Windows Feature Experience Pack is a new method for releasing software updates. Although it had already been detected a few months ago, Microsoft has published it for the first time in the Insider test channel and we think it will end up being important in the development of Windows 10.
- Microsoft is already working on Windows 10 21H2
- Microsoft plans to run Android apps on Windows 10 in 2021
- Windows 7 will continue to have Google Chrome until 2022
The addition of “Windows Experience Features” is not particularly exciting and only includes two features:
- The Windows Screen Snipper tool now allows you to create a snip and paste it directly into a folder on your computer using File Explorer.
- The Windows touch keyboard now allows you to use split keyboard mode on a tablet in a vertical orientation (previously, this was limited to horizontal positions).
Like all other new compilations or cumulative updates, this Windows Feature Experience Pack will be available for download through the internal Windows Update tool, in this case in the beta channel. And more will come, expanded in functions, and once it is tested it will be available for stable versions.
There was a time when major Windows updates were delivered through “Service