Patch Lady – Covid-19 Impact on Microsoft Patching

[Susan Bradley]

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/revised-end-of-service-date-for-windows-10-version-1709-october/ba-p/1239043 We have been e
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – Covid-19 Impact on Microsoft Patching]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

4 users thanked author for this post.

AlexEiffel, abbodi86, Elly, woody

[Susan Bradley]

I just sent an email to Satya Nadella to ask him to open up Win7 patching to all given the work from home situation right now.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

13 users thanked author for this post.

jburk07, T, AlexEiffel, lurks about, Pepsiboy, BATcher, Moonbear, Mele20, Volume Z, Tom-R, Elly, Alex5723, woody

[woody]

Here’s hoping he reads it.

What a magnificent gesture!

1 user thanked author for this post.

Elly

[EP]

we’ll have to wait & see if the April 2020 Win7 updates will be ESU based or not

[EP]

Susan

can you also email John Cable about extending Win7 patching to non-ESU users?

• This reply was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by EP.

[Brocktoon]

It would be nice if MS could flip all current Win10 updates to ‘optional’ at least until the current crisis is over.  Many of us are still going to have to cross our finger before installing the KB4551762 patch

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[PKCano]

v1809 will go EOL during this time also. It would be nice if it didn’t, considering the problems with KB4551762 for 1903/1909.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Mele20

[anonymous]

Yes 1809(EOL May 12 2020 for consumers) Home and I’m being offered 1909 and maybe a few more months to get the 1903/1909 feature update fixed of its issues. And keep 2004 from taking over as the new feature upgrade offered for the 1809 folks over the 1909 feature  upgrade that’s currently being offered as well. Because 2004 is too far ahead for driver stability vetting on a laptop(late Q1 2019 model)  that shipped with 1803 new.

It’s hard enough going through a single feature version upgrade, driver wise, so 1809 directly to 2004 is not an option.

[EP]

so far, MS isn’t gonna extend support for 1809 home & pro, PKCano:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/revised-end-of-service-date-for-windows-10-version-1709-october/bc-p/1239642/highlight/true#M1510

We have no plans at this time to delay the end of service for Windows 10, version 1809 PRO. Our recommendation, as you are already doing, is to up-level to Enterprise, to automatically receive an additional 12 months of servicing. For those customers with a management tool, this can be done with no user impact – no reimage and not even a reboot. See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/windows-10-edition-upgrades for more information.

1 user thanked author for this post.

ch100

[anonymous]

Our recommendation, as you are already doing, is to up-level to Enterprise, to automatically receive an additional 12 months of servicing

Money, money, money.. must be funny.. in the Richmond world.
We did update to Enterprise some time ago. It was good choice.

[lurks about]

Maybe Covid 19 might make MS realize churning the OS just because is an idiotic idea that only causes problems for the customer. OS stability is highly valued for a reason, people can more reliably get work done.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Elly

[Ascaris]

If they were only putting out the frequent feature updates “just because,” they might be somewhat inclined to see it as you do, but my bet is that MS will not do that, or extend support for older versions of 10 Pro that are still supported for enterprise, or make the security updates for 7 available to everyone.  MS has spent years pushing to get to where they are now (with most Windows users accepting the inevitability of Windows 10), and the last thing they would want to do now is to give hope to people (consumers in particular) who don’t want to ride the Windows 10 pain train.  They have to hold a hard line to keep people from thinking that Microsoft’s resolve is slipping and that they may give people a future Windows version worth waiting for.

Those constant feature updates are not “just because.”  MS would not be doing what they are doing without a concrete reason.  The feature updates are an ideal vehicle for MS to quickly implement any Windows monetization scheme they can imagine without having more attention than is necessary drawn. They can hide the negative bits of each update behind the blaring headlines about the wonderful new features they’re giving you, so it seems more like a give-and-take.

By making the updates so frequent, the constant drumbeat of Windows feature update becomes old hat really quickly, like the initially exciting Space Shuttle launches during the ’80s that soon barely inspired a yawn. The usual MS press releases about the wonderful new “features” that nobody asked for will draw yawns from the tech press, and the inclination to dig deeper will be minimized.  Whether or not that will actually work depends on the members of the press. With this site, I am sure it will not work.  With some of the more “Microsoft, Microsoft, rah, rah, rah” sites, it almost certainly will.

