Microsoft Rethinks Windows 10 Updates

Microsoft says it won't deliver new Windows 10 features to some computers. However, it's vowed to give the affected machines security patches for six years, a major extension on its original policy.

Last week it was discovered that as many as 10 million computers running an Intel processor named 'Clover Trail' did not get the latest major update to Windows 10 - something Microsoft said was a compatibility issue. Applying the update could have made system text and icons unreadable.

Most of the affected machines were combined "2-in-1" models that worked as both laptops and tablets. They were originally designed for Windows 8 but customers were told they were fine to upgrade free of charge to Windows 10.

Security Patches Would Have Stopped In February

The lack of major update caused a panic over the future security updates to these models. Since deciding Windows 10 would be the last completely new edition of Windows, Microsoft has switched to a new policy for issuing updates. It plans to release major updates with new features twice a year, update once a month to fix and improve performance issues, and then issue security patches as and when they are needed.

However, the timeline only guaranteed to offer security patches for a computer 18 months after its last major update. In other words: any PC not updated to the Creators Update would not receive patches beyond February 2018, which effectively makes it unsafe to use. Given some of these computers are only four years old, this problem didn't go down well.

No New Major Features

Microsoft has now said it definitely won't be updating the affected machines to the recent Creators Update unless Intel produces new drivers, something Intel already says isn't happening. The machines will therefore receive the monthly improvement updates, but won't get any major new features. (Source: theverge.com)

It has said it will make an exception on the security updates. For these models only, Microsoft will continue to issue security patches until January 2023. It picked that date as that's when security support would have expired had the machines still be running their original Windows 8 system. (Source: zdnet.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Was Microsoft right to extend the security updates for these machines? Should it adopt a similar extension as and when other machines stop being compatible with major updates? If you run Windows 10, are you clear how long it will continue receiving the various updates?