14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft paused the rollout of optional cumulative updates for Windows 10 devices in March due to the global health crisis, and now that things are slowly coming back to normal, the company plans to resume the program next month.
However, the software giant is also announcing a series of changes that will streamline the testing of these optional updates without interfering with the typical Update Tuesday, also known as Patch Tuesday, cycle.
First and foremost, these updates are no longer called optional, but preview. So if until now users checking for updates to download these releases were provided with an optional tag in Windows Update, beginning next month, these will carry a preview tag. For example, this is how a preview update could show up in Windows Update:
2020-07 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 10 version 2004 for x86-based systems (KB1234567)
Then, Microsoft says that while the optional updates previously landed in the C and D weeks, they are now going live in C week exclusively. Microsoft uses the following names for its release schedule:
- B week = second week of each month (Patch Tuesday week)
- C week = third week of each month
- D week = fourth week of each month
So beginning with July 2020, the preview updates would only land on the third week of each month, a move that should technically provide everyone with more time for testing until the next Patch Tuesday.
Microsoft says the preview updates would no longer show up on WSU or Windows Server in the WSUS channel. “This ensures a consistent update management experience across all supported versions of Windows in your environment,” the company explains.
As a summary, here’s what’s changing for optional updates beginning with July 2020:
- Optional updates now called preview updates
- Released in the third week of the month
- No longer available for WSUS devices
- No change for Patch Tuesday schedule