Microsoft fixes Point of Sale bug that delayed Windows 11 startup for 40 minutes

A fresh Windows 11 patch slipped out overnight as an optional update, but contains an impressively long list of fixes for Microsoft’s flagship operating system.

One bug addressed in KB5012643 could leave Point of Sale terminals hanging for up to 40 minutes during startup.

The content of the release, 22000.652, had previously shown up as 22000.651 in the Release Preview ring of the Windows Insider program earlier in April.

Microsoft did not specify the Point of Sale element in that release, simply stating: “We fixed an issue that delays OS startup by approximately 40 minutes.”

Windows is still the OS of choice for many PoS systems, predominantly used in the retail and restaurant industry, although the bright point for some sellers will be that they haven’t yet updated to Windows 11 – as we pointed out last week, it is continuing to struggle both in the enterprise and at home, according to figures published by IT asset management platform Lansweeper.

Other fixes include tweaks around TPM and the plugging of a memory leak that affected Windows systems in use 24/7. Yes, it is 2022 and Windows can still leak memory if you don’t turn it off regularly.

Microsoft described the fixes as “improvements” and chose to highlight the fact that temperature would now be displayed on top of the weather icon on the taskbar despite the significance of other fixes.

The patch arrived with news of a new owner of the Windows inbox apps (or the “Essential Experience”) as Microsoft would have it. John Jansen, formerly of Edge Browser and PWA fame, has been handed the role once held by Steve Teixeira (now VP of Product at Twitter).

The response was as measured as one would expect, with pleas to not shift the Windows Inbox apps into the shiny – and a little sluggish – world of PWA. Oh, and could he pull Notepad and Paint back from the precipice on which both seem to be teetering?

That’d be grand. ®

READ MORE HERE