All about Windows 10 updates

 

All about Windows 10 updates

Windows 10 was a huge change in the way Microsoft updated its products. Currently, the operating system is considered a "service", receiving security updates and bug fixes every month, and then adding features every six months. Therefore, we are going to explain in this guide how to update Windows 10 and what kind of updates there are.

Fragmentation is one of the problems that have traditionally affected Windows computers, since there were users who decided to install updates and others who did not. For this reason, Microsoft made updates mandatory in Windows 10, in addition to the fact that each biannual update usually goes out of support after a year and a half to force users to use the most recent version.

                                              

Types of Windows 10 updates

For this reason, Microsoft's goal is clear: that as many users as possible are running the latest version of the operating system at all times, in addition to reducing the versions that they actively support to three. Thus, we distinguish between two types of updates that Windows users receive each year.

Feature updates

The feature updates ( "Feature updates" in English) are updates biannually (twice a year) that Microsoft launches to include improvements and new features in the operating system. Each update is released in the spring and fall, and it's easy to tell them apart by name.

When Microsoft is testing them and adding functionality, it assigns a code name to a whole group of builds that they update every week internally for Insiders to test. In the past, for example, 1809 was the code of Windows 10 October 2018 Update, but as they are increasingly spaced out, they have decided to change the nomenclature based on the half of the year in which they come out. For example, under the new code, that update would be 18H2. In the case of 2019, the two updates are codenamed 19H1 and 19H2, corresponding to May 2019 Update and November 2019 Update.

Thanks to these names, it is much easier to identify the date that is being talked about when someone refers to an update, rather than using complex nomenclatures like Creators Update that make it more difficult to know when that update was originally released.

In 2019, Microsoft also changed the way it approached these biannual updates. Thus, the first update of the year is the base, and then the second big update of the fall system is a kind of Service Pack that is installed on top of that first big update, reducing compatibility problems and giving more time to test the new functionalities.

                                      

Quality updates

The quality updates ( "Quality Updates» English) seek to improve the safety and reliability of the operating system and do not include new features or functionality. These failures may be due to something new that has been discovered (a vulnerability in the system), or a failure caused by Microsoft itself with an update.

These types of updates are cumulative. This means that, if you install an update, and you spend several months without installing any, after that type if you update again, by installing the latest update you will be up to date with all the previous ones. For this reason, the installation of a specific quality update cannot be blocked, as they all come in the same pack.

In addition to this type of update, there are also others that reach the system separately, as we can see, for example, in Windows Update itself, among which are, for example, those of Adobe Flash Player or the update of databases Windows Defender with the latest viruses. New drivers or firmware updates can also arrive through this channel, although they are only usually used when an old driver generates compatibility problems or instability in the affected system.