Windows Update is a Microsoft service for the Windows 9x and Windows NT families of operating system, which automates downloading and installing Microsoft Windowssoftware updates over the Internet. The service delivers software updates for Windows, as well as the various Microsoft antivirus products, including Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials. Since its inception, Microsoft has introduced two extensions of the service: Microsoft Update and Windows Update for Business. The former expands the core service to include other Microsoft products, such as Microsoft Office and Microsoft Expression Studio. The latter is available to business editions of Windows 10 and permits postponing updates or receiving updates only after they have undergone rigorous testing.
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As the service has evolved over the years, so have its client software. For a decade, the primary client component of the service was the Windows Update web app that could only be run inside Internet Explorer. Starting with Windows Vista, the primary client component became Windows Update Agent, an integral component of the operating system. The service provides several kinds of updates. Security updates or critical updates mitigate vulnerabilities against security exploits against Microsoft Windows. Cumulative updates are updates that bundle previously released updates. Cumulative updates were introduced with Windows 10 and have been backported to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Microsoft routinely releases updates on the second Tuesday of each month (known as the Patch Tuesday), but can provide them whenever a new update is urgently required to prevent a newly discovered or prevalent exploit. System administrators can configure Windows Update to install critical updates for Microsoft Windows automatically, so long as the computer has an Internet connection.
Clients[edit]Windows Update web app[edit]
The Windows Update web app, version 4, in Windows ME
Windows Update was introduced as a web app with the launch of Windows 98 and offered additional desktop themes, games, device driver updates, and optional components such as NetMeeting.[1] Windows 95 and Windows NT 4 were retroactively given the ability to access the Windows Update website, and download updates designed for those operating systems, starting with the release of versions of Internet Explorer 4. The initial focus of Windows Update was free add-ons and new technologies for Windows. Security fixes for Outlook Express, Internet Explorer and other programs appeared later, as did access to beta versions of upcoming Microsoft software, e.g., Internet Explorer 5. Fixes to Windows 98 to resolve the Year 2000 problem were distributed using Windows Update in December 1998. Microsoft attributed the sales success of Windows 98 in part to Windows Update.[2] The Windows Update web app requires either Internet Explorer or a third-party web browser that supports the ActiveX technology. The first version of the web app, version 3, does not send any personally-identifiable information to Microsoft. Instead, the app downloads a full list of every available update and chooses which one to download and install. But the list grew so large that the performance impact of processing became a concern. Arie Slob, writing for the Windows-help.net newsletter in March 2003, noted that the size of the update list had exceeded 400 KB, which caused delays of more than a minute for dial-up users.[3] Windows Update v4, released in 2001 in conjunction with Windows XP, changed this. This version of the app makes an inventory of the system's hardware and Microsoft software and sends them to the service, thus offloading the processing burden to Microsoft servers.[3] Critical Update Notification Utility[edit]
Screenshot of the Critical Update Notification dialog box in Windows 98.
Critical Update Notification Utility (initially Critical Update Notification Tool) is a background process that checks the Windows Update web site on a regular schedule for new updates that have been marked as 'Critical'. It was released shortly after Windows 98. By default, this check occurs every five minutes, plus when Internet Explorer starts; however, the user could configure the next check to occur only at certain times of the day or on certain days of the week. The tool queries the Microsoft server for a file called ' An analysis done by security researcher H. D. Moore in early 1999 was critical of this approach, describing it as 'horribly inefficient' and susceptible to attacks. In a posting to BugTraq, he explained that, 'every single Windows 98 computer that wishes to get an update has to rely on a single host for the security. If that one server got compromised one day, or an attacker cracks the [Microsoft] DNS server again, there could be millions of users installing trojans every hour. The scope of this attack is big enough to attract crackers who actually know what they are doing..'[5] Microsoft continued to promote the tool through 1999 and the first half of 2000. Initial releases of Windows 2000 shipped with the tool. The tool did not support Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. Automatic Updates[edit]
Automatic Updates 'Restart Required' dialog box in Windows XP SP1
