14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 users, fasten your seatbelts because you’re in for another patching adventure that starts with a series of cumulative updates aimed at every version of the operating system released so far.
Microsoft has just rolled out Windows 10 cumulative updates KB4034674 (1703), KB4034658 (1607), KB4034660 (1511), and KB4034668 (RTM), and since they land on Patch Tuesday, the focus is on security fixes addressing vulnerabilities that could expose computers to attacks.
These updates are shipped via Windows Update, but manual download links will also be published on Microsoft’s Update Catalog for those who want to prepare the update in an environment with no Internet connection.
Delta updates for the win
What’s important to know is that these cumulative updates are growing in size, and Microsoft is expected to publish new delta updates later today as well. Cumulative updates always include the previously-released fixes, and the most recent update replaces the one published before it, which means that installing the latest one always brings your system fully up-to-date.
But this also means that with every update, the size is substantially increased because Microsoft needs to pack the older patches as well. Delta updates, however, are here to make your patching job easier because they include only the changes made from the previous cumulative update, so on computers that are already up-to-date, they can be installed just fine.
IT admins should keep in mind that installing cumulative updates requires a system reboot to complete, so work needs to be used on all client machines before starting deployment.
Hopefully, all cumulative updates would install correctly with no issues whatsoever, though this remains to be seen in the next few hours. We’re in the progress of updating systems here at Softpedia and we’ll let you know how it goes.
Also, we’ll detail what’s inside Windows 10 cumulative updates KB4034674 (1703), KB4034658 (1607), KB4034660 (1511), and KB4034668 (RTM) in just a few minutes, so check back for updates at the end of this article. In the meantime, you should start patching your systems as well.
UPDATE 1: Find out more on Windows 10 cumulative update KB4034674 for systems running the Creators Update.
UPDATE 2: Users still running the Anniversary Update can click here to read more info on the Windows 10 cumulative update KB4034658.