Windows 10 updates could be installed much more quickly in the future

Microsoft is working to make the major updates for Windows 10 more streamlined, so that these currently twice-yearly upgrades don’t take nearly as long to install and configure.

That’s according to Dona Sarkar, head of the Windows Insider testing program, who responded to a comment from a Windows 10 fan on Twitter pleading for a reduction in the time taken to apply an upgrade to a maximum of one hour.

So there you go – this is something that’s being pushed for at Microsoft, and Sarkar’s use of CAPS LOCK (yikes!) hopefully indicates that it is indeed a priority, rather than just an airy statement born of placation. Although obviously no concrete details are given here as to any progress on this front.

To be fair to Microsoft, this is certainly something the firm has always put a premium on. Back in 2016, during the run-up to the Creators Update, the software giant considerably streamlined the size of update downloads (by switching to a differential package, rather than a full download of a fresh build).

A watched update never boils

Whatever progress can be made in terms of reducing download size and install times will obviously be welcome, particularly in the latter case because when the PC is tied up during installation (with lengthy reboots, while watching that percentage counter), there’s nothing you can do with the machine – which can be frustrating.

As we saw at the start of the week, Microsoft is hoping to better hone Windows 10 on all fronts in future updates with the introduction of a new system of ‘Cohorts’ in the testing process.

These are specialized groups of testers dedicated to certain aspects of Windows 10 – for example stylus use – whose feedback will hopefully enable Microsoft to better pick out the most relevant new features which should be developed in these particular areas. That system is only at the experimental stage at the moment, though.