Future Windows 10 & Office Schedules set; 18-month Service window

[WMGroomAK]

Microsoft has outlined the future of their patch releases for Windows 10 and Office 365 in a blog post on their website.

https://blogs.windows.com/business/2017/04/20/windows-office-align-feature-release-schedules-benefit-customers/#jMytfhYi7OkoTLmo.97

 

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Here are more details.

• Windows is committing to a predictable twice-per-year feature release schedule, targeting September and March of each year, aligning with Office 365 ProPlus. The next Windows 10 feature update will be targeted for September 2017.
• Each Windows 10 feature release will be serviced and supported for 18 months. This is consistent with our current Windows 10 approach, but adds further clarity and predictability to organizations by aligning with Office 365 ProPlus.
• In addition, System Center Configuration Manager will support this new aligned update model for Office 365 ProPlus and Windows 10, making both easier to deploy and keep up to date.

Basically, we can now expect to see the major feature releases either in March or September from now on in both Windows and Office.  Of more note it that Microsoft will only be conducting extended support for these updates for 18-months or about 3 release versions.  This should help out on the deployment of updates in the enterprise environment, however, I would be concerned about the 18-month service & support window for releases.  It will be nice to know that I should be looking for a major feature set update on about a 6 month cycle now. 

 

Bleeping Computer Article: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-sets-new-release-schedule-for-windows-10-with-two-major-updates-per-year/

[Doramius]

They didn't say anything about changing the pattern of minor updates.  My guess is they'll still do the "sub-important" and Security updates every 2nd Tuesday of the month, like they currently do.  And then mix in random s#!t miscellaneous updates during the weeks in between.

[Trixanity]

Shouldn't they be doing a ESR that has like a 36+ month cadence? Everyone else seems to do that. I'm sure businesses would welcome that in addition to the clear release schedule.

[WMGroomAK]

4 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

Shouldn't they be doing a ESR that has like a 36+ month cadence? Everyone else seems to do that. I'm sure businesses would welcome that in addition to the clear release schedule.

I think their main focus is to ensure that you are operating on the most recent version of Windows 10...  Basically if you are on windows 10 ver 1507 or 1511, you're support will end in May of this year.  Version 1607 will probably have support out until January/February of 2018 and the most recent major release (version 1703) will probably receive support until October/November of 2018.  The Windows lifecycle factsheet shows that Microsoft intends to support the OS at least through October of 2020 and provide extended support through October of 2025, however, I think this is contingent on the Service based model they are implementing and having the user on one of the latest 3 version releases...  Of course, their own lifecycle page talks about a device needs to have the latest update to remain supported.

 

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** Applies to Windows 10 Home, Home, Pro, and Enterprise editions. Windows 10 Mobile and Mobile Enterprise editions have no extended support period. All Windows 10 editions are managed via the Windows as a Service (WaaS) model: Updates are cumulative, with each update built upon all of the updates that preceded it. A device needs to install the latest update to remain supported. Updates may include new features, fixes (security and/or non-security), or a combination of both. Not all features in an update will work on all devices. A device may not be able to receive updates if the device hardware is incompatible, lacking current drivers, or otherwise outside of the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (“OEM”) support period. Update availability may vary, for example by country, region, network connectivity, mobile operator (e.g., for cellular-capable devices), or hardware capabilities (including, e.g., free disk space). For more information, see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle FAQ . For the latest on Windows 10 releases, see Windows 10 release information.

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet