Microsoft now bundles Windows 10 servicing stack updates with cumulative updates
There are many different types of update for Windows 10, some of which are more important than others. To make things easier to manage, both for the company itself and for end users, Microsoft is now integrating servicing stack updates (SSUs) into the latest cumulative updates (LCUs).
Cumulative updates should be familiar to most Windows 10 users, but SSUs are not something that everyone will be aware of. Nonetheless, the change Microsoft is introducing is a important one that should help to reduce update problems in future.
Microsoft is killing off a pointless feature of Windows 10 with 21H2
It is now five and a half years since Windows 10 was released, and we've seen a lot of changes to the operating system over this time. There have been endless additions, numerous changes, and the occasional removal of dead wood.
Among the things that have been killed off so far are various elements of the Control Panel and ways of accessing it, causing upset with many users. But now Microsoft is turning its attention to things which the vast majority of people regard as completely unnecessary. The company has seemingly realized that very few people are interested in 3D modelling and is indulging in a little spring cleaning.
Microsoft releases KB4601382 update preview to fix many Windows 10 problems
Ahead of March's Patch Tuesday releases, Microsoft has released a preview of the KB4601382 update. This cumulative update is available for Windows 10 2004 (Windows 10 May 2020 Update) and Windows 10 20H2 (Windows 10 October 2020 Update), and it includes a number of important fixes.
Some of the highlights of this particular update include addressing a screen flicker issue during video playback, fixing a problem that prevented some keyboard keys from working, and improving application startup times in certain scenarios.
Microsoft is shortening the support period for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC
Anyone who has invested in Windows 10 LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel) has had the comfort of knowing that Microsoft offered 10 years of support. But this is changing.
The company has announced that the support period for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC is being halved to just five years, bringing the operating system in line with the recently announced changes to Office support. However, support for Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC will remain at 10 years.
NVIDIA is crippling the crypto-mining capabilities of some GPUs
As cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum become more and more mainstream, there is growing interest in not only investing in crypto, but also mining for it. It is increasingly popular for the "spare" processor power of GPUs to be put to this very use, but NVIDIA is clamping down.
The graphics card maker is deliberating limiting the mining capabilities of its latest GeForce RTX 3060 GPUs, saying "GeForce is made for gaming". But it is not all bad news for fans of crypto-mining; the company is also launching a new NVIDIA CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor) line.
Microsoft forcibly installs KB4577586 update to remove Flash from Windows
The death of Flash has been on the cards for quite some time. What was once a staple of the online experience soon became little more than a security nightmare, and all of the major web browsers have slowly but surely dropped support for the software. Back in October, Microsoft released an update to not only remove Flash from Windows, but also prevent it from being reinstalled.
Now the company is upping the ante, and is pushing out the KB4577586 update to Windows users. The update is installed automatically and kills Flash once and for all.
Windows 10 KB4601319 update is causing webcam problems
Microsoft has acknowledged a problem with an update for Windows 10 that was released earlier this month. The KB4601319 update was part of February Patch Tuesday releases, and it is causing issues with webcams for some users.
While the impact of the problem appears to be limited to a fairly small number of webcams, the issue is no less irritating for those affected. Thankfully, Microsoft is not only aware of the problem and is working on a fix, but also provides details of a workaround in the meantime.
The release of Windows 10 21H1 will not change hardware requirements
Windows 10 users are keenly awaiting the release of the next big update to the operating system. Due for release in the next four months -- in June if a recent leak is correct -- Windows 10 21H1 is not a major release, and this has important implications.
The fear with milestone releases to Windows 10 is that hardware requirements change. But ahead of the release of Windows 10 21H1, Microsoft has made it clear that this will not be the case with this update.
KB4535680 update is causing BitLocker problems in Windows 10
Some Windows 10 users who have installed the KB4535680 update from last month are experiencing problems with BitLocker.
The update was released on January 12 to fix issues with Secure Boot DBX, but some users are complaining that the patch is triggering BitLocker recovery. For people using BitLocker on just one computer, this may not be too much of an issue, but for administrators taking care of lots of systems it is rather more problematic.
Microsoft is pushing KB4023057 yet again to improve Windows 10 Update
A cumulative update for Windows 10 is making another appearance as Microsoft prepares users' systems for more significant service updates further down the line.
This is far from being the first time Microsoft has pushed the KB4023057 update, and it's not hard to understand why. This update improves the reliability of the Windows Update Service components which will prove so essential when a bigger feature update is released later in the year.
Microsoft releases off-schedule KB5001028 update for Windows 10 to fix WPA3 flaw
Just days after the regular update release date of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has released an out-of-band patch to address a problem with WPA3 connections in Windows 10.
The KB5001028 update is for Windows 10 version 1909, and it fixes a problem that caused blue screens and stop error 0x7E in nwifi.sys when using a WPA3 connection. Microsoft says that the problems arose after users installed the KB4598298 or KB4601315 updates.
Twitter confirms that Donald Trump will never tweet again
Twitter has confirmed that, even if he is re-elected as US president in 2024, Donald Trump will not be allowed to use the platform ever again.
The former president was unceremoniously kicked off Twitter towards the end of his leadership after concerns that his tweets were an incitement to violence. The company hit Trump with permanent suspension back in January, and has now made it clear that permanent really does mean permanent.
Apple fixes serious sudo vulnerability in macOS
A serious vulnerability was recently discovered in the sudo tool which could be used to gain root access on Linux-based systems. It soon transpired that the very same issue also affects macOS.
The security vulnerability -- known as Baron Samedit and tracked as CVE-2021-3156 -- is a years-old heap-based buffer overflow bug, and Apple has now issued a patch that fixes the problem for users of Big Sur, Catalina and Mojave flavors of macOS.
MacBook Pro battery not charging properly? Apple may give you a free replacement
It's an unfortunate fact of life that over time all laptop batteries become less efficient. The machine that once got your through the day will eventually only last a couple of hours -- perhaps even less.
Age is one thing, but sometimes there can be a hardware or software problem that exacerbates the issue. And this is case for some MacBook Pro owners. But there's good news. Apple may replace your battery free of charge.
Microsoft encourages Windows users to install essential fixes for serious TCP/IP vulnerabilities
Whenever Microsoft releases updates for Windows, the company is always keen for as many people as possible to get the patch installed. But with this month's Patch Tuesday bug fixes, the company is encouraging Windows users even more than usual.
Referring to two Critical security issues and one Important one, all affecting TCP/IP, Microsoft says that "it is essential that customers apply Windows updates to address these vulnerabilities as soon as possible". The CVE-2021-24074, CVE-2021-24086 and CVE-2021-24094 vulnerabilities affect Windows 7 upwards.