Windows 10/11 update has a best-by date (?)

In "Yajiuma no Mori", we will tell you a wide range of topics that are not particular about news reviews.

Microsoft provides updates to all versions of Windows that are in support, two to three times a month. As a result, the number of updates is growing at a considerable pace. Due to this, the size of the renewal package is also bloated.

However, many Windows updates are "cumulative" -that is, they include all the updates released so far. For example, if you apply the latest October 2021 patch at the time of writing, you don't have to bother to apply the September or August patch. The fixes are included in the latest patch. So you probably don't need to keep old patches all the time.

Therefore, the company discontinued the provision of old packages in "Windows Update" and "Microsoft Update Catalog" by making them "expired" (EXPIRED), and organized patches to improve the performance of the update process and shorten the scanning time. It seems that they are trying to do it. You can also prevent the mistake of accidentally applying an old patch-which may not be the case, but you installed the October 2020 patch with the intention of installing the October 2021 patch.

By the way, regarding which update package will expire (expiration policy), it is only revealed that "it will be expired if it is evaluated regularly and a sufficient number of candidates are found", and which patch is in advance. There seems to be no way to know if it will expire. However, expired packages are labeled "EXPIRED" on the support page, so you can find out by searching. Also, in the case of "Windows Server Update Services" (WSUS), if the specified update has expired, a banner will be displayed at the top of the details pane.

Please note that patches for Windows 7 / 8.1 and Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 / 2012 will not expire. This is because these patches are not "cumulative" and contain only one month's worth of fixes. Patches will never expire for other Microsoft products besides Windows. This means that only Windows 10/11 patches will expire so far.

Also, if the latest update package depends on the old package, the old package will not expire until it is replaced by the new package.