Wednesday, March 25th 2020

Microsoft Freezing Optional Windows Updates Amidst COVID19 Pandemic

by
Raevenlord
 Discuss (18 Comments)
Microsoft yesterday announced that they would be freezing any release for optional Windows 10 updates whilst the world still reels from the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision by the company comes after they decided to keep delivering security updates for the Fall Creator's update (version 1709 of the OS).

Both these decisions by Microsoft stem from the company trying to reduce the impact of Windows 10 updates on businesses - reducing update requirements to security updates means there is fewer chances of an optional update shipping that could negatively impact productivity - of which very little bit is required right now for some businesses to even keep afloat. When the crisis has passed, all updates will be resumed.
Source: Microsoft

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18 Comments on Microsoft Freezing Optional Windows Updates Amidst COVID19 Pandemic

#2
Tomorrow
So it took a really bad worldwide pandemic for Microsoft to pull back on some of their forced updates? Wow.
Posted on Reply
#3
claes
Dang, I’ve been checking for updates daily lately to keep my fans from running at full speed. I have an older motherboard in my HTPC and AiSuite won’t run with the latest update, SpeedFan doesn’t recognize the controllers, etc.

Guess it’s time to play with that rollback feature :p
Posted on Reply
#4
windwhirl
I will never understand how people run into problems with vanilla Windows 10 (some of such issues are just plain strange) and here I am running a Insider Preview and everything's stable (I don't run anything "mission critical", but I feel confident that I could, taking the usual measures of caution such as backups and the like)...

Anyhow, if people are constantly and very loudly reporting problems with every update, this should alleviate their minds.
Posted on Reply
#5
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
Raevenlordreducing update requirements to security updates means there is fewer chances of an optional update shipping that could negatively impact productivity
Is that an admission that their updates are disruptive?
Posted on Reply
#6
windwhirl
AquinusIs that an admission that their updates are disruptive?
Any update that it's not exlusively security-related could be considered disruptive... but I know what you mean :D
Posted on Reply
#7
lexluthermiester
TomorrowSo it took a really bad worldwide pandemic for Microsoft to pull back on some of their forced updates? Wow.
Right?
AquinusIs that an admission that their updates are disruptive?
Seems reasonable.
Posted on Reply
#8
Crackong
The Human malware isn't the problem, stop beta testing on customer.
Posted on Reply
#9
Tomorrow
windwhirlI will never understand how people run into problems with vanilla Windows 10 (some of such issues are just plain strange) and here I am running a Insider Preview and everything's stable (I don't run anything "mission critical", but I feel confident that I could, taking the usual measures of caution such as backups and the like)...

Anyhow, if people are constantly and very loudly reporting problems with every update, this should alleviate their minds.
My bet is on drivers. Also you may just be lucky.
Posted on Reply
#10
Vayra86
Man I love the sentiment against a company that is basically just trying to keep an OS up to date.

Bizarre, indeed
Posted on Reply
#11
delshay
Well I've had the optional update 1909 sitting there for months. Don't need it, computer works fine without it.
Posted on Reply
#12
R0H1T
Maybe they'll disable telemetry next, or not :ohwell:
Posted on Reply
#13
Tomorrow
Vayra86Man I love the sentiment against a company that is basically just trying to keep an OS up to date.

Bizarre, indeed
There is a difference between keeping system up to date and force feeding updates that have not been properly tested.

Most companies can provide updates normally. Even those that have hunders of millions of systems worldwide. But MS. One of the biggest software makers in the world fumbles around like an amateur in his garage. It's embarassing.
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#14
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
TomorrowThere is a difference between keeping system up to date and force feeding updates that have not been properly tested.

Most companies can provide updates normally. Even those that have hunders of millions of systems worldwide. But MS. One of the biggest software makers in the world fumbles around like an amateur in his garage. It's embarassing.
It went downhill really fast with Windows 10. I honestly liked it as an OS, but I had enough after updates bricked my machine twice. The second time when it prevented Linux from booting (because of my RAID-5 being NTFS and not "cleanly shutting down," it wouldn't mount and caused the entire boot process to just stop) was the last straw. At that point, I decided to cut my losses. That was at least 4 years ago.
Posted on Reply
#15
texas64
AquinusIt went downhill really fast with Windows 10. I honestly liked it as an OS, but I had enough after updates bricked my machine twice. The second time when it prevented Linux from booting (because of my RAID-5 being NTFS and not "cleanly shutting down," it wouldn't mount and caused the entire boot process to just stop) was the last straw. At that point, I decided to cut my losses. That was at least 4 years ago.
That's the fascinating part. I've never had any of my machines even hiccup due to upgrades of Windows 10. And yet there are others that have a ton of issues.... I don't envy Microsoft having to support all these various configurations.
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#16
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
texas64That's the fascinating part. I've never had any of my machines even hiccup due to upgrades of Windows 10. And yet there are others that have a ton of issues.... I don't envy Microsoft having to support all these various configurations.
The first time, it miscalculated how much disk space was required for upgrade, filled the disk, fell over, then half-assed the rollback while leaving the disk full. I'm sure my SSDs just loved that.

The second time, it upgraded "okay", but it left drivers in a weird state. I used DDU and re-installed the GPU drivers only to get a BSOD even in safe mode.

The third time never happened because I gave up on Windows.
Posted on Reply
#17
Jism
They should just freeze any outgoing update and test it before releasing it in the first place. The amount of failing (automated, pushed) updates since the release of W10 is just bizarre. Personal, Business, everyone got affected by at least one update that bricked the OS competely.
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