Microsoft switching to Windows 10 style updates for 7 and 8.1 from October 2016

[Xircal]

From October 2016 Windows Updates will only be available as a single Rollup. This Rollup will include all the security updates for a given month together with all the reliability and telemetry updates bundled into one package. Microsoft also intends to gradually include all the previous non-security updates which have been released since the last baseline. For Windows 7 the baseline will be SP1 and for 8.1 it'll be KB2919355 a.k.a. Windows 8.1 Update. These will include all the telemetry and diagnostic updates which some of us have managed to avoid since they first started appearing back in May 2015.

 

In addition, all forthcoming Rollups will be cumulative and will include all the previous months updates. See: Further simplifying servicing models for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

 

The only exception is the Security-only package which includes just essential security updates. This package won't be available via Windows Update though and will have to be downloaded manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog site. Normally, you would have to use Internet Explorer to download from there, but there's an option to use an Rss feed to download the package with any browser. Here's an example: clicking the link will take you to the MUC site for that particular update (KB3187022 in this case) which includes a link to the KB support article: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Rss.aspx?q=KB3187022

 

To download an alternative package all you need do is to change the KB number. The rest of the URL remains the same.

 

The danger for those of us who don't want keyloggers and snooping apps on our systems is that Microsoft can package anything it wants into the single Rollup just like it does with Windows 10. The only advantage that Windows 7 and 8.1 users have is the option to configure Windows Updates to "Never Check For Updates" or "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them". Windows 10 updates on the other hand are mandatory and cannot be rejected.

 

By downloading the Security-only updates package every month we can at least avoid that telemetry cr*p.

 

To check what's coming down the Windows Update chute, check this site which is cumulative: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/894199

 

From time to time, Microsoft also releases a so called Servicing Stack update which is a tool to service a Windows image. These won't be included in either the all-in Rollups, or in the Security-only updates, but will appear in both Windows Update and the MUC site. Servicing Stacks are usually released to address issues which have arisen and in some cases are mandatory in order to receive future updates. Failing to install one will often result in an error message which reads: "This update is not applicable to your computer" when you try to install an update.

[Speedo1968]

If what you say is what we can expect in the future, someone like me, who is just a simple laptop user using the basics on my laptop, then there is NO hope of me getting updates that I NEED.

 

Scary stuff for the basic user ....

[Xircal]

Just to confuse the issue still further a new monthly rollup will be releaaed on the 3rd Tuesday of every month called the Monthly Rollup Preview. It's mentioned in a query from a user called Old Dog and was posted September 3 in the same blog.

 

This Infoworld.com article on the subject is also worth a read.

[Speedo1968]

On 9/10/2016 at 8:18 PM, Xircal said:

Just to confuse the issue still further a new monthly rollup will be releaaed on the 3rd Tuesday of every month called the Monthly Rollup Preview. It's mentioned in a query from a user called Old Dog and was posted September 3 in the same blog.

 

This Infoworld.com article on the subject is also worth a read.

Thanks Xircal