Does Windows 11 have security issues?

The latest security patch for Windows 11, KB5015814, appears to be giving a growing number of users a hard time, with error codes aplenty on installation and even a few cases of boot looping. As this is a security update, it's not the sort of patch you really want to ignore either, as it could lead to your machine being compromised if you decide to postpone it. Not much fun.

The patch notes include a single line for the highlights of the update:

• Addresses security issues for your Windows operating system. 

Great, thanks Microsoft. There is a bit more information lower down the page though, including the fact that this patch includes the improvements introduced with KB5014668 (opens in new tab) and that PowerShell transcript logs have been fixed—hardly something that affects most, but I'm sure our IT department will be delighted by the news.

There's also a known issue with .Net Framework 3.5 apps failing to open and exhibiting general issues. Some users have found that turning off the .Net Framework 3.5 before installation can help. Turning off Malwarebytes beforehand can also help matters here. There is a workaround on the patch notes page (opens in new tab), which could come in handy.

Another known problem affects IE mode in Microsoft Edge. Apparently, model dialog boxes can stop Edge from responding, which isn't ideal. The solution here is to use Known Issue Rollback (opens in new tab)—this is utterly broken in other words. While there probably aren't many users running IE mode, as it's essentially there to support older sites that require the now deprecated Internet Explorer 11, it's going to be annoying for anyone that has to rely on it.

This isn't the first time users have had problems with such security updates that are applied automatically and the curse of Patch Tuesday has become a bit of a thing because of it. It probably won't be the last time there are problems either. 

While these patch problems are relatively minor, there's nothing to stop more serious problems from appearing in the future. Your best recourse is to keep your machine backed up, you know, just in case. But of course, you do that already, don't you. Don't you?

Thanks, The Register. (opens in new tab)

Alan has been writing about PC tech since before 3D graphics cards existed, and still vividly recalls having to fight with MS-DOS just to get games to load. He fondly remembers the killer combo of a Matrox Millenium and 3dfx Voodoo, and seeing Lara Croft in 3D for the first time. He's very glad hardware has advanced as much as it has though, and is particularly happy when putting the latest M.2 NVMe SSDs, AMD processors, and laptops through their paces. He has a long-lasting Magic: The Gathering obsession but limits this to MTG Arena these days.