Automatic Updates is the successor of the Critical Update Notification Utility. It was released in 2000, along with Windows ME. It supports Windows 2000 SP3 as well. Unlike its predecessor, Automatic Updates can download and install updates. Instead of the five-minute schedule used by its predecessor, Automatic Updates checks the Windows Update servers once a day. After Windows ME is installed, a notification balloon prompts the user to configure the Automatic Updates client. The user can choose from three notification schemes: Being notified before downloading the update, being notified before installing the update, or both. Windows XP and Windows 2000 SP3 include Background Intelligent Transfer Service, a Windows service for transferring files in the background without user interaction. As a system component, it is capable of monitoring the user's Internet usage, and throttling its own bandwidth usage in order to prioritize user-initiated activities. The Automatic Updates client for these operating systems was updated to use this system service. Automatic Updates in Windows XP gained notoriety for repeatedly interrupting the user while working on their computer. Every time an update requiring a reboot was installed, Automatic Updates would prompt the user with a dialog box. That allowed the user to restart immediately, or dismiss the dialog box, which would reappear in ten minutes, a behavior Jeff Atwood described as 'perhaps the naggiest dialog box ever.'[6] Apr 27, 2018 - Looking for 'Fusion 360 free download' and don't want to commit to buy the full. Fusion 360 is a commercial software for 3D CAD modeling. Software for 2D and 3D CAD. Subscription includes AutoCAD, specialized toolsets, and apps. FREE SOFTWARE FOR STUDENTS. Download Blender 2.79b. Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation. 100+ hours of high-quality training; All the open movies files and tutorials. Home of the Blender project - Free and Open 3D Creation Software. Creative Freedom Starts Here. Download Blender. V2.79b; Windows; 64 bit Installer. In 2013, it was observed that shortly after the startup process, Automatic Updates ( Windows Update Agent[edit]
Revised restart dialog box in Windows Vista
Starting with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, Windows Update Agent replaces both the Windows Update web app and the Automatic Updates client.[9][10] It is in charge of downloading and installing software update from Windows Update, as well as the on-premises servers of Windows Server Updates Services or System Center Configuration Manager.[11][12] Windows Update Agent can be managed through a Control Panel applet, as well as Group Policy, Microsoft Intune and Windows PowerShell. It can also be set to automatically download and install both important and recommended updates. In prior versions of Windows, such updates were only available through the Windows Update web site. Additionally, Windows Update in Windows Vista supports downloading Windows Ultimate Extras, optional software for Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. Unlike Automatic Updates in Windows XP, Windows Update Agent in Windows Vista and Windows 7 allows the user to postpone the mandatory restart (required for the update process to complete) for up to four hours. The revised dialog box that prompts for the restart appears under other windows, instead of on top of them. However, standard user accounts only have 15 minutes to respond to this dialog box. This was changed with Windows 8: Users have 3 days (72 hours) before the computer reboots automatically after installing automatic updates that require a reboot. Windows 8 also consolidates the restart requests for non-critical updates into just one per month. Additionally, the login screen notifies them of the restart requirements.[13] Windows Update Agent makes use of the Transactional NTFS feature introduced with Windows Vista to apply updates to Windows system files. This feature helps Windows recover cleanly in the event of an unexpected failure, as file changes are committed atomically.[14] Windows 10 contains major changes to Windows Update Agent operations; it no longer allows the manual, selective installation of updates. All updates, regardless of type (this includes hardware drivers), are downloaded and installed automatically, and users are only given the option to choose whether their system would reboot automatically to install updates when the system is inactive, or be notified to schedule a reboot.[15][16] Microsoft offers a diagnostic tool that can be used to hide troublesome device drivers and prevent them from being reinstalled, but only after they had been already installed, then uninstalled without rebooting the system.[17][18] Windows Update Agent on Windows 10 supports peer to peer distribution of updates; by default, systems' bandwidth is used to distribute previously downloaded updates to other users, in combination with Microsoft servers. Users may optionally change Windows Update to only perform peer to peer updates within their local area network.[19] Windows 10 also introduced cumulative updates. For example, if Microsoft released updates KB00001 in July, KB00002 in August, and KB00003 in September, Microsoft would release cumulative update KB00004 which packs KB00001, KB00002, and KB00003 together. Installing KB00004 will also install KB00001, KB00002 and KB00003, mitigating the need for multiple restarts and reducing the amount of downloads needed. However, a disadvantage of cumulative updates is that downloading and installing updates that fix individual problems is no longer possible. Windows Update for Business[edit]Windows Update for Business is a term for a set of features in the Pro, Enterprise and Education editions of Windows 10, including:[20][21][22]
