PC shipments in 2013 dropped precipitously — and the future’s murky

The analyst are looking for a bounce-back in 2014. I think they’re crazy.

InfoWorld Tech Watch.

Office 365 vs Google Apps

The InfoWorld review.

Some surprising results, I think.

Microsoft pulls the plug on Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows XP

Sometime in December, somebody at MS decided that XP customers will no longer be able to download MSE.

InfoWorld Tech Watch.

More Microsoft exec departures mark end of a Windows era

Some surprising conclusions about the future of Windows — and Microsoft.

InfoWorld Tech Watch. 

Possible cure for the Windows XP SVCHOST redlining problem?

I’ve seen a lot of reports of solutions to the SVCHOST redlining problem that work on some machines, but not others. Here’s a good one from reader BK that might work for you:

*****************

I applied this fix this morning to my machine running Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600).

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-windows_update/windows-update-svchostexe-100-cpu-in-task-manager/6b372d8b-0ca4-4042-ba37-b2a7cdcdbd06

Was able to use Windows Update after stepping through Xirlac’s procedure.

MS12-034 / KB 2676562 / KB 2686509 mystery solved

Eighteen months ago, you might recall a pesky Black Tuesday patch that never installed, and wouldn’t go away.

Yuhong Bao, whom many of you might recognize as a frequent commenter both here and on my InfoWorld blog posts, has cracked the problem.

He found a bug in the way the installer interprets a specific Registry key. If you have an unexpected value in that key, the KB 2686509 installer fails, and your system remains vulnerable to the hole known as  CVE-2012-0181.

The next time Windows Update comes up for air, it sees that the MS12-034 installation failed, and re-offers the same patch.

Microsoft has a manual workaround, described in my May 9, 2012 AskWoody article. A FixIt that allows the installer to work was issued after much sturm und drang. But Microsoft never did fix the patch. After all, it’s only for XP/Server 2003.

Yuhong concludes that MS didn’t fix the patch because a failed install doesn’t really screw up anything. Mostly, it’s just annoying.

Adobe Flash Player/Shockwave Player updates

This just in from EP:

The last round of 2013 security updates for Adobe Flash Player & Adobe
Shockwave Player are available at the following Adobe security bulletins:

Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-28 for Flash Player-
http://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb13-28.html
Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-29 for Shockwave Player-
http://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/shockwave/apsb13-29.html

And for those using Windows 8 or 8.1, see Microsoft Security Advisory
2755801 for the latest Flash Player updates for Windows 8 or 8.1 systems:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/advisory/2755801
Also mentioned in Microsoft KB article 2907997:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2907997

Thanks, EP!

Microsoft yanks second botched Surface update in as many months

This time, it isn’t a simple bad Windows patch. This time, they screwed up the Surface Pro 2’s firmware.

InfoWorld Tech Watch

Botched Black Tuesday patch KB 2887069 freezes, fails to configure, triggers a BSoD, and/or zaps sound drivers

Another bad patch with a broad repertoire.

InfoWorld Tech Watch.

Microsoft promises to fix Windows XP SVCHOST redlining ‘as soon as possible’

There’s official confirmation from Microsoft that they screwed up the Windows XP SVCHOST red-lining bug that was supposed to be fixed in October. And they screwed it up in November. And they screwed it up in December. But a real fix is on the way. Promise.

InfoWorld Tech Watch. 

How free Windows Phone/RT software could pay off big for Microsoft

Here’s an interesting wrinkle.

InfoWorld Tech Watch

Cause for hope: Windows 8 gets the heave=ho in the next wave of updates

I call it the most important Windows rumor of the decade. Really.

InfoWorld Tech Watch.