14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft recently rolled out Windows 10 Mobile build 100586.29 to Lumia 950 and 950 XL as well, and the big surprise was that even AT&T users received the update on the same day as everyone else.
What was previously just a rumor is now official: Microsoft will release updates for Windows 10 Mobile without waiting for carrier approval.
This means that absolutely all users can receive the updates that Microsoft ships at the same time, without having to wait for their carriers to validate the release. Previously, some Windows Phone device owners had to wait up to several months until this happened. Thus, this is one of the reasons some people received the Lumia Denim firmware update, for instance, nearly six months later than others.
All-in on insiders
But with Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft is rethinking this process, and in a statement offered this morning, the company confirms that carriers will no longer have the last word when it comes to the date when users receive updates.
They will continue to be part of the testing process, though, but Microsoft says that insiders will now be the ones responsible for making sure that everything’s working as expected on their devices.
“Microsoft is working closely with mobile operators to leverage their testing and our flighting to meet and exceed current quality bars. We will use their input but will decide when to send the updates out based on input from mobile operators and our Windows Insiders,” a company spokesperson explains.
Right now, both PCs and mobile devices are running the same version of Windows 10, namely 10586.29, and the company plans to keep it this way in the future. As a result, future updates will arrive for both PCs and mobile at the same time, Microsoft promises, but it remains to be seen how this strategy is going to advance. For the moment, though, Windows as a Service is shaping up quite nicely.