Last night Microsoft released its latest test build for Win10 Version 1703, the Creators Update. While the official announcement includes few surprises — the Apps & features setting to only install apps from the Store was in the last build — banging on the beta has produced surprising results. You may be able to replicate them on your Insider Fast Ring machine, if it’s running Win10 Pro or Enterprise.
As usual, Win10 Home users are out of luck.
In Win10 Pro, if you navigate to Start > Settings > Update & security > Advanced options you’ll likely encounter the new Pause Updates slider. As you can see in the first screenshot, that slider will “Temporarily pause updates from being installed on this device for up to 35 days. When updates resume, this device will need to get the latest updates before it can be paused again.”
Woody Leonhard
That’s a nice feature. It bubbles up to the Settings app and combines two settings that are buried in Version 1607 Group Policies. (Type gpedit in the Cortana search box, click Edit group policy/Control Panel, navigate to Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Defer Windows Update. “Pause feature updates” is in the Select when Feature Updates are received policy; “Pause quality updates” is in the Select when Quality Updates are received policy.)
Many of us were expecting Microsoft to put a Pause Updates control in the Creators Update Settings app, at least for Win10 Pro/Enterprise. But there’s more hidden away — an unexpected development.
Try flipping the Pause Updates slider from Off to On and back to Off again. You may have to flip it several times, but at some point you’ll see an expanded screen like that in the second screenshot.
Woody Leonhard
You have to watch closely for the change. The expanded screen reverts to the original version (first screenshot) if you nudge it.
This expanded screen corresponds, more or less, with the settings available in the new Version 1703 Group Policies for Defer Windows Update. As many of you know, I have lots of questions about the settings in the expanded screen, but it’s likely Microsoft will answer some of those questions shortly.
I’ll keep you posted on the big picture here in the Woody on Windows blog, with the full insider baseball play-by-play on the AskWoody Lounge.
