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Microsoft to release many non-security updates tomorrow

Many updates to many products, especially Windows 8 and 8.1, designated "non-security" will be released on Patch Tuesday.
Written by Larry Seltzer, Contributor

Every Patch Tuesday Microsoft releases non-security updates as well. The description of the updates to be released tomorrow, Tuesday, December 10, 2013, are already up. As usual, the descriptions are vague and say far less about each update than do the descriptions of Microsoft's security updates. Until then, there's nothing much to glean from the descriptions.

There are 16 main updates. Each has an associated knowledge base (KB) article. Microsoft is inconsistent about publishing times for these articles. Currently (early Monday, 12/9) only the first is actually available. Most should be available when the main Patch Tuesday updates are released, at 1PM eastern time Tuesday, 12/10.

  • Update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (KB2847077) — Bug fix: "Windows Media Player freezes when you use AutoPlay for an audio CD in Windows 7." The KB description indicates that this bug shows up after the user installs Internet Explorer 10. In fact, a hotfix is already available for this one, but wait for the official update.
  • Update Rollup for Microsoft Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 (KB2864239) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Update for Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Server 2012 (KB2877213) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Update for Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 (KB2891804) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Update for Microsoft Camera Codec Pack for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 (KB2899189) — "Installing the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack enables the viewing of a variety of device-specific file formats and will allow supported RAW camera files to be viewable in applications in Windows. For a complete listing of supported cameras, see the associated Microsoft Knowledge Base Article for more information"
  • Update for Microsoft Camera Codec Pack for Windows 8 and Windows RT (KB2899190) — "Installing the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack enables the viewing of a variety of device-specific file formats and will allow supported RAW camera files to be viewable in applications in Windows. For a complete listing of supported cameras, see the associated Microsoft Knowledge Base Article for more information"
  • Update for Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Server 2012 (KB2903938) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB2903939) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Server 2012, Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (KB2904266) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Update for Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 (KB2905454) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Dynamic Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB2907791) — "Updates under Windows 8.1 Dynamic Update Category are used by Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 to obtain critical driver, component and setup improvements during initial setup."
  • Dynamic Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB2907800) — "Updates under Windows 8.1 Dynamic Update Category are used by Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 to obtain critical driver, component and setup improvements during initial setup."
  • Update for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 (KB2909569) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 (KB2913152) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."
  • Dynamic Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB2913253) — "Updates under Windows 8.1 Dynamic Update Category are used by Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 to obtain critical driver, component and setup improvements during initial setup."
  • Update for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 (KB2913320) — "Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."

As always, Microsoft will also release an updated version of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. In case you don't know, and you might not because Microsoft gives you no visual clue that it's happening, when you run Windows Update it usually runs the Malicious Software Removal Tool. This explains some of the inexplicable delays.

Microsoft will also release two "changes to existing non-security content". The distinction between this type of change and an actual update seems to be that with these there are no binary changes, just changes to metadata. No details about the metadata changes are provided:

  • Update for Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Server 2012 (KB2889784)
  • Rules Update for Direct Access Best Practice Analyzer for Windows Server 2012 (KB2896496)
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