back to article Reschedule the holiday party, Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big one

Security patches for Windows, macOS, iOS and other Apple firmware, and a host of Adobe products, were emitted this week. The final scheduled patch dump of the year sees Microsoft deliver fixes for multiple products, while Apple has security updates for iOS, macOS, Safari, and iTunes, and Adobe patches nine products including …

  1. cambsukguy

    Cagelog has the following

    Addressed a service crash in CDPSVC that in some situations could lead to the machine not being able to acquire an IP address.

    Could be a fix to the DHCP bug that some have seen.

    I haven't, on any machine, so I don't know.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: Cagelog has the following

      Even though I'm not a Win10 user, I was wondering about that. I have some friends and relatives (who I refuse to support or fix)* using Win10 and having the issue with DHCP.

      *I told them I couldn't support them as I would use Win10 myself and therefore know FA about it.

    2. redpawn

      Re: Cagelog has the following

      That's because your machines won't go online. Visit Microsoft's tech support pages if you can't access the internet.

    3. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: Cagelog has the following

      It fixes the DHCP issue, according to Microsoft. See our story here.

      C.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Itunes on a PC ?

    1. MrDamage Silver badge

      it exists

      Mainly for those who bought the iThing as a status symbol to be seen with in public, but couldn't afford another iThing to use as an actual computer.

      It does to a Windows PC's performance as the mafia's concrete shoes did to those they were giving swimming lesson to.

    2. Richard 12 Silver badge

      About a decade ago

      It was a pretty good music player application.

      Now it is horrific, and holds your music to ransom. Many people are terrified of what it might do should they try to uninstall it...

      1. wolfetone Silver badge

        Re: About a decade ago

        "Now it is horrific, and holds your music to ransom. Many people are terrified of what it might do should they try to uninstall it..."

        A Day In The Life Of an iTunes Users

        "Oh, David Bowie's back catalogue. Such a nice collection, would be a shame if anything 'happened' to it. Wouldn't it?"

        *later*

        "David Bowie? Who's that? Why not try Dr Dre instead? Only £9.99 on Apple Music"

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: About a decade ago

        Please explain how iTunes holds your music to ransom? Music is not DRMed, it sits in a normal folder as normal files, with an xml file that again just sits on disk containing details of exactly what is held and where.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: About a decade ago

          >Please explain how iTunes holds your music to ransom? Music is not DRMed.

          If you're signed up to Apple Music your local HQ rips are replaced by lower quality DRM copies from the store - there are also many reports of silent local content deletion on upload (personal recordings, dictaphone you name it). If you end your subscription you lose the lot.

          Apple acknowledged this early in the year, but since there are a number of causes it's still an issue - particularly if you've already had your local library, or part of it, deleted. Most effected users are probably still unaware.

          iMore broke the Apple Acknowledgement...

          http://www.imore.com/apple-confirms-reports-potential-bug-itunes-safeguard-patch-expected-next-week

          1. Steve Todd

            Re: About a decade ago

            Apple doesn't DRM its music. The worst that can happen is that it will replace the music with a 256kbps AAC version. iThing owners haven't needed a PC of any variety since about iOS8. As to the quality of the Windows version of iTunes, I can't comment as I haven't used it for many years now.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: About a decade ago

              >Apple doesn't DRM its music.

              Apple Music iCloud downloads are DRM - 30 days after your subscription ends they won't play.

              >iThing owners haven't needed a PC of any variety since about iOS8.

              iThings also helpfully delete the large original files and replace them with the more economically sized DRM versions to free up storage.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: About a decade ago

            That is Apple Music, not iTunes. If my local library was deleted I would have restored it from my backups, which isn't absolving Apple from the problem, but it still isn't an issue with iTunes which does not require an Apple Music subscription.

        2. Cynical Observer
          FAIL

          Re: About a decade ago

          @davidak

          As you asked....

          Came across this earlier this year.

          Not only did iTunes replace his ripped music with a copies that were of an inferior quality, according to the author replaced rare special editions with more readily available better known editions of a track.

          And worst of all - it copied up original compositions to the cloud; deleted the original and served back an inferior copy.

