With thirty security fixes in Chrome 59.0.3071.86, I would expect Google to emphasize the need for users to update as soon as possible. Instead, the release announcement says “This will roll out over the coming days/weeks.” Presumably Google feels that the fixed security issues are too obscure to represent any imminent threat.
To be fair, personal experience has shown that Chrome is great at detecting updates, often very soon after they become available. Visiting the About page is usually enough to trigger an update. Click the three-vertical-dots menu button, then choose Help > About.
If you have several hours to kill, you might want to check out the change log for Chrome 59.0.3071.86, which by my count contains 10,911 entries.
If you’re on the Windows Insider program — the one that gets you early looks at where Windows 10 is heading — you may have noticed some unusual updates in the last day or so.
First, a new development version of Windows 10 was rolled out to some unlucky users. This version was not intended for users, even those on the Insider Preview program. Microsoft caught the error and stopped the update, but if your computer was affected, you may notice some new “issues that impact usability of your PC.” You can roll back to the previous release, or live with any new issues until the next release.
Second, a development version of the mobile variant of Windows 10 was pushed out, again unintentionally. If your mobile device received this unfortunate update, it’s probably no longer usable. Microsoft recommends using their Windows Device Recovery Tool to fix the problem.
Microsoft wants us all to trust them to install updates whenever they want, but mistakes like these are not helping.
There’s another small update for Opera. Version 45.0.2552.888 addresses a few minor issues in the installer and user interface. Details are in the change log. None of the changes impact security.
A new version of Opera fixes a sidebar crashing issue and tweaks a few display settings. There are no security changes in this version. See the announcement and change log for details.
Hot on the heels of Joomla 3.7.1, here’s 3.7.2. This version fixes a few bugs that were introduced in Joomla 3.7.1 and includes a few other minor tweaks. None of the changes are security-related.
An Opera release somehow got past my “infallible” system for not missing anything important. Back to the drawing board I guess.
The Opera users among you probably noticed the browser having trouble disengaging itself from the Windows taskbar lately. Opera 45.0.2552.812, released on May 15, finally fixes this annoying issue. A handful of other minor bugs are addressed in the new version. None of the fixes are related to security.
Another minor update for Vivaldi fixes several small bugs in the previous version. The announcement for Vivaldi 1.9.818.50 doesn’t include a link to the release notes, but I was able to find them, buried on the vivaldi.com web site.
There’s a new version of Joomla that addresses a critical security issue in version 3.7.0 and earlier. Anyone who manages Joomla web sites should update those sites immediately. Joomla 3.7.1 also includes a handful of non-security bug fixes.
A new version of WordPress repairs six vulnerabilities in earlier versions. Most WordPress sites are configured to automatically update themselves, but if you manage any WordPress sites, you should make sure they’re all up to date.
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