Microsoft patches Freetard-by-design bug

And nobody notices

Microsoft has cast itself as one of the Good Guys in the battle over intellectual property, unlike those scofflaws over at Google. Which makes one recent Windows bugfix more than a little ironic: it patches a bug that makes Windows 7 the file-sharing gift that never stops giving.

Support advisory number 981,112 confirms that when media files stop being shared, Windows won't go to sleep. Or in the words of the advisory:

This issue occurs because the Windows Media Player network sharing service sets power state flags when media is shared. When you stop sharing media, the power state flags are not reset to allow the computer to enter sleep or hibernation.

So only PCs running Windows 7 that were once sharing media files, but have stopped, are affected. Surely some mistake?

The odd thing is, the patch is now a month old but despite the obvious humour potential, I have yet to see a news report, or even a blog post, about it. Which must mean one of two things: nobody ever installs Hotfixes, or if they do, nobody ever reads what they're for.

I only noticed via Lenovo's ThinkVantage update - working on a follow-up to my Linux shaggy dog stories. My other computer is a Mac, I'll have you know. ®