Microsoft is changing patching for Windows 7/8.1 so instead of fixes and updates arriving in dribs and drabs, they'll pitch up in one cumulative update, as is the case with Windows 10.

In other words, users of these earlier versions of Windows can wave goodbye to the traditional 'patch Tuesday', and say hello to a 'monthly rollup' patch which has, well, all of the latest updates – plus previous ones – rolled up into a single package.

This will happen starting in October, and going forward, these monthly rollups will be fully cumulative updates. So November's rollup will include the fixes from October, and so on going forward.

That means you won't be able to pick and choose which patches you want to install, as they will all be incorporated into the one update you download. However, it also means that fixes which may be dependent on previous patches are guaranteed to work (because there'll be no skipping of any of those previous patches).

Past patches

Microsoft notes that the idea is to proactively add past patches to this monthly cumulative update, so eventually the rollup will encompass every single patch since the last 'baseline' (i.e. major update or service pack).

And that will be a major boon to those installing the OS from scratch, as there will be just one big patch to apply, as opposed to having to sit through rounds of updates being tediously downloaded one after the other (we've all suffered through this at some point, doubtless).

Another recent piece of Windows 7/8.1 news to emerge was the fact that Microsoft has decided to extend the support deadline for these operating systems running on PCs with Skylake (or future generation) CPUs. And that's definitely good news for those wanting all the latest patches for their Skylake machine, not just the critical security affairs.

Related product: Microsoft Windows 7

FOR

•    Improved performance
•    Pinned icons
•    Live thumbnails
•    Jump lists and window snaps make Aero useful as well as attractive
•    New ways of organising files with libraries
•    Improved backup
•    Less annoying notifications

AGAINST

•    XP Mode isn't an integrated option yet
•    Microsoft backed down on libraries and Ctrl-E brings up My Computer instead
•    You can't add NAS drives to libraries
•    Ultimate edition is almost unnecessary except for adding BitLocker – which should be in the Professional Edition – and rather expensive (as are the Anytime Upgrades)
•    Yes, it's what Vista should have been (but it's more than that)