" Microsoft's first-time move Tuesday to update Windows 8 before the OS launches is a sign of the company's continued edging toward practices long held by rivals Apple and Google, analysts said today.On Tuesday, alongside the usual Patch Tuesday security updates, Microsoft shipped four non-security updates specific to Windows 8, which doesn't go on sale until Oct. 26.
Steven Sinofsky, the executive who leads the Windows division, said that the biggest of the updates -- a massive 170MB download for Windows 8 x64 -- targeted performance, power management, media playback and compatibility issues which company developers uncovered and/or addressed since early August, when Microsoft tagged Windows 8 with the RTM, or "release to manufacturing," label. "
*IF* true, if MS does abandon Service Packs, 2 years from now what happens with new Windows (re)installs? Right now a win7 SP1 setup disc or image saves you from having to download & install every update before SP1 was released -- will we have to plan on an hour or so to install Windows, & a day - a day & a half to add the updates?