Microsoft has released today the October 2021 “Patch Tuesday” updates for all supported versions of Windows, including the brand new Windows 11. Those of you already running the OS can download today the KB5006674 patch (build 22000.258), which is the first Windows 11 patch since Microsoft started rolling out the OS on October 5.
Microsoft only mentioned a fix for compatibility issues between some Intel “Killer” and “SmartByte” networking software, and it looks like the performance issues seen on some PCs with AMD processors have not been fixed in this patch:
Addresses known compatibility issues between some Intel “Killer” and “SmartByte” networking software and Windows 11 (original release). Devices with the affected software might drop User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets under certain conditions. This creates performance and other issues for protocols based on UDP. For example, some websites might load slower than others on the affected devices, which might cause videos to stream slower in certain resolutions. VPN solutions based on UDP might also be slower.
Microsoft previously said that users running Windows 11 on unsupported PCs may not receive updates from Windows Update, but we’re seeing reports that this KB5006674 patch should be available for all Windows 11 users. Our own Arif Bacchus had no issues downloading this update on a 13 years old laptop running Windows 11, but please let us know in the comments in case you’re not seeing this patch on an unsupported PC.
Happy Patch Tuesday! This unsupported 13 year old ThinkPad X200 is still getting Windows 11 updates. pic.twitter.com/UVCYkrBITl
— Arif Bacchus (@abacjourn) October 12, 2021
For users still running Windows 10 version 2004, 20H2, 21H1, or 21H2, the KB5006670 patch is also available to download from Windows Update. In the release notes, Microsoft only mentioned a fix for “an issue that prevents some applications, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader, from opening or causes them to stop responding. This occurs on devices that are subject to Microsoft Exploit Protectionfor Export Address Filtering (EAF).”
Microsoft has yet to announce when Windows 10 version 21H2, the next version of Windows 10 that’s currently being tested with select testers on the Release Preview ring will start rolling out to non-Insiders. It was safe to expect that an announcement could soon follow the release of Windows 11 last week, but we’ll have to wait and see.
