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This is not a regular Windows update. A Redstone update is effectively a new version of Windows, and the updater replaces your existing Windows installation wit

by kijin 8y ago

This is not a regular Windows update. A Redstone update is effectively a new version of Windows, and the updater replaces your existing Windows installation with the new version during the mandatory reboot. In other words, it's more like do-release-upgrade than apt-get upgrade. Obviously, this is going to be much more risky than the typical security patch. But Microsoft is doing its damnedest to make it look like just another update to ordinary users. It's the same trick they used to automatically "upgrade" Windows 7/8/8.1 computers to Windows 10, only subtler this time because users already have Windows 10 which helps conceal what's going on.

Silhouette 8y ago
The real problem here is what you mention in your second paragraph: Microsoft has deliberately chosen to blur the lines between different types of update. The Windows 10 world makes little distinction between a small, essential security update with no normally observable change in behaviour and a full reinstallation of the underlying OS. So, I don't think Microsoft should be allowed to rely on the kind of argument you make in your first paragraph. If it's going to push everything out as being just the latest version of Windows 10 that everyone must have, then all updates are now "regular Windows updates", and the entire-OS update needs to be as reliable as the essential security update that just replaces a flawed networking library with a bug-fixed version. If Microsoft can't do that -- and obviously it's an extremely difficult requirement to meet, with ample evidence suggesting that it won't happen -- then maybe the whole mandatory updates strategy isn't such a great idea?
- kijin 8y ago
  I agree with everything you said. It would be really interesting to see Microsoft adopt the Arch Linux release model, but unfortunately I don't think it will happen. They're stuck in a difficult place, trying to do SaaS with an operating system installed on users' devices. If you use Windows 10 Professional or above, though, you can defer Redstone updates for a maximum of 1 year while still getting the usual bugfixes. I guess that's how long Microsoft wants to keep supporting the not-updated version.
  - Silhouette 8y ago
    If you use Windows 10 Professional or above, though, you can defer Redstone updates for a maximum of 1 year while still getting the usual bugfixes. That's OK as far as it goes, and maybe for casual power users (if there is such a thing) it's better than nothing. However, for small business users who would traditionally also be using the Pro edition of Windows, a one-year delay is marginally more valuable than a chocolate teapot. We're talking about the operating system, the foundation on which the rest of our software base is built, and that software base may cost thousands per machine. The guaranteed support period is missing a zero if it wants to be taken seriously.
johnchristopher 8y ago
I'd say it's pretty consistent with their stance on windows 10 being the "last windows, no more versioning, no more major version, just continuous update". With that being said it's a bit annoying to say the least that they don't discern between minor and major updates (considering the time it takes to perform it and then the time it takes users to find their marks around if they change UI stuff).

by kijin 8y ago

Silhouette 8y ago

The real problem here is what you mention in your second paragraph: Microsoft has deliberately chosen to blur the lines between different types of update. The Windows 10 world makes little distinction between a small, essential security update with no normally observable change in behaviour and a full reinstallation of the underlying OS. So, I don't think Microsoft should be allowed to rely on the kind of argument you make in your first paragraph. If it's going to push everything out as being just the latest version of Windows 10 that everyone must have, then all updates are now "regular Windows updates", and the entire-OS update needs to be as reliable as the essential security update that just replaces a flawed networking library with a bug-fixed version. If Microsoft can't do that -- and obviously it's an extremely difficult requirement to meet, with ample evidence suggesting that it won't happen -- then maybe the whole mandatory updates strategy isn't such a great idea?

kijin 8y ago
I agree with everything you said. It would be really interesting to see Microsoft adopt the Arch Linux release model, but unfortunately I don't think it will happen. They're stuck in a difficult place, trying to do SaaS with an operating system installed on users' devices. If you use Windows 10 Professional or above, though, you can defer Redstone updates for a maximum of 1 year while still getting the usual bugfixes. I guess that's how long Microsoft wants to keep supporting the not-updated version.
- Silhouette 8y ago
  If you use Windows 10 Professional or above, though, you can defer Redstone updates for a maximum of 1 year while still getting the usual bugfixes. That's OK as far as it goes, and maybe for casual power users (if there is such a thing) it's better than nothing. However, for small business users who would traditionally also be using the Pro edition of Windows, a one-year delay is marginally more valuable than a chocolate teapot. We're talking about the operating system, the foundation on which the rest of our software base is built, and that software base may cost thousands per machine. The guaranteed support period is missing a zero if it wants to be taken seriously.

johnchristopher 8y ago

I'd say it's pretty consistent with their stance on windows 10 being the "last windows, no more versioning, no more major version, just continuous update". With that being said it's a bit annoying to say the least that they don't discern between minor and major updates (considering the time it takes to perform it and then the time it takes users to find their marks around if they change UI stuff).