Microsoft Is Aligning Releases of Windows and Office Feature Updates

With the Windows 10 Creators Update already live, Microsoft also rolled out Redstone 3 build 16179, with the upcoming Windows 10 feature update expected to arrive late 2017.The PC release is the latest Redstone preview and is available to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring. For PC users, there are two very important new features bundled into build 16179. It is called Revert VM and it allows developers using Hyper-V on Windows 10 to have automatic checkpoints. Microsoft says this introduction allows customer to be able to undo mistakes in virtual machines. This can be achieved by simply reverting to the last checkpoint made in the VM.

With Power Throttling, Microsoft is launching a feature that can help preserve battery on a PC. Power Throttling can reduce CPU consumption by up to 11%. We imagine the company will tweak and improve this figure through development.

Windows 10 Preview Build 16179 Changelog

As always, Microsoft has provided a changelog for this Insider release. Here are the changes:

Changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

• We fixed the issue causing apps that use the Desktop Bridge (“Centennial”) from the Store such as Slack and Evernote will cause your PC to bugcheck (GSOD) when launched with a “kmode exception not handled” in ntfs.sys error.
• We fixed an issue where adding Hindi to your language list and downloading the on-demand language resources would result in Microsoft Edge crashing on launch and file search returning no results via Cortana or Windows Explorer.
• We fixed an issue where desktop icons would sometimes move around unexpectedly when “Auto arrange icons” was set to On and “Align icons to grid” was set to Off.
• The existing Group Policy to disable the lock screen is now available for those on the Pro edition of Windows 10. Appreciate all who shared feedback on the subject. Note, the Group Policy text has not yet been updated to incorporate this change, that will happen with a later flight.
• We fixed a rendering issue from previous flights where specific multi-monitor and projection configurations could fail depending on the hardware used. This could have impacted all Surface (Surface Book, Surface Pro, etc.) devices as well as other devices using similar chipsets. Another symptom may have been to see screen flickering and potentially being logged out when any screen mode change occurred.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the location icon being continually on in the taskbar after the first time the Action Center was opened if the night light quick action was visible.

Now, Microsoft has announced a change to its feature updates strategy, planning to release two aligned major updates each year for Windows 10, Office 365 Pro Plus, and the System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).

The general manager of the Windows Commercial Marketing department, Bernardo Caldas, explains the new model in a blog post.

As Caldas, writes Microsoft will align the release cycles of Windows and Office with two major updates for Windows, Office, and SCCM per year. The Redmond giant is planning on releasing one update in March and one in September each year, starting September 2017.

Here are more details on the new model, as presented by Microsoft:

• “Windows is committing to a predictable twice-per-year feature release schedule, targeting September and March of each year, aligning with Office 365 ProPlus. The next Windows 10 feature update will be targeted for September 2017.
• Each Windows 10 feature release will be serviced and supported for 18 months. This is consistent with our current Windows 10 approach, but adds further clarity and predictability to organizations by aligning with Office 365 ProPlus.
• In addition, System Center Configuration Manager will support this new aligned update model for Office 365 ProPlus and Windows 10, making both easier to deploy and keep up to date.”

Office 365 ProPlus updates

In addition, Microsoft has announced three important changes related to the Office 365 ProPlus updates. The corporate vice president for the Office commercial marketing team, Ron Markezich, explains the changes in a blog post.

Microsoft has announced changes concerning the Office 365 system requirements, improvements to the ProPlus update model including the alignment with Windows 10, and new tools and programs.

Here is the list of changes:

    1. “Changes to the Office 365 system requirements

• Office 365 ProPlus or Office perpetual in mainstream support required to connect to Office 365 services
• Applies to Office 365 commercial services only
• More than three years’ notice

    2.  Improvements to the ProPlus update model, alignment with Windows 10

• Two updates a year
• 18 months of support
• System Center Configuration Manager support

    3. New tools and programs to manage Office 365 ProPlus application compatibility

• Upgrade assessment tools
• Application compatibility testing
• Office 365 ProPlus monitoring services
• Reporting, tracking and resolving issues.”

For more details on the Office 365 and Office 365 ProPlus changes, check Microsoft’s blog post.

Source:WinBuzzer