Hi folks;
Just wanted to give you an early heads up. Office 2007 SP1 will be available to Automatic Update in mid-June. For all the details, see the Office Sustained Engineering Blog post here.
Thanks!
The MU Team
Hello,
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) is now available on Windows Update (and the Microsoft Download Center)!
If you'd like to install it via WU today, you'll need to visit the Windows Update website. To do this, go to Windows Update and perform an express or custom install, make sure you see the service pack selected, and proceed with the install. After it downloads, you'll see a series of screens and you'll be asked to make a few clicks before the install will begin.
If you're not in a rush, we recommend you use Automatic Updates to install Windows XP SP3. It provides the best experience because the download will happen in the background. We're planning to begin automatically distributing Windows XP SP3 over AU sometime in the next few months.
You can find more information about the release here.
Hope you enjoy it!
-MU Team
P.S. You may have heard about an incompatibility Dynamics Retail Management System has with SP3 and Windows Vista SP1– we’ve added a filter to block WU from offering Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1 to systems w/ RMS for now and will make a fix available soon (details here). You may have also heard that we temporarily suspended automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1 for this - we’re now also happy to report that we’ve resumed automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1.
IT Pros & WSUS admins,
We are excited about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and the benefits it provides. We made all 36 languages of SP1 available on Windows Update earlier this week, and we’re planning to begin automatic distribution of SP1 in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese shortly, but first, we’d like to take some time to remind you of the tools we’ve provided to help you manage the installation.
· If you’re managing systems that connect directly to WU, and you’d like to postpone the installation of SP1 through Windows Update, please remember to deploy the Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool if you haven’t already done so (note: the tool doesn’t prevent the installation of SP1 from CD/DVD or from the standalone package).
· If you’d like to use WSUS to roll out SP1, be sure to check out The WSUS blog - a couple of weeks ago, Cecilia posted information about the availability and steps you should take to deploy it throughout your organization. You’ll find great information about how to import SP1 from the MU catalog now, and it’ll also be a great place to look for more information about SP1 availability directly to WSUS in the future.
· If you’d like further guidance for installing SP1 check out the Windows Vista SP1 Guide for IT Professionals and the Microsoft Deployment Tools Matrix.
We hope you find this information helpful as you prepare to manage its deployment into your organization.
Thanks!
The MU Team
Good afternoon folks!
As you may know, Hyper-V Release Candidate (RC) was made available on March 19th via the Microsoft Download Center. Tomorrow, we are making the RC package available as an Optional Update via Windows Update for all Windows Server 2008 SKUs, available for interactive download. It will also be published (classified as an update) to WSUS. Hyper-V RC is a feature-complete version that provides improved stability, usability and performance and enables users to test the support for additional guest operating systems. Find more details about Hyper-V and the RC here.
A couple of quick notes:
-
Hyper-V is now closer to RTM, but do note that it is still a pre-release version and is only intended to help evaluate the scenarios and get ready for the RTM version. Hyper-V is still on target for RTM within 180 days of Windows Server 2008 (i.e. by August 2008).
-
The big benefit of applying this update is that systems wit Hyper-V RC can now smoothly upgrade to Hyper-V RTM when that becomes available.
For more detailed instructions, please refer to How to Install Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Release Candidate.
And, just a reminder, you can always find information about new and changed updates that are released here under WSUS Updates.
thanks,
The MUTeam
Back in February, we posted about the release of a couple of prerequisites for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. While several million customers installed the updates successfully, you may have read that a few customers experienced an endless reboot cycle while installing one of the prerequisites: KB937287, the Servicing Stack Update (SSU), which contains the Service Pack 1 installation program.
As posted last month on the Windows Vista blog, we suspended automatic distribution of the SSU while we investigated the problem. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned a lot more about the problem and have taken steps to address the issue. Today, we’d like to let you know that we are resuming automatic distribution of the SSU tomorrow and provide more clarity on what happened.
