We’re just a couple of weeks away from the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update, the first major update that Windows 10 users will receive this year. As the company now considers its latest operating system a “service,” Windows 10 users can now expect free updates for the supported lifetime of their devices, which is obviously a positive change for consumers.
However, forcing updates on everyone can sometimes have disastrous consequences, which Microsoft learned the hard way when the Anniversary Update made millions of webcams unusable last year. Fortunately, the Redmond giant has finally acknowledged that Windows updates need to be more flexible for users, and the Creators Update will introduce some welcome change to Windows Update.
The company explained the upcoming changes today on the Windows 10 blog: First of all, a new icon will be added to the Windows Update Settings that will make it easier to know if your PC is up to date. “This “at a glance” feature is consistent with a similar feature in the new Windows Defender Security Center,” explained the company.
More importantly, when an update will be ready to install on your PC running the Creators Update, a new pop up window will let you pick a time that suits you best. Otherwise, the “Snooze” button will pause the update process for three days. You can see the different choices in the screenshots below:
And if you think that downloading updates can impact performance, the Creators Update will address that, too. “Downloads will have less impact on device performance while they are in progress. You should experience fewer reboots, which will reduce the likelihood that an update will be installed at an inopportune time,” explained the company.
Lastly, the company is also looking to get feedback from Windows Insiders on the new privacy centric features that the company announced a few weeks ago. As a reminder, these new functionalities will give Windows 10 users more granular controls on the various privacy telemetry settings introduced with Windows 10. “Screenshots of this experience will be available to today via a “quest” we publish in the Feedback Hub application. This feedback will help us iterate on this experience as we get closer to shipping the Creators Update” explained the company.
“These, and many other improvements are the direct result of your feedback,” shared the company. These are all welcome changes, which will hopefully make the whole “Windows as a Service” vision makes sense for consumers. Keeping all PCs up to date is a laudable goal, but it doesn’t need to be contradictory with consumer choice. Let us know in the comments if you think the upcoming changes to Windows Update will be well received by Windows 10 users.
