Microsoft told us three weeks ago that Win10 Fall Creators Update, version 1709, was ready for enterprise deployment. Since then, we’ve seen the early January patch yanked because it tanked AMD machines. Then, after the first patch was reinstated, we got two more cumulative updates. In the past three weeks.
I guess that’s what Microsoft now means by “Current Branch for Business” and/or “Semi-Annual Channel.”
The latest salvo in the story arrived today with KB 4058258, which brings Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, version 1709, to build 16299.214. It’s headed out the Windows Automatic Update chute right now.
Along with the 1709 cumulative update, we’re getting another “WaaSMedic” Remediation Shell, KB 4074608 — a Servicing Stack update released yesterday that, per @abbodi86 on AskWoody:
Fixes and resets update-related parts to their “supported” configuration. It restores registry settings, services statuses, schedule tasks, it clears out disk space, and launches UpdateAssistant.exe if installed. Mainly it’s meant to pave the way to receive the latest updates, whether quality updates, or feature update to latest Windows 10 version
It’s an MSI package not a regular update, doesn’t require a reboot. It has more than 12 releases so far.
He goes on to say:
Servicing Stack updates are bundled with cumulative updates in version 1709. You may notice that the 1709 SSU has a distinguished version (i.e. 16299.122.1.0), not the generic version like other updates before (i.e. 10.0.1.2).
Servicing Stack updates won’t be listed in Windows Update history, but you can find it in Installed Updates
Here’s this month’s hall of patching shame:
- Jan. 3 — The initial round of Meltdown/Spectre patches
- Jan. 4 — A re-issue of several Meltdown/Spectre patches
- Jan. 8 — Microsoft decides to pull Meltdown/Spectre patches for some AMD machines and releases a Win8.1/Server 2012 R2 Monthly Rollup
- Jan. 9 —56 “Patch Tuesday” patches arrive, many of them flawed
- Jan. 11 — New Meltdown/Spectre patches get released to some AMD machines, with no details on which ones
- Jan. 12 — “Unbootable state” patches for Win7, 8.1 (KB 4073578, etc.) show up
- Jan. 17 — 14 patches, mostly previews, arrive — along with two new Win10 cumulative updates
- Jan. 19 — Win10 cumulative update metadata changes (to alter installation logic) appear, along with a Win10 1709 preview
- Jan. 22 — There’s a fix for Outlook 2016 that lets you forward files attached to plain text messages
- Jan. 23 – The Win8.1 Preview Monthly Rollups are modified, apparently to avoid installing them on Win8.1 PCs running both PIC and APIC controllers.
- Jan. 24 — Standalone Win8.1 patch to fix crashes on PCs running both PIC and APIC controllers and a standalone Win7/.NET 4.7.1 patch to fix crashes using Windows Presentation Foundation.
- Jan. 26 -- .Net Quality Rollup preview KB 4054992
- Jan. 29 -- Win10 1703 update component update KB 4073543
- Jan. 30 -- Win10 1709 Servicing Stack Update KB 4074608
- Jan. 31 -- Yet another Win10 1709 cumulative update KB 4058258
There’s also a newly updated KB article, KB 4073757, that covers many details with Windows, Meltdown and Spectre. It has lengthy lists of links to Security Advisories — Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Nvidia and more — guidance for all sorts of different kinds of hardware, a list of computer manufacturers — Acer, Dell, Epson, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, LG, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba and Vaio — with links to their advisories, and a promise of patches yet to come for Server 2012 and Server 2008 SP2.
Something to look forward to.
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