Windows Update

There are few Patch Tuesdays that are not swiftly followed by the discovery of problems caused by the updates that have been released. This December is no different.

Microsoft has confirmed that after installing the KB5021249 update, some users may experience a range of problems with virtual machines on some Hyper-V hosts.

Microsoft has released a couple of important cumulative security updates for Windows 10. The KB5021233 and KB5021237 updates are available for Windows 10 versions 1809, 21H1, 21H2 and 22H2.

Because of the security issues addressed by the updates, both are mandatory and will be automatically installed. In addition to security fixes, there are a handful of other notable changes with these updates.

The uptake of Windows 11 has been rather slow, almost certainly slower than Microsoft would have hoped. With Windows 10 users sticking doggedly to their slightly aging operating system, the company is seeking way to promote and simplify Windows 11 upgrades -- and with the KB5020683 update, it has done just this.

KB5020683 is an out-of-band update that Microsoft released recently to little fanfare. It has one aim: improving the out-of-box experience (OOBE) so users have the option to upgrade to Windows 11 immediately.

It is the time of the month when Microsoft release preview versions of Windows updates. True to form, the company has released the KB5020044 update for Windows 11 22H2.

As well as fixing various issues, this update also brings new features such as combining Windows Spotlight with Themes on the Personalization page, and helpful information for OneDrive users. It also fixes game performance issues which caused Microsoft to block upgrades to Windows 11 2022 Update for some users. And true to form, the update also breaks some things as well as fixing others; in this case, Task Manager.

It is just a few days since Microsoft acknowledged problems with Kerberos authentication. Affecting Windows Servers with the Domain Controller role, the issues mean that domain user sign in could fail, Remote Desktop connection could fail to connect, and more.

Now the company has released a series of emergency updates to resolve the issues. A total of six out-of-band updates are available (KB5021652, KB5021653, KB5021654, KB5021655, KB5021656 and KB5021657), and they must be manually installed.

After November's Patch Tuesday releases, and ahead of the latest batch of updates for 2022, Microsoft has released a preview of the KB5019157 update.

The company draws attention to three particular highlights of this update including fixing an issue that saw Microsoft Store Update failing. Also highlighted are fixes for daylight savings problems as well as an issue with pinned apps in the Start menu.

It is the time of the month when Microsoft publishes its Patch Tuesday updates, and as part of this, the company has just released two significant security updates for Windows 11 -- KB5019961 and KB5019980.

Available for Windows 11 21H2 and 22H2 respectively, the KB5019961 and KB5019980 updates not only address key security issues, but also add new features and options, as well as fixing non-security related bugs.

It is the time of the month that sees Microsoft releasing previews of the updates that will be made available to everyone next patch Tuesday. In line with this, the company has released a preview of the KB5018496 update for Windows 11 2022 Update / Windows 11 22H2.

This is a non-security update, but it includes an impressive number of not only fixes, but also new features for the latest version of Windows 11. It does not, however, address some of the known issues that have been acknowledged recently including problems with slow file copying, and issues with provisioning packages.

It may be the middle of the month, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft releasing an important update for various versions of Windows, including the KB5020387 update for Windows 11.

The updates fix a TLS handshake issue that causes SEC_E_ILLEGAL_MESSAGE errors. In all, there are seven non-security updates available for Windows, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2022.

Microsoft has released its first update to Windows 11 22H2 / Windows 11 2022 Update in the form of KB5018427. This is a cumulative security update that includes the improvements from the previously released KB5017389 update, as well as additional "security issues".

While the update addresses quite a large number of problems with Windows 11 22H2, it does not fix the known issues with provisioning packages or slow file copying.

Ahead of the upcoming Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has released a preview version of the KB5017389 update for Windows 11.

KB5017389 is a cumulative update for Windows 11 2022 Update -- or Windows 11 22H2, if you prefer. It is a non-security update, but addresses a lengthy list of issues that have been discovered.

When we write about updates for Windows, it tends to be for one of two reasons -- sharing news that a new update is available, or giving details of problems that have been found with the latest release. Now we have something a little different.

Microsoft has admitted that it made a mistake with the KB5017383 update for Windows 11, windows 10 and Windows Server a few days ago. It is, however, not necessary something that everyone would notice.

Yesterday, to great excitement, Microsoft started the rollout of the eagerly anticipated Windows 11 2022 Update. While there are a lot of worthy changes and additions with this update, there are several features -- perhaps most notably tabs in File Explorer -- that were conspicuous by their absence.

But the missing features have been neither forgotten nor dropped; Microsoft has simply decided to include them in a future update. Before you start gnashing your teeth, there's some good news. The release of  Windows 11 2022 Update may not have heralded the arrival of tabbed Explorer, but it will be landing for everyone next month.

The focus for most Windows 11 users has been, understandably, the release of Windows 11 2022 Update and all of the new features and options it brings. But Microsoft has also released a preview of the KB5017383 update for Windows 11 ahead of its proper release next Patch Tuesday.

Although this is a non-security update, it is an important one for a number of reasons. Firstly, it addresses several issues with Windows 11 including a blue screen problem and another issue with the Microsoft Store. Secondly, the update adds new features to the operating system such as new options for widgets and adding WebAuthn redirection.

We have already written about some of the security patches issued by Microsoft this month, but the company has released a very large number of fixes in total. Included among the fixes is a patch for a security issue deemed so serious that Microsoft has even released a fix for Windows 7, despite security support for the operating system having ended at the beginning of last year.

The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2022-37969, and is a described as a "Windows Common Log File System Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability".