Has Microsoft just dropped the Telemetry bomb on Windows 7 users without telling anyone?



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Microsoft has released security updates for all supported operating systems on Patch Day, July 2019. Windows 7 administrators can choose between a secure update or a monthly cumulative update. The main difference between the two is that only the security patch is supposed to contain security-related fixes, while the monthly cumulative update can also include non-security-related changes.

KB4507456, which is this month's security update only, seems to have included more than just security patches for various components of the Windows 7 operating system. According to some information, the installation of the Security Update replaces the well-known KB2952664 Compatibility Update, which keeps Windows up-to-date and ensures that upgrades to Windows 10 work as expected.

With the security update KB4507456 only from July 2019-07, Microsoft inserted this feature in a security patch only without any warning, adding "compatibility evaluator" and its scheduled tasks (telemetry) to the update. day. The details of the package for KB4507456 indicate that it is replacing KB2952664 (among other updates).

microsoft-windows 7 telemetry bomb

Point: Guide to blocking telemetry in Windows 7 and 8.1

The release of this news has caused some administrators to fear that Microsoft may have abandoned the update to support Windows 7 and the expected launch of Windows 10 on these systems.

This is not the first time that Microsoft has included the compatibility evaluator in a secure update only. The company did it in September 2018 for Windows 7, but notified users and administrators in advance.

The month of July 2019 seems to be a repetition of this, but without warning. Once installed, a new scheduled task is added to the system under Microsoft> Windows> Application Experience.

Ed Bott took over the story on ZDnet, confirming that the security update included the compatibility assessment tool. Bott suggests however that there might be another simpler explanation for inclusion: the tool presented a security issue that Microsoft has fixed with the version.

Bott does not provide any indication that the update addresses security issues in the assessment tool. Given the lack of data, I would not be too quick to reject this hypothesis. For now, all we know is that Microsoft has sent the update to Windows 7 devices as part of the secure update. This could be another case where Microsoft has just been Microsoft.

Communication and openness have improved over the past few years at Microsoft, but as Bott points out, there are still problems "where the stubborn silence of society is disconcerting".

Support for Windows 7 ends in January 2020 and Microsoft is already starting to post notifications about the upcoming end. The company has, however, promised not to launch another Get Windows 10 campaign on users' computers.

Business customers can purchase up to three years of media extensions that cost US $ 50, $ 100, and $ 200 per user per year, respectively.

summary

Has Microsoft just dropped the Telemetry bomb on Windows 7 users without telling anyone?

Item name

Has Microsoft just dropped the Telemetry bomb on Windows 7 users without telling anyone?

The description

KB4507456, which is this month's security update only, appears to have included more than just security patches for the various components of the Windows 7 operating system.

Author

Martin Brinkmann

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Ghacks Technology News

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