Microsoft to offer x64-only Windows 10 feature updates for businesses
Organizations may soon save a lot of bandwidth when they deploy feature updates for machines running Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system.
Microsoft revealed last Wednesday that it provides organizations with smaller package sizes for 64-bit versions of Windows 10.
The change, which affects Microsoft commercial customers who use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or System Center Configuration Manager, will reduce the size of x64 updates by about 2.2 Gigabyte according to Microsoft.
The new x64-only feature updates for Windows 10 have a size of about 2.6 Gigabytes which means that update size has nearly been cut in half.
Microsoft offers the new packages in addition to current packages. The core difference between the x64-only packages and classic packages is that the classic package includes x64 and x86 files.
Customers who require x86 feature updates will be able to select the classic packages to do so.
Configuration Manager or other enterprise management solutions can pull the x86 files from that feature update download to deploy as they did before.
The new packages that deliver x64-only versions of Windows 10 are already available for Windows 10 version 1703, 1709, and 1803. A package for Windows 10 version 1809 will be provided as soon as the operating system is released (which will happen in early October 2018).
The x64-only feature updates are available for all language versions that are available as RTM, e.g. EN-US for English United States.
The new x64-only packages include only the RTM content of the feature update. The packages don't include any updates released after the release of the feature update to the stable channel. In other words, system administrators may install the latest cumulative updates or other updates to bring systems up to date.
Users who use Windows 10 at Home or in smaller businesses may wonder if the changes apply to them as well. The answer is simple: Windows Update delivers the right package automatically already to reduce the size of the update package.
Microsoft switched to a new update method called Express Updates recently which promises even smaller update sizes going forward. You can check out this article on new updating terminology that Microsoft introduced recently as well.
Now You: What is your take on the change?
this saved us so much!!! SCCM kept having timeouts. I increased the max run time on the update and it still would time out. Now we are getting much higher success rate upgrading 1803. I sincerely hope that M$ continues to do this from now on. NO ONE should be running windows 10 x86, and if they are, they can push it directly.
These news are an incredible LOL: two complete ISO upgrade upcoming to 3.5 Gb each per year, which means 7 Gb (resetting all your important tweaks and configuration), plus twice major updates monthly and last but not least, plus all the minor stuff that always is unexpected at your system (fixes that are fixing bugs in the own updates that were fixing some other bugs and so forth)… and now they are concern about Internet traffic and data saving! Microsoft development team are the biggest funny people in the world!! Just my opinion, of course.
It’s not because they didn’t know, it’s because they were forced to do something about it by volume license customers. Microsoft doesn’t listen to consumers, it listens to its volume license customers and governments.
Couldn’t agree more.
It’s about time to offer only x64 to consumers, too. I don’t want all those extra files for x86 applications.
w10 x86 packages should have also been updated for major security, I still use x86 old apps.
You use x86 apps, it’s nothing to do with x86 OS.
x64 OS runs most x86 apps in WoW64
The updates for the OS are still x64 only.
If your x86 app won’t run on x64 then you run x86 OS and the classic packages will still work.
This smaller installer package and therefore less internet use should be a good thing because the web is getting busier by the millisecond.
Any thoughts about the correct installment changes and also the probability change percentage that they correctness of the new compressed updates are not packed together as they should be so there will be a secure and correct installation process?
And if not so, therefore, making even more internet traffic a neccesarity?
I’m sure you will get a reply as soon as someone deciphers your thoughts.
Anders,
Your quit wright! So again hopefully more understandable this time.
What will be the change percentage that because of the tighter package installment will fail?