Technology

Beginning in May, Microsoft plans to halt the delivery of all non-security updates to Windows, another step in its suspension of non-essential revisions to the OS and other important products.

The optional updates, which Microsoft designates as Windows' C and D updates, are released during the third and fourth week of each month, respectively.

"We have been evaluating the public health situation, and we understand this is impacting our customers," Microsoft said to some understatement in a March 24 post to the Windows 10 messaging center. "In response to these challenges we are prioritizing our focus on security updates."

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Everyone aspires to work someplace they&re comfortable. A decade ago, that meant a well-padded chair in your cubicle, or a cushy office. Today, because of rapidly evolving workplace technology, a comfortable workspace might be home, a coffee shop, an airport lounge, the park, or wherever you can be most productive.

Technology is driving this shift, but technology has ironically given rise to a more human approach to work, one where everyone works together while still having their own comfort zone. Thathow you increase productivity in the modern workforce.

Technology-enabled productivity and teamwork are some of employees& most sought-after capabilities. A recent Harvard Business Review study found that giving employees access to data and knowledge is a key component in building a connected workforce, raising loyalty, and attracting candidates.

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Yesterday, a post on the official Windows Release Information site said that Microsoft will, at least temporarily and starting in May, stop sending out the pesky &optional, non-security, C/D Week& patches we&ve come to expect.

Those &optional& second-monthly patches are usually laden with many dozens of fixes for miscellaneous, minor bugs in Windows. For example, the second-monthly cumulative update for Win10 version 1903 released yesterday lists 31 different fixes, most of which only matter in very specific cases.

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Although Microsoft has not yet said how it will deal out the year's Windows 10 feature upgrades, it's becoming clear there's next to no reason for the company to diverge from 2019's major-minor cadence.

As the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to climb worldwide, and the disruption of modern life and business continues to sow chaos, 2020 will be a tough year no matter how one cuts it. In a time of unprecedented changes triggered by the novel coronavirus, there's no rationale to change what worked for Windows 10 last year.

Microsoft, of course, will do what it wants — and commercial customers will have to deal with the results. But there are good reasons why the Redmond, Wash. company should seriously rethink any plan to mess with 2019's release scheme.

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