Microsoft will offer biannual feature updates to Windows 10

[HEXUS]

And each release will get service and support for 18 months.

Read more.

[peterb]

...whether you want them or not.

[afiretruck]

They were so close to taking a step in the right direction with this. 6 months is way too short a period. I reckon most users and businesses want stability, and the only way to achieve this is to, funnily enough, not change anything. Annual feature updates would be better, but once every 2 years would be even more preferable IMNSHO.

Does anyone here work in IT? I'm curious as to how Windows 10, with its irregular feature upgrades, has changed the way you guys/gals have to do things compared to previous Windows versions.

[this_is_gav]

They were so close to taking a step in the right direction with this. 6 months is way too short a period. I reckon most users and businesses want stability, and the only way to achieve this is to, funnily enough, not change anything. Annual feature updates would be better, but once every 2 years would be even more preferable IMNSHO.

Does anyone here work in IT? I'm curious as to how Windows 10, with its irregular feature upgrades, has changed the way you guys/gals have to do things compared to previous Windows versions.

Enterprise, Education and Pro can all defer major updates so they don't have to roll out for "several months", so you may well be able to bypass an upgrade.

We still don't have Anniversary Edition at work, but that may have something to do with me ignoring it in WSUS.

As for using Windows 10 in, I'm quite happy. The biggest pain I found was trying to get the start menu layout deployed (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't) but everything is in All Apps anyway. Once I removed all of the Store Apps in the system image (you can also stop their usage through Group Policy) I was quite happy with how things went.

[scaryjim]

Anyone else remember when Windows 7 was released, and all the Vista users complained bitterly that it was really just a Vista service pack and should've been offered as an update instead of a new OS?

Seems MS can't win - if they roll features into a new OS they've done it wrong, and if they roll out features as an update package they've done it wrong...

Customers, eh? 'oo'd 'ave 'em...

[peterb]

I wonder if this is paving the way for a subscription model for Windows releases? Guaranteed updates for a monthly fee - "Windows 365"

[scaryjim]

I wonder if this is paving the way for a subscription model for Windows releases? Guaranteed updates for a monthly fee - "Windows 365"

There's been a lot of speculation about that. Not sure how well it'd work for an operating systems as opposed to a software than can be delivered as a service. Wouldn't be entirely surprised though; they want to change the way Windows makes money...

[Lepnik]

Why they called it Creators Update instead Service Pack 1?

[excalibur1814]

Businesses use WSUS to install updates. Or at least they SHOULD. You t hen use Group Policy to force all domain machines towards the WSUS server.

There should never, ever, EVER, be any issues with updating on domain computers as there's plenty of time to check the updates with your standard build(s).

[Corky34]

Why they called it Creators Update instead Service Pack 1?

Their getting with the times mann, giving things numbers is so last decade, everything has to be named after confectionery or big cats nowadays.

[kingpotnoodle]

They were so close to taking a step in the right direction with this. 6 months is way too short a period. I reckon most users and businesses want stability, and the only way to achieve this is to, funnily enough, not change anything. Annual feature updates would be better, but once every 2 years would be even more preferable IMNSHO.

Does anyone here work in IT? I'm curious as to how Windows 10, with its irregular feature upgrades, has changed the way you guys/gals have to do things compared to previous Windows versions.

It works for Ubuntu... Microsoft are sinking to the despicable ways of a major Linux distribution. </sarcasm>

I work in IT, it has changed nothing. Updates need testing, are regularly applied and users are accommodating/understanding because they are required to be by the IT policy they signed when they joined.

I would much rather see small incremental improvements than annual or bi-annual versions that change huge swathes of functionality at once and require major testing projects and user retraining.

[kingpotnoodle]

I wonder if this is paving the way for a subscription model for Windows releases? Guaranteed updates for a monthly fee - "Windows 365"

It would have to be *an* option rather than the only option as it would break the OEM installation model where customers buying a PC expect it to be fully functional with the OS included and supported for the warranty period.

[spacein_vader]

Why they called it Creators Update instead Service Pack 1?

Strictly speaking it would be Service Pack 2, the Anniversary Update would be SP1. Also historically Service Packs were little more than patch rollups, they weren't intended to add features, the only exceptions to this were the first two XP service packs.

It works for Ubuntu... Microsoft are sinking to the despicable ways of a major Linux distribution. </sarcasm>

The difference being that Ubuntu's Long Term Service releases are supported for 5 years, not 18 months.

[LSG501]

That does read a LOT like they're planning to start charging every 18 months or even 6 monthly to me....

I have said it before and I'll say it again I will NEVER do a subscription on an OS, I hate the concept on software as it is. They can stick new 'non essential' features behind a paywall if they like (we can always find free alternatives) but if they do it to the core OS it will be the end of windows for a lot of people.

EDIT: I don't mind MS office subscription as I view that more as a cost for the storage (which you get to keep but not add to if you stop paying) and you get the software for free but the way adobe/autodesk do it where you pretty much never own ANYTHING is just wrong.

[scaryjim]

... The difference being that Ubuntu's Long Term Service releases are supported for 5 years, not 18 months.

"service and support" is a funny catch-all term though. MS offer a Long Term Service Branch of Windows 10 Enterprise that doesn't get any feature updates at all, but continues to get security updates. It looksd like that version is "supported" for up to 10 years, and will operate more like a traditional Windows release. However, it will always require the latest version of the LTSB to support new hardware (much like Windows 7 and 8 don't get updates/support with Ryzen processors), so it's not an option for large scale deployment:

Microsoft never publishes feature updates through Windows Update on devices that run Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB. Instead, it typically offers new LTSB releases every 2–3 years, and organizations can choose to install them as in-place upgrades or even skip releases over a 10-year life cycle.

note: Windows 10 LTSB will support the currently released silicon at the time of release of the LTSB. As future silicon generations are released, support will be created through future Windows 10 LTSB releases that customers can deploy for those systems.

Source: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/.../waas-overview

I guess the short support cycle for Windows feature updates is because 18 months after an update is released that system should have received two or three further feature updates. Keep your OS updated to the latest version and you'll be supported forever...

[Gh0sty]

Does anyone here work in IT? I'm curious as to how Windows 10, with its irregular feature upgrades, has changed the way you guys/gals have to do things compared to previous Windows versions.

We run our own update servers and re direct all our pcs to that rather than via the web so we push out the updates when we want to.