Many of my customers ask whether they have to install Windows updates. Whether you have to and whether it is advisable to are two different things. I always recommend installing security updates as soon as they come out but feature updates are another matter altogether. I always recommend letting somebody else do the testing, let them find all the bugs and then you can install it when it is a stable operating system. However, for most people this isn't an option as Microsoft choose when you get the update and I have explained why this is below.
Windows 10 Professional or any Professional version of an operating system is a far better version although obviously more expensive. I purchase my machines from Business suppliers so I have the option to purchase a Professional operating system rather than the Home version which the vast majority of people end up with after visiting the well known local suppliers. As an Administrator I want the Professional version so that I have far more flexibility when it comes to joining networks, more control over setting up user accounts and most of all to have better control of what is going on in the background. Microsoft know that Business customers purchase Professional operating systems and they don't want to be responsible for bringing Businesses down so they allow them to change their Advanced settings in Windows update to delay the installation of feature updates and even security updates as well. By making a small change to the settings the feature update will arrive around 4 months later once all the owners of Windows 10 Home Operating systems have done the testing for them.
With the new release of Windows 10, the Spring Creators Update or Redstone 4 due this month then this is likely to become topical very soon. The new version is likely to be labelled 1803 even though it will be released in April 2018. If you are lucky enough to have the Professional version of Windows 10 and want to delay getting this update as I do then please look at the picture above to see how to do it. Navigate to Settings \ Update and Security \ Windows Update \ Advanced options and then change the box under Choose when updates are installed to Semi Annual Channel. This setting is the Business setting which means that Microsoft won't roll out the update to you until they consider it ready for Business. The setting you are probably on currently will be Semi Annual Channel (Targeted). This is the setting for consumers and this means you will get the update straight away as will the users of Windows 10 Home. If you are unable to see Advanced options when you have navigated to Windows Update then you have the Home edition and won't be able to control when you receive the update.
There is however a small trick that Windows 10 Home users can do to try to get some control over when Windows updates are downloaded. You can navigate to Settings \ Network and Internet and choose your method of connection either Ethernet or Wi-fi, then click the actual connection and under Metered Connection set it as a Metered connection. This leads your Operating system to believe that you are incurring charges when you download updates and this halts the automatic downloading of non-critical updates and instead you will receive a "download" button which will give you some control. However, your Operating system does still have the rights to download critical updates without asking you so expect to still get some updates beyond your control.
For the owners of the Professional version of Windows 10 there are also another three options as per the picture above but I don't really recommend them. The first option lets you delay feature updates by a further number of days up to 365 and the second option allows you to delay security updates by up to 30 days. Finally there is a pause option that lets you pause updates for 35 days. Interestingly once you have initiated this option you cannot turn this back on a second time until Windows updates have been carried out at least once.
