As Patch Tuesday looms, Microsoft gives Windows 8.1 users a reprieve
For the third time in the last four weeks, Microsoft today backed away from a customer cutoff as it postponed enforcement of the Windows 8.1 Update migration deadline until June 10.
On Monday -- and just a day before its May Patch Tuesday slate of security fixes -- Microsoft said consumers have four more weeks to move from Windows 8.1 to Windows 8.1 Update before their devices would be barred from receiving further patches. The deadline change was the third in the past month, following an earlier Windows 8.1 Update extension for business users and a surprise update on May 1 for Windows XP after Microsoft had officially retired the aged OS.
"We've decided to extend the requirement for our consumer customers to update their devices to the Windows 8.1 Update in order to receive security updates another 30 days to June 10," said Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc in a Monday blog. "As noted previously, consumer customers who do not update their Windows 8.1 devices to the Windows 8.1 Update by this new deadline will no longer receive updates."