|
Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
For those of you in a domain, who have Windows 10 pro versions, please make sure that you have put in place feature update deferrals to ensure you do
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – 1809 and mapped drives]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Thanks Susan.
As a Windows 7 home user, but not viewing things just from that perspective, I am increasingly interested to see whether we are at or approaching a stage with Windows 10 and the mess that occurs increasingly with each version where the team here will be starting to consider advising prospective users not to upgrade to Windows 10, and existing users with the ability to roll back to either Windows 7 or 8.1 to give serious consideration to doing so.
I’ve yet to see any suggestion that Windows 10 offers anyone sufficiently substantial advances over its predecessors to outweigh the problems that are being increasingly experienced with it, although I appreciate that where large companies have made a wholesale switch in the OS it’s a very different matter to consider reversing that process as compared with home or small business users. Nonetheless, it’s a valid question as to how long such companies should be expected to put up with this situation before giving serious consideration to the alternatives.
Mapped drive explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_mapping
We discovered this issue almost immediately when we started testing 1809. Several of our line of business applications, not the least of which is the primary accounting system in one of our divisions, still rely on mapped drives. That Microsoft did not consider this to be a MAJOR problem says volumes about their testing and, even more, about their current attitude towards SMB customers.
A different, very specialized accounting system we run in an older division was installed in 1996 on a SCO Unix system. Today this same software is still running, now installed on a CentOS 7.5 system. It continues to do the job it was designed for, even if it is used in terminal emulators in Windows, and hasn’t been replaced simply because it still reliably serves the function is was designed for. It is a supreme example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
It’s getting close to time to start looking at Windows 10 LTSB or searching for viable alternatives to Windows.
You made a number of objections to what Susan Bradley wrote, but she is correct on all points, as far as I can tell.
I have 365 day deferral and am still on 1703. The deferral is with respect to when the next release feature updates are first offered. In that case, it would be 365 days from when 1709 came out, since those are the feature updates I am deferring, and they were first offered in October 2017. Those feature updates, which were first offered in October 2017, will be deferred for 365 days from the date that they were first offered, which brings us approximately to October 2018 as the last period when the ability to defer an update to 1709 would expire.
Remember the deferral is with respect to when the NEW feature updates were offered, not from when you last installed a feature update. Meaning, if I am on 1703, the deferral is from the official release date when 1709 (the next release after 1703) was first offered, not from when 1703 was installed. Likewise, if I were to update to 1803 now, I could defer 1809 for another full year from the official release date when 1809 was first offered, and would not be forced to update until autumn of 2019.
Since the new feature releases are six months apart, a 365 day deferral gives you 18 months total. I have no idea where you got a date of 7/11/2018, unless you are using a European date convention, and mean 7th November 2018, which would be in the right ballpark for when the next patch Tuesday after the deferral for 1703 ends. However, your post makes it seem like you meant July 11, which would be incorrect.
I am still on 1703, and I have not yet been offered an update to a new release yet, due to my deferral. I updated the last security update for 1703 for October after the go-ahead was given by Woody (via Defcon) and Susan (via patch list).
Support ended for 1703 in early October, so I am now no longer under support, just as Susan Bradley said would happen.
I expect that when I go to update for November, I will have to make a choice whether to go to 1709 or 1803, just as Susan Bradley said. I am not likely to even consider 1809. You need to re-read what she wrote.
You’re right that I misunderstood the example given. But it also depends which branch you’ve selected, the default Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted) or the broad/delayed Semi-Annual Channel, which wasn’t mentioned. If your 1703 was on the default branch then your 365-day deferral of the next update would have expired almost exactly at the 18 months end-of-life, and you should have got 1709 by now. If you opt for the broad/delayed release, then you get less than 18 months support on each version.
I don’t believe MS has suggested that.
And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, if you are a Home version, ensure you upgrade to Pro so you can defer feature upgrades.
Surly you must be joking. Microsoft is a sinking ship and they aren’t getting one more thin dime from me until they demonstrate they are competent enough to build and test reliable software.
Susan is absolutely correct that the update controls Pro offers are practically necessary, but giving Microsoft another $100 (!) for the Pro upgrade in order to regain functionality Microsoft has taken away is tantamount to the beaten dog licking the hand of its master. I will not give them another cent. I will never purchase another Microsoft product unless and until they restore the power the user used to have (control over updates, honest telemetry opt-outs, ability to actually turn the constant spying off, issuing honest press releases, and so on) at a very minimum.
I just got done wiping a Win10 1709 installation and reinstalling Windows 8.1 with Classic Shell. I am going to run 8.1 “Group B” until it stops getting patched or I find adequate Linux replacements for the software I use. Their narrow window to possibly regain me as a customer ends the moment Linux gets installed. I have had my fill of this nonsense.
The instructions on this site were very helpful to me during my Windows 8.1 reinstallation. Thanks also to Microfix for pointing me to some very useful articles here.
The MS table at Build deployment rings for Windows 10 updates just gives examples for organizations, not recommendations for anyone.
Donations from Plus members keep this site going. You can identify the people who support AskWoody by the Plus badge on their avatars.
AskWoody Plus members not only get access to all of the contents of this site -- including Susan Bradley's frequently updated Patch Watch listing -- they also receive weekly AskWoody Plus Newsletters (formerly Windows Secrets Newsletter) and AskWoody Plus Alerts, emails when there are important breaking developments.
