mandatory install — the company wants everyone to switch to the newest versions of its operating system, so as not to fragment the user base. And since Microsoft will be rolling out this month’s Patch Tuesday updates next week, on May 13, users that are yet to upgrade to Windows 8.1 Update are advised to do so by then. This is what a Redmond engineer recently said about the necessity of all future improvements to be based on Windows 8.1 Update:
“Since Microsoft wants to ensure that customers benefit from the best support and servicing experience and to coordinate and simplify servicing across both Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 RT and Windows 8.1, this update will be considered a new servicing/support baseline.”Short deadline, yes, but a necessary one:
“What this means is those users who have elected to install updates manually will have 30 days to install Windows 8.1 Update on Windows 8.1 devices; after this 30-day window – and beginning with the May Patch Tuesday, Windows 8.1 user’s devices without the update installed will no longer receive security updates.”So basically, if you are yet to upgrade to Windows 8.1 Update by May 13, the only fixes you will see when you fire up Windows Update will be the single patch that deploys this new version. By the way, business users recently got a reprieve from this short deadline. It is also worth mentioning here that some users are still having trouble installing Windows 8.1 Update due to installation errors, even after trying both the manual and automatic routes. Even the workarounds that Microsoft have posted are not resolving these issues. What remains to be seen is what exactly will happen to these users after May 13. ]]>
All Comments
They’ve given plenty of time. Take this as a PSA: download it soon or you won’t receive very important security updates down the road.
I hope they hold up this news. I don’t want them backing down like they did with the XP stuff. It’s necessary in my eyes.
Those who didn’t upgrade are minority and I don’t see why MS will back down.
Good point Willy. But was that case with XP as well? I guess the majority were holding on. Point well taken, but I agree with what Mary’s saying.
25% user base is a lot more than those running 8.1. Also good demonstration that they got lucky this time, but no more in the future.
That headline is rather misleading isn’t it?
In fact you have as long as you need to install the update – but it is a prerequisite for further updates. Which is fair enough.