To clear up any concerns for those of you who have already installed the update: There is no problem with the files that make up the Servicing Stack Update (KB937287); the problem some customers encountered was with the installation process for the update. That means if you already have the update installed, you do not need to uninstall it or install the rereleased version of the update.
So what caused the problem? Well, the SSU has special code to check whether there are any pending reboots or other updates to install. If it sees either of these circumstances, it prevents the install from starting. During our investigation, we discovered that there were a few unknown and rare events during the middle of the installation of the update that could cause the update to think it needed a reboot to complete the installation. If this happened, the system entered a repeating reboot loop.
To address this problem for people who have not already installed the SSU, we are releasing a fix tomorrow which will install prior to the SP1 Servicing Stack Update. This pre-SSU update helps to ensure a smooth install of the SSU by working to prevent the system from rebooting during the SP1 SSU installation. We also made additional changes to the SSU installer code, so that it checks for and requires the pre-SSU (KB949939) before it will install.
These two updates should now install seamlessly through Windows Update, in the proper order, so those of you with WU set to “install updates automatically” who haven’t already installed the SSU don’t have to take any further action. For those using the standalone download of SP1, the issues we encountered do not affect that method of installing at all.
--MU Team
Hi all,
Today we made Windows Vista SP1 available for Windows Vista systems in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese.
What does this mean for you? Well, here are some details of what you can expect:
Windows Update Users (or those of you who manage systems that directly connect to WU)
From now until sometime in mid-April, SP1 will be interactively available for customers who visit the Windows Update control panel. In mid-April, SP1 will begin automatically downloading according to the settings selected by the user.
What does this mean?
If you're interested in installing SP1 today, you'll need to click start-->all programs-->windows update and then "check for updates." If previously released SP1 prerequisites are installed, you'll then see SP1 pre-checked and ready for download and installation. After you download the service pack using Windows Update, you'll see a series of screens and be asked to make a few quick choices before the installation of SP1 will be underway. (Note: there’s a few reasons you might not see SP1 available. If you’d like to learn more check out Knowledge Base Article 948343.)
Windows Server Update Services Admins
We'll be publishing SP1 directly to WSUS at a future date, and before then we will make a Standalone Package of the service pack and it’s prerequisites, available on the MU Catalog so that WSUS admins, who'd like to test and deploy the update, can easily import the service pack from the catalog into WSUS. We will give an update when the standalone package is available. At that time we will refer you to the WSUS blog for more information and guidance to prepare for the catalog import of SP1 to your WSUS servers.
For more details on the release of SP1, check out the Vista Team blog.
Thanks much!
-MU Team
Office 2003 SP3 has been available interactively on MU for many months now, but, as you may remember from our post last month, today marks the beginning of automatic distribution to MU users.
We've heard great feedback from customers who've already installed SP3, and feel confident in distributing it to the many users who rely on MU to keep their PCs secure, reliable, and up-to-date. Note: The automatic distribution process will be gradual, so some users may see it install today, and for others, it may take a little longer.
If you'd like more info on Office 2003 SP3, check out the Download Information and KB articles on Office 2003 SP3 or the Office 2003 SP3 Whitepaper.
Thanks!
The Office & MU Teams
Hi all,
This week we're releasing two more prerequisites for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 that will be coming later this quarter. We wanted to let you know about them because they are both marked as Important updates (and they’re a little different than usual).
KB938371 is a multi-component update that supports the successful install of SP1 and allows it to be uninstalled. KB937287 updates the Windows Vista “Servicing Stack.” Both updates (required before SP1 will be offered via Windows Update) are being made available now to reduce the number of reboots and make installation of the service pack easier.
Even if you're not ready to install the service pack once it's released, you'll want to install these updates because they'll help increase performance and reduce failures for the installation of other updates.
