Anyone who has tried to disable automatic updates in Windows 10 knows how much of a pain it is. In fact, in some versions of the OS, it’s basically impossible. But it appears even if you do switch updates off, Microsoft can — and will — patch your machine if it wants to.
A few days ago, Microsoft forced the following builds of Windows 10 to update to version 1709, regardless of what settings the user may have set to prevent this, including update deferral:
1507, 1511, 1607, 1703
And here’s Microsoft’s justification for forcing the update:
Windows 10 Version 1507 and Version 1511 are currently at “end of service.” This means that devices that are running these operating systems no longer receive the monthly security and quality updates that contain protection from the latest security threats … Windows 10 version 1607 and version 1703 are not yet at “end of service.” However, they must be updated to the latest versions of Windows 10 to ensure protection from the latest security threats.
Now, making sure the security of the operating system is up-to-date is important, but there are legitimate reasons for holding back on updates, especially in enterprise environments or in cases where Windows 10 is running inside a virtual machine.
While the company’s intentions are good, it’s still a crappy thing to do, especially when the user has disabled updates. Poor form Microsoft. Poor form.
Report: Forced Windows 10 version 1709 upgrades that bypass Windows Update [gHacks]
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