Users up in arms over Outlook update bugs

Patch errors "buried" in Redmond product team blog

Microsoft should give more priority to warnings about buggy updates, say frustrated users who have been left trying to repair a faulty patch to Outlook 2007.

A warning that update KB2412171, which was issued as part of last week's security patches, contained errors was published on a blog from the Outlook product team.

The blog says users who installed the update automatically may be experiencing "several issues", including an inability to reach Googlemail, slow switching between folders and archiving problems.

"If you are experiencing any of the listed issues with Outlook 2007, we recommend you uninstall the December 2010 update," says the blog, and goes on to make a grovelling apology.

But users reacted angrily, saying they had wasted time trying to fix the issue before stumbling on the blog by other routes.

"I ran into this problem on Wednesday..." wrote one user. "I did a search on recent outlook update problems, and found the cause and solution on several different forums. I did not get any information on the Microsoft website – that should be the first place I look."

Another user wrote: "While I applaud the honesty here, this is not the first time a Windows update has caused issues for me and the 15 computers I monitor for our law practice. You need to have a page where we can immediately address update issues."

By way of response, Allie Bellew, Outlook program manager, promised to convey users' frustrations to the Windows Update team. "We will give the Windows Update team feedback about better notifications when we determine that an update has an issue," Bellew wrote on the blog.