Microsoft prepares to roll out new update options for Windows 10

[Karlston]

In the Creators Update, this spring's big Windows 10 release, Microsoft is adding some new knobs and levers for managing updates, including an option to delay feature updates by up to a year. Here's what you can expect.

 

The single most common complaint I've heard about Windows 10 is its lack of control over update timing. That's annoying enough for monthly security updates, which typically take just a few minutes to install. But when a feature update (the new name for major version upgrades that now arrive twice a year) kicks off its installation without warning, it can render the PC unusable for an hour or more.

 

In two previous feature updates, Windows 10 added options to defer the installation of updates and to pause them temporarily. These settings were primarily aimed at enterprise admins, however, with the most useful options requiring changes to Group Policy.

 

The Windows 10 Creators Update, due for release this spring, consolidates those update controls into the Settings app, adding some knobs and levers that make them much easier to manage. You'll pay for the privilege, though: the new update controls are available only for the Pro/Enterprise/Education editions. The entry-level edition, Windows 10 Home, offers none of the new update controls.

 

If you're running the latest Windows 10 Insider preview build, 15042, you won't see these changes. But the user interface is available for inspection if you know where to look. Here's what you can expect to see when this update rolls out in April.

 

So how will the new controls work?

 

These options were previously buried in Group Policy settings.

 

The first option allows you to choose a servicing branch. The default is the Current Branch, which installs feature updates as soon as they're released by Microsoft. Choosing the Current Branch for Business option allows you to wait until Microsoft declares that update ready for business users. By policy, the Current Branch for Business is always at least four months after the Current Branch.

 

In addition, you can choose to delay installation of updates by a set number of days after their release to the selected branch. You can delay cumulative monthly quality updates by up to 30 days, and you can delay feature updates by up to 365 days. That latter option is a significant change from the current setting, which allows you to defer feature updates by 180 days.

 

A new Pause Updates switch in Settings allows you to put Windows Update on hold for up to 35 days. If you're traveling or working on a project where you can't afford unexpected downtime, this option should be a life-saver.

 

To avoid the risk of interruption, you can pause Windows Update completely for up to five weeks.

 

Finally, the interval for setting Active Hours is increased from the current 12 hours to 18 hours. That should lessen the likelihood of updates appearing unexpectedly at the beginning or end of a long workday.

 

In the Creators Update, you can set Active Hours to include 18 hours, up from 12 in the current release.

 

The new update controls are a decided improvement over the status quo, but they still require some user interaction. You can't kick the can down the road indefinitely, but you can manage the update process enough to minimize the risk of disruption significantly.

 

Of course, in the Windows-as-a-service era, there's no guarantee that any of these changes will be final. The next feature update, due at the end of 2017, could include still more knobs and levers for twiddling update settings. But these changes should go a long way to tamping down the most serious complaints.

 

Finally, the interval for setting Active Hours is increased from the current 12 hours to 18 hours. That should lessen the likelihood of updates appearing unexpectedly at the beginning or end of a long workday.

 

Source: Microsoft prepares to roll out new update options for Windows 10 (Ed Bott - ZDNet)

 

Newly revealed dialogs show how Windows Update can be stalled in the next version of Win10 (AskWoody.com)

[ck_kent]

Does the defer mean delaying the downloading of updates or it will still download it but just delay the installation?

[SPECTRUM]

50 minutes ago, ck_kent said:

Does the defer mean delaying the downloading of updates or it will still download it but just delay the installation?

 

just delay the installation I guess.

[pc71520]

15 hours ago, ck_kent said:

Does the defer mean delaying the downloading of updates

or

it will still download it but just delay the installation?

http://www.ghacks.net/2017/01/29/windows-10-defer-updates-options/

[ck_kent]

It sucks for mobile data users.  It will consume your data plan without you knowing it.

[Karlston]

A bit more from Woody...

Hidden update throttling screen in new Win10 Creators Update beta build 15046

Microsoft’s post on Win10 Creators Update for today talks about a new, giant-sized notification that should appear when there’s an update waiting. It looks like this:

 

 

There are also some tiny changes to the “Schedule the restart” dialog. There’s a rehash of the “Choose privacy settings for your device” sequence during installation. I don’t see any changes from the setup sequence I talked about six weeks ago.

 

Other than that, there isn’t much there… there.

 

In particular I was hoping MS would talk about the hidden screen in Win10 beta build 15046 that I discussed this morning  in InfoWorld.

 

 

I don’t see hide nor hair about that dialog. It’d be a real improvement, if it makes the final cut for Creators Update. See my InfoWorld Woody on Windows article for details.

 

My questions about the definitions of those settings continue. In particular:

• How do the “Pause Updates” and “Choose when updates are installed” sections interact? Does one over-ride the other? (Note that the Group Policy associated with this setting has two different options, one for version changes, er, feature updates, and another for “quality” updates.)
• If you choose to wait for Current Branch for Business (always a good idea if you don’t want to be an unpaid beta tester), does the “feature update… deferred for this many days” setting kick in after the version hits CBB?
• What, exactly, is a “quality” update? Obviously “quality”  includes cumulative updates. But does it include posted-but-not-delivered hotfixes like 14393.577 and 14393.729? What about servicing stack updates? Drivers (especially drivers delivered as updates for Surface Book and Surface Pro machines)? Ad-hoc security patches like the just-released IE and Edge patches? MSRT updates? .NET patches?

My questions no doubt sound pedantic at this point. Inside baseball. I assure you, in a few months, many people will be scrambling for answers.

 

Let’s hope Microsoft fills in some blanks before the offal hits the fan.

 

Source: Hidden update throttling screen in new Win10 Creators Update beta build 15046 (AskWoody.com)