Introduction to Managing Windows 10 Updates

Are you ready to manage Windows 10 updates? Does the thought make you tired already? I’m tired just thinking about all the details involved.

We at Ivanti have received a lot of questions on this topic and every time I sit down to write something, it blows up into a lengthy essay so I’m going to break up the conversation into a series of digestible articles that walk through managing Windows 10 updates.

Windows 10 updates overview

There are really two main update types with Windows 10: branch upgrades and cumulative updates (AKA patches). Both of these are new for Windows 10 and there is a lot of detail on each so we will break each mechanism into multiple sub-topics. What we have seen from Microsoft can be confusing due to the complexity and ongoing changes. I expect many of these articles will need updates over time, but I’m going to help you understand what you need to know to make decisions as you rollout or continue to rollout Windows 10.

Branch upgrades

Consider this and the following section to be teasers on upcoming topics. While Windows 10 cumulative updates came before branch upgrades, it is import to understand branches and upgrades before diving into cumulative updates. As you rollout Windows 10, you need to consider the branch upgrade process and size, branch frequency of releases, and branch types and the implications of what branch is selected. Be prepared to dig into the details here.

Cumulative updates

Windows 10 updates or patches is different that anything else we’ve experienced with previous versions of Windows. We’ve had many months to learn about these since the launch of Windows 10 in July 2015, and we’ll go into key topics including update size, frequency, and relationship to branches. The devil is in the details here.

Key takeaways

You are busy, so to help with each article, I’ll refer to some key takeaways. Here are the key takeaways for you to pass on to your boss and team:

• Windows 10 has new updates mechanisms: branch upgrades and cumulative updates.
• Each mechanism is significantly different than update mechanisms used with previous versions of Windows.
• It is critical to understand the impact of Windows 10 updates to keep your environment stable and secure.

Look for the next article where I will go into an overview on Windows 10 branches as a primer for a deeper conversation on different aspects of managing branch updates.