Cutting corners: Patch Tuesday had somewhat shock. Lately, Microsoft has solely given like to Windows 11 and Windows 10. This week it had the newest updates for Windows 7 customers. There’s even a technique to get them with out paying for Microsoft’s costly subscription.
Despite Microsoft ending safety updates for Windows 7 in 2020, the almost 13-year-old working system nonetheless runs on tens of millions of PCs. Microsoft will allow them to proceed receiving safety updates for an additional 12 months by subscribing to the Extended Security Updates (ESU).
Plans price $100 per machine for Windows 7 Enterprise customers and $200 for Pro customers, which might add up for companies nonetheless working many methods on Windows 7.
In 2019 nonetheless, customers on the My Digital Life boards cooked up an archive containing information permitting them to bypass ESU verification and get updates totally free. Users there confirmed this week that the exploit works on the newest patches.
In addition to safety enhancements, updates KB5012626 and KB5012649 include fixes for Windows Media Center, sure password change conditions, and an issue involving DNS hostnames.
Microsoft will cease releasing Windows 7 updates even for the ESU program after January 2023, although third-party builders should still provide their very own patches afterward.