These features were added in Windows 10 version 1511.[23] They are intended for large organizations with lots of computers, so that they can logically group their computers for gradual deployment. Microsoft recommends a small set of pilot computers to receive the updates almost immediately, while the set of most critical computers to receive them after every other group has done so, and has experienced their effects.[24] Other Microsoft update management solutions, such as Windows Server Update Services or System Center Configuration Manager, do not override Windows Update for Business. Rather, they force Windows 10 into the 'dual scan mode'. This can cause confusion for administrators who do not comprehend the full ramifications of the dual scan mode.[25] Complementary software and services[edit]As organizations continued to use more computers, the per-machine Windows Update clients started to become unwieldy and insufficient. Hp envy 4513 manual. In response to the need of organizations for deploying updates to many machines, Microsoft introduced what was ultimately called Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). WSUS downloads updates for Microsoft product to a server computer on which it is running and redistributes them to the computers within the organization over a local area network (LAN). One of the benefits of this method is a reduction in the consumption of Internet bandwidth, equal to (N-1)×S, where N is the number of computers in the organization and S is the size made by the updates. Additionally, WSUS permits administrators to test updates on a small group of test computers before deploying them to all systems, in order to ensure that business continuity is not disrupted because of the changes that the updates. For very large organizations, multiple WSUS servers can be chained together hierarchically. Only one server in this hierarchy downloads from the Internet. WSUS is a component of the Windows Server family of operating systems. Update packages distributed via the Windows Update service can be individually downloaded from Microsoft Update Catalog. These updates can be delivered to computers without any network connections (e.g. using a USB flash drive) or used deploy Microsoft products in pre-updated state. In case of the former, Windows Update Agent ( Microsoft offers System Center Configuration Manager for very complex deployment and servicing scenarios. The product integrates with all of the aforesaid tools (WSUS, DISM, WADK, MDT) to automate the process. Service[edit]At the beginning of 2005, Windows Update was being accessed by about 150 million people,[26] with about 112 million of those using Automatic Updates.[27] As of 2008, Windows Update had about 500 million clients, processed about 350 million unique scans per day, and maintained an average of 1.5 million simultaneous connections to client machines. On Patch Tuesday, the day Microsoft typically releases new software updates, outbound traffic could exceed 500 gigabits per second.[28] Approximately 90% of all clients used automatic updates to initiate software updates, with the remaining 10% using the Windows Update web site. The web site is built using ASP.NET, and processes an average of 90,000 page requests per second. Traditionally, the service provided each patch in its own proprietary archive file. Occasionally, Microsoft released service packs which bundled all updates released over the course of years for a certain product. Starting with Windows 10, however, all patches are delivered in cumulative packages.[29] On 15 August 2016, Microsoft announced that effective October 2016, all future patches to Windows 7 and 8.1 would become cumulative as with Windows 10. The ability to download and install individual updates would be removed as existing updates are transitioned to this model.[30] This has resulted in increasing download sizes of each monthly update. An analysis done by Computerworld determined that the download size for Windows 7 x64 has increased from 119.4MB in October 2016 to 203MB in October 2017.[31] Initially, Microsoft was very vague about specific changes within each cumulative update package.[29] However, since early 2016, Microsoft has begun releasing more detailed information on the specific changes.[32] Microsoft Update[edit]
The Windows Update web in Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP, connected to the Microsoft Update service
