Whether it’s a Windows update or an update for your smartphone, security updates are pretty damn important. They’re designed to patch flaws in the piece of software and prevent a potential malicious piece of code from running or other nasty surprises happening to your data. Experienced users will therefore always stress to their friends and family that if they install nothing else, be sure to keep on top of security updates.
But a new report indicates Microsoft might be burying an ad generator update with this months security update and will affect machines running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and it’s part of Microsoft’s tactic of aggressively pushing users into updated to Windows 10.
KB3139929 update for Internet Explorer also installs a second update labelled KB3146449, and according to InfoWorld’s Woody Leonhard sources ads a blue banner on the “new tabs” of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer which reads “Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows 10.”
The KB3146449 update description reads “This update adds functionality to Internet Explorer 11 on some computers that lets users learn about Windows 10 or start an upgrade to Windows 10,” very sneaky Microsoft.
This update is just one of the more recent tactics Microsoft are using to push and nudge users into making the jump for the upgrade; with many (inexperienced) users not noticing that quite often Windows 10 lists itself under recommended updates, and users accidentally install the latest iteration of the OS.
For the majority of power users, this ‘trick’ won’t be of a concern, due to the large number of users who’re running a third party browser (such as Firefox or Chrome) – but it is yet another way for Microsoft to push the Windows 10 update to less experienced users.
Some folks are suggesting that you disable Windows built in update functionality entirely or be super selective of which updates you install. For an easy way of disabling the update services, run Command Prompt as an administrator by: Click start -> cmd -> right click and run as Administrator. Then enter the following text: sc config wuauserv start= disabled.
Once again, this will disable updates entirely, so it’s probably a step too far for the average user and instead it’s probably better that you simply monitor the updates yourself.
