Ramblings of an old Doc
Seriously, MS is getting weirder and weirder...
Published on December 13, 2018 By DrJBHL In Personal Computing

Image result for abbott and costello who's on first

It goes like this...

B Updates: They're the Patch Tuesday Updates. 

"The big updates most people are familiar with come out on “Patch Tuesday,” the second Tuesday of the month. These are called “B” updates because they’re released in the second week of the month. That explains why there are no “A” updates, as Microsoft doesn’t generally release updates in the first week of the month.

B updates are the most important updates, featuring new security fixes. They also contain previously released security fixes from prior B updates and previously released bug fixes from prior C and D updates.

They’re the main, most important type of Windows Update. They’re also predictable for system administrators, who know when to expect them."

C and D Updates: 

“C” and “D” updates are released in the third and fourth weeks of the month, respectively. These do not include any new security updates.

These updates just include new bug fixes and improvements for other non-security issues. Microsoft says C and D updates are “optional,” and Windows Update won’t automatically install them on your PC.

According to Microsoft, “D” updates typically include the majority of non-security updates. This gives people a few weeks to test them before those non-security fixes are released to everyone in the next B update. Microsoft sometimes releases “C” updates in the third week of the month for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and older versions of Windows 10, which gives people more time to test them."

 

What really matters is when and how you update!

Windows Update doesn’t automatically install C and D updates on most PCs. However, it does install C and D updates when you head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and click “Check for Updates.” In Microsoft’s world, this makes you a “seeker” who wants to test these updates before most Windows users get them. Microsoft disclosed this in a recent blog post.

So, if you click “Check for Updates” in the third, fourth, or first week of a month before the next B update has been released, you’ll probably get a C or D update installed on your system. If you never click “Check for Updates,” you’ll stick with the better-tested B updates.

 

All of the above is true. So help me. We've stepped through the mirror for sure, this time.

Sooo...now you know. B's on first, C and D are on third and fourth but only before B.

Sort of like "i" and "e" before "c"... but then, that's a different "c".

And with that I'll just say...

Related image

 

Oh yes...and if you have questions, refer to the article linked above.

 

Source:

https://www.howtogeek.com/398226/now-windows-10-has-c-b-and-d-updates.-what-is-microsoft-smoking/

 

 


Comments (Page 1)
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on Dec 13, 2018


In Microsoft’s world, this makes you a “seeker” who wants to test these updates before most Windows users get them.

And here I thought I was just avoiding unexpected update reboots.  I feel so... "dirty".   

Thanks for that bit of (convoluted) trivia Doc.   

on Dec 13, 2018

Dave, when I first read it at How to Geek, I thought it was a a joke. It isn't, and they're bonkers at MS.

Also, How to Geek is one of my fave sites.

on Dec 13, 2018

DrJBHL

and they're bonkers at MS.

It does seem like somebody over there might want to "back away slowly" from the coffee maker.

on Dec 13, 2018

Reminds me of the government....they'll do whatever you allow them to get away with and people seem to come back over and over again with each "New and Improved" version of windows.

on Dec 13, 2018

I don't know what MS is thinking but......if A > B > C > usually back to A to start all over again, like a circle, then what happens when they drop the D with nowhere to go but >>>>>>>>>Down to the nth part of sanity.  I'm gonna sue MS for plagiarizing my insanity defense.

on Dec 13, 2018

Uvah, there is no A. Sorry.

on Dec 13, 2018

Image result for captain hindsight

 

Just stay with 7 ....

on Dec 13, 2018

Actually, I heard their new release sequence will be: M-I-C-R-O-S-H-I-T in the year 2020.   

on Dec 13, 2018

Never thought I'd say it:  I miss Balmer.

on Dec 13, 2018

DrJBHL

Uvah, there is no A. Sorry.

But...but...they gotta start somewhere.   

on Dec 13, 2018

Daiwa

Never thought I'd say it:  I miss Balmer.

Yeah, this Nadella bloke is the missing link.  Yup, the link between apes just mastering primitive tools and a good CEO with smarts.

Bill Gates must be rolling in.... 

Oh, that's right, he's not dead yet.

Well in that case, he needs to step back up to the plate and rescue his company from the lunatics.

Seriously, the board over at Apple must be laughing their socks off when it comes to 'let's discuss the competition' time.

 

on Dec 14, 2018

not sure what's wrong with this. this just means most people won't get anything but b. they probably would get better press if they call c & d beta patches or something.

not entirely sure they are correct to say the c & d stuff didn't go through insiders 1st.

on Dec 14, 2018

alaknebs

not sure what's wrong with this. this just means most people won't get anything but b. they probably would get better press if they call c & d beta patches or something.

not entirely sure they are correct to say the c & d stuff didn't go through insiders 1st.

What's wrong is that if you check for updates through Windows Update, you become a 'seeker' giving MS permission to install updates which are not fully tested and capable of screwing your machine but good.

 

And they don't tell you about that little surprise up front, alaknebs.

on Dec 14, 2018

DrJBHL

What's wrong is that if you check for updates through Windows Update, you become a 'seeker' giving MS permission to install updates which are not fully tested and capable of screwing your machine but good.

Did it to me. Now I wait, I don't go lookin'.

on Dec 14, 2018

Thinking about it, surely MS is breaking the law by not disclosing important information such as users getting pretty much untested updates, like it or not, if they perform a Windows Updates search. 

Surely it has to be an opt in thing, rather than being deemed a 'seeker' and having them installed on your machine regardless of whether you want or need them or not.  Essentially, then, users are being used as guinea pigs to test relatively untried software ehen they go looking for an important update they may have missed.

I thought the 'Early Adopters Program' was for the testing and feedback of new software, etc.  Now it seems that regular and possibly inexperienced users are being used in this way as well.   And what happens when an inexperienced user gets their machine borked by MS' untried, untested updates?  Most likely they have to take it to a PC tech to get it fixed.... at their expense,  Nope, it's not right.

Personally, I think this is MS' workaround to force stuff down users throats again.  A lot of users are using 3rd party programs to prevent automatic updates, which is fair enough, given MS' recent track record with botched updates.  Thing is, those users then have to perform a manual search for any important updates and patches they would have missed.... and when they do, BAM, they get all the crap they were trying to avoid in the first place.

For mine, Microsoft has become a software/tech bully that treats its customers/users with complete arrogance and contempt.  Users are all different, with different machines and different needs, but Microsoft is throwing a blanket over us all and saying: "This is what you need and will get, like it or not.  And it it borks your machine, too bad.  We are too big to sue, so just pay up and get it fixed."

Sadly, the people who could bring pressure to bear on Microsoft, politicians and big-name tech journalists, are all sitting on their hands and doing nothing.  They all talk about the good stuff, never the bad.  Makes you wonder just how many of them are on the MS payroll, don't it.

Well I'm decided about the updates.  I already have auto-updates blocked, but given this situation, I will no longer search manually for them, either.  I have an updates nag icon with a little red flag on my taskbar, but I shall continue to ignore it.  If I need updates, majorgeeks hosts them and I can check out what they are and for before I download and install them.

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