Windows 10 updates to be mandatory and automatic for home users

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/07/windows-10-updates-to-be-automatic-and-mandatory-for-home-users/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaig n=Feed%3A+arstechnica%2Findex+%28Ars+Technica+-+All+content%29

Windows Update can't be readily disabled in Windows 10 Home, and the
license terms that all users must agree to allow Microsoft to install
updates automatically.

The Insider Preview releases of Windows 10 didn't include any way to
prevent Windows Update from downloading and installing updates, but it
wasn't clear if this was just some quirk of the previews or the long-term
plan; Microsoft's previews often have special rules for things like
providing automated feedback and hooking up online services, and so this
could have been part of that.

Build 10240, released to insiders on Wednesday, changes that. This build
is believed to be the release-to-manufacturing build that OEMs will
preinstall on hardware, and as such, it contains the finalized settings,
license text, and so on.

Windows Update in Windows 8.1 has four options for Windows Update's
behavior: download and install updates automatically; download updates
automatically but choose when to install them; check for updates but
choose when to download and install them; and never check for, download,
or install updates. This last option is, obviously, not recommended, but
it's there if you really need it.

In Windows 10, the options are cut to two: check, download, install, and
reboot automatically; and check, download, install automatically and then
choose to reboot. And as Tim Anderson at The Register spotted, the EULA
that comes with the operating system (and which again wasn't available
during the preview program, as that used a different, preview-specific
text) has language that supports this:

Updates. The software periodically checks for system and app updates, and
downloads and installs them for you. You may obtain updates only from
Microsoft or authorized sources, and Microsoft may need to update your
system to provide you with those updates. By accepting this agreement, you
agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional
notice.
(Emphasis ours.)

This would be a notable change in any version of Windows, but it takes on
particular significance because of Windows 10's Windows-as-a-Service
concept. It's not just security fixes that Microsoft will be rolling out
and automatically installing; it's going to be a steady stream of feature
updates, too, as Microsoft adds new capabilities and features to its
operating system.

While inevitably someone will figure out how to disable Windows Update and
block the updates, for the most part this change means that home users of
Windows 10 are always going to be running both the most secure version and
the version with the most features.

This has immediately raised concerns. Today, if a Windows user finds that
an update breaks something that they need, they can generally refuse that
update for an extended period. This is particularly apparent with Service
Packs; these are both the most likely updates to break things and the
easiest to reject. Microsoft continues to deliver security fixes to the
operating system both with and without the Service Pack for many months or
years after the Service Pack's release.

For Windows 10 Home users, this isn't going to be an option. If a future
update breaks something essential, the user is going to be out of luck.

Windows 10 Pro users will have a little flexibility; they'll be able to
switch from the mainstream release to the Current Branch for Business
(CBB). This will give some control over when updates are deployed. While
the CBB will essentially track the consumer release, it will allow feature
updates to be held back for some amount of time; Anderson quotes a
Microsoft executive saying that companies will have around eight months to
prepare for each new feature update. Delay the feature update any further
and they'll also be prevented from receiving security updates.

Only Windows 10 Enterprise users will be able to update in a way that
resembles the current Windows 8 scheme. By opting for the Long Term
Servicing (LTS) branch, Enterprise users will be able to defer feature
updates for years, electing to receive only security fixes during that
time. Microsoft is pushing most businesses to be on either the consumer
release or, at worse, the Current Branch for Business, reserving LTS for
mission critical systems that truly need this conservative approach.

What Microsoft is doing with Windows 10 is not unprecedented. Apple for
the most part only updates the current version of iOS, forcing iPhone
users to accept feature updates if they want to remain secure. Similarly,
Google bundles features and security fixes with its Chrome updates.
Mozilla does have an LTS version of Firefox that enables businesses to
receive security fixes without feature fixes, but even this is limited,
with each LTS build being supported for around eight to nine months before
being replaced.

It is, nonetheless, a major change in Windows' development and
distribution, and the loss of control could give some Windows users the
incentive they need to stick with Windows 7 or 8.

--
Slimer
Proud "Wintroll"