Microsoft: Windows 10 1909 rollout has just entered its next phase
Microsoft has stepped up the Windows 10 migration to the November 2019 Update by targeting more PCs on the October 2018 Update, version 1809, to automatically update.
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The next phase of the Windows 10 1909 push comes just over two months after Microsoft started to roll out this update, which is more like a service pack than the company's historical twice-yearly major feature updates for Windows 10.
On November 12, Microsoft made Windows 10 1909 available to 'seekers' who need to check for updates from Windows Update to download and install the version.
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As of Tuesday, Windows 10 1909 is available for all users on a "recent version" of Windows 10 who check Windows Update.
But more importantly, Microsoft has now initiated the push to move users on Windows 10 1809 to the latest version of Windows.
"We are starting the next phase in our controlled approach to automatically initiate a feature update for an increased number of devices running the October 2018 Update (Windows 10, version 1809) Home and Pro editions, keeping those devices supported and receiving the monthly updates that are critical to device security and ecosystem health," Microsoft says.
"Our rollout process starts several months in advance of the end-of-service date to provide adequate time for a smooth update process."
Windows 10 1809 was a disaster release for users, prompting many to stick with version 1803, or the April 2018 Update. Microsoft started bumping Windows 10 1803 Home and Pro users up to version 1903 in July last year and continued automatically updating 1803 systems through to November, 2019, when support ended.
Version 1809 was tagged 'ready for business' in March, 2019, much later than earlier versions. It's still a few months before Windows 10 version 1809 reaches end of service.
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Support for Windows 10 Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations editions on 1809 ends May 12, 2020. The cut-off for Enterprise and Education editions doesn't happen until May 11, 2021. A key difference to Windows 7, for which free support ended last week, is there is no option to buy extended security updates for Windows 10 versions.
Windows 10 1909 was the first time Microsoft introduced its new update process, which employs the same technology it uses to deliver monthly updates, as opposed to its larger twice-yearly feature updates.
The new lighter update approach – which also meant version 1909 was the same as 1903 with a subsequent 'enablement package' – didn't extend to PCs on Windows 10 1809 and earlier. These devices needed to update using the standard method.