          1. Stubblet

            Re: About a decade ago

            In my case in additonal to the other issues raised above it replaced some of my songs with Spanish versions - Apple didn't even respond to the compalint

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: About a decade ago

            You did not answer the question I asked. That is a problem with Apple Music. Apple Music != iTunes.

    3. AndrueC Silver badge
      Unhappy

      Itunes on a PC ?

      It used to be the only way to get stuff to/from an iPod. I don't know if it still is. I vaguely recall some third-party solution several years ago. iTunes is not a very pleasant experience. It has that 'Mummy knows best' feel about it that leaves you feeling vaguely uneasy that it's not actually doing what you want it to.

      Updating your library is particularly fraught. I buy music and copy it to my main library (accessed by Logitech Music Server or whatever it is they call it these days). But as I have a couple of iPods(*) I periodically have to sync the two libraries. Now in any other such application you'd just drag a folder into the application and it would figure out the difference and just copy those files. Or there'd be an import option which did the same. iTunes has one or the other (can't remember which) but it just duplicates existing albums. Actually even worse - it duplicates the tracks but keeps them in the same folder. So instead I have to work out how up to date the iTunes library is then manually select the newer albums folders and copy them across. It's a lot of hassle and something I try not to do too often.

      (*)Because I wanted a music player that:

      * Could hold all my music.

      * Had an album shuffle option.

      * Automatically started playing when connected to my car and I started the engine.

      Connectivity options for my car are many: USB, Apple Connector, HDMI, Aux. I'd be mildly interested if anyone here knew of another music player that fit the bill :-/

  3. a_yank_lurker

    Could be interesting

    The number of major patches could make for a miserable several days particularly if Slurp continues their practice of issuing buggy patches.

  4. Carl D

    No reschedule needed here

    "Reschedule the holiday party, Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big one"

    That's the beauty of having a dual boot with Linux Mint and Windows 7 (SP1 level only and never allowed online).

    Don't need to bother with Patch Tuesday anymore - I can just sit back, grab my bag of popcorn and watch the fun as we all wait and see what MS has messed up this month.

    Anyone who still uses Windows (especially 10) as their main online OS these days must be a sucker for punishment or they just don't know about the alternatives.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: No reschedule needed here

      Ok, what other PC OS can play the full Steam game collection (including recent titles like Fallout 4) at full speed without excessive use of resources (ruling out a VM)? Solve that and I'll jump, but be warned my last attempt was abysmal.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No reschedule needed here

        @Charles 9

        Ok, what other PC OS can play the full Steam game collection (including recent titles like Fallout 4) ...

        You seem to be under the impression that Windows can play the full steam collection. It can't. There are non-Windows games in the collection. No OS today can do what you demand of Linux.

        There are however a number of OS emulators available in the Linux ecosystem that can play Windows games. So if anything it possible that more of the collection will play on Linux than on Windows. It just takes quite a bit of effort and knowledge to do so for some games.

        ... at full speed without excessive use of resources (ruling out a VM)? Solve that and I'll jump, but be warned my last attempt was abysmal.

        The Linux native versions of steam games run faster (including on Windows!) than the Windows native versions do. The irony is rather amusing. Good luck with your next attempt :-)

        1. Charles 9

          Re: No reschedule needed here

          "The Linux native versions of steam games run faster (including on Windows!) than the Windows native versions do. The irony is rather amusing. Good luck with your next attempt :-)"

          Really? TF2 chugged for me. I consistently got 59-60fps on a Windows setup. Same machine, same servers, only using Xubuntu? Usually drops below 50, sometimes below 30. So, no my firsthand experience doesn't agree with you. And emulation is not an option, especially if the game is performance heavy or happens to rely on new tech like DX12 which doesn't translate well if at all.

          And no, I haven't found a serious game that's on Linux and nowhere else.

        2. Patrician

          Re: No reschedule needed here

          @AC

          ...."You seem to be under the impression that Windows can play the full steam collection. It can't. There are non-Windows games in the collection. No OS today can do what you demand of Linux." ..

          You seem to be under the impression that a Windows gamer would want to play a Linux only game, strange really.

