Media Center, gaming fixes arrive for Windows 7

Microsoft has released a slew of nonsecurity updates on Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center, the majority of which are for the latest versions of the client and server operating systems.

Compatibility

The first release is for a game, application, or firmware that is either installed incorrectly, causes system instability, or has primary functions that do not work correctly. The update will either prevent incompatible software from running (hard block with third-party manufacturer consent), notify the user that incompatible software is starting to run (soft block), or improve the software's functionality (update). This month's update has changes for 209 applications on Vista/Server 2008 plus 329 applications on 7/Server 2008 R2. Here are the direct links: Windows Vista 32-bit (2.8MB), Windows Vista 64-bit (3.3MB), Windows 7 32-bit (1.8MB), and Windows 7 64-bit (2.0MB). Window Server 2008 and Itanium versions are also available.
The next issue occurs when 32-bit applications on 64-bit versions of Windows 7 run in a Windows Vista context and prompt the user with an unnecessary Program Compatibility Assistant warning. You can grab it for Windows 7 64-bit (418KB), Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit (418KB), and Windows Server 2008 R2 Itanium (2.0MB).

Windows Media Center

The first Windows Media Center update is the February 2010 Cumulative Update, which improves the overall experience for systems with digital cable card tuners, resolves backward compatibility issues for some legacy Windows Media Center extensibility applications, and resolves an issue with how recorded TV shows are managed when switching to a user locale that is based on the Hijri calendar. It is available for Windows 7 32-bit (4.2MB) and Windows 7 64-bit (5.2MB).
The second update fixes an issue where TV playback extensibility applications may stop responding if no tuner is available to handle a tune request: Windows 7 32-bit (2.1MB) and Windows 7 64-bit (2.1MB). The third update fixes an issue in which third-party extensibility applications in Windows Media Center may stop responding after starting DVD playback: Windows 7 32-bit (2.2MB) and Windows 7 64-bit (2.3MB).

Other

There's also a fix for how Windows Internet Explorer 8 encodes and decodes JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). Microsoft has improved JSON interoperability by updating IE8 to the new "ECMAScript, fifth edition" standard specification on all supported versions of Windows: Windows XP 32-bit (784KB), Windows XP 64-bit (1.3MB), Windows Server 2003 32-bit (781KB), Windows Server 2003 64-bit (1.3MB), Windows Vista 32-bit (490KB), Windows Vista 64-bit (797KB), Windows Server 2008 32-bit (490KB), Windows Server 2008 64-bit (797KB), Windows 7 32-bit (492KB), Windows 7 64-bit (804KB), Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit (804KB), and Windows Server 2008 R2 Itanium (1.0MB).
When a user formats or checks the properties of a Secure Digital (SD) card larger than 32GB, the capacity is reported incorrectly. The fix is available for Windows 7 32-bit (239KB), Windows 7 64-bit (250KB), Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit (250KB), and Windows Server 2008 R2 Itanium (324KB).
Lastly, Microsoft also posted the optional Windows 7 antipiracy update; here are the direct links: Windows 7 32-bit (1.37MB) and Windows 7 64-bit (1.34MB). As promised, Microsoft is offering it on Windows Update but it won't be downloaded or installed automatically, even if Automatic Updates are turned on.