Keeping your Windows system updated has always been very important. Prior to Windows 10, you had a lot of control over the update process, including being able to pick which updates to install, controlling when and if updates would be installed, and although undesirable, opting to not install any updates at all.
Although this provided you a lot of flexibility, it was a nightmare for Microsoft. With every one of their users being able to choose some updates and reject others, the number of potential configurations became astronomical, thereby making effective quality assurance very difficult.
With Windows 10, the Windows update process has undergone significant changes. No longer can you cherry pick which updates to install; no longer can you stop updates from installing (although you can delay them). There are now two types of Windows 10 update packages:
If you are running Windows 10 Home, there is no way to delay the installation of updates, but for Home plus all other versions of Windows 10 you can specify active hours when you don’t want to be interrupted by system restarts from update installations (default is 8am to 5pm). For all Windows 10 versions except Home, you can opt to delay feature updates for up to 180 days and pause updates for 60 days; quality updates can be deferred for up to 30 days and paused for 35 days.
To see what your version of Windows is, go to Settings > System > About. The current version as of this publication is 1703. The next version called the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will be released October 17th.
To see which updates are installed on your Windows 10 system, go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Update history
Although this provided you a lot of flexibility, it was a nightmare for Microsoft. With every one of their users being able to choose some updates and reject others, the number of potential configurations became astronomical, thereby making effective quality assurance very difficult.
With Windows 10, the Windows update process has undergone significant changes. No longer can you cherry pick which updates to install; no longer can you stop updates from installing (although you can delay them). There are now two types of Windows 10 update packages:
- Feature updates: these updates are typically very large and can take many hours to download and install. They include new features and are typically released twice a year. Feature update releases are throttled over many weeks or months, which means if you have several Windows 10 computers, some will get the update before others. Because of this new mechanism, it is probable (but not absolute) that there will be no more Windows versions beyond Windows 10.
- Quality updates: these updates address security and reliability issues and do not include new features. The updates are cumulative and cannot be selected or rejected individually. All quality updates are released on the second Tuesday of each month. Microsoft may also release additional updates at other times to fix critical security issues.
If you are running Windows 10 Home, there is no way to delay the installation of updates, but for Home plus all other versions of Windows 10 you can specify active hours when you don’t want to be interrupted by system restarts from update installations (default is 8am to 5pm). For all Windows 10 versions except Home, you can opt to delay feature updates for up to 180 days and pause updates for 60 days; quality updates can be deferred for up to 30 days and paused for 35 days.
To see what your version of Windows is, go to Settings > System > About. The current version as of this publication is 1703. The next version called the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will be released October 17th.
To see which updates are installed on your Windows 10 system, go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Update history
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