Microsoft changes the structure of Windows updates
Windows updates are to become leaner and faster from version 24H2. To achieve this, Microsoft is changing the concept of cumulative updates.
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Microsoft wants to change the structure of Windows updates with Windows 11 version 24H2 and Server 2025 and is introducing "cumulative checkpoint updates" for this purpose. According to a tech community article, the checkpoint updates will be released "regularly" - Microsoft is not more specific, but it is reasonable to assume that they will be released every few months. The interim monthly updates appear as a kind of incremental delta packages that only replace the content that has changed since the last cumulative checkpoint.
The idea behind this is to only bother the network, the PC and above all the users with the installation of the relatively thick cumulative packages every few months. The remaining updates come as smaller packages, which – it is hoped – will be downloaded and installed much more quickly. In the tech community article, Microsoft also hints that the cumulative checkpoints should also coincide with the release of function updates in future - at least if these do not come as complete in-place upgrades, but as a regular cumulative update plus a so-called enablement package.
The routine for admins and users remains unchanged
The new update structure should not change anything for admins or users. But there is one exception. Microsoft points out that updates downloaded from the update catalog will in future consist of several packages: all checkpoints released for the Windows version to date, plus a further cumulative package containing all patches included since the most recent checkpoint. The packages should be able to be installed in sequence using the existing management tools.
Microsoft has already experimented with the installation and download technology several times in the past. For example, since Windows 11, Windows Update first scans which components of a cumulative update need to be downloaded. Although Microsoft has been able to reduce the download volume in this way, the whole process creates a certain computing load to determine the required components of an update – and tends to result in an even longer update duration.
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