At the February 2005 RSA Conference, Microsoft announced the first beta of Microsoft Update, an optional replacement for Windows Update that provides security patches, service packs and other updates for both Windows and other Microsoft software.[33] The initial release in June 2005 provided support for Microsoft Office 2003, Exchange 2003, and SQL Server 2000, running on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003. Over time, the list has expanded to include other Microsoft products, such as Windows Live, Windows Defender, Visual Studio, runtimes and redistributables, Zune Software, Virtual PC and Virtual Server, CAPICOM, Microsoft Lync, Microsoft Expression Studio, and other server products. It also offers Silverlight and Windows Media Player as optional downloads if applicable to the operating system. Office Update[edit]Office Update is a free online service that allows users to detect and install updates for certain Microsoft Office products. The original update service supported Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007. On 1 August 2009 Microsoft decommissioned the Office Update service, merging it with Microsoft Update.[34] Microsoft Update does not support Office 2000. With the introduction of the Office 365 licensing program, however, Microsoft once again activated a separate Office update service to service Office 365 customers. Owners of perpetual Microsoft Office licenses continue to receive updates through Microsoft Update.[35][36] Alternative tools[edit]A number of tools have been created by independent software vendors which provide the ability for Windows Updates to be automatically downloaded for, or added to, an online or offline system. One common use for offline updates is to ensure a system is fully patched against security vulnerabilities before being connected to the Internet or another network. A second use is that downloads can be very large, but may be dependent on a slow or unreliable network connection, or the same updates may be needed for more than one machine. AutoPatcher, WSUS Offline Update, PortableUpdate, and Windows Updates Downloader are examples such tools.[37] References[edit]
External links[edit]
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Microsoft Plus! is a discontinued commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications. The Microsoft Plus! product was first announced on January 31, 1994 under the internal codename 'Frosting'. The first edition was an enhancement for Windows 95, Windows 95 Plus! The enhancements that make up Microsoft Plus! were generally developed by Microsoft itself. The Plus! packs also included games and content from third-party companies; for example, in Plus! for Windows XP, the HyperBowl game developed by Hyper Entertainment Inc. was included. Plus! features that enhance the base operating system or provide utility are generally included free of charge in the next release of Windows. Microsoft Plus! was discontinued in favor of Windows Ultimate Extras in Windows Vista.[1][2] ![]()
Versions[edit]Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95[edit]
Windows 95 with Microsoft Plus boot screen
This was the first version of Plus! and had an initial cost of US$ 49.99.[3] It included Space Cadet Pinball, the Internet Jumpstart Kit (which was the introduction of Internet Explorer 1.0), DriveSpace 3 and Compression Agent disk compression utilities, the initial release of theme support along with a set of 12 themes, dial-up networking server, dial-up scripting tool, and the graphical improvements such as anti-aliased screen fonts, full-window drag, the ability to stretch or shrink the wallpaper to fit the screen and highcolor icons. Task Scheduler as it is present in later Windows versions was included as System Agent. A utility to notify the user of low disk space (DiskAlm.exe) also ran as part of System Agent. Plus! for Windows 95 was initially marketed for adding features for 'high-performance computers', the minimum system requirements were an 80386 CPU with 8 megabytes of RAM.[citation needed] Later releases of Windows 95 (OSR2 and onwards) included DriveSpace 3 and Internet Explorer 3.0. Windows 98 included all of the enhancements included in Plus! for Windows 95. The Pinball game was not installed by default, but included on the Windows 98 CD. Although Windows NT 4.0 is not intended to support desktop themes, each desktop theme from this pack (except the More Windows theme and the Windows 95 256-color theme) along with the Space theme from the Microsoft Plus! for Kids pack (albeit with a different startup sound) and three additional exclusive desktop themes is installable on this operating system via the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit. The screen-saver and wallpaper files include images from the Codex Leicester, which Microsoft founder Bill Gates bought in 1994. Microsoft Plus! for Kids![edit]This version was released in 1997 and targeted at children of ages 12 and under. It includes three new applications: Talk It!, a text-to-speech program that says what users type using various voices; Play It!, an electronic keyboard with music and sound effects; and Paint It!, a version of Paint oriented for kids. It also contained a 'picture picker' along with clipart, fonts, 10 new desktop themes, and Protect It!, parental controls for Internet Explorer. Plus! for Kids! was the only Plus! release from the Microsoft Home and Entertainment division rather than the Windows Operating System development group. Four desktop themes from this collection - Baseball, Jungle, Space and Underwater - were included in Windows 98; the Underwater theme, however, was modified to have its sounds play in different events. There is also a demo version for Microsoft Plus! for Kids!; however, it only contains the readme for the program and the Underwater theme. The pack can also be installed on Windows NT 4.0 if the user is granted administrative privileges, according to the Readme document included with the pack, although Protect It! and the desktop themes cannot be installed, mainly due to design differences between Windows 95 and NT 4.0. Microsoft Plus! 98[edit]As the sequel to the original suite of enhancements to Windows, Plus! 98 included the original set of themes along with eighteen new desktop themes (Some were based on popular comics such as FoxTrot and Garfield.