Thanks,
MU Team
Hey Folks:
Just wanted to give you a heads up on our promised 30 days notice before making Office 2003 SP3 available via Microsoft Update automatic distribution (for Vista and XP). We released SP3 for Office 2003 to customers about 4 months ago. Since then we’ve heard some great feedback on what it is doing for customers be it in the enterprise, consumer, or other segments. In some cases people probably don’t even know that it’s working for them, which is just perfect. The security improvements are working just like they should in that case :).
That said, we wanted to use the MU blog as one of many avenues to alert our customers to the fact that we will be distributing SP3 automatically via Microsoft Update approximately 30 days from January 27th. We say approximately because the availability will happen gradually and not everyone will see it at the same time. Think of the 27th as the marker and no sooner than 30 days from then is when SP3 will start to become available to customers' systems.
This announcement gels with the policy we made public in conjunction with the release of SP1 for the 2007 Microsoft Office System (no sooner than 3 months we will give customers 30 days notice that we are going to use Microsoft Update automatic distribution). This policy seems to have worked really well with SP3 because it gave the market plenty of time to evaluate the service pack, gave us time to address concerns, and now we can push it to the hundreds of millions of users who depend on us to keep them secure, up to date, and productive and they can be comfortable and informed with regards to the improvements they are getting. We take this responsibility seriously and it’s why we invested so much in SP3.
Have a great weekend!
The MU and Office Team
For more information on SP3, here are some great places to start:
· Download Information and KB articles on Office 2003 SP3: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E25B7049-3E13-433B-B9D2-5E3C1132F206&displaylang=en
· Detailed whitepaper on Office 2003 SP3: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9c6736ba-ac90-4308-855a-070812b11e03&displaylang=en&tm
Next Tuesday, 1/22/08, we are adding a new product family to your WSUS server - Expression. The Expression product family will include updates for all Expression products, including service packs, optional updates, and critical or security updates. For additional information on Expression Studio Products see: http://www.microsoft.com/expression/. Tuesday, 1/22/08 we will be publishing the first Expression Media Service Pack (SP1) to the Microsoft Update Site, and making it available (depending your on settings ) via Automatic Update, and to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).
We recommend WSUS admins having Expression deployments in their corporation; select this new product family to synchronize associated update classifications of your choice. Additionally, Expression updates will be available from the Microsoft Update Catalog http://catalog.update.microsoft.com.
Thanks,
The MU Team
We are also excited to announce a new product named Silverlight, is being made available to Microsoft Update site and WSUS customers Tuesday, January 22nd! The Silverlight product family will include installers and updates for the Silverlight browser plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, enabling simplified delivery of media and rich Internet applications that blend animation, audio/video, and interactivity. To learn more about Silverlight 1.0 visit the website at http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight.
The Silverlight 1.0 installer will be published to the Microsoft Update site and available to WSUS servers. It will be applicable for both Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 systems. For users visiting the Microsoft Update site, Silverlight 1.0 will be published as “optional” and available to download and install interactively.
WSUS Admins, this new product family will appear in the "Products and Classification" selection dialog of your Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server, so be sure to select it if you want the Silverlight 1.0 installer to synchronize down to your server. The Silverlight 1.0 installer, will be classified as a “feature pack” for WSUS (so you’ll need to be sure you have that classification selected too), and will require EULA acceptance before approving to targeted managed clients. Additionally, Silverlight 1.0 will be available from the Microsoft Update Catalog http://catalog.update.microsoft.com.
Update (2/26): Today we made the Silverlight 1.0 Installer available to Windows Vista systems! WSUS admins will see it available as a "feature pack" and Microsoft Update users will see it as an "optional" update.
Thanks,
The MU Team
We had a small number of early customer reports, that in some cases, this update (KB935509) was being offered for installation on all Windows Vista editions vs. just Ultimate and Enterprise. A quick adjustment of the applicability logic was released shortly there-after to refine the edition offering behavior. For systems set to download and install updates automatically, the update will not install even if it has already downloaded, so most people will not be affected by this at all. Customers who installed the initial release of the update on editions other than Ultimate or Enterprise should not be concerned as the update will have no negative impact on their systems – it was designed to install on all versions of Windows Vista, it is just not required on any of the others for SP1.
