Ever since Windows 10 2004, the May 2020 feature update, began rolling out, I've been pestering Microsoft about the number of late-breaking incompatibility issues the company disclosed only after the rollout began. And every time I ask, I get the usual "we have nothing more to share" answer. So I tried going the sources route to find out what's happening and what Microsoft intends to do to make the Windows 10 feature update rollout process smoother going forward.

Sources inside the company who asked not to be named acknowledged there's been mounting pressure from the inside to figure this problem out. Yay! I'm glad to hear it's not a case of "everything is fine -- nothing to see here."...

...There have been some inside the company who think Microsoft's decision to provide a regularly updated Windows Information Release dashboard page, listing some of the bigger known compatibility issues, is a mistake, erring on the side of too much transparency.

But I'm hearing the servicing team is pushing forward and intends to keep the updated dashboard around in spite of pockets of opposition. It also is stepping up work around drivers, which have proven to be a big blocker for Windows 10 2004 and some previous feature updates. Problems with NVIDIA, Realtek, Conexant and Synaptics audio and other drivers have all affected the rollout of 2004. Sources say need Microsoft is working on beefing up the driver test matrix by adding more hardware/driver combinations and coupling that with their artifical intelligence/machine learning tech to highlight potential problem areas before and after rollouts begin.

Speaking of the "after" rollout period, Microsoft also is working to do what many Windows users have been requesting: Make blocking issues clearer and more customized. Microsoft's goal is to provide Windows 10 users with much more specific information on why their machines are blocked from receiving a particular update and to give them an inbox notification that is both specific and actionable, I hear. None of my contacts would say when something like this might happen, unfortunately, but at least it's on the list...

Read more: Microsoft is working on making Window 10 feature update blockers clearer and more detailed | ZDNet

Posted By: Brink
12 Sep 2020