There have been several incidents of this kind of thing that did trigger enough backlash to push Microsoft back into another “aw shucks” moment, as Woody put it, but as a strategy to reduce the likelihood of any given scheme blowing up on them, WaaS seems to be very well crafted.  Unless MS gives up on trying to cook up new ways to monetize Windows, I don’t see them ever letting up on any of the things they now have in place, even temporarily under extraordinary circumstances.  It’s taken years longer than they’d hoped, but Microsoft has finally gotten a solid majority of Windows users right where it wants them, and I can’t see them being willing to let up on that pressure, even to a minor degree.

One thing I could reasonably see them doing would be to announce the return of the free upgrade to Windows 10 deal, which we all know never went away in the first place.  That could be their answer to anyone who would accuse them of cutting consumers off from update support in this “time of need,” and would give MS the opportunity to announce that they’re “here for you” (like five separate commercial entities with whom I do business have announced in email titles in the past week).

 

Group "L" (KDE Neon User Edition 5.18.4).

2 users thanked author for this post.

Elly, jburk07

[AlexEiffel]

Versions of Windows 10 that receive extended support for Enterprise should get extended support for everyone and all Windows 7 users should receive ESU patches.

Considering the situation, it feels rather irresponsible to not continue patching Pro versions of Windows 10 when Microsoft already spent the money on making the patches for Enterprise and other supported versions.

I guess home users and SMBs are not worthy of security while they have so much to do with so little resources.

Many workers will work on personal computers remotely, which is already bad enough. Many will be on Windows 7.

Criminals are already attacking VPNs while IT staff is overworked.

Microsoft, wake up and send security updates to everyone. You have a social responsibility.

If it ever comes out that the security of Windows 7 have helped crooks get into corporate networks through home PC computers, I don’t think it will look good for you. You can always blame the corporations for not having moved to Windows 10 with lots of warning in advance about the end of Windows 7, but you can’t blame home users that much when their money is tight and they don’t have the same corporate security requirements.

The fact that so many people are still on Windows 7 is something that can’t be brushed off.

As for Windows 10, forcing people to go through testing for features updates that feels so even more unnecessary right now looks like a really bad sense of priorities.

2 users thanked author for this post.

jburk07, Mele20

[Alex5723]

Microsoft announced pausing Edge updates too. This is understandable after Google paused Chrome updates which Microsoft has to copy.

Microsoft Edge Dev
@MSEdgeDev

In light of the current circumstances, the Edge team will pause updating the Stable channel to Edge 81 consistent with the Chromium Project. We are committed to continued security and stability updates to Edge 80. We’ll have more to share on this next week.

https://twitter.com/MSEdgeDev?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1241055996379664384&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neowin.net%2Fnews%2Fmicrosoft-is-pausing-edge-updates-in-the-stable-channel-due-to-the-coronavirus%2F

[Mele20]

Alex5723 wrote:

This is understandable after Google paused Chrome updates which Microsoft has to copy.

But Microsoft does NOT need to follow Google with the regular Edge, right? I’m still on 1809 and I blocked, in the Windows Registry, any possible attempts by Microsoft to install Chredge.

Microsoft should extend 1809’s life span for those of using Pro or Home versions of Windows 10. I do not need the extra pressure and worry that surrounds each feature update when that will just lower my immunity and make me, a high risk person, more vulnerable to Corona virus.

Microsoft already tried to sneak 1903 onto this machine by not listing it when I ran (as I was nearing the end of the 35 day pause) wushowhide to get a list of available updates. It just suddenly started downloading after I hid the other updates that were listed. I caught it, stopped it and then decided wushowhide is NOT reliable and I immediately applied several third party applications to fully lockdown and stop Microsoft from trying something like that again.

Edit to clarify that before I ran wushohide, I had already gone to Microsoft Catalog and downloaded and installed the February cumulative update so I ran wushowhide to see what other updates I want/need for 1809. Then after blocking Microsoft completely, I ran Belarc Advisor to make sure I had necessary security updates.

• This reply was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by Mele20.

[EP]

Mele20 wrote:

Microsoft should extend 1809’s life span for those of using Pro or Home versions of Windows 10. I do not need the extra pressure and worry that surrounds each feature update when that will just lower my immunity and make me, a high risk person, more vulnerable to Corona virus.

forget about that, Mele20. they are not going to extend 1809 Home/Pro support as MS said and will stand by their decision (unless of course there is enough public pressure)

• This reply was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by EP.
• This reply was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by EP.

[Alex5723]

Mele20 wrote:

But Microsoft does NOT need to follow Google with the regular Edge, right?

Right.

Microsoft was referring to ChrEdge.

New ChrEdge update :

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Mele20

[Author]

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