Microsoft recently ended support for Windows 7 after 10 years, releasing the last updates for the operating system earlier this month. However, shortly after their release, it discovered that one of the updates was causing problems with users' wallpapers. "After installing KB4534310 , the desktop wallpaper may turn black when set to Stretch," Microsoft admits. However, the issue seems to only affect the Stretch option, while other wallpaper settings do not cause similar problems for users .
This is an annoying flaw that appeared just after the company had definitively stopped supporting Windows 7. So Microsoft was forced to admit the existence of a bug that was its fault and users would be required to pay to be able to fix it.
While Microsoft initially said it was working on a patch for the flaw, which would only be available “to organizations that have purchased Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU),” the company appears to have changed its mind and now says the fix will be available to everyone running Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. This in turn means that Microsoft will have to extend support for Windows 7 until at least the flaw it created is fixed.
It is not Microsoft's usual practice to issue public patches and security updates for operating systems that have been designated as unsupported, as customers typically have to purchase ESU programs. These programs cost between $25 and $50 per machine for businesses running Windows 7 and resulted in the German government paying about $887,000 for its computers. However, Microsoft has previously issued security updates for unsupported Windows XPto prevent ransomware.
