Microsoft's Biannual Major Windows 10 Update Cycle to Slow Down

[yogurt_21]

I think most enterprises are fighting through that culture change right now. I mean scheduled releases were put into place because it used to be a wild west and older IT executives remember when things were that way. They're afraid to embrace the change now because they confuse it with the older "push button and pray" release methods of the early 2000's.

Modern tools thus are looked at with distrusting eyes and many arguments happen between younger and older engineers.

I get it, but when you're the guys supposed to be leading the charge like MS, it's bad. Azure cloud has a long way to go to catch AWS but it's growth is still amazing and they're still beating google cloud ffs.

How in the world do some of these older practices still exist when they've developed all kinds of these tools for their own cloud platform?

it's weird.

 

[bug]

I think most enterprises are fighting through that culture change right now. I mean scheduled releases were put into place because it used to be a wild west and older IT executives remember when things were that way. They're afraid to embrace the change now because they confuse it with the older "push button and pray" release methods of the early 2000's.

Modern tools thus are looked at with distrusting eyes and many arguments happen between younger and older engineers.

I get it, but when you're the guys supposed to be leading the charge like MS, it's bad. Azure cloud has a long way to go to catch AWS but it's growth is still amazing and they're still beating google cloud ffs.

How in the world do some of these older practices still exist when they've developed all kinds of these tools for their own cloud platform?

it's weird.

Do not underestimate the power of an IT admin having a MS certification and refusing to do anything that's not Active Directory.

 

[eidairaman1]

I may consider reactos after ms if they dont restore Windows to the way W95-7 Gui worked and layout.

 

[matar]

I am still on 1809 it's better for gaming...

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

can you link me to a printer from Amazon usa that should work on IPP ubuntu linux? I'm genuinely considering making the move last few months. i think i just might.

also, does AMD or Nvidia support Linux better? gpu wise

In my experience, AMD has an advantage in linux, at least with modern cards. Nvidia doesnt optimize nearly as much for linux as it does windows, so performance is more comparable to card generations when they are no longer optimized for on windows. This can allow AMD to cinch the performance crown surprisingly often. AMD drivers are also baked into linux MESA, so no having to install proprietary drivers. Nvidia also has some oddity issues on linux, such as glitchy, rough scrolling in web browsers and the like, that AMD does not have.

HOWEVER: nvidia drivers are supported day 1 on linux, because they work like windows drivers. Because AMD MESA drivers are updated slowly, slow releases like ubuntu LTS will often not support the latest AMD GPUs. If you tend to buy GPUs near the end of the generation like I do, then this will not be an issue, but if you like newer GPUs, nvidia will be a bit easier to deal with unless you feel comfortable updating MESA yourself.

As for printers, I have had 0 luck with network printer support, it is like slamming my head against a brick wall getting them to work. I know I must be doing something wrong, but IDK.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

nearly everything is moving to that model. You're either failing to understand what "done" means or you're completely against CI/CD. Either way it's a losing game to fight it. With DevOps and modern tools there is no point to have these monolithic release prone to massive flaws when you can release incrementally with 0% downtime and min to no bugs.

Microsoft is still failing massively at this of course. With Azure growing though there is hope that they'll start seeing what all their customers are doing and begin to mimic. If you need to update a single line of code, do it. Don't wait to pair that change with 3000 others and hope it's all just ok.

I mean QA automation is great and all but seriously it's not a Genie.

Continuous deployment is about reducing risk, not increasing it.

AMD has a similar update cadence and the reason for it is quality assurance and scoping. You have people working on routine updates and you have people working on major updates. Each are QA'd separately with different target release dates. When making major under the hood changes, you don't know how many other things are going to break because of it. That's why the complete package needs to be tested.


I figured the news would be like updates every 9 months instead of 6 months. I'm not sure I see the point of changing to a tick-tock cadence. Anything too big to target 6 months would target 12 months. Now they're talking like big updates could get pushed out a full 18 months if they miss a six month target.

I think the intent is to make the six month update less scary so people don't have reservations about getting it.

 

[lexluthermiester]

My wish: dark mode everything! Even that old control panel.

I'll go along with this! I use a theme in Windows 7 that does this already, but it would be nice to have a native solution within Windows.

 

[tony359]

Honestly, this is a much better tactic as there aren't too many features that can't wait 6 months to come out, and people rely on Windows 10 to be stable and update correctly.