          ..."The Linux native versions of steam games run faster (including on Windows!) than the Windows native versions do. The irony is rather amusing. Good luck with your next attempt :-)"...

          Show me Fallout 4 running on Linux faster than Windows please?

          1. Kiwi

            Re: No reschedule needed here

            You seem to be under the impression that a Windows gamer would want to play a Linux only game, strange really.

            Then call me strange. Really.

            (currently playing SOASER under Wine because on the same hardware it sucks under windoze, and that's without switching to browser, running a separate 7 Vm that's currently updating via WSUS offline, and a few other things I have going on atm!)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: No reschedule needed here

      re

      Anyone who still uses Windows (especially 10) as their main online OS these days must be a sucker for punishment or they just don't know about the alternatives.

      People who are locked to windows because stupid lazy vendors will not provide cross platform solutions for their products. For example a well known VM company, a company that provides an electricity power monitor product, various weather stations, imaging products etc. The alternatives if they exist tend to be buggy, and unmaintained. This is why I wish windows does demise so these vendors realise there are alternatives. Thankfully windows seems to be doing a good job destroying its self, so one can hope.

      1. Timmy B

        Re: No reschedule needed here

        re

        "Anyone who still uses Windows (especially 10) as their main online OS these days must be a sucker for punishment or they just don't know about the alternatives."

        I know of the alternatives but they just don't tick all the boxes or are more expensive. I make it a point of trying Linux distros regularly to see if they have yet reached the point at which I would consider switching (after all trying them is free).

        So far every time I try I hit one or more issues that would make switching either such a pain or impossible. The worst part of it is that, even now, everything I have tried seems so... what's the word... amateurish, perhaps that's too severe,,. but the interfaces all seem to be a bit odd with too many quirks that would simply annoy me in day to day use. And I am quite forgiving about how my computers work.

        And even now - after so many years of Linux being in existence I have never just been able to use a printer without any faffing. I get them working eventually but it is a total pest. With Windows I have never done more than just plug them in and I'm good to go (except for an old serial label printer)

        I expect a whole load of down thumbing - perhaps some logical answers would be nice. Give me a really professional looking consistent and easy to install and use Linux distro and I will try it this weekend as a challenge.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: No reschedule needed here

          "but the interfaces all seem to be a bit odd with too many quirks that would simply annoy me in day to day use"

          Such as ribbon interfaces?

          1. Timmy B

            Re: No reschedule needed here

            "such as ribbon interfaces?...."

            Nope. I don't mind them and the other people I deal with don't either. They seem to be far more of an issue with IT experts than IT users.

            The issues are with screens and dialogs used for controlling and administering the actual OS. You can tell that they were designed by different people with different views on how things should work. It's the reason that things like Photoshop, chrome and others annoy me - use the standard windows controls won't you? There is a perfectly good tab control - use that instead of re-inventing the wheel.

            Can you tell consistent UI is part of my job?

        2. Kiwi
          Linux

          Re: No reschedule needed here

          but the interfaces all seem to be a bit odd with too many quirks that would simply annoy me in day to day use

          What, you mean like "swipe in from the right to summon the charms bar"? Or having to go into a settings interface to shut the machine down (instead of an easy to find obvious item from the start/menu button on most other OS's (can't recall what OSX used but I can recall it was damned obvious, unlike 8).

          Give me a really professional looking consistent and easy to install and use Linux distro and I will try it this weekend as a challenge.

          That would be pretty much any desktop-oriented distro. Compared to Win 8.x and 10, even a 3yo's finger-drawing of their impression of a fisher-price speak-and-spell(1) looks professional.

          Like many here, I've put older friends and family onto to Mint, which they find so much easier to use than Windows. Common comment (as I've said tons of times before on here) is along the lines of "I didn't know my computer could be so easy to use".

          As to "consistent", given the changes with Windows from 3.x-95, 95-98. 98-XP, XP-Vista, Vista-7, 7-8, 8-8.1, 8.1-10.. Those in bold are fairly significant changes, perhaps even requiring significant if not complete re-learning of the interface, as I recall them - I kinda think that 8-8.1 maybe should be counted but not entire sure, few people I know made that jump).

