Friday, April 5th 2019

Microsoft Reconsiders: No More Forced Updates in Windows 10

One of the big no-nos for some users looking to upgrade do Windows 10 was the fact that Microsoft enforced constant, 6-month update cycles independent of whether users wanted them or not. This move was done to streamline the update process and keep all users at parity when it comes to important security and feature updates that Microsoft considered relevant. However, it seems Microsoft is now abandoning this practice, which means that users that like to know exactly what is being changed in their systems - and at a time of their convenience - now have one less reason to not upgrade.

Not only will Windows no longer push updates inadvertently, now home users will also have the ability to not only pause updates, but also remove them. There's a caveat, though - you won't be able to postpone feature updates forever. As it stands, Microsoft has an 18 month "end of life" period for major Windows 10 versions, which means that after your 18 months of postponing updates are up (and all of the kinks have been ironed out), you PC will still update to the latest version. There are some other details, which I will transcribe from the Microsoft blog post for your perusal.
Download and install now option provides users a separate control to initiate the installation of a feature update on eligible devices with no known key blocking compatibility issues. Users can still "Check for updates" to get monthly quality and security updates. Windows will automatically initiate a new feature update if the version of Windows 10 is nearing end of support. We may notify you when a feature update is available and ready for your machine. All Windows 10 devices with a supported version will continue to automatically receive the monthly updates. This new "download and install" option will also be available for our most popular versions of Windows 10, versions 1803 and 1809, by late May.

Additional improvements to put users more in control of updates that are being introduced with the May 2019 Update include:
  • Extended ability to pause updates for both feature and monthly updates. This extension ability is for all editions of Windows 10, including Home. Based on user feedback we know that any update can come at an inconvenient time, such as when a PC is needed for a big presentation. So, we're making it possible for all users to pause both feature and monthly updates for up to 35 days (seven days at a time, up to five times). Once the 35-day pause period is reached, users will need to update their device before pausing again.
  • Intelligent active hours to avoid disruptive update restarts. The active hours feature, introduced in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, relies on a manually configured time range to avoid automatically installing updates and rebooting. Many users leave the active hours setting at its 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. default. To further enhance active hours, users will now have the option to let Windows Update intelligently adjust active hours based on their device-specific usage patterns.
  • Improved update orchestration to improve system responsiveness. This feature will improve system performance by intelligently coordinating Windows updates and Microsoft Store updates, so they occur when users are away from their devices to minimize disruptions.
Sources: Microsoft Blog, Reddit
Add your own comment

149 Comments on Microsoft Reconsiders: No More Forced Updates in Windows 10

#126
Legacy-ZA
OctopussEnglish is failing me today.
I don't understand what this is about at all.
Instead of forced updates every six months it will be once every 18 instead? That's all?
Your English is just fine; you are just smart enough to see through the ploy.
Posted on Reply
#127
amit_talkin
lexluthermiesterYou need to actually tryout Linux for a month or perhaps lay off the drugs. The only area where Windows has the advantage over Linux is gaming. Everything else can be done, and sometimes better, on Linux.
Tell this to billions of people using paid ( or pirated what so ever ) Windows over Linux. If Linux is better than Windows and its even free, it should have dominated end user market already.
Fact is it just lacks usability which most users want. I haven't used Linux in a while but I remember the pain it given me to complete even simplest task or install system device drivers.
Posted on Reply
#128
lexluthermiester
amit_talkinI haven't used Linux in a while
Yup. Must have been a long time ago.
Posted on Reply
#129
trparky
newtekie1Very much this! The number of Win7 computers I see come in my shop, polluted to hell, and with a hundred updates waiting to be installed is insane.
Yep, pretty much this. People complain about having the control taken away from them but people around here seem to forget that you're not the target audience anymore, the target audience is the computer know-nothing idiot users that would still click on "I am a virus, don't click on me". These kinds of people need all the hand holding that they can get and a fuckton more. So yes, forced updates may annoy us more knowledgeable users but again, the average know-nothing idiot user need these forced updates.
Posted on Reply
#130
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
lexluthermiesterThat's not been my experience. The ones that have the most problems are ones without an AV/AM protecting the system. This is across all versions of Windows, not just 7.
Yeah, I can see that. I guess it is always a toss up. But the machines with all the updates missing are always polluted too.
Posted on Reply
#131
Octopuss
If you are a Windows user, good luck even TRYING Linux out. NOTHING makes ANY sense there, nothing at all. You either are a tech hippie who started with Linux first or there's no chance in hell you'd be able to use this OS even on extremely basic level.

edit:
This is NOT meant as shitting on Linux, just my take on it as a lifelong Windows user who tried and failed horribly.
Posted on Reply
#132
lexluthermiester
newtekie1Yeah, I can see that. I guess it is always a toss up. But the machines with all the updates missing are always polluted too.
Another thing to consider is configuration. Any version of Windows improperly configured will be vulnerable. With a ton of people visiting "IShouldntBeHere.com" on a regular basis, an install is bound to fouled up.
Posted on Reply
#133
Ubersonic
OctopussIf you are a Windows user, good luck even TRYING Linux out. NOTHING makes ANY sense there, nothing at all. You either are a tech hippie who started with Linux first or there's no chance in hell you'd be able to use this OS even on extremely basic level.
Debatable, If you're a Windows user and were so pre-XP then you prob have the smarts to figure it out.
Posted on Reply
#134
95Viper
Keep it on topic, please.
Take your off topic debating to PMs.

