Windows feature experience packs

larry m Gordon · 04 Jun 2023

Hello, i searched in our index library to find out what it is that the windows feature experience pack actually does and could only find the tutorial that shows us where to find the version of it were running on our laptops. I could have missed it. First looked under Experience packs.. nothing. Then looked under Windows feature experience packs that tells how to locate your version number, which i knew. Can anyone point me in the right direction to read about what it actually does, or better yet just tell me if you like. I'm running a windows 10 home, version 22H2, OS build 19045.3031 with Windows Experience Feature Pack 1000.19041.1000.0 So thank you for any answers on how they complement the system, better yet how to tell if the version we have is up to date, or are they even necessary??

pepanee · 04 Jun 2023

Here's what I found:
> What Is the “Windows Feature Experience Pack” on Windows 10?.
> What is the Windows Feature Experience Pack in Windows 11/10?
Also, here's a video that kinda explains a bit more
> WTH is the Windows Experience Feature Pack? - YouTube

larry m Gordon · 05 Jun 2023

Pepanee, thanks for taking the time to answer and know it's appreciated. I've grazed over the 'Optional features' section before when in 'apps and features' and wondered why they were off to the side. So those apps are part of the feature experience pack. Looks like alot of great reading ahead of me so thank you very much. One of the article's touched on another question i've always wondered about why i show version '2009'in only one spot and it never changes. Settings> Accounts> Your info> Manage my microsoft account> Devices> view details> and being the only device it shows details of this (my only) laptop. The OS edition is windows 10 home, the OS build will update and change 19045.3031 but the Version always shows '2009' which i now know is the same as saying 'October 2020 update' or saying '20H2" which released in 2nd half of 2020. which i believe to be the last Major update to experience pack has had and will have?? I was beginning to wonder if '2009' was a freak thing because the '2004' update is shown everywhere and talked about like it was the end of the line for the E Pack.. for some reason it's been bothering me to find out why i show 2009 when i also thought 2004 was the last.. Dude you are the man!! thanks Pepanee

Try3 · 05 Jun 2023

Larry,

I don't know where you are seeing your 2009.
MS have not fully adjusted their references to Version.

- The Registry entry that used to show the Version was abandoned after Version 2004 and now shows 2009 for us all.

- - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
- - ReleaseId

- The Version is now shown, in the same Key, in the entry DisplayVersion instead.

But many MS references still call up the old entry, ReleaseId, so they continue to report 2009.

All the best,
Denis

pepanee · 05 Jun 2023

You're welcome Larry. Those sources I listed also aren't 100% sure of exactly what everything in the experience pack has to offer, yet they explained as much as they could. What I got out of reading the articles and the video was just that this certain update is similar to previous Windows updates that add just a few more features to the operating system. Just a few additional features to make things a little easier. Yet I don't use those features really. They just look like a few "enhancements" to the operating system.

larry m Gordon · 06 Jun 2023

Hello Dennis, when i follow this path it shows the devices linked to my mircosoft account, with this being the only device. Device details is where 2009 is stated as version.. Settings> Accounts> Your info> Manage my microsoft account> Devices> device details

Try3 · 07 Jun 2023

larry m Gordon said:

Hello Dennis, when i follow this path it shows the devices linked to my mircosoft account, with this being the only device. Device details is where 2009 is stated as version.. Settings> Accounts> Your info> Manage my microsoft account> Devices> device details

Larry,

OK.
I don't log in to Windows using an MSAccount-linked user account so I cannot see what you see.
I've looked at my online equivalent and it shows the full BuildNumber 19045.2965 rather than the 2009

Denis

larry m Gordon · 07 Jun 2023

Attachment 391928

Try3 · 07 Jun 2023

Larry,

Here are two of mine.
Seen today -

Windows feature experience packs-msaccount-devices-details.png

Seen a couple of years ago -

Windows feature experience packs-devices-content-processed-heavily.png

So they show different fields for you & me & the data displayed has changed over the years.
- But you are ahead of me [.3031 compared to my .2965] so perhaps I'll see another change in the future.
I expect that my explanation for 2009 still applies.

I also notice that they label the "System model" entry as "System type" despite also using that term to denote x86 / x64 [see the output of the command %windir%\system32\msinfo32.exe]. This is not directly related to your case but does show that they are careless in their terminology.
Similarly, in that Registry Key I pointed out to you before, they still record the ProductName as Windows 10 in Windows 11 computers.
If I want to get OS Version info to copy in somewhere or use automatically in other scripts, I run ReportOSVersion.bat post - TenForums, which works correctly without alteration in both Windows 10 & Windows 11 computers.

All the best,
Denis

Try3 · 07 Jun 2023

Larry - I've just finished fiddling with my last post. Denis