Will there be any user control of updates in Windows 10 Home?

In the press releases it says that Windows 10 Home edition will get updates automatically, with no option to delay installing them (or not install them). I often use my laptop tethered to a mobile hotspot, which uses my phone's (limited) data allowance - and I don't want an OS that could start downloading 100s of MB of data with no warning and without giving me the option to stop it. Will there be any option in Windows 10 to control updates (e.g. limiting it to certain times, like Windows 7 allows, or preventing updates over certain networks identified as mobile hotspots, like Android allows)?

Answer
Answer

What does Windows as a Service entail?

Since the introduction of Windows Update as part of Windows, Microsoft has delivered updates as way to keep Windows updated and secure. This has always been the way the company keeps commercial versions of Windows on the market current.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is making significant changes to this model by delivering new methods of servicing Windows. Taking into account we now live in a mobile, constantly connected world, where threats happen all the time. Part of the solution to this is to keep users current by providing the latest updates as soon available in addition to delivering features as soon as they ready too.

Microsoft will do this using three types of service branches for Windows 10:

Service Branch

Options

Edition

Current Branch
  • Security Updates, Features and Fixes are automatically applied.
  • There is no option to delay or customize these updates.
  • Windows 10 Home

Current Branch for Business (CBB)
  • CBB includes the requirements of the Current Branch, but also provides the option of customizing when and which Security Updates, Features and Fixes are applied, similar to how Windows Update works today in current versions of Windows. 
  • Updates cannot be deferred indefinitely.
  • Windows Updates can be managed using enterprise management tools such as Windows Update for Business and/ WSUS.
  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 10 Enterprise
  • Windows 10 Education

Long Term Servicing Branch (LTSB)
  • Only available to volume license customers running Windows 10 Enterprise.
  • Flexible options for managing Windows Updates.
  • Windows Updates can be customized to only accept Security Fixes.
  • Windows Updates can be managed using enterprise management tools such as Windows Update for Business and/ WSUS.
  • Windows 10 Enterprise


Best,
Andre
Windows Insider MVP
MVP-Windows and Devices for IT
twitter/adacosta
groovypost.com

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Answer
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Grimbeard, TinMan, Terry,

Windows 10 updates can be managed as you wish.  Andre's reply is wrong - he has missed the point of the question.

Each WiFi network {including phone hotspots} can have a "Metered connection" property set on it.  Metered networks do not allow updates to be downloaded.  Your updates will be withheld until you connect to a network that you have not identified as Metered.

You cannot set LAN networks as Metered, only WiFi ones. 

Edited 20 Dec 2015 - an unsupported Registry fix has been identified that allows ethernet & other connections to be set as metered by default.  See Manage data usage and Windows updates in Windows 10 - WiKi.  I have now been using this on one of my computers for 3 months and it seems reliable.  Windows updates can reset the Registry entry so I check the entry every so often; I am working on a batch file to recheck automatically and will add that to the WiKi article by the end of this month.

You can identify a particular network as Metered but then remove that property later on.  You can also put the property back on to an existing network if you want.  I mention this as I understand that Windows 8 does not allow this chopping & changing.  Please note that my tests have only been done on the Preview version.

I suggest that you wait until after 29th July then have a look over this forum to see how the Metered connections facility is working out in practice.  Experiences during the Preview phase will not be any use to you as there are various overrides in place to gather data during the Preview - so please be careful to identify whether any user reports are about the Preview or the final product.

Try*3 - a user
Dell Inspirons 7779, 1545, 9300; Windows 10 Home x64 & Pro x86; Office Pro 2007; HP DJ2540; HTC UPlay [Android 6.0], MyPhoneExplorer

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Last updated September 4, 2018 Views 1,288 Applies to: