We’re now very close to the next semi-annual update for Windows 10, but Microsoft has just announced today that the version 1809 released last Fall is now the recommended version for all users. This is a new milestone in the troubled history of this major release, as Microsoft had to pause its public rollout after discovering a serious file deletion bug in October.
“Based on the data and the feedback we’ve received from consumers, OEMs, ISVs, partners, and commercial customers, Windows 10, version 1809 has transitioned to broad deployment,” wrote John Wilcox, Windows as a service evangelist on the Windows IT Pro blog today. We’re now a little more than four months removed from Microsoft’s re-released Windows 10 version 1803, and Microsoft previously admitted that it would be more cautious during the public rollout.
According to AdDuplex’s latest survey on more than 100,000 Windows 10 PCS, only 26.4% of them were running the version 1809 in March. “Windows 10 October 2018 Update has added just a little over 5% to its market share this month, and it looks more and more likely that Microsoft seems to be giving up on it in favor of upgrading users straight to the next version,” noted AdDuplex,” wrote AdDuplex.
We’ll see what happens when Windows 10 19H1, the next semi-annual update starts rolling out on all PCs. Unless Microsoft discovers another serious bug at the last minute, we expect the public rollout to kick off in April. According to Windows Central’s Zac Bowden, Microsoft may announce it as soon as April 1st.
https://twitter.com/zacbowden/status/1111314790658592779
Nearly four years after the launch of Windows 10, the shift to “Windows as a service” has been a mostly positive changes, with Microsoft providing free feature updates to all users in the Spring and Fall seasons. However, this faster release cycle still gets some criticism, especially in the enterprise world where software stability is very important. Microsoft has been listening to customers and starting with Windows 10 version 1809, feature updates for Windows 10 Enterprise and Education released in the Fall are now serviced for 30 months from their release date.