          Most I know who've gone from XP/Vista/7 to Linux (KDE/Cinnamon or Mate) found it less of a jump than going from those to 8.x or 10. Perhaps you want to review your understanding of the concept of "consistent"?

          (1) Not necessarily a real product, but you get the idea..

      2. cambsukguy

        Re: No reschedule needed here

        > People who are locked to windows because stupid lazy vendors will not provide cross platform solutions for their products

        Windows Phone users are given no love at all by vendors. Given that Win10, at least, requires very little work to make the phone version operate (UWP VLC is available for WinPhone 10 after all), I don't see why a bank can't make a UWP application for Windows 10 - it is one of the few real uses for having an app rather than using a web page.

        If they make the PC UWP app, saving credentials and having an app PIN only (like RBS do on my WinPhone app) then the phone app becomes very easy to create and maintenance is almost nothing on top. Tablets work too, a PIN is so much easier than logging in on a web page, especially on a plain tablet.

    3. Patrician

      Re: No reschedule needed here

      ...."Anyone who still uses Windows (especially 10) as their main online OS these days must be a sucker for punishment or they just don't know about the alternatives." ....

      Or, they have a need for a general usage PC that includes gaming or Photoshop or any of the other myriad uses that Windows "does" better than Linux, or Linux doesn't do at all.

      Or they're in a corporate environment and have a need to run bespoke software that doesn't run under Linux is another reason.

      Or they're are a home user that just doesn't want to spend hours in a Linux command line trying desperately to get some software working that, in Windows, would be a simple "double click".

      1. Paul Crawford Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: @ Patrician

        Or they're are a home user that just doesn't want to spend hours in a Linux command line trying desperately to get some software working

        What you mean like:

        "ipconfig /release"

        "ipconfig /renew"

        To get DHCP working again?

      2. Kiwi
        Linux

        Re: No reschedule needed here

        Or they're are a home user that just doesn't want to spend hours in a Linux command line trying desperately to get some software working that, in Windows, would be a simple "double click".

        What, you mean like in Windows 10 where you have to go into a command line to get your network running over DHCP?

        Or where, in 2016, document files still infect your machines?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Mushroom

      Re: No reschedule needed here

      Anyone who still uses Windows (especially 10) as their main online OS these days must be a sucker for punishment or they just don't know about the alternatives.

      I use Windows 10. Never had an issue.

      Yes I do know the alternatives (installed Mint for my parents to replace XP)

      Maybe I'm not a pretentious little twat like you and use this thing called "choice".

  5. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Alert

    Happy Christmas

    The fallout from this set of patches given all three companies' QA will be spectacular.

    1. Timmy B

      Re: Happy Christmas

      "The fallout from this set of patches given all three companies' QA will be spectacular."

      I hear this each time these updates roll around and have never had an issue on any of the 9 Windows PCs I run at home (perhaps I shouldn't have said that)

    2. cambsukguy

      Re: Happy Christmas

      7 Win10 machines here, amongst the various people, 3 are phones.

      All good so far, but then they were before too, didn't get any DHCP issues from the previous update.

  6. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    You're discharging the battery wrong

    There are complaints about Sierra killing battery life so in 10.12.2 Apple removes the time left indicator which appears when you click on the battery icon in the menu bar.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Update nightmares

    Every time I update Windows or MacOS computers I start wondering when they are going to start improving their software management tools. All the resources these companies have and still unable to compete with free software after so many years. That is embarrassing.

    Distribution-systems where servers and/or network is terribly overloaded and slow when large patches are out. Inefficient packaging that makes installation and upgrades very slow. Questionable or lacking package removal/cleanup. Little or no support for integration of 3rd-party sources. The story goes on and on.

    Most of my computers with free software can have everything single piece of software updated efficiently with a single management tool, including 3rd party applications. Apple and Microsoft can't even do their own stuff properly, and users are left to their own devices wrt version-tracking and updates of third-party software.

    1. cambsukguy

      Re: Update nightmares

      Well, I think UWP apps are supposed to fix that so I presume it is a matter of porting to that API.

