Yes, Microsoft is releasing preview-quality Windows Updates, but it’s nothing new

[nir]

Microsoft regularly updates Visual Studio Code. Keep track of the updates’ key capabilities in this changelog

 

Earlier this week, Michael Fortin, Corporate Vice President, Windows published a blog post about Windows 10 monthly security and quality updates. The post details the different type of monthly updates, from the “B” releases happening on Patch Tuesday, to optional “C” and “D” patches that Microsoft ships later in the month.

 

Today, an article from PCWorld put an emphasis on these optional releases, highlighting the fact that these C and D updates are “beta code.” In the own words of Microsoft’s Michael Fortin, “the intent of these releases is to provide visibility into, and enable testing of, the non-security fixes that will be included in the next Update Tuesday release.”

 

We cover every new Windows 10 build on OnMSFT, and we always mention it when they come with known issues. Even Patch Tuesday updates sometimes come with known issues, so it’s not just “C” and “D” updates that can be problematic.

 

However, what the PCWorld articled failed to mention is that Microsoft has been releasing preview-quality updates for quite a long time. To our knowledge, the company changed its update schedule starting with Windows 10 version 1703 (aka the Creators Update). This is what Microsoft’s Michael Niehaud explained at the time:

Based on feedback from customers, we are making some adjustments to the updates that we are releasing for Windows 10, version 1703 (also known as the “Creators Update”). With these changes, we will routinely offer one (or sometimes more than one) additional update each month. These additional cumulative updates will contain only new non-security updates, so they will be considered “Updates” in WSUS and Configuration Manager.

Microsoft has been offering preview of upcoming non-quality fixes since the release of Windows 10 version 1703

So yes, Microsoft has been releasing more than one new build every month for quite some time now, and the optional quality updates that are released later in the month eventually end up in the Patch Tuesday for the following month. All Windows 10 updates, including these optional updates are cumulative, which means that they include all previously released fixes.

 

Microsoft re-explained its Windows 10 update servicing cadence back in August of this year, making it clear that the optional “C” and “D” updates are only available for seekers. Additionally, the company said that it may sometimes ship “out-of-band releases” to address critical bugs that cannot wait for the next Patch Tuesday. “These are reserved for situations where devices must be updated immediately either to fix security vulnerabilities or to solve a quality issues impacting many devices,” the blog post explained.

 

In case the August blog post wasn’t enough, the company also published the following 3 minutes video explaining everything about Windows 10 monthly updates:

 

 

To conclude, yes, Microsoft has been releasing optional quality updates since the release of Windows 10 version 1703 last year. These updates are a preview of upcoming quality fixes, and they’re only available for users who check for updates in Windows Update. These patches eventually end up in the following Patch Tuesday, which will be pushed to all Windows 10 users.

 

Again, the optional C and D updates sometimes come with known issues, but that’s also often the case with the monthly Patch Tuesday updates. In the past, Microsoft used the Windows Insider Release Preview Ring to test all new Windows 10 builds in the production ring, but the company has been doing this less consistently over time. Anyway, it may be a good idea to keep the Windows 10 update history page in your bookmarks, but you can also count on us to tell you all the details about new Windows 10 patches.

 

Source

 

 

[steven36]

Microsoft admits non-insiders are beta testing Windows updates

 

Windows Insiders apparently not providing enough information

 

Facepalm: Instead of relying on Windows Insiders, employees, and willing participants in testing updates, Microsoft has decided it is acceptable for regular users to receive patches before they are known to be stable if they opt to click the "check for updates" button on their own.

Windows Updates have caused a number of issues this year. Most notably the October 2018 update was responsible for deleting users' files without their knowledge. In a blog post by Michael Fortin, Corporate Vice President for Windows, it is made clear that home users are intentionally being given updates that are not necessarily ready for deployment.

 

Many power users are familiar with Patch Tuesday. On the second Tuesday of each month, Microsoft pushes out a batch of updates at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time on this day containing security fixes, bug patches, and other non-security fixes. Updates pushed out as part of Patch Tuesday are known as "B" release since it happens during the second week of the month.

 

During the third and fourth weeks of the month are where things begin to get murky. Microsoft's "C" and "D" releases are considered previews for commercial customers and power users. No security fixes are a part of these updates, but for good reasoning. Microsoft has come out to directly say that some users are the guinea pigs for everyone else.

 

"The intent of these releases is to provide visibility into, and enable testing of, the non-security fixes that will be included in the next Update Tuesday release."

In some fairness to Microsoft, C and D updates are typically only applied when a user manually checks for updates by clicking the button buried within Settings. However, if end users really wanted to be a part of testing the latest features, the Windows Insider Program is designed exactly for that purpose. Someone looking for standard updates may just want the latest security patches and nothing more.

There are a number of steps detailed on how Microsoft does go about trying to ensure updates roll out smoothly without any problems, but even after extensive testing, track records indicate that the system still has plenty of room for improvement.

 

Source

[steven36]

Microsoft  blames there beta bugs off on the  end user  just because  they want to stay updated  they only push updates out once or twice a month , If they didn't push new versions of windows 10 on people  every 6 months and still had  incremental  updates  were if you got a bad update you could just uninstall it like we use too do  tell  they fixed  it and  were you can disable updates  like in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 it would not be a real problem .

 

Just like  Microsoft they blame everything on the End users, its not like the pay insiders anything and many users paid for Windows 10 if they bought a new PC and should not be subject to beta updates at all.   Just liked they blamed it on the end users is why they removed the start menu from Windows 8 because the spying they was doing on Windows 7 the data showed people were pining programs to the taskbar instead of using  the start menu. Thy all ways been goof ups every since they made Windows 8  and here it is 2018  almost 2019 and still they not figured how to make a good  start menu many people the 1st thing they do when they install Windows 10 is install a 3rd party start menu to replace it .

[BimBamSmash]

Only us tech junkies seem to worry about this. Everyone else cries out loud only when their peripherals or apps stop working, or when their data gets wiped out. But even that is temporary. They all forget about it a little while later and move on. Not too hard to see why tech giants aren't changing the way they run the show.