches and wait a month for Microsoft to fix the bad one, or suck it up and live with the problem.
(Excerpt) Read more at infoworld.com ...
I’d do that but my AV program (ESET) complains when it detects the OS needs updated.
.
Windows 10 is awesome.
You people are silly.
Run from Windows 10! RUUUUUNN It’s Eeeeeeeevil, and it wants to eat your cat!
Don’t know if MSFT will extend the “free” Win 10. To be honest, I don’t care. I’m happy with Win 7. Have zero desire to get involved with Win 10. This article and others like it explain my reasoning.
Our IT was insistent that we NOT upgrade from 7 to 10 (they may have even turned off the update using Group Policy, but I had already installed Never10). They had the foresight to realize the automatic upgrades would be terrible.
When I finally get 10, it will be a new OS image for my laptop. I just purchased it last fall, so it was made for 10; I don’t expect many problems.
Guess which one I chose.
Naziware and more so every day.
They spy on you like you wouldn’t believe.
They remove your Freedom to control your computer.
They trick and force upgrades to whatever they insist.
Counter measures only for those technically sophisticated and willing to invest a bunch of time and those countermeasures are only partially successful.
Linux: free, fast, secure - not Naziware.
FWIW, I’m running ESET version 9.0.396.0, virus signature database 13977 (20160817).
ESET has never said anything or complained about updating.
Oh.
(Was really just rubbin’ it in that they still won’t bring cable broadband out your way.)
I got into some trouble with my parents windows 7 machine. I blocked the windows 10 upgrade using the standard advice on the web. Windows 7 stopped updating, so I said to heck with it and upgraded to Windows 10. The upgrade was pure hell. The download would stall out after a period of time. The solution was to stop the the windows update service. It will automatically restart by it self. Had to do it 3 or 4 times. Took a couple days out of my life. FUMS...
bttt
Windows 7 devotees, (present company [include me]included) are livid.
First, thank you for your posts to this thread.
From what I can see on this thread and others like it, apparently there are a bunch of FReepers who have turned off MSFT updates.
Maybe we could form a club? :)
I upgraded from 8.1 to 10, thats a no brainer, Windows 8.x being so bad. Windows 7? I wouldn’t bother unless maybe you had some excellent hardware. More often than not, I see older computers with windows 7 struggle to upgrade, its just not worth the effort as these computers will be obsolete soon.
the MiSFiT club?
I have at least 115 updates backed up right now...I just ignore them.
I think I should do that on our one remaining W7 computer. Is there an easy way for me to see if I already have the rollup update (KB3125574) or do I just have to scroll through the last couple of years worth of updates and search for it?
“So if I like my WIN 8.1, I don’t actually NEED the periodic 8.1 updates they send me?”
Well, that depends on how you define “need”. You don’t “need” them for your computer to continue to function as it has in the past, no. However, as new bugs or hackable exploits are discovered, you would “need” those updates turned on in order to get them patched.
Without updates turned on, you’ll probably be fine, but there is a chance you could fall prey to some bug or security hole that other users would be protected against.
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