Thank You.
Posted on Reply
#135
hat
Enthusiast
lexluthermiesterThat's my point. They're present on the system. Unacceptable. Complete removal needs to be an option WITHOUT all the rigmarole to do it by force..
That's a tall order. So, I don't want Edge, or Cortana, Defender, the Security Center... how about telephony? Disk degragmenter? Disk cleanup? Paint, the command prompt, the calendar... to be fair to everyone who may or may not want something present installed, there would have to be some checklist somewhere and it would be enormous.
Posted on Reply
#136
lexluthermiester
hatSo, I don't want Edge, or Cortana,
Windows 10 LTSC. Neither of them are present.
hatthere would have to be some checklist somewhere and it would be enormous.
True, yet how difficult would it be?
Posted on Reply
#137
hat
Enthusiast
I can imagine inexperienced users breaking things...
Posted on Reply
#138
lexluthermiester
hatI can imagine inexperienced users breaking things...
Yeah, that'd happen, but it'd be a learning experience for them.
Posted on Reply
#139
jrscott0262
Forced update last night...broken Visual Studio 2019 today. ANOTHER WASTED DAY FIXING INCOMPETENT MICROSOFT ISSUES. After 30 years of using their crappy software and development tools (not by choice mind you), they owe me 2 years of my life back, at least! I'm extremely close to filing a lawsuit...
Posted on Reply
#140
TheGuruStud
jrscott0262Forced update last night...broken Visual Studio 2019 today. ANOTHER WASTED DAY FIXING INCOMPETENT MICROSOFT ISSUES. After 30 years of using their crappy software and development tools (not by choice mind you), they owe me 2 years of my life back, at least! I'm extremely close to filing a lawsuit...
Once I disabled updates all major windows problems stopped occuring. I've been doing it since at least win7. About every 6 mo I turn it on, so the updates have been patched 6 times and are hopefully stable. This has worked perfectly for win10 (keep in mind you need to know release times of version updates). Win 8 would get literally bricked about once or twice per year even with this method, but I keep daily system images (so it would stay unupdated for another few months lol).

My first win10 install lasted from July '15 till zen 2...not bad. There's no way in hell that would've happened with updates.

I also disable on all PCs I build. No one calls me back with issues or bricks.
Posted on Reply
#141
AsRock
TPU addict
jrscott0262Forced update last night...broken Visual Studio 2019 today. ANOTHER WASTED DAY FIXING INCOMPETENT MICROSOFT ISSUES. After 30 years of using their crappy software and development tools (not by choice mind you), they owe me 2 years of my life back, at least! I'm extremely close to filing a lawsuit...
Well when i put the latest on of my systems i put a delay the updates for 7 days, how ever closer looking at it i could delay them for a month. Prolly end up disabling them on the other system soon but as for this one they always enabled even though using what ever tools people have come up with it still happens. This happens only on the Home version, no pro version give me any hassle on disabling them.

After doing that a day or 2 later it still updated.

They don't want to do it your way and just update when you get around to it.
Posted on Reply
#142
Camm
I love all this talk of "I'm gonna go become a linux user!", where the reality is for desktop use on linux (which I usually am with OpenSUSE), this shit is just par for the course.

Delay security updates by 1 day, and feature updates by a month on Windows 10 and you will have almost 0 problems. If I can keep an Enterprise running on these rules (admittedly with some canary automated testing as well), you can deal with the occasional bug this way as well.
Posted on Reply
#143
TheGuruStud
CammI love all this talk of "I'm gonna go become a linux user!", where the reality is for desktop use on linux (which I usually am with OpenSUSE), this shit is just par for the course.

Delay security updates by 1 day, and feature updates by a month on Windows 10 and you will have almost 0 problems. If I can keep an Enterprise running on these rules (admittedly with some canary automated testing as well), you can deal with the occasional bug this way as well.
Enterprise pushes updates themselves after they test them. Otherwise, the whole place would go down when you catch the microtard flu.
Posted on Reply
#144
Darmok N Jalad
jrscott0262Forced update last night...broken Visual Studio 2019 today. ANOTHER WASTED DAY FIXING INCOMPETENT MICROSOFT ISSUES. After 30 years of using their crappy software and development tools (not by choice mind you), they owe me 2 years of my life back, at least! I'm extremely close to filing a lawsuit...
I don’t like the Office 365 updates. Talk about adding stuff for the sake of it. No, I don’t want auto-save enabled on everything, so a prompt would be nice instead of one day it’s randomly enabled.
CammI love all this talk of "I'm gonna go become a linux user!", where the reality is for desktop use on linux (which I usually am with OpenSUSE), this shit is just par for the course.

Delay security updates by 1 day, and feature updates by a month on Windows 10 and you will have almost 0 problems. If I can keep an Enterprise running on these rules (admittedly with some canary automated testing as well), you can deal with the occasional bug this way as well.
Yeah, I recently nuked X by trying to uninstall AMD-GPU-Pro drivers. As nice a Linux has become, it still takes some commitment and willingness to troubleshoot and command line.
Posted on Reply
#145
DeathtoGnomes
TheGuruStudOnce I disabled updates all major windows problems stopped occuring. I've been doing it since at least win7. About every 6 mo I turn it on, so the updates have been patched 6 times and are hopefully stable. This has worked perfectly for win10 (keep in mind you need to know release times of version updates). Win 8 would get literally bricked about once or twice per year even with this method, but I keep daily system images (so it would stay unupdated for another few months lol).

My first win10 install lasted from July '15 till zen 2...not bad. There's no way in hell that would've happened with updates.

I also disable on all PCs I build. No one calls me back with issues or bricks.
i do the same. how many times in the past 2 years did m$ majorly screw up an update? i count atleast 3 separate incidents.
Posted on Reply
#146
TheGuruStud
DeathtoGnomesi do the same. how many times in the past 2 years did m$ majorly screw up an update? i count atleast 3 separate incidents.
Every single major update and a few "fixes" for those.
Posted on Reply
Add your own comment
Dec 25th, 2024 00:19 EST change timezone

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts