Windows 10 to Only Get Security Fixes

Microsoft is switching to a "security updates only" model for Windows from May until further notice. The idea is to limit the risk of creating bugs while many people are working from home without IT support staff.

The change affects what are known internally at Microsoft as C and D updates. Those roll out on the third and fourth week of the month and contain previews and testing of new features that are planned for a main release the following month.

Microsoft will continue with the B update on the second Tuesday of each month, unofficially known as Patch Tuesday. However, this will now only contain security fixes.

According to Microsoft, the schedule change is "to ensure business continuity and to keep our customers protected and productive." It also specifically refers to the "public health situation" and its impact on customers. (Source: microsoft.com)

Home Workers Key To Decision

Reading between the lines, it's clear this is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that many people around the world are now working from home. That makes it much harder for a business's IT department to handle any problems with in-person support impossible and many workers using computers that aren't connected to an office network in the normal way. (Source: thurrott.com)

Another issue is that many users will have hardware and peripheral devices that aren't part of their normal work set-up.

That leaves a balancing act between avoiding any unforeseen changes to Windows that create new problems and failing to tackle newly-discovered security holes that not only risk damage but also disruption.

Feature Updates Often Buggy

While it's clearly not going to acknowledge this publicly, Microsoft will have made this decision in the light of many previous Windows 10 fixes that lead to new problems. It's raised fears that Microsoft's testing program simply isn't up to scratch for identifying problems that could affect users with particular hardware or software setups.

What's not clear yet is why Microsoft isn't introducing the new policy for updates scheduled in April, or what criteria it will use for deciding when to return to normal updates.

What's Your Opinion?

Is this the right decision? Should Microsoft cease regular feature updates altogether and return to the model of less frequent, bigger updates with more time for testing? Are you working from home and, if so, what technical challenges have you faced?