I remember this one night I was working late on a term paper. I was on it until say like 2 AM in the morning before I went to sleep. The next morning, I had to email the paper to my lecturer at 8 AM. So at 7 AM, there I am turning on my computer to do some final touch-ups here and there before emailing it out.
Then it hit me, last night my computer (Windows 10) has downloaded updates and shut down with that option of ‘Shut Down and Install Updates.’ That morning I had to boot it up and wait for the updates to finish installing before I am allowed to access my user account. By the time the updates finished installing, I had wasted a solid 10 minutes that could have been better used tweaking my paper.
I am sure many people out there can give their own stories of when Windows updates wasted precious time for them. Microsoft has even been sued multiple times by users who claimed to have missed an important virtual appointment leading up to financial and opportunity loss for their businesses.
Well, if features of the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update are anything to go by, this Windows update headache might be a thing of the past. Microsoft is said to have revamped how Windows 10 downloads, processes, and finally installs the updates. It has smoothened the process for a seamless experience for the users.
Microsoft promises that the new upgrade process will be less disruptive and will require less time for ‘Installing Updates…’ phase, giving you more productive time on your computer. The Redmond tech company explains that the process takes place in two parts, two steps process. There is the ‘Installing updates’ phase, followed by Windows Update section in Windows 10.
The two phases take places in two steps; ‘Offline Phase’ followed by ‘Online Phase.’ To make Windows update less disruptive, Microsoft moving parts of the Offline Phase into the Online Phase. Notably, the backup processes and WIM processes will now be on the Online Phase, making the ‘Installing Updates’ faster.
That also means when Windows is downloading updates, it will take longer than it currently does, but the benefit of this will be less time taken on the ‘Installing Updates…’ phase. That means you will no longer have to endure through this painstaking process before you are allowed to sign in to your account.
Below is a technical breakdown of how some of the old stuff and process will be done in the new process to make Windows Update a speedy affair for both regular and power users:
Courtesy of MSPowerUser.com.
