Windows 10, May 2019 Update Release - Important

[HanaBi]

Given the rather reckless, bug-ridden releases of major updates for W10 over the last 12 months, the bods at Redmond have finally got their heads round the idea that full beta testing and Quality Control methodology has been pushed to the front burner once again.

As a consequence the next major release - which historically happens in April - has been pushed back to at least May while the final QA testing is put to bed.

One big and significant change with this release - especially for W10 Home users - is that the update will not automatically install one or two days after release. Instead, users will have up to 35 days before the mandatory installation takes place. This is quite handy, and was probably introduced after the monumental problems with the April and October 2018 update fiascos whereby users registered OS and App problems within 24 hours after installation.

Updates may also be paused for up to 35 days (seven days at a time) for all users, including those on Windows 10 Home. Alas, once those 35 days are up, you'll have to take your medicine before pausing again.

Feature updates, on the other hand, can be ignored until the Windows 10 installation in question hits end of service. At that point, Windows Update will have a crack at automatically initiating a feature update.

It is highly recommended that you delay the May 2019 release for the maximum time allowed. Hopefully, if there are any issues with the release during this time it will not affect those users who have delayed the update. This will also give Microsoft sufficient time to extend the 35 day grace for an unspecified time until these bugs have been ironed out once and for all

An exact date for the release is still to be announced.


Prepare yourselves for Windows 10 May-hem. Or is it June, no, July?

 

[HanaBi]

Below is a reliable link to some of the new features for the forthcoming May 2019 Update (end of May, more like).

lots of improvements to be had, but I still urge users to hang fire before installing the update. And as per usual, always perform a backup to an external drive of anything critical on your C drive (or whatever drive your Windows 10 is installed on) before you perform the update.

File History, is one good method of backing up your files ((especially local files stored at C:\Users\"user name"\);, or Windows 7 Backup and Restore, is a better option, which you will find here "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Back up and Restore (Windows 7)"


Windows 10 version 1903, May 2019 Update: All the new features and changes • Pureinfotech

 

[HanaBi]

For Win 10Pro users, you should see some additional functionality when it comes to Windows Updates. The attachment below is from one of my VM machines with my own settings. Given the current instability of W10 updates it would be advisable to :-

• Switch off Automatically downloading updates
• Temporarily pause updates for 35 days
• Defer both Feature and Quality updates from the default "0" days to at least 5 days.

W10 Home users may not have the same level of functionality at present



*These suggestions are just that, and shouldn't be taken as solutions

 

[picklematrix]

Im pretty sure I disliked windows 10 when I used it shortly after it was first released.

Thinking of buying a Windows laptop at some point in the future though.

 

[HanaBi]

You can still get machines with W7 or 8.1 preinstalled, so there is no big push to go with 10, even though it has improved over the last 2 or 3 years (other than the incredibly intrusive data mining it performs even when you switch all the privacy settings off)

 

[HanaBi]

Be aware that when the forthcoming major update (1903) is released at the end of May, the hard drive storage requirements will be anything up to 32GB for 64 bit tin!

This should not present a problem for most desktops and laptops, which usually have at least 128GB of storage as its principle "C" drive for the installed OS. However, for those with older tablets running W10, problems may arise unless you have a suitably large enough micro SD card.

Also be aware that some W10 Netbooks may have internal eMMC flash storage soldered to the motherboard. Such storage usually comes in 32GB or 64GB flavours. This will not leave much free storage once 1903 has been installed (along with existing apps) , and then you have to cater for major update storage needs in the future, thus rendering your Netbook completely redundant as it is almost impossible to replace the eMMC.

On the positive side, all other hardware requirements for 1903 (minimum RAM, CPU processor etc,) remain unchanged - although "minimum" usually translates as barely workable!


The difference between October and May? About 16GB, says Microsoft: Windows 10 1903 will need 32GB of space