Microsoft now auto updating Windows 10 version 1803 and older to 1903

I just upgraded to 1809 around Feb-March so I'll get it next year. Heh.

Joan Archer said:

I've just checked hubby's machines and ... his laptop was still at 1803. I wasn't sure if it would be able to upgrade as it's a few years old ...

I don't remember if previous 2 builds worked or not, but on 1903 I was able to install old Win7 drivers using setup from manufacturers website without any errors or warnings for my 2012 year HP EliteBook 8470p, so I assume most bugs for old laptops should be fixed, still weird why Win10 doesn't automatically install all appropriate drivers for old computers or the most recent ones.

I just upgraded to 1803 and been out of the loop for awhile. Is 1903 ready for prime time? I don't mind change (that works) but past experience with Win updates appear to be not always in my best interests. I mean it seems W10 updates are more about marketing than security.

xips said:

I just upgraded to 1803 and been out of the loop for awhile. Is 1903 ready for prime time?

Yes. After the initial problems at the launch of the October Update MS have more careful this time round. No software can ever be completely bug free, but 1903 already seems to be as good as 1809 or your 1803.

it seems W10 updates are more about marketing than security.

Your 1803 reaches end of support soon and will get no more security updates after November 12th this year.

Thank you Bree.

Joan Archer said:

I've just checked hubby's machines and his desktop is at 1903 but his laptop was still at 1803. I wasn't sure if it would be able to upgrade as it's a few years old but it has been offered and is now downloading, I'm just keeping an eye on things hoping all goes well with it.

Hi there

I don't think that should be a problem --I upgraded an old Sony VAIO Laptop with a Pentium IV processor to not only 1903 but Workstation 1903.

Mind you the power those old laptops consume --I think I could run a district heating system on it judging by the heat coming out of the fan area.

Performance is still excellent BTW but you can only get 1920 X 1080 graphics via the HDMI output --I think that was one of the first laptops that had HDMI output.

The thing weighs an absolute ton so the word "Laptop" is a bit misleading --still in its day it was a great machine --but it's OK for testing - especially Linux builds . However W10 is alive and kicking on it. Note though all the graphics etc are INTEL based so that's usually not a problem and it did have built in INTEL PRO Lan chip which runs on almost any OS or hardware so you don't have to mess around with obscure "Off Brand" chinese Wifi cards.

Cheers
jimbo

Not disputing the above re: older laptops, but I found that my work Surface Laptop 1 (i7 Gen 7) seems slower - or perhaps performs worse - than previously-used Dell E7440 (i7 Gen 4) with similar peripherals attached.

And it's not the latest gimmicks I mean (so all sort of fancy transitions in ever-developing software that seem over-loading GPU/CPU entirely unnecessarily and slowing my work, naturally) but just my impression based on daily use. Especially when laptop drives two external HD (1920x768) screens via external USB hub - but so did the previous one either.

Bree said:

There have already been a few posts in the forums suggesting their 1803 had automatically updated to 1903 without them clicking the optional 'Download and install now'.

I have left my test machine (System Two below) running 1803 24/7 for the past couple of months to test just when this would happen. I can now confirm that windows update has just initiated the auto-update to 1903. As this is 1803 Pro I had set the group policy to 'notify before downloading...' (so it hasn't actually started the upgrade). But no longer do I have the option to continue ignoring the 'Download and install now' that it had been showing these past few months. That has gone, now my only option is to download.

Bree said:

Even though WU was ready and waiting to update to 1903, it was still possible to defer feature updates for 365 days. In order to kick WU into checking for updates again I paused, then un-paused updates. After downloading just the Security Intelligence update WU said I was up to date.

I now expect it to get the 1809 feature update on November 13th 2019, 365 days after its release. Though I'll probably not leave the test machine running 24/7 until then - it deserves a rest

As a final test, I set 1803's 'Defer Feature updates' to 90 days, long enough to rule out 1903, but short enough to allow 1809. Checking for updates then proceeded to download and install the 1809 feature update. It's worth noting that the 1809 update did not offer a 'Download and install now' option as 1903 did, windows update began the install immediately.