Windows 10: Difference between revisions

A new release model called [[Windows as a service]] was introduced with smaller and regular feature updates, as opposed to releasing a major version of Windows every few years. Usually, these updates are a new build of the operating system, although in a few cases Microsoft released feature updates consisting of a limited set of new functionality using the regular cumulative update infrastructure. From 2017 till 2021, feature updates were released twice in a year, with the first feature update being released in April-May and the other in October-November. The schedule was realigned in 2021 in that feature updates for Windows 10 would be released annually in order to be consistent with Windows 11's new release cadence.<ref>https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2021/11/16/how-to-get-the-windows-10-november-2021-update/</ref>

The [[Windows Insider Program]] was also introduced with Windows 10, which boosted the company's engagement with beta testers as well as distributed new pre-release builds more frequently than the prior beta testing initiatives. This also greatly cut down the number of leaks from within the company, which in the past bothered the company due to legal complications of contracted features becoming available earlier than anticipated. However, while early Insider builds often contained some clearly unfinished features and did not attempt to hide them, the Windows team has gradually moved towards locking such features down using systems such as Velocity and only unlocking them in an almost finished state.