Will there be a Service Pack 1 for Windows 10?

The days of Service Packs are behind us and can no longer be used as a measure of quality.

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 as they are 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:

As Microsoft Program Manager for Windows Terry Myerson described it:

This is more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no additional charge. With Windows 10, the experience will evolve and get even better over time. We’ll deliver new features when they’re ready, not waiting for the next major release. We think of Windows as a Service – in fact, one could reasonably think of Windows in the next couple of years as one of the largest Internet services on the planet.

And just like any Internet service, the idea of asking "What version are you on?" will cease to make sense – which is great news for our Windows developers.

Source: http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/01/21/the-next-generation-of-windows-windows-10/

The problem with that, for those of us who prefer Windows 7 is that there is now, without service packs and their related description pages, no way to find out if Windows 10 has been fixed.

I have tried Windows 10, but the white header on every window, the barely usable dvd player that needs to be restarted and the dvd ejected reinserted and searched for where you were when you paused the dvd to get a drink or use the rest room, the inability to place seldom used programs in the start menu without the ridiculous tiles, having to search the list to find anything because you can't list it in the start menu unless it's a recently used program or a tile, having to (if you use the tiles) search through pages of them, no way to make customized themes or change the sounds or icons on the desktop, no way to delay downloading updates while running an mmo, no way to make your desktop look like a desktop and not look like a giant smart phone, slowing down every single program because Windows 10 is looking for updates 24/7, and a slew of other problems that make Windows 10 unusable.

While there will no longer be Service Packs by that name, there will continue to be 'lines in the sand' that serve the same purpose.

For Windows 10, the first 'line in the sand' will probably be the Redstone upgrade, which is supposed to be delivered by the summer of 2016. This major upgrade is supposed to provide many features that are currently missing in Windows 10, like support for extensions in Edge and expanded media playing capabilities. Between now and then there will be regular bug fixing updates through Windows Update.

As crazy as this sounds, Microsoft is no longer saying what improvements or new features are included in Windows Updates. Now it's all a big secret.

I totally agree with you. In my opinion, most should wait until after Redstone before thinking about installing Windows 10.

This will become difficult to do if Microsoft carries through with its announced plans. In 2016, Microsoft will mark the Windows 10 installer as a Recommended update in Windows Update. For Windows 7 and 8 users who are configured to install updates automatically, and get Recommended updates "the same way I receive important updates," Windows 10 will install automatically without any advance notice.

This is what Microsoft VP Terry Myerson calls 'helping people to discover Windows 10.' You can understand now why he decided to take most of 2016 off to spend time with his family.