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I had been doing most Windows 7 updates all along (often with a couple week delay), until the so-called Meltdown patch came out in January. I shut off all updates on all of my Windows 7 computers (6) then because I didn’t trust MS to be able to put out that big a change to the OS that quickly. I just assumed they would screw up again. So all of my computers never got the botched patches. I am still holding off until it seems like they figured out what they are doing. I agree with everyone here who said that MS fired all the old programmers and replaced them with people who simply don’t know what they are doing. Windows patching was never so precarious in years past. I am running antivirus and malwarebytes, and have my router locked down pretty tight. So far I haven’t had any problems.

I need my computer to work because I have to actually do work on it. I don’t understand how people can get work done when their computer starts updating itself automatically even when set to not update automatically. I would go crazy if I was on a deadline and MS started forcing an update on me. All of my computers are still on Windows 7 (pro and ultimate) and I don’t have any intention of switching to 10 unless MS backs off their aggressive behavior. I am wondering how many people who took the free upgrade to 10 now regret doing so.

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Rick Corbett, Cybertooth, Alice

I am absolutely not going to install the Meltdown Spectre patch. At this point I just don’t believe that there is a real threat. A potential 30% slowdown is not acceptable, and there is no indication that these holes are actually going to be useful ways of hacking into a personal computer. Someone might try to hack an un-patched server, but there isn’t enough of a reason to try and do this to someone’s PC.

If I hear that these exploits are actually working to attack regular people’s PCs then I will reconsider. But as of now, that patch stays unchecked.

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AJNorth, HiFlyer, JDeC, Noel Carboni

Looks like another pile of patches is out today. With Office installed I now see 12, including the Meltdown security rollup. Some are small Office patches, but others look substantial.  I am holding off on all of them for a few days to see what happens.

I am wondering for Windows PC users (Win 7 in my case) who want to avoid any performance hits if it is going to be generally safe to assume that if we do any online transactions or banking, that a simple reboot afterwards will clear kernel memory and thus avoid any problems? It would seem that if all I have done over the last few hours was work on a Word document or Excel spreadsheet, or maybe play an online game, that there won’t be any loot in loaded in memory that can be stolen. Obviously patching will be necessary soon, but I was hoping to wait for improved work arounds in the future, rather than applying the first patch they come up with.

I agree with those preferring Windows 7 as it is more mature and stable. All of my computers are still running 7, and will be for the foreseeable future. Windows 10 still offers nothing that I want or need. My biggest tech gripe is still with Windows 10.

By the way, what is everyone’s take on the revelation that all Intel CPUs have a critical security flaw that the OS makers are frantically trying to patch?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/03/major-security-flaw-found-intel-processors-computers-windows-mac-os-linux

Looks like the patches will slow performance dramatically. Not good news for the new year.

Hi Woody,

Actually, I think the evidence of supposed Russian meddling is very scant, for example here is a good article on the topic:

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/10/10/russia-gate-jumps-the-shark/

Indeed, the US meddles in other countries elections far more than Russia does. We put a lot more money into it (our military budget is something like 7 or 8 times that of Russia’s).

The intelligence agencies pushing the Russia story are the same ones who pushed the WMD story before we invaded Iraq, which all turned out to be fabricated. I am not sure why anyone would trust what they say. Their job is to manage perception and misdirect people’s attention.

John

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HiFlyer, lurks about