My Windows 10 testing computer is still on the Windows Insider Preview ‘Fast Ring’, which means it gets the very latest Windows 10 preview builds as soon as they become available.
The test machine was just updated to preview build 14257. This build includes a lot of bug fixes, including one for a nasty app crashing problem related to memory management. The WSClient.dll error dialog box problem has not yet been resolved.
Responding to a steady stream of complaints since the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft has finally relented and will now provide useful notes to accompany changes to the operating system.
The Windows 10 update history page shows changes to release versions, starting with the initial release (build 10240.16683) in July, and ending with the most recent release version, 10586.104.
The notes for release 10586.104 show that a serious security flaw related to InPrivate browsing in the Edge browser has now been fixed.
Thirteen security updates from Microsoft this month address over forty issues in Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, Office, server software and .NET. Six are flagged as Critical.
In keeping with their recent practise of tagging along with Microsoft, Adobe also just released several updates, most notably for Flash. The latest version of Flash is now 20.0.0.306. As usual, Internet Explorer on Windows 8.1 and 10 and Edge on Windows 10 will get their new Flash via Windows Update, and Chrome will update itself with the latest Flash. The associated security bulletin gets into all the technical details. A total of 22 vulnerabilities are addressed in the new version.
Java 8 Update 73, Java 7 Update 97, and Java 6 Update 113 were announced yesterday by Oracle. The new versions fix a serious vulnerability in the Windows installer for all previous versions of Java.
Although technically you don’t need to install the latest versions of Java if you were already up to date, you should at least make sure that you have uninstalled any older versions of Java on your Windows computers. Also, if you have any previously-downloaded Java installers, you should remove those as well.
And finally, be very careful about where you obtain Java. Always make sure that you’re getting it from Oracle, via the main Java download page or using the Windows Java Control Panel.
A security alert for the new Java versions provides additional information.
Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) version 5.5 was released on February 2.
EMET is not a substitute for anti-malware software, but it does provide an additional layer of security against typical malware activity. If malware finds its way onto your Windows computer, EMET can prevent it from causing actual damage; by default, it kills the affected process.
EMET is free, and recommended. Unfortunately, when you use EMET, there’s a chance that it will cause problems for legitimate software. A few weeks ago – before EMET 5.5 was released – EMET started reporting problems with my main computer’s Office software, including Outlook and Excel. I was forced to disable some of EMET’s detection settings for those programs. I had hoped that EMET 5.5 would resolve these issues, but it did not.
Still, EMET can be a useful addition to your security toolkit, if you’re willing to put up with the occasional glitch.
As expected, Microsoft recently changed the status of the Windows 10 update for Windows 7 and 8.1 computers, from ‘optional’ to ‘recommended’. If your PC’s Windows Update settings are configured to automatically install recommended updates, Windows 10 will be downloaded, silently consuming multiple gigabytes of bandwidth and hard drive space.
Thankfully, the Windows 10 upgrade won’t actually be installed without your consent; users will be given a chance to skip or reschedule the upgrade. You can also avoid the update completely by making some changes to the Windows registry, or by using the excellent GWX Control Panel.
When Windows 10 updates itself, in the final stages, we’re treated to a series of screen-filling messages, like “We’ve updated your computer”, and “All your files are right where you left them.” I can understand why Microsoft is showing messages like this: to reassure users who would otherwise be wondering what’s going on as their hard drive thrashes away. As a more technically-minded person, I would prefer an indication of exactly what’s happening, and how long it’s going to take, but I can live with these messages instead.
On the other hand, sometimes these messages are misleading. Take this one: “We’ve got some new features to get excited about.” Apart from the grammatical issues, this message simply isn’t usually true. The most recent Preview builds, for example.
Build 11102, released on January 21, includes only one new feature of note, and it’s hardly exciting: you can now “right-click on the back and forward buttons in Microsoft Edge for quick access to your recently visited websites in the current tab.” Woo hoo.
Note that this build still has the problem with WSClient.dll error dialogs popping up at inconvenient times. At least the build announcement describes a workaround.
