Windows 10 is widely believed to have gone RTM this week,
even if Microsoft isn’t formally calling it that, and new changes to
the company’s License Agreement reflect that shift. According to the
terms of the new agreement, Home users explicitly agree to receive
mandatory updates from Microsoft with no ability to control the
frequency of said updates.This news comes courtesy of The Register, which spotted the new terms in the updated build 10240. the license states: “The Software periodically checks for system and app updates, and downloads and installs them for you.You may obtain updates only from Microsoft or authorised sources, and Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates.By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice.”
The thinking behind this shift is simple: Far too many users fail to keep systems updated on a timely basis if left to their own devices, and now that other companies have blazed the trail on offering what are essentially mandatory updates, Microsoft is doing something similar. Companies like Apple and Google no longer separate out their feature updates from their security updates, but tend to offer everything as a package deal. Only severe issues that require out-of-band security patches are fixed with their own releases.
The old method and options (Windows 7 shown here) are going away for everyone but Enterprise customers.
“Customers who are embracing Current Branch for Business do need to consume that feature update within the allotted time period of approximately eight months or they will not be able to see and consume the next security update.”
A problematic position
Few would argue that Microsoft has a business interest in ensuring that its customers install the latest security updates, particularly Home users that aren’t part of a managed enterprise environment and may have no idea if they’ve failed to install necessary security fixes. Furthermore, we’ve seen in the past that leaving this step entirely up to users can result in a significant fraction of systems falling prey to malware exploits months or years after the company formally patched a problem. So, mandatory security updates? Sure. Sign me up.Microsoft’s feature updates, however, have often been on shakier footing. The company has been known to push Skype out as a “featured” installation, for example, or to supply driver updates as “optional” updates, despite the fact that updating your GPU drivers through Windows is a fairly terrible idea. The drivers never contain other elements, like Nvidia’s Control Panel or AMD’s Catalyst Control Center, and they often don’t work properly. In the past, I’ve had wireless driver updates from Microsoft wreck WiFi stability, or seen GPU drivers destroy the ability to run 3D games. This isn’t a problem from the misty past, either — last year, my laptop began falling off WiFi networks every 15-20 minutes until I traced the problem back to a Windows Update WiFi driver that had been mistakenly installed.
I trust Microsoft to install Windows security updates. Whether or not it can manage features and optional installs in a way that doesn’t anger a majority of its user base is an entirely different question. As a Professional user, I’ll likely opt into the business ring, at least at first, but millions of consumers won’t have that option. We’ll see if it comes back to bite Redmond, or if the company has learned from past experience and will be more cautious with the kinds of updates it pushes to consumers.
With Windows 10 now in RTM, the window for major changes to the OS or its licensing has grown slim. We’ve seen some indication that Microsoft is planning to feature new types of low-cost Windows 10 systems, but the ecosystem and positioning between future Windows 10 Mobile devices and full Windows 10 are still shaping up.
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