In Rare Move, Microsoft Offers Critical Security Patch For Windows XP, 8, Other OSes

[benedict78]

Microsoft knew about the vulnerability when XP was still supported and choose to not do anything about it so the NSA could access everyone's pc on a whim. This is entirely MS's fault as far as I'm concerned.
There is a billion's worth of legacy apps not working on Win10. Even worse, applications that worked perfectly got broken with the Creators Update. It's practically impossible to rewrite millions of lines of code any time Microsoft decides to change something and cripple your app.
Intel and Microsoft became de-facto monopolies in the pc space for one main reason - backwards compatibility. Intel is still 100% compatible - anything that ran on a 80386 will run on Kaby Lake. It is Microsoft who are cheap and decide on a whim to stop supporting old features.

 

[Anytownjack]

Hooray! to Microsoft for quick response in helping its customers after the US government let someone leak the possible exploits used for the current ransomeware epidemic.
Boo! Hiss! to the US government for not controlling the code better. This is like the CDC giving out free samples of smallpox and ebola.

 

[hst101rox]

Too bad Windows Update on Windows 7 is clobbered on so many systems with using a full CPU core endlessly when checking for available updates. And in the Windows Update Catalog, there is no Windows 7 hotfix. http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4012598

 

[Karadjgne]

It's funny that. On one hand ppl gripe about the government keeping secrets, the first amendment and freedom of information act, the public has a right to know! etc, yet on the other hand ppl are now griping about the government letting the info out and some pri..head had nothing better to do and exploited the info you just demanded to know.

Really can't have it both ways. Either be blissfully ignorant of things, or know everything. You can decide for yourself what you know, but you don't have the right to decide for others. Windows is never going to be perfect, there will always be backdoors, so it's a little unfair to blame Microsoft for not shutting down every possible access. If they want it bad enough, hackers will just make a backdoor where non existed before. The only course of action Microsoft could have taken was to release a padlock on that exploit, and they did. At least they did something.

 

[Dragon4570]

Considering that almost all ATM and Self Checkout equipment built or maintained by NCR are still using XP due to the fact that to upgrade the hardware that runs those machines would require them to be completely rebuilt from the ground up. And that WalMart self checkouts for the most part are still using XP to run them, it is no surprise that Microsoft went ahead and released that patch for the XP OS.

 

[cats_Paw]

Great, now turn on updates for Ryzen on Win7 plz.

 

[hst101rox]

Great, now turn on updates for Ryzen on Win7 plz.

You can. A Microsoft employee has found a way to allow Windows Updates to install on Windows 7 and 8 and 10 if you run that OS on Kaby Lake + or Ryzen+. https://www.extremetech.com/computing/248069-unofficial-patch-unblocks-windows-7-8-1-updates-kaby-lake-ryzen