Netmarketshare: Win7 still at 50% usage, Win10 at 28%

StatCounter says it’s Win 7 at 46%, Win 10 with a bullet at 37%.

No increase in Edge. Per Netmarketshare:

Gregg Keizer has an interesting observation about web browsers in Computerworld and a detailed analysis of Windows version usage.

Report: Office 2016 patch KB 4011052 triggers the old “Crash on open attachment” bug

Just got a report from an anonymous source, saying the new round of Office patches that were supposed to cure the June bugs may, in fact, be introducing at least one of the old, admitted bugs.

Had a Windows 7, Office 2016 without the buggy KB3191932. Installed the new KB4011052 and now we have the same bug on this system, outlook crashes while opening an email with attachements.

Anybody else seeing it?

Win10 machines with “Defer feature updates” now getting pushed Creators Update

There’s a reason why your Win10 1607 PC with “Defer feature updates” is getting pushed onto 1703 — and you aren’t going to like it. Fortunately, there’s a partial solution.

Tip: If you’re running Win10 Anniversary Update, version 1607, and don’t want to get pushed onto 1703, go into Windows Update and see if “Feature update to Windows 10, version 1703” is waiting download. If so, use wushowhide or a metered connection to block it. If it’s already downloaded and awaiting a reboot, DON’T reboot just yet.

Computerworld Woody on Windows

UPDATE: I can confirm that this method worked on my production PC. Per @netdef:

If the updater shows 1703 still pending a reboot, and you have successfully used wushowhide.diagcab to block it, go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete ALL subfolders and files in there (but don’t delete the Download folder itself.)

Now at the Start menu, you should have roughly double the count of shutdown options listed.  Half are normal, the other half say something like Update and Restart or Update and Shut down.

Restart the workstation without the Update option.

Now when you recheck updates, the Feature update to 1703 should abort, and no longer be listed as pending.

Brilliant!

UPDATE: There’s a reason why you were caught flat-footed. You were probably waiting for the usual “4 months to CBB” delay. That interval is shrinking precipitously…

Some historical perspective on the “Microsoft won’t support Creators Update on Clover Trail computers” problem

I’ve been watching the furor erupt over Microsoft’s refusal to let Win10 Creators Update run on Clover Trail computers. Peter Bright has a good overview on Ars Technica.

In a nutshell, folks with PCs running on the 2012-to-2014-era Intel Clover Trail Atom processor – they shipped with Windows 8.x – were offered a free upgrade to Windows 10, back when everybody else was pushed in that direction. Now, a year or two later, Microsoft says those who took the bait won’t be able to upgrade to Win10 Creators Update version 1703. Try to upgrade and, per Ed Bott on ZDNet, you get the message “Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC.” Microsoft has magnanimously, and uncharacteristically, stated that it will continue to provide security updates for Win10 1607 on these particular computers until January 2023.

Of course, consumer response has been frosty. But the problem only affects a “small number of users” so attention soon shifts to another hot topic.

Bad Microsoft. Windows as a Disservice. What else is new?

One of my favorite bloggers, Günter Born, published an article earlier this morning that changed my perspective. Born goes through the reason for Microsoft’s block on the upgrade — basically, the Clover Trail computers implicated have an integrated graphics chip, the GMA SGX 545, and Intel either can’t or won’t provide a driver update. We’ve seen that happen before, too.

Here’s what turned my head. As I was looking at Born’s links, I stumble on something odd. He links to a list of Windows 8 tablets that don’t support Windows 10. His link goes to a German-language site. Here’s a link in English.

The Clover Trail-based computers that got hit by the ban:

Acer Iconia Tab W510 / W510P / W511
Acer Iconia W3-810
Asus VivoTab Smart ME400C / ME400CL
Asus VivoTab TF810C
Dell Latitude 10
HP Elitepad 900
HP Envy x2 11
Lenovo IdeaTab Miix 10
Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2
Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx K3011 / K3011W
Samsung ATIV Tab 3 XE300TZC
Samsung ATIV Tab 5 / smartPC XE500T1C

It’s a worthwhile list, but what struck me is the date on that post – and the reason for the post appearing. In it, poster Tourniquet says:

At the time of wirting this, there are a couple of first generation Windows 8 Tablets that doesn’t officially support the Windows 10 upgrade. This is because of the Intel Atom Z2760 GMA (SGX 545) driver. Interestingly if you tried to reserve Windows 10 a week ago, there wasn’t a problem, but now the GWX says it’s not supported.

And the date… July 31, 2015. Two years ago.

Tourniquet goes on to say:

We can only hope that Intel will provide new drivers (for Windows 10), but they didn’t when Windows 8 came out for they Atom Z500/Z600 so you never know.

So it looks like the Clover Trail problem is two years in the making. You can point your finger at Microsoft or, I think, just as validly point your finger at Intel. Why did Microsoft allow the upgrade to Windows 10? Why won’t Intel come out with a driver? If they could iron things out for the Anniversary Update, why can’t they get together on the Creators Update? How long have folks at Microsoft and Intel known about this problem, and why wasn’t it divulged much earlier in the game?

Looks like there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Microsoft releases then yanks KB 4032188, a cumulative update for Creators Update, build 15063.501

I’m seeing some sporadic reports, including this one from Bogdan Popa at Softpedia.

I expected a cumulative update for 1703 on Tuesday – even mentioned it briefly in my Computerworld article – but it didn’t show up. I also expected the Outlook security patches, which did arrive on Thursday.

Looked all over for KB 4032188, and can’t find it, although Nayan at Windows Central managed to copy the changelog. As I expected – and said in the article – it’s a massive patch.

Just what you want on the day after 1703 is declared Current Branch for Business, eh?

Microsoft says it’s time to install Win10 Creators Update

At the same time, they changed the terminology — which was last changed in May. Tell me again, is it Semi-annual Clearance Sale (Broad)?

What we used to know as “Service Pack 1” and then “Current Branch for Business” and then “Semi-Annual Channel (Broad)” has now been re-christened “Semi-Annual Channel” with a discrete “Microsoft recommends” bullet on the versions chart.

Bottom line: Microsoft says the Creators Update has just passed its unpaid beta testing phase, and is now ready for businesses.

Personally, I’m going to hold off until next Patch Tuesday. I’ve heard rumors there are many bug fixes waiting in the wings. Besides, the #1 new feature in Creators Update is the ability for Pro users to relatively easily delay patches – a skill you’ve no doubt learned by now.

UPDATE: Gregg Keizer just posted his analysis on Computerworld.

Microsoft releases KB 3213643, 2956078, 4011078, 4011052 to fix June Outlook security bugs

Six weeks after rolling out four botched security patches for Outlook, Microsoft claims it’s fixed the bugs — and tackled three new exposures to boot.

Computerworld Woody on Windows

UPDATE:

A new version of Office 2013 Click-To-Run is available: 15.0.4953.1001

A new version of Office 2010 Click-To-Run is available: 14.0.7187.5000

Bezos and Midas – Facebook and Amazon market cap

I don’t usually cover market news, but for those of you who haven’t heard:

Jeff Bezos just became the world’s richest person, with more money than Gates. (Gates, of course, has been giving away tons to his foundation. Nonetheless, he’s still at #2.)

Facebook’s total market capitalization (the total value of its outstanding stock) just hit $500 billion, one day after Amazon hit $500 billion.

For comparison:

Apple about $800 billion
Google (Alphabet) about $665 billion
Microsoft about $570 billion
Berkshire Hathaway about $425 billion
Alibaba about $410 billion