Windows 10 Anniversary Update Arrives

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update, released on Aug. 2, 2016, marked the first anniversary of the OS’s general availability. This feature upgrade (previously code-named Redstone) was released as a new Current Branch and shortly later as a new Long-Term Servicing Branch. It will likely become the new Current Branch for Business in Oct. 2016. It improves security features and delivers browser and user interface enhancements. Some changes could prove quite disruptive, and other features, previously expected as part of this release, were cut to meet the schedule.

Four Types of Changes Possible

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update illustrates that when a new Current Branch is released, four things can happen. The feature update can

• Include new features
• Improve or enhance existing features
• Deprecate or remove existing features
• Move features from one edition to another (for example, from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Enterprise).

Although some of these changes will be welcome, others can have severe impact on an organization and how it deploys the OS to users. Previously, such changes occurred only on a major version change (for example, when moving from Windows 7 to Windows 8 or Windows 8 to Windows 10).