New
#11
The update delivery and upgrade methodology is at the heart of Windows program to switch from big new Windows versions every few years to bi-annual feature updates, delivered as build version upgrades, with much reduced learning curves compared to the Windows 7>8>8.1>10 upgrade series.
Ever since 2015, when Windows 10 was released, the process has been punctuated with problems centered around the upgrade process itself for non-Insider users.
The move away from user-initiated download, upgrade or clean install, then rebuild the users system with programs and apps, towards a non-invasive background process for download and installation with the automated restart and post-installation processing done out-of-hours has been given to the Insiders to test every new variation, and it's not arrived there yet, I think everyone will agree.
The Insider Preview program tests the delivery and the content of new builds, and every failure to download, install update and upgrade gives Microsoft telemetric data for the developers to work on to improve on the delivery system.
Incompatibilities are now pretty well known, and people will know which of their favourite programs they will have to reinstall after upgrade, and which devices should not be connected during the process.
It's not as simple as your smart TV getting a firmware update, because to update Windows on PCs and laptops and tablets that are made up of a huge number of permutations of devices and drivers, not to mention installed 3rd-party software and user customizations, the knowledge base that Windows Setup would have to consult to get everything right, would just take too long.
Upgrade problems are a major point of focus for the developers, and funnily enough there are a bunch of us Insiders who report that we have found the most recent five or so Insider build updates to have no issues apart from the known ones mentioned when the new builds are announced, contrary to the OP.
To be fair, I had a spate of upgrade problems earlier in 2017, before 1703 was released. Perhaps the telemetry from those failures has been acted upon and has made way for the current smooth patch I see now.
The eventual aim is to make a (general availability) Feature Update build upgrade no more painful than a large Patch Tuesday "Quality Update" as Microsoft would now like the cumulative updates to be called.
I'd like that painless experience too, and that's why I'm sticking with the Insider Program, through thick and thin.