With its "last" update for Windows 7, Microsoft managed to introduce a strange bug that left some users staring at a black desktop rather than their preferred background image.

With Windows 7 now at the end of its life, Microsoft initially said that only those who were paying for extended support would get a fix for the bug, but ultimately it relented and said everyone could have it. Now the patch has been released as KB4539602.

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Describing KB4539602, Microsoft says that the patch "addresses an issue that might cause your wallpaper that is set to Stretch to display as black". The company makes no mention of the fact that the patch is being released outside of the support schedule for non-paying Windows 7 hangers-on, but it does point out a couple of prerequisites:

You must have the SHA-2 update (KB4474419) that is dated September 23, 2019 or a later SHA-2 update installed and then restart your device before you apply this update. If you use Windows Update, the latest SHA-2 update will be offered to you automatically. For more information about SHA-2 updates, see 2019 SHA-2 Code Signing Support requirement for Windows and WSUS.

You must have the servicing stack update (SSU) (KB4490628) that is dated March 12, 2019 or a later SSU update installed. For more information about the latest SSU updates, see ADV990001 | Latest Servicing Stack Updates.

Microsoft would almost certainly like us to think that this really is the last free update that will be released for Windows 7, but having set a precedent with this one, it is hard to tell whether that's actually the case.

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