Microsoft starting to keep mum on Windows 10 updates

There was once a time when obscurity was the name of the security game, but that practice has widely fallen out of fashion after being proven to be ultimately ineffective. It seems, however, that Microsoft is doing its best to revive that tradition. Although it claims to be not doing anything differently, descriptions of its Windows 10 updates are becoming less and less descriptive. Worse, even the KB articles that supposedly give more in-depth information are now also less verbose, leading some to speculate what Microsoft is hiding.

The Windows 10 update policy has been one of the most criticized parts of the new Windows experience. Nevermind the fact that updates are download and installed by default, but users no longer have an option to opt out of that and apply updates on their own terms. This has already caused problems for users when such updates bring in broken drivers or features.

This situation is exacerbated by the fact that Windows 10's three Cumulative Updates (CU) so far have not been thoroughly described. All three are reported to have broken some feature for some users. In the past, Microsoft would provide links to the KB article associated with the update. Now users will have to hunt down for those themselves. But that might be futile anyway, as, in the example of one of the CU's, KB 3081438 for example, the description is only thus:

This update includes improvements to enhance the functionality of Windows 10.

More than just for curiosity, those KB update details could be used by users to help troubleshoot when things go wrong due to an update. Although Microsoft does have a tool to roll back and block a particular update, without knowing which is the wayward one, it would be difficult to apply.

All in all, the Windows 10 update situation is starting to look like a mess. Microsoft may be purposely obscuring update details in order to protect itself from further scrutiny, which isn't exactly doing it any favors right now. Microsoft's update policy hinges on the trust users are willing to give. And it is definitely doing a terrible job so far.

VIA: ExtremeTech