      If the 3rd party app is being maintained and updated then I suppose they should create a UWP version.

      Admittedly, they would have to still support the Win32 version so I see their problem.

      I did read that it is not terribly onerous for most programs to be ported though and, again I presume, that a port would abstract most of the code to be shared.

      Obviously, supporting UWP on Win7 would be the best possible solution. Technically or politically difficult I imagine.

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Update nightmares

      Apple's approach is particularly egregious here. They should just do what FreeBSD does best and keep system and application updates separate and keep system updates out of the fucking awful AppStore. Even Microsoft has managed to do this reasonably well, Internet Explorer notwithstanding.

      When something is broken, fix it, test the fix and distribute it but stop sitting on these vulnerabilities for months.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Update nightmares

        They are out of it even though it looks like they're not. You get them even if you're not logged in with an Apple ID.

  8. OchaiThenoo

    I still listen to morning traffic reports even although I no longer have to do the nightmare commute and for the same reason I love reading about the patch fuck ups as I ditched Windows for Linux years ago. Satisfaction at having made the right choices.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Yes, because the Linux lot never get it wrong. Except that Debian and Ubuntu are famous for botching the integration of upstream patches (openSSL, cough). And RedHat will happily offer you software that is not only no longer maintained but actively warned against.

      1. Kiwi
        Linux

        Yes, because the Linux lot never get it wrong. Except that Debian and Ubuntu are famous for botching the integration of upstream patches (openSSL, cough)

        How long ago was OpenSSL? How many major mistakes have MS made in the last 6 months?

        Not exactly comparing apples with apples there are ya?

  9. MrKrotos

    Anyone that comes out with a pathetic comment like the following obviously has no idea what they are talking about!

    "Anyone who still uses Windows (especially 10) as their main online OS these days must be a sucker for punishment or they just don't know about the alternatives."

    1. Hans 1
      Windows

      Anyone that comes out with a pathetic comment like the following obviously has no idea what they are talking about!

      >Anyone that comes out with a pathetic comment like the following obviously has no idea what they are talking about!

      >> "Anyone who still uses Windows (especially 10) as their main online OS these days must be a sucker for punishment or they just don't know about the alternatives."

  10. Hans 1
    Windows

    Headline ???

    > a patch for the Microsoft Graphics Component in Windows. It addresses three CVE-listed flaws that would allow for a malformed webpage or document to remotely execute code and harvest user information.

    It is almost 2017 and a malformed webpage can 0wn your Windows device.

    BTW, I just checked for updates, my Windows 10 system is up-to-date and I have NOT installed these updates, according to update history ... should I be concerned ?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  11. PeterM42
    Stop

    Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big one

    Think I will wait until we see how many new bugs MicroCRAP have created THIS time.

    1. Timmy B

      Re: Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big one

      "MicroCRAP"... wow - that's a very poor try. At least MicroShaft and others almost rhyme or look similar. Try harder, please, or don't bother.

      1. Kiwi
        Linux

        Re: Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big one

        Try harder, please, or don't bother.

        Can you suggest that to the pricks at mickey$loth please?

        1. Timmy B

          Re: Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big one

          "Can you suggest that to the pricks at mickey$loth please?"

          Better. I'd say C-

  12. Florida1920

    Wish me luck

    Just installed big Security and Security + Quality updates for Win 7 and .NET. Now it wants to reboot. But I created a restore point before embarking on this adventure, so how bad can it be?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    Left out the Linux patch

    Why is linux being discriminated against?

    1. Kiwi
      Childcatcher

      Re: Left out the Linux patch

      Why is linux being discriminated against?

      The class consists of a couple of special needs kids who haven't quite got their toilet training sorted, and one flashy kid who sulks if no one notices how pretty her shiny new clothes are (even if they're based on last years fashions).

      Then you have Linus1, who sits quietly in the corner doing his work without fuss or need for the teacher to do anything more than set his tasks for the day.

      Of these, who is going to get the attention? Who is going to be largely ignored?

      1Obviously not Linux Torvalds - he gets his work done but not necessarily "quietly".

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