Microsoft recently released some good news for Windows users – the company is now attempting to make the Windows update process much smoother.
The update process for the operating system has frustrated users for decades. The most prominent feedback is that Windows updates are excruciatingly slow and tedious, making it a much dreaded process for many users. Furthermore, some users have expressed dissatisfaction over some instances of forced updates and the update system taking over their machines.
However, all this is about to change, as the technology giant has been working hard to unveil an effective method to simplify the updating process, making it much faster. This will allow computers to be out of action for shorter periods of time when they need to perform an update.
Via a blog post, Microsoft recently explained that the biannual feature updates for Windows will encompass four phases. All these phases will happen both “offline” or “online”. This update also includes more substantial improvements to the system, compared to the typical quality updates that are carried out more frequently. While the online updates can happen in the background as the user is working on the machine, the offline updates will require the user to first get off the machine, i.e. to restart or shut down the system.
During the introduction of the Creators Update back in April 2017, the offline update phases took approximately 82 minutes on average to complete. Clearly, this is a long period of time to ask users to stay off their computers, thus motivating Microsoft to reduce this offline updating timeframe. By moving the work that was previously a part of the offline updating process to the online process, the updates can happen in the background while users are working on their computers. The latest verdict for the offline updating timeframe of the Fall Creators Update currently sits on 51 minutes on average.
Since the Fall Creators update was rolled out a few months ago, the company has followed a similar strategy to further optimise the total time of their Windows update system. It has been reported that the offline time for the upcoming major Windows update is expected to be reduced to around 30 minutes.
However, Microsoft also explained that the online updating process will naturally take a longer time to finish now that they have shifted a lot of the workload to this phase. Users are however not expected to feel much impact from this change, because the online updating process is programmed to be of low priority. This also means that overall system performance or battery life should not be affected too much, either.
Following the attempts of Microsoft to constantly review and improve its Windows update installation system, the company has proven its dedication to providing quality all-rounded services to its customers.
Contact WM Reply today for some up-to-date information on the latest brainchild from Microsoft. Our friendly customers service team will be happy to share important tips on which products and tools are best suited for your organisation.