Less is more, new is old... 8 is better ;-)
Jody, I also signed up just to say thank you for the info on patching Windows 8 via Server 2012 updates, this is very helpful.
One thing many people seem to forget is the web/internet is also about data persistence... ergo, our society has libraries, museums, and archives. A blog, post, or forum might be several years old, but the -information- is what matters and may help other people long after the original thread has closed. (e.g. repairing or modifying older vehicles, etc). I find lots of useful info in posts which are now 5 to 15 years old. You may not get much response, but this thread is being found and used...
Windows 7 is currently our main OS, but we could utilize some of the improvements in the underlying OS of newer versions (kernel, IO, threading, etc). I've spent 2 years 'test-driving' various editions of Windows 8, 8.x, and 10 including 1607 build (it's a dog). IMO, Windows 8 is the only version which is fast, stable, and doesn't share obnoxious amouts of telemetry and personal data with MS. So, I'll be transitioning some of our machines to Win 8 now that I know security updates are possible.
Anyway, thanks again for posting your results!
P.s. I have visited your links to MSFN and downloaded the zip files for 2016 updates.