I have two questions I’ll post separately. First, why do multiple updates in a single cumulative cycle update the same files? Example in Dec. 13 Outlook 2010. 2849991 and 2849973 both include Outlook-x-none.msp with the same size and creation date, which presumably fixes the same thing. 2849991 has an additional file to fix additional items. Question is, why does 2849973 exist if 2849991 fixes the same things? And why in article for 2849991 does it not list the fixes listed in the 2849973 article if it does in fact fix them?

Second, comparing October 2013 cumulative to December 2013 cumulative Excel 2010. In 2825802 (Oct. ’13) it updates Graph-x-none.msp. No Dec. ’13 update lists including Graph-x-none.msp. Am I correct in saying if I took Office 2010 RTM, installed SP2, then all the cumulative updates from Dec. ’13, I would not have some of the fixes in 2825802? That doesn’t sound “cumulative” to me.

I also noticed that when I installed the "Cumulative Updates" that all the "Recommend Updates" in Microsoft Update are still required (includes both security and non-security updates). Can you clarify why these are called "Cumulative".