Microsoft Updates Update Strategy

Microsoft is rethinking the way it releases new features through Windows Update. New "Feature Experience Packs" will come out separately to the two major updates each year.

The idea is to use the packs to release features and updates for tools that fall into a gray area where they aren't an integral part of the Windows 10 operating system itself, but aren't really applications in their own right.

The packs will be released as and when they are ready. That opens up the possibility that these "unscheduled" updates could also be used for improvements and fixes to Windows itself without having to wait for the two main updates.

More Frequent Updates

That could be good new for users if it means they have more options and control over exactly what updates and changes they install rather than have everything bundled together.

On the other hand, more frequent updates could simply worsen the all-too-familiar cycle of "update brings problem" / "new update fixes problem" / "new updates turns also brings another new problem" that has plagued Windows 10 in recent years.

The first Windows Feature Experience Pack is not exactly brimming with content and appears more to be a test of the delivery system than anything else. It brings a mere two minor changes:

Users of 2-in-1 devices (which have a physical keyboard and a touchscreen) who have the device in portrait mode can now use a split keyboard mode on the touchscreen.

The screenshot/screen snipping tool activated with Windows key + Shift + S will now let users simply paste directly into a Windows folder to create and save an image file rather than have to run it through an image editing application first. (Source: windows.com)

Start Menu Could Be Affected

Some of the tools which are developed separately from Windows itself and could be part of future updates include the default Start Menu, Notepad, Paint, Windows Snipping (screenshot) Tool and what remains of Internet Explorer.

Updates could also involve the way Microsoft interacts with the Xbox games console and Linux systems. (Source: bleepingcomputer.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Are you interested in any of these features? Would you welcome more options over what updates to install? Do you expect these changes to make the overall update process run more smoothly or make things more complicated?