Build 14251, released on January 27, has the distinction of generating a lot of discussion regarding the large jump in build number. It turns out that the big jump is the result of Microsoft trying to synchronize builds across platforms, which is actually a good thing.
Meanwhile, the announcement for build 14251 actually says “This build doesn’t have notable new features in it”. And sure enough, it’s mostly bug fixes.
My Windows 10 test computer just upgraded itself to the latest Insider Preview build, 11099.
I’m now on what Microsoft calls the ‘Fast Ring’, which means that I get new Windows 10 builds almost immediately after they become available. One of the drawbacks of this scheme is that these early builds tend to have more problems than regular releases. For me, that’s acceptable, because my test PC is not used for much aside from testing. I wouldn’t try this on my main computer.
The first thing I noticed about the new build is that the File Explorer progress dialogs are back. Those dialogs disappeared in the last build, which wasn’t a huge problem, but it was disconcerting.
The only other difference I’ve noticed in this build is a weird error message that pops up when Windows starts. There’s additional information, including a couple of possible fixes, over at Neowin.
I’ll post updates here as I work with the new version.
This month’s Microsoft updates are more interesting than usual, in that they are the last for versions of Internet Explorer earlier than 11. No more patches for older IE versions means you should avoid using them if at all possible, since they are likely to become a major target for malicious persons intent on spreading malware and increasing the size of their botnets.
It’s interesting to speculate on how much of a hit Microsoft will take in terms of browser share once people move way from IE 8, 9, and 10. Estimates vary, but I’ve seen recent numbers that show IE 8 at 9%, IE 9 at 7%, and IE 10 at 4%. If everyone does the right thing and switches browsers, Microsoft could lose as much as 20% of their browser market share.
There are ten updates from Microsoft this month, affecting Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, MS Office, Visual Basic, Silverlight, and Exchange Server. Six of the updates are flagged as Critical. A total of twenty-five vulnerabilities are addressed.
When installed, the Silverlight update will bump the software’s version up to Build 5.1.41212.0. Silverlight’s release notes page has been updated to show what’s changed.
Three security advisories were also published by Microsoft today, the most interesting of which is titled Deprecation of SHA-1 Hashing Algorithm for Microsoft Root Certificate Program.
Adobe joins the fun once again this month, but this time we only get an update for Reader that addresses fifteen vulnerabilities. Surprisingly, there are no updates for Flash.
Update: Support for Windows 8 has also ended. Anyone still using Windows 8 should upgrade to Windows 8.1 to continue receiving updates.
Clarification: Microsoft will still develop security updates for Internet Explorer 7, 8, 9, and 10, as well as Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 8, because they are still supported for some business clients, and for some Windows Server versions. The updates just won’t be available to regular folks.
If you run Windows 7 or 8.x, you’ve probably seen for yourself the many ways in which Microsoft is trying to get people to upgrade to Windows 10, or at least to add unwanted Windows 10 features to your O/S. I wrote about my own experiences with this back in October. Here are a few observed examples:
If you’re like me, you plan to upgrade to Windows 10 when you bloody well feel like it, and not when Microsoft decides you should. And, like me, you’re looking for ways to prevent all this annoying behaviour on your Windows 7 or 8.x computer.
One of the more annoying features of the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon is that even if you remove it (using instructions I posted earlier) it typically reappears for no apparent reason. This makes it seem more like a virus than anything helpful.
Microsoft’s own instructions for removing the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon, published only grudgingly after many user complaints, are poorly written and needlessly complicated. But rather than try to present a simpler guide here, I will instead point to a small utility that does all the work for you: GWX Control Panel, available as freeware from Ultimate Outsider.
GWX Control Panel shows the status of the ‘Get Windows 10’ app, whether Windows Update O/S upgrades are enabled, and whether there are any Windows 10 installation files on your computer. Buttons let you disable ‘Get Windows 10’, disable O/S upgrades in Windows Update, and clear the Windows 10 download folders (which, by the way, are typically huge). It’s totally safe and simple to use.
Sadly, Windows 10 will start appearing as a ‘Recommended’ update in Windows Update on Windows 7 and 8.x computers at some point in 2016. Hopefully the update will be clearly labeled and easy to ignore and/or hide.
How-To Geek has additional information.
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