Does Microsoft have discipline? Windows 10 will be updated strictly in March and September

Until today, it was difficult to guess when Microsoft will roll out updates with new features (feature upgrade) for Windows 10. From September 2017, the release schedule will become more stable: the company announced that major updates to Windows 10, Office 365 ProPlus and System Center Configuration Manager go out twice a year on a fixed schedule: in September and March. The combination of updating the office suite and the operating system is due to the fact that Office Pro Plus and Windows 10 often install and update together, so this will make life easier for many.

Thus, the nearest update of Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus will be held in September 2017, and the next - in March 2018.

Established another clear rule. Each version of Windows 10 will be serviced and maintained for 18 months. In principle, this corresponds to the current practice, Microsoft writes, but the output along with Office and the official explanation of the policy will simplify the life of corporate sysadmins. It turns out that to maintain continued support, it will be sufficient to install the update clearly once a year and a half.
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Microsoft hopes that the addition of semi-annual updates to the package also System Center Configuration Manager will also simplify the procedure for periodic updates on a schedule.

Having approved the new schedule, now a more accurate date (accurate to a month) of Redstone 3 version release has become known: this is September. Previously, Microsoft called only an indicative time: they said that this would happen in the “fall of 2017”.

The situation with the development and release of updates for Windows 10 was previously incomprehensible. Microsoft said it plans to release two or three updates in a calendar year. But in reality, only one thing came out in 2016 - Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Maybe now among the developers still put things in order, and now they will discipline to abide by the schedule? Although Microsoft is not very confident about compliance with the September term. The blog uses the wording that the next Windows 10 update “will be targeted” (will be targeted) for September 2017. It seems that managers are not fully confident that they will succeed.

For Office 365 ProPlus, updates came out three times a year. This client part is available for many Office 365 subscription packages. Now it will also be updated twice a year: in September and March. In turn, the online updates of Office 365 roll out constantly: new features are added every month, and even more often.



Changes will not affect users of "offline" versions of Office with a perpetual license or the same individual applications. It also does not affect web-based office applications, such as Word Online, Excel Online, and PowerPoint Online. The half-yearly schedule only applies to Office 365 ProPlus connected to the Office 365 services. The following applications are included in the Office 365 ProPlus package:

• Outlook;
• Word;
• Excel;
• PowerPoint;
• OneNote;
• Access;
• Publisher;
• Skype for Business;
• OneDrive for Business;
• Office mobile applications.

By the way, Microsoft warns that from October 13, 2020, the Office 365 ProPlus version will remain the only full-featured office client that connects to Office 365. Full functionality is no longer guaranteed for users of perpetual licenses. The company in advance for 3.5 years warns that in 2020, offline clients of Office 2010, Office 2013 and Office 2016 may be disconnected from the online service Office 365.

The same changes are gradually taking place with many Microsoft products: all users are gradually gently transferred to a subscription with constant payment. Perpetual versions will be updated less and less. For example, it is not known at all when the nearest update for the “perpetual” version of Office 2016 will be released. This package was released in September 2015, and a year and a half has passed since then. If the company adheres to the old principles, we can expect an update two or three years after the release, that is, at the end of 2017 or during 2018.

Plans for upgrading Office 365 ProPlus and offline versions of Office 2010, Office 2013 and Office 2016 with perpetual licenses Microsoft published in a separate blog post.

News with a clear schedule of updates to Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus relate to the update functionality. Security updates will be released on the old schedule separately from the functional updates.

Microsoft says that Windows 10 is already installed on more than 400 million active devices, and in the corporate sector, the new version of Windows demonstrates record-breaking implementation rates, such was not the case with either Windows 7 or other previous versions. If the updates become predictable, it will only be a plus for the image of Microsoft and its products.