However, the other OSs are still waiting for an update from Intel

Microsoft has recently issued an out-of-band patch for Windows 7,8.1 and 10 to disable the Intel’s buggy Spectre firmware update.

Last week, Intel issued a patch for Spectre/Meltdown after which, those who installed the patch reported spontaneous reboots and other unpredictable system behaviours. In response to the buggy patch, Intel recommended users not to deploy the original patch and wait until the next update is released. Windows users were not able to do much since the fixes comes bundled in Microsoft’s security updates therefore the buggy patch was installed automatically.

According to Microsoft, Intel’s fix for the Spectre attack was not just causing reboots and stability issues but also resulted in data loss or corruption in some circumstances.

Microsoft said that its internal testing shows the patch(offered by Microsoft) will stop the rebooting until Intel gets a new update. Microsoft has issued the update as a part of Windows Update catalogue, which means the update will not install automatically, and users will have to download it manually.