Exactly my thought. I see why we now have more frequent major updates but 6 months is silly. They need to find a balance between staying competitive and provide new features but also provide a reliable system to work with. Heck, they've just finally changed the way those monolithic updates were being deployed and we can now finally delay it (up to 3 years). All my computers have always had Group Policy set to NOT download updates unless I say so but how many people have I encountered looking at their laptop with horror when updates are started just before a powerpoint presentation?

Regarding the fixed deadlines, I guess you can never be "ready": I suppose there will be hundreds of projects going on at once on a new release and it would be impossible to have them ALL ready - so it makes sense to me to set a fixed deadline and include/exclude what is ready by then. If the deployment is properly managed, a deadline would not include anything that is not ready. If they made the deadline flexible, a poor management would STILL include untested/unfinished code.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I’ve had great luck with the HP Deskjet 8100 for a wireless printer. Works perfectly with iOS, macOS, and Linux. I bought it many years ago though. To give you an idea of how old it is, I bought that model specifically because I could print to it from Surface RT! I think AirPrint support is key.

 

[lemonadesoda]

I,m hoping that windows 10. 2003 will be as good as Win 2003. My favorite. Where the user was in control. Classic!

... and why the rollout schedule change? A: they’ve run out of ideas. Lol

 

[Space Lynx]

I,m hoping that windows 10. 2003 will be as good as Win 2003. My favorite. Where the user was in control. Classic!

... and why the rollout schedule change? A: they’ve run out of ideas. Lol

yep only so many UI changes you can make before people start to call on your bs. lol

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I just don’t care for the Win10 GUI. The whole “built for touch” concept makes for larger UI elements than necessary. Also, I know flat is in, but with square everything, it just looks really boring and there’s just not much information density, especially on the UWP apps. I do like the task manager though.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I just don’t care for the Win10 GUI. The whole “built for touch” concept makes for larger UI elements than necessary. Also, I know flat is in, but with square everything, it just looks really boring and there’s just not much information density, especially on the UWP apps. I do like the task manager though.

I think it rather juvenile. It's mildly better than Windows 3, but that's it. Windows 7 and even XP look much better.

 

[bug]

I just don’t care for the Win10 GUI. The whole “built for touch” concept makes for larger UI elements than necessary. Also, I know flat is in, but with square everything, it just looks really boring and there’s just not much information density, especially on the UWP apps. I do like the task manager though.

I don't have a problem with Win10. Win8 on the other hand was a train wreck.
On the other hand, I'm used to KDE and next to that, any other UI looks like a toy. Just don't forget the OS (and its UI) are just the means to an end.

Edit: What do you know, three hands. Now that's multi-tasking

 

[trparky]

About time Microsoft! We’ve only been asking for you guys to slow down for nearly the entire time Windows 10 has existed.

Maybe now we’ll see more people adopt Windows 10 because they’ve slowed down on the big upgrades. That’s one of the biggest complaints people have had regarding Windows 10.

 

[Camm]

If I can manage an Enterprise on a fast release cadence (including security updates in 2 days, and feature updates in 14, and not on LTSB), I have no idea how so many of you can't seem to manage this.

For home users, set security to 1 day, and feature updates to 14 days, and even the chance of a bad patch will be low.

That being said, I do welcome the change. Although I fear we will see further fragmentation of software from Microsoft to compensate (such as Powershell Core still not being in mainline feature release).

 

[ManofGod]

Heck, I was aware of this 2 months ago, where have you guys been?

 

[windwhirl]

Heck, I was aware of this 2 months ago, where have you guys been?

Not everyone is on Insider Program

 

[WhateverAnotherFreakingID]

[OT sorry] TIL "biannual" in English can mean both "every 2 years" both "twice a year".

As a not native English speaker I couldn't clearly make sense of the title so I went looking:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/biannual

Definition of BIANNUAL

occurring twice a year; biennial… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

"Biweekly" and "bimonthly" unequivocally means every 2 weeks/months, but not "biannual", not "every 2" but mainly "twice". Of course using "semiannual" instead would be as much correct and eliminate the ambiguity entirely. But what about the fun then? What about the everyday infinite learning chances?

So I think I'm going to mindmap "Biannual" just shy the shelf where I've placed the pesky Imperial System measure units.

 

[ManofGod]

Not everyone is on Insider Program

Well, I am but for this information, I think I saw it on MSPoweruser.com.