[4]), along with new programs and tools for Windows 98. An 'organic art' 3D screensaver rendered unique infinite 3D visual shapes.[4] A Start Menu cleanup utility was added to Windows 98's Maintenance Wizard.[4] A Cybermedia Non-Critical File Cleaner utility was integrated into Disk Cleanup. ZIP file integration with Windows Explorer was first introduced with this version under the name of 'compressed folders'. New games, such as Microsoft Golf 98 Lite, Lose Your Marbles! and the now popular Spider Solitaire were also part of Plus! 98.[4] A Deluxe CD Player with CDDB support[4] and a basic 'express' version of Picture It![4] were also included. Finally, Plus! 98 came with McAfee VirusScan 3.0, along with a six-month supply of free updates.[4] Some Plus! 98 features such as compressed folders and the Spider Solitaire game were included in Windows Me and later Windows versions. The Deluxe CD Player was included with Windows 2000. Although Windows Me does not include all of the Plus! 98 features and Plus! 98 Setup is blocked by Windows Me as incompatible, it can be installed on Windows Me by copying the setup files to the local hard disk and renaming Setup.exe before running it. Microsoft Plus! Game Pack: Cards & Puzzles[edit]This Plus! pack was released at the time of Windows Millennium Edition; however, it could also be installed on Windows 95, 98 and 2000.[5] It included the Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection - a collection of 10 arcade games and Microsoft Bicycle Card Collection, another set of 12 card games (Hearts, Spades, Cribbage, Pinochle, Crazy 8's, Oh Hell!, Go Fish, Old Maid, Euchre, Gin Rummy, Schafkopf and Skat). A trial version of Microsoft Pandora's Box was also included. Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP[edit]Marketed as 'The Ultimate Companion for Windows XP', Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP was launched alongside the Windows XP operating system on October 25, 2001. This version of Plus! was created to show off the enhanced capabilities that Windows XP presented with its updated Windows Media Player and DirectX 3D core technologies. Continuing the feature categories of the previous Plus! products, the product features were desktop themes, screen savers, games, and utilities. Plus! for Windows XP includes:
Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition[edit]Marketed as 'The Ultimate Photo, Music, and Movie Enhancement Pack for Windows XP', Microsoft launched Plus! Digital Media Edition along with Windows XP Media Center Edition. Plus! Digital Media Edition signified the first time Microsoft had released a second Plus! product based on the same base operating system. Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition was also the first Microsoft product to be made available for sale to consumers via e-commerce as full product download through online retailers. Released on January 7, 2003, Plus! Digital Media Edition built upon two newly enhanced Windows XP core components: Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker 2. This product version focused more on utility features for photos, music and movies rather than including the more traditional Plus! features like themes, screen savers, and games. Plus! Digital Media Edition includes:
Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition is the only version of Microsoft Plus! to require activation. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 includes some of the themes and screensavers from Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP, as it retains the Aquarium, Da Vinci, Nature and Space themes. It also includes some applications from Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition, namely, Audio Converter, CD Label Maker, Dancer and Party Mode and the My Pictures Premium screensaver. A Windows Media Player skin called Darkling, developed by The Skins Factory is included, the skin is exclusive to Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition. Space Cadet Pinball returns on the system. Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP[edit]On October 19, 2004, Microsoft replaced its two separate Plus! products for Windows XP with a single combined version called the Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP. There were no new features or functionality added nor are the two separate products integrated. On Windows XP Media Center Edition the Pack was not needed as it had included the Plus Pack features. The Plus! series has been discontinued, as some of its features have been integrated into other Microsoft products such as Windows Vista. See also[edit]
External links[edit]
References[edit]Microsoft Windows For Free![]()
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Microsoft Agent Free Download For Windows 8.1 32 Bit
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