Microsoft cuts Feature Updates to one a year

Microsoft is halving the number of major updates it releases each year for Windows 10, much to the relief of some users who have faced persistent problems installing them.

When Microsoft launched Windows 10 in July 2015, it said there would be no Windows 11. Instead, the operating system was to receive two Feature Updates every year, released in the spring and autumn, to add features and improve functionality. It called this policy ‘Windows as a Service’ (known as ‘Waas’), to indicate the continuing nature of the updates.

Many features have been added since the first update was released in November 2015 (version 1511), but recent updates have caused serious problems. Microsoft had to suspend last year’s October Update (1809) after users complained that it wiped their files.

Some users have questioned whether Windows 10 needs two Feature Updates every year. Microsoft now says it will split twice-yearly updates into major and minor releases to make them “less disruptive”.

Major updates, scheduled for the spring of each year, will resemble the current Feature Updates, and contain significant new tools.

Minor updates, to follow in the autumn, will be smaller affairs, focusing on boosting performance and reliability. These will be similar to the service packs from the era of Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.1. Microsoft claims these will provide a “far faster update experience because the update will install like a monthly update”. This faster process will apply only to computers running the May 2019 Update.

It also said this new update timetable lets it spend more time to test major updates and eradicate problems before they’re released.

The new policy begins this autumn, with the release of version 1909. As such, it’s expected this update will contain fixes for the May Update, but little in the way of new features.