Last Friday, Windows enterprise program manager Jim Alkove posted a
detailed view of Microsoft's intended Windows 10 patching process for enterprises. There are at least three fundamental flaws in that process, two of which have already been demonstrated by patches to the current version of Windows 10 (variously called the January Technical Preview, Technical Preview 2, and build 9926).
Alkove outlined two different enterprise patching paces:
To support Windows 10 devices in ... mission-critical customer environments we will provide long-term servicing branches at the appropriate time intervals. On these branches, customer devices will receive the level of enterprise support expected for the mission-critical systems, keeping systems more secure with the latest security and critical updates, while minimizing change by not delivering new features. ... As we introduce new enterprise features over time, we expect to provide new long-term servicing branches at appropriate time intervals, which will incorporate new functionality. Customers will be able to move devices easily from the long-term servicing branches they are currently on, to the next long-term servicing branch, as well as be able to skip one -- using in-place upgrade technology in Windows 10…
