News Windows updates might finally be getting better — Microsoft to remove legacy drivers from Windows Update to boost security

[Admin]

Microsoft is planning on removing unwanted/legacy drivers from its Windows update catalog to boost the security of its Windows user base. The first phase of this cleanup will encompass older legacy drivers that already have newer replacements in Microsoft's database.

Windows updates might finally be getting better — Microsoft to remove legacy drivers from Windows Update to boost security : Read more

 

[bit_user]

will be removing legacy and expiring drivers that are "no longer associated with an audience in Windows Update" on a regular basis.

If they no longer have an audience, then there should be no significant benefit to removing them.

So, my sense is that this is about more than just security. I wonder if MS isn't just using that as convenient excuse to push people to upgrade.

As for the clickbait teaser that "Windows updates might finally be getting better", the only thing I've seen improve the stability of Windows Updates is for MS to release a new OS and limit updates of the existing OS to just bugfixes. I swear, when MS launched Win 11, the stability of Win 10 improved massively. I think you could probably find the same pattern in Win 7 and before.

 

[pjmelect]

Bsd idea.

 

[punkncat]

Consider that with the drop in support for W10, this significantly downsizes the hardware pool they have to support moving forward. W10 will run on almost anything back to single core Pentium. W11 support is decades "ahead" of that hardware support, so why keep those things around?

 

[ezst036]

This is a pretty shady move.

If Microsoft no longer contains the drivers that's for hardware earlier than Windows 10/7/etc then well, I guess Microsoft doesn't have to support it do they.

It's more of them browbeating their customers to upgrade for self-serving purposes. Click on this advertisement, generate revenue for Microsoft.

Cha ching!

 

[Mattzun]

How does Tom's create a headline like "Windows Update might get better" from an article stating the MS is giving up on supporting older hardware.

 

[punkncat]

In the meantime...Apple.

 

[USAFRet]

In the meantime...Apple.

That's funny right there...

 

[jlake3]

Consider that with the drop in support for W10, this significantly downsizes the hardware pool they have to support moving forward. W10 will run on almost anything back to single core Pentium. W11 support is decades "ahead" of that hardware support, so why keep those things around?

I can get streamlining things for Win11, but what I'm curious about is if I set up an older Windows box for some kind of testing or retro gaming, will it be able to automatically fetch drivers for things like chipsets and controllers, as it currently does? Or are they gonna aggressively expire anything that isn't "Certified for Windows 11" from all versions of Windows Update to make staying on Win10 or running Win11 on unsupported hardware more unpleasant, in the hopes it pushes new hardware sales? Some legacy sound chips can be a pain to find drivers for outside of Windows Update, and Realtek seems to operate on the assumption that either device makers buying their products will handle hosting drivers for end users, or Windows Update will be there to do it.

The first phase of the cleanup will allegedly target legacy drivers that already have newer replacements on Windows Update

Sounds like phase one is just removing V1 and V2 of drivers in the catalog if a V3 exists, and since my understanding is that Windows Update only offers the most recent version it has, that shouldn't cause widespread issues... But I don't trust Microsoft with future cleanups targeting more categories.

Hopefully, this will improve Windows Update's reputation and improve the quality of drivers that are sent to Windows machines. Windows Update often gets accused of providing bad updates and bad drivers. Sometimes, these accusations are legitimate, where a buggy driver gets installed that wrecks the user's computer. Worse, these faulty drivers can reinstall themselves automatically, making them a nightmare to deal with if the user tries to uninstall them manually.

I don't see this how this would help with that issue. My experience is that it's usually installing an old driver in the catalog over a newer, user-installed driver, and usually on graphics or wifi that are new and under pretty active development. Seems like it sometimes gets confused by not being able to recognize a new version it hasn't seen before is actually new, and assumes the Windows Update driver must be better? With old hardware, things tend to be pretty stable.

 

[rambo919]

Almost as if with windows you should not trust update for drivers and remember to download the latest from the provider website..... and why driverpack or driver archive websites will always be important.

 

[JeffreyP55]

In the meantime...Apple.

I eat apples. Yumm! Zero interest in what Apple has to offer.

 

[USAFRet]

and why driverpack or driver archive websites will always be important.

hahaha....things like "driverpack" are worse.

 

[rambo919]

hahaha....things like "driverpack" are worse.

worse than not having any source of drivers at all?

 

[USAFRet]

worse than not having any source of drivers at all?

If its not coming direct from the manufacturer of whatever, I don't want or need it.

Now...if you're talking about a driver for some ancient item, thats different.

 

[punkncat]

I eat apples. Yumm! Zero interest in what Apple has to offer.

I can understand that, and I also do not care for Apple or their products.

The point being that Apple has a reputation for the hardware within their walled garden to work well together. A big part of that is the planned obsolescence and drop of support for hardware that (could) still be viable but they choose not to make that the case as a sacrifice (as it were) in support of the myth about how "good" their hardware is. I mean, pretty much everything they support is only for ~5 years and then you have a brick.

Very similar situation goes on with Android as well.

From a product performance stance, it isn't a bad policy. People using those type products are familiar going in. MS is actually just late to the game in changing that support policy. Never mind the e waste or embrace Linux.

 

[rambo919]

If its not coming direct from the manufacturer of whatever, I don't want or need it.

Now...if you're talking about a driver for some ancient item, thats different.

All driverpacks are predominantly for hardware with illusive sources for drivers.

 

[JeffreyP55]

I can understand that, and I also do not care for Apple or their products.

The point being that Apple has a reputation for the hardware within their walled garden to work well together. A big part of that is the planned obsolescence and drop of support for hardware that (could) still be viable but they choose not to make that the case as a sacrifice (as it were) in support of the myth about how "good" their hardware is. I mean, pretty much everything they support is only for ~5 years and then you have a brick.

Very similar situation goes on with Android as well.

From a product performance stance, it isn't a bad policy. People using those type products are familiar going in. MS is actually just late to the game in changing that support policy. Never mind the e waste or embrace Linux.

Proprietary everything is the apple way. It is mush easier to keep your lemmings in line.

 

[suryasans]

So, Windows 11 still contains drivers for conventional PCI based sound cards. Some Chinese sound card manufacturers are using legacy PCI based sound chips with converter chips for PCI express.

 

[lemongrassgarlic]

It shouldn't be normal for windows update to distribute 3rd party software/drivers. Why do updates for Intel or Dell come via windows updates ?

 

[dimar]

The appeal of Windows is to have the backwards compatibility with older hardware and software. Planned obsolescence is not the way. If Microsoft decides to remove old drivers, they should at least make them available and supported as a separate expansion pack.