MU Team
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Hi all,
Just dropping a quick line to let you know about one of the updates we're releasing this week to Windows Update (it's a little different than usual). The update, KB935509, is a prerequisite to Windows Vista Service Pack 1, which will be coming later this quarter.
The update is being released this week, for Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise editions, so that the required reboot will be bundled with other updates requiring reboots.
Check out the Windows Vista Team blog to learn more.
WSUS customers: you can find more guidance on this update specific to you on the WSUS blog.
MU Team
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Today we have released an update preview release for Windows Vista on the Microsoft Download Center. Today's update release preview is targeted toward improving reliability and performance in Windows Vista. The Windows Serviceability Team is releasing this preview to get customer feedback before our planned Windows Update release (expected to be in January). Today's update preview release is geared toward improving reliability and performance in Windows Vista and we highly encourage you to install it.
It includes:
- Improvement of previous issues affecting going into or resuming from sleep/hibernate under some scenarios
- Update to address a previous issue with the disk spindown feature to improve battery life for portable systems
- Up to 15% improved performance of disk I/O (i.e., copying/moving/deleting large files)
You can find more information about today's update preview release in this KB article. You can download the Windows Vista update preview release from here: Microsoft Download Center. See the Windows Vista News blog for more information on this preview release.
Cheers and happy previewing!
MUTeam
Hi folks -
Posting this as I've noted just a little bit of confusion with how Office 2007 SP1 is made available for download after it's release yesterday. As you know, Office 2007 SP1 was released yesterday to Microsoft Update, and to WSUS as part of the Tues, Dec 11th release.
As planned, Office 2007 SP1 was not pushed via Automatic Updates. There has been some confusion where Windows Vista customers are seeing Office 2007 SP1 listed as available with an option to install in their Windows Update control panel applet. The new Vista experience of the Windows Update applet combines the convenience of the Microsoft Update site, by listing all applicable available updates, and the best of the Automatic Updates behavior. This allows users to specify what update types they want to automatically download and install (and when), as well as combines the interactive experience of the Microsoft Update site.
On Vista in the Windows Update Control Panel Applet, the Office 2007 SP1 will appear as an available update to download and install, but it will NOT automatically download and install, regardless of the automatic settings. Download and installation of the Office 2007 SP1 via the Vista Windows Update control panel applet requires explicit user interaction, just as with the Microsoft Update site. Users can postpone the download and installation of Office 2007 SP1 on Vista, by simply going to the Control Panel, selecting the Windows Update applet and clicking "View available updates". Once the list of available updates appears, they can de-select or uncheck the box next to Office 2007 SP1 and choose to download and install other updates, or just close the applet. The next time the user is notified or the client checks for updates, the applet will again show the Office 2007 SP1 update in the available update list. If users have the automatic installation settings set to 'scheduled' install, Office 2007 SP1 will still not automatically install. If users would like to not be notified of SP1’s availability again or see it listed, customers can hide the SP1 update by right-clicking it in the available updates list, and clicking "hide update".
Microsoft is committed to giving our customers thirty days notice before we release Office 2007 SP1 to AU. This policy was designed with Office customers in mind and their desire to be aware for planning purposes when key service packs become available. For customers who want the benefits of Office 2007 SP1 now, we have made it available from the site with the added Vista feature of ensuring that awareness and ability to take action is readily available for our customers when they decide to download and install it.
* Note: As noted to beta customers, If beta customers are running Vista SP1 beta software, as part of the beta program, Office 2007 SP1 on pre-release Windows Vista SP1 will automatically install as planned for this beta program.
thanks very much,
Bobbie Harder