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Microsoft Confirms Massive Windows 10 Upgrade Changes

Microsoft MSFT +2.61% has just revealed arguably its biggest Windows 10 upgrade so far and the irony is it is all about making things smaller…
Speaking on the official Windows blog, Windows program manager Bill Karagounis explained that Windows 10 is going to get much smarter about how it downloads updates:
“We are announcing the next generation of our delivery technologies incorporated into our latest Insider builds called the Unified Update Platform (UUP). One of the biggest community and customer benefits of UUP is the reduction you’ll see in download size on PCs.”
UUP uses differential download technology meaning it will download “only the changes that have been made since the last time you updated your device, rather than a full build”. Karagounis says this should reduce the size of major Windows 10 updates by “approximately 35%”.
This is a big deal. UUP will become the universal system used by all versions of Windows 10 – including on smartphones and tablets – and it should mean users not only save valuable bandwidth but also waste less time as devices focus purely on installing new patches.
And yes I know what you’re thinking: it is somewhat surprising generations of Windows have not done this until now. Especially when other major platforms have operated in this way for years. A good example is iOS where updates are always widely different sizes for different devices as they identify a users’ specific device and only install what is relevant to it.
So when will Windows 10 get UUP? Karagounis reveals Microsoft is targeting a launch with the ‘Windows 10 Creators Update’ (the next major revision of Windows 10) which is expected to arrive in March. But Windows Insiders (beta testers) will get access to UUP in this week’s latest updates.
The bad news? Xbox One owners won’t get UUP for the foreseeable future as Windows 10 updates operate differently on the consoles. This will also apply to the new Xbox One S.
That said UUP is the start of a faster and more efficient update process for Windows. It may be long overdue but with Microsoft this weekending Windows 7 and Windows 8, it is also a welcome reminder for reluctant upgraders that positives do exist in moving to Windows 10…

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