According to this article, Microsoft will no longer issue security updates to Windows 8.1 if you don't install the update path.

Since Microsoft wants to ensure that customers benefit from the best support and servicing experience and to coordinate and simplify servicing across both Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 RT and Windows 8.1, this update will be considered a new servicing/support baseline... beginning with the May Patch Tuesday, Windows 8.1 user's devices without the update installed will no longer receive security updates. This means that Windows 8.1 users - starting patch Tuesday in May 2014 and beyond - will require this update to be installed. If the Windows 8.1 Update is not installed, those newer updates will be considered "not applicable."

Is Microsoft attempting to drive away all it's customer base? Seems so.

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I did a palm-to-forehead when I read that as well.

From the TechNet blog: "What this means is those users who have elected to install updates manually will have 30 days to install Windows 8.1 Update on Windows 8.1 devices; after this 30-day window - and beginning with the May Patch Tuesday, Windows 8.1 user's devices without the update installed will no longer receive security updates."

Comfortably left out of the quote as to make it link bait...

You misrepresent it. Microsoft is making 8.1 the mandatory minimum to receive support, NOT dropping support for it.
What's being dropped is Windows 8.0 support. Just as support was dropped for say NT4SP2 some time after the release of SP3.
The only difference is that Win8 uses a different versioning scheme, choosing to call SP1 8.1 rather than Win8SP1.

Microsoft is not going to support 8.1 either if you install service updates manually.

This means that Windows 8.1 users - starting patch Tuesday in May 2014 and beyond - will require this update to be installed.

I wonder how that policy will work out for corporate users? Our IT department had to review every single update before it was distributed to the corporate machines. That seems to be the definition of "manual update". And does this mean I will have to manually uninstall Bing after every automatic update? I've tried hiding it but Microsoft ensures that with the release of every batch of patches there is a slightly newer version of Bing (which causes it to be unhidden).

interesting how they link to a lot of their own articles, but to nothing related that's been published by Microsoft themselves.
Of course them being militant Microsoft haters might have something to do with it...
Like the /. crowd they're not above launching some nasty rumours to make MS look bad...

I think we should all agree that Microsoft terminology sucks. They released Windows 7 followed by numerous Windows updates. After that came Windows 8.0. No problem there. Then they released Windows 8.1. Still no problem. Windows 8.1 was the new base point. Updates were released under "Windows update". All well and good. But then they went off the rails. Microsoft decided to release a new base point, but instead of calling it Windows 8.2 they called it "Windows Update" with a capital U. And to cap it all off they say that in order to continue to receive Windows updates you must install Windows Update. Let me repeat, in order to be able to install Windows 8.1 updates you must install the Windows 8.1 Update update. No chance for confusion there, right?

Morons.

Maybe Microsoft has become too big a monster for it's own good. Government should split it up like they did AT&T in 1982.

I think they tried that more than 10 years ago. As I recall the intention was to split them between OS and apps. It didn't stick. Too many friends in the justice department or in the House I guess.

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