On Thursday, September 27th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. PT, commercial customers using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or connected to System Center Configuration Manager will see a new feature update available for Windows 10, versions 1703, 1709, and 1803. This new update is the result of listening to feedback from commercial customers like you, who want smaller packages for download from Microsoft to distribution and deployment systems.
As shown in Figure 1, the previously released x64 and x86 files were bundled together as a single download that was approximately 4.8 GB in size.
Figure 1. Feature Update packages in Configuration Manager.
The new feature updates, released as Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) files through WSUS, provide you with the option to download the x64 file as a separate package. By separating the files by system type, the download file becomes approximately 2.6 GB for the x64 package, saving you approximately 2.2 GB of download size immediately. This separation is also similar to what customers experience with new feature updates through Windows Update today.
These feature updates are the original RTM content containing only the operating system, without the latest cumulative updates, and do not include Features on Demand (FODs) or language packs. Because the new feature updates do not include all the updates since RTM, you will need to apply the latest cumulative Quality Update to bring your systems completely up to date. The x64 files are being published for all of the language versions available at RTM, such as EN-US for English-United States. An x64-only feature update will be available for Windows 10, version 1809 once it is released.
Customers who still need x86 feature updates will need to use the combined files originally published, which will continue to be available (as shown in Figure 1) and do not have the “x64” distinction. Configuration Manager or other enterprise management solutions can pull the x86 files from that feature update download to deploy as they did before.
We expect commercial customers who are still moving to the versions of Windows 10 listed above across their global environments to see considerable time and bandwidth savings with this option. Please note; however, that this change will not save bandwidth between the Configuration Manager and the client (PC) device. If you have additional feedback about this new approach, please talk with your account team.
For more information about ESDs, see the Electronic software distribution-based scenario overview.