14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently announced that Windows 10 feature updates would also be offered in a new smaller x64 version for commercial customers using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or are connected to System Center Configuration Manager.
On September 27, Microsoft published the smaller packages for Windows 10 versions 1703, 1709, and 1803, and the company says version 1809 will also go live when the October 2018 Update is launched.
Technically, the change comes down to Microsoft extracting the x64 version of the update from the single package that was originally offered to customers. Weighing in some 4.8 GB in size, the previous downloads included both x64 and x86 files.
In order to make the x64 image even lighter, Microsoft has pulled language packs and Features on Demand as well, which means the download should now tip the scales at approximately 2.6 GB, which saves some 2.2 GB of download size.
Latest cumulative update needed
Customers who download this version will have to install the most recent cumulative update to get all the latest improvements – cumulative updates include all the previously-released fixes, and installing the newest release brings a system fully up-to-date.
“Because the new feature updates do not include all the updates since RTM, you will need to apply the latest cumulative Quality Update to bring your systems completely up to date. The x64 files are being published for all of the language versions available at RTM, such as EN-US for English-United States. An x64-only feature update will be available for Windows 10, version 1809 once it is released,” Microsoft explains.
The new x64 packages will be available for all language versions available at RTM, meaning that if a specific Windows 10 feature update launched in a certain language, an x64 image should be offered as well.
Customers who need the x86 packages aren’t provided with separate downloads, so they still have to get the full image also containing the x64 files.