Newsletter Archives

• Fix released for the botched Excel 2010 security patch KB 3178690

  Posted on March 28, 2017 at 16:35 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  The new security patch is KB 3191855.

  Have you had a chance to try it? Does it work?

  Details: InfoWorld Woody on Windows.

  Thanks to GregH for the scoop!

  Office Patches/Security Excel 2010, KB 3178690, KB 3191855

• Minimal install of Win10 Creators Update

  Posted on March 28, 2017 at 13:27 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  

  I installed Win10 Creators Update, build 15063, in the cleanest way possible – no activation key, no Microsoft account, and turning off all of the Privacy settings.

  Here’s the completely clean Start menu.

  ARMED! is a suggested app

  The default tiles include:

  Drawboard PDF
  Get Office
  Facebook
  Skype Preview
  Twitter
  Sling
  Minecraft
  Microsoft Solitaire Collection
  Candy Crush Soda Saga
  Asphalt 8: Airborne
  Microsoft Sudoku
  Age of Empires Castle Seige

  Note that the programs aren’t installed. The tiles merely lead you to the Store, so you can install them yourself. And it’s easy to remove the offensive tiles; a right-click will do it. It’s even easier to ignore them.

  Welcome to the latest incarnation of Windows as a Service.

  Windows News 15063

• Yes, the Win10 Creators Update files are available

  Posted on March 28, 2017 at 10:18 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  But, no, you don’t want to install them.

  See InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows News 15063, Creators Update, Preview ring

• A few cosmetic changes…

  Posted on March 28, 2017 at 06:26 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Looking around the Lounge this morning, you’ll discover a few changes.

  Perhaps most notably the “Vote Up” system is gone, along with its henchperson the “Karma” score. My experience with the system wasn’t good, with general bugginess (or perhaps I never understood it) combined with overall lack of direction (voting a reply “up” doesn’t move it up in a topic).

  We’ve also disabled the package that was supposed to improve indexing of the content inside replies. It broke some links – and I didn’t notice an improvement in reply indexing on Google or Bing.

  As always, I’m interested in hearing your suggestions for improving the Lounge. Remember that I want to keep it very, very simple – and the budget is tiny.

  Other Lounge

• 10 million Windows Insiders makes the beta test program the best marketing move yet

  Posted on March 27, 2017 at 16:24 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Laurent Giret at OnMicrosoft nailed this one. The Windows Insider program – the beta testing program that includes two rings of next-version testing and one ring of current-level patch testing — now has 10 million registered users.

  Per Giret:

  The program reached 1 million members a couple of weeks after the release of the first Windows 10 preview build on October 1, 2014. From there, the number grew to 3 million Insiders by March of 2015, then to 7 million a year ago. It was about time for an update, which Microsoft exec Yusuf Mehdi recently provided in a blog post on LinkedIn.

  Mehdi said:

  We count over 10M Windows Insiders today, many of them fans, who test and use the latest build of Windows 10 on a daily basis. Their feedback comes fast and furious, they have a relentless bar of what they expect, but it so inspires our team and drives our very focus on a daily basis.

  Of course, Microsoft doesn’t know how many fans they have. But the 10,000,000 nose count for Insider accounts is impressive by any measure. Mehdi was emphasizing Xbox fandom in his post, but the number’s still a sizable fraction of the 400 million monthly active Win10 devices. (That 400 million number is six months old, and I haven’t heard any updates.)

  Mary Branscome – one of my favorite Microsoft observers – notes in her comments on the LinkedIn post:

  how do you make sure you’re not being overly influenced by the vocal minority?

  Any way you slice it, though, the Windows Insider program has been a resounding success for Microsoft marketing. Giving beta testers a feeling that they’re changing the course of Windows 10 development is an outstanding achievement.

  Thanks to fp for the heads-up!

  Windows News onmicrosoft, Windows Insider program

• Office 2016 patch KB 3114389 may be causing Word and Outlook to crash

  Posted on March 27, 2017 at 14:55 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I just got a report from an old friend, GW:

  KB 3114389 may be causing Outlook to crash. We are pulling it now to check, it might be linked to software or an ATI graphics card.

  It’s Office 2016 (not 365).

  Can you confirm?

  Office Patches/Security KB3114389, Office 2016, Outlook, Word

• It’s too late: Face recognition is everywhere

  Posted on March 27, 2017 at 11:52 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Mike Elgan at Computerworld just tweeted a link to a breathtaking article in The Guardian that claims

  Approximately half of adult Americans’ photographs are stored in facial recognition databases that can be accessed by the FBI, without their knowledge or consent, in the hunt for suspected criminals. About 80% of photos in the FBI’s network are non-criminal entries, including pictures from driver’s licenses and passports. The algorithms used to identify matches are inaccurate about 15% of the time, and are more likely to misidentify black people than white people.

  Mike has an earlier post on the subject of face recognition, with a humbling two-step way to identify lots of people — down to their street address. (I didn’t realize that Family Tree Now has built up a formidable, freely accessible list of residential addresses.)

  Tinfoil hat time.

  Other face recognition

• Win10 Metered Connection changes

  Posted on March 26, 2017 at 08:53 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  So many of you have written to me about this, I figure it’s time to chime in on the changes in the “Metered connection” setting in the next version of Windows 10.

  Here’s what the Windows Update settings box looks like in the current version, Windows 10 Anniversary Update, version 1607, build 14393.969

  

  Here’s the analogous setting in the forthcoming Win10 Creators Update, the version 1703 build 15063, due to ship in a few weeks:

  

  It’s important to note that this is static text – it doesn’t change if you flip Metered connection on or off.

  Richard Hay at Supersite for Windows noted last week that there’s a difference in the wording, with the new version adding a phrase at the end. The original:

  Available updates will be downloaded and installed automatically, except over metered connections (where charges may apply).

  has a new caveat tacked on the end:

  In that case, we’ll automatically download only those updates required to keep Windows running smoothly.

  I don’t think it signifies much, although obviously some group of people inside Microsoft were concerned enough about the old wording to append that caveat.

  Richard has since received a comment from Microsoft saying:

  We don’t plan to send large updates over metered connections, but could use this for critical fixes if needed in the future.

  Which seems sufficiently vague to cover just about anything.

  That said, I don’t see any change forthcoming in the ability of a metered connection to block cumulative updates. It is – and, in my opinion will be – the preferred way to block forced updating for Win10 Home machines.

  All in all, it reminds me of the hue and cry that occurred after Microsoft revealed, years ago, that even if you turn off Automatic Update, the Windows Update program may update itself.

  Tempest, meet teapot. Until proven otherwise, anyway.

  Windows Patches/Security metered connection

• A legitimate-looking lawsuit claiming damages for the Win10 coerced upgrade

  Posted on March 25, 2017 at 13:13 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Many of you have posted here, and written to me privately, threatening to sue Microsoft for the pushy nature of the “Get Windows 10” campaign.

  It looks like one firm, the Chicago firm of Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin LLC, has taken up the challenge. As reported in The Register (yes, in the UK) yesterday, reports on a filing in Chicago US District Court on Thursday, claiming MS

  failed to exercise reasonable care in designing, formulating, and manufacturing the Windows 10 upgrade and placing it into the stream of commerce… As a result of its failure to exercise reasonable care, [the company] distributed an operating system that was liable to cause loss of data or damage to hardware.

  You can read the complaint here.

  The attorneys are seeking class action status.

  Based on reports on the Edelman Combs web site (which I haven’t independently confirmed), the firm has experience in the field. Edelman declares:

  Areas of Practice:
  25% Consumer Law
  75% Class Actions
  Deceptive Trade Practices

  You might want to take advantage of the firm’s “Contact Us” box on any of its web pages to see if you qualify for joining the class.

  Microsoft News class action, Edelman, Get Windows 10

• Senate Puts ISP Profits Over Your Privacy

  Posted on March 24, 2017 at 07:33 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Good synopsis from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

  The [U.S.] Senate just voted to roll back your online privacy protections. Speak up now to keep the House from doing the same thing.

  ISPs have been lobbying for weeks to get lawmakers to repeal the FCC’s rules that stand between them and using even creepier ways to track and profit off of your every move online. Republicans in the Senate just voted 50-48 (with two absent votes) to approve a Congressional Review Action resolution from Sen. Jeff Flake which—if it makes it through the House—would not only roll back the FCC’s rules but also prevent the FCC from writing similar rules in the future.

  That would be a crushing loss for online privacy. ISPs act as gatekeepers to the Internet, giving them incredible access to records of what you do online. They shouldn’t be able to profit off of the information about what you search for, read about, purchase, and more without your consent.

  We can still kill this in the House: call your lawmakers today and tell them to protect your privacy from your ISP.

  This isn’t a political post. It’s just common sense.

  Other ISP privacy

• A crisis looms for Win7 and 8.1 customers with recently-built computers

  Posted on March 23, 2017 at 11:09 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  When the April Monthly Rollup for Win7 and 8.1 appears, a whole lot of people are going to wonder what hit them.

  Article in InfoWorld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security April 2017 Black Tuesday, Bristol Ridge, Kaby Lake, Skylake, update-kneecap

• Microsoft releases multiple fixes for CRM 2011 bugs, including Win10 emergency KB 4016635

  Posted on March 23, 2017 at 06:00 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Note that none of these patches are going out through Windows Update (at least, not yet). You have to download and install them manually.

  That makes three cumulative updates for Win10 Anniversary Update in the past eight days.

  Details at InfoWorld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security Dynamics CRM 2011, Internet Explorer 11, KB 4012204, KB 4012215, KB 4012216, KB 4016446, KB 4016635, KB 4016636, KB 4016637
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