Rumor: Windows 8.1 Update 2 arriving August 12

Microsoft will release Windows 8.1 Update 2 on August 12 as part of its monthly “Tuesday Patch,” according to an update notification published by a Russian site. The update should also mainly fix stability issues and other bugs.

The Russian site PCPortal has in the past been properly disclosing Windows information before the official announcements were made, and now a member of the site is posting a screenshot of an update notification that appears to be from Microsoft. Neowin discovered the posting. According to the report, there will be an ‘August Update’ with new functionality and features on August 12. It would be a standalone update that coincides with patch Tuesday of August: the second Tuesday of the month on which Microsoft holds its patch rounds.

Windows 8.1 Update 2 should only fix security vulnerabilities and bring stability improvements. This makes the update different from Update 1, which did bring new functionality. Microsoft would also give little publicity to the release of Update 2. Really big changes will come at a later date, probably in 2015, with the release of a version known internally at Microsoft as “Treshold.” That version will include the “old style” start menu with a list of applications and the Live Tiles of the Modern UI environment.