14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just announced that its next Windows 10 feature update would be called May 2019 Update and not April 2019 Update as originally expected.
This is because the update would no longer go live this month as initially anticipated, but in May, as Microsoft needs more time for thorough testing before the public launch.
In an announcement today, Microsoft explains that Windows 10 May 2019 Update would stay a full month in the Release Preview ring, and during this whole time, it’s expected to receive several cumulative updates for refining the performance and fixing the latest bugs.
Public launch next month
Windows 10 May 2019 Update still launches as version 1903, which is an indication that the update reached the RTM phase in March – Microsoft uses version numbers that are a direct reference to the RTM compiling date, as the first two digits represent the year, while the other two the month when an update was ready.
“I’m pleased to announce that the Windows 10 May 2019 Update will start to be available next week in the Release Preview Ring for those in the Windows Insider Program,” Mike Fortin, Corporate Vice President, Windows, said today.
“We will begin broader availability in late May for commercial customers, users who choose the new May 2019 Update for their Windows 10 PC via “check for updates,” and customers whose devices are nearing the end of support on a given release.”
While Windows 10 May 2019 Update would be first offered to users who manually check for updates, it would actually come with a new option to download and install the feature update separately from the rest of updates. This means that manually checking for updates would no longer get the feature update automatically, as Microsoft wants to separate the updates and give users more control.
As in the case of the October update, the rollout will take place in stages, and the company says it improves its machine learning tech to detect issues before becoming widespread.