Microsoft improves Windows updates

Rolling out to Windows Insider users for PC later this year

In a blog post earlier today, Microsoft  said it will be changing the way it distributes updates to Windows 10 users beginning with a new Unified Update Platform (UUP) that handles update checking in the cloud, rather than on a client device.

The change will begin following the release of next year’s Windows 10 Creator’s Update, another major build similar to the Anniversary Update, but more catered toward 3D project creation with support for viewing user-created objects with VR and AR devices. For now, Windows 10 Mobile users who are part of the Windows Insider program will begin previewing releases with the Unified Update Platform (UUP) starting today with build 14959, while PC users in the program will get the feature later in the year.

Currently, Microsoft’s updating method requires new builds to be installed over existing ones as in-place upgrades, often in the form of 4GB ISO files. The company will begin switching to differential downloading packages that only contain the changes that have been made since the last device update, rather than the full build. This will allow the download size of a major build to shrink by about 35 percent, and is particularly important for mobile devices.

When smaller updates are released, systems currently use local processing to determine which updates are needed and which ones are already installed. With UUP, the amount of update data sent to client devices will be reduced along with the amount of local processing, which should free up battery life and other resources over time. Microsoft says the Windows Update service will still be used to determine which updates are needed, but the whole process of checking for updates should be much quicker as a result of the platform and service optimization.

“We’re excited to start using UUP to release new builds to Windows Insiders. We plan to roll-out UUP in stages – starting today for Mobile devices. We expect to start using UUP for PC Insider builds later this year and then IoT and HoloLens shortly after. Our team is excited to begin publishing Mobile builds using UUP and seeing the results of a lot of hard work in unifying our update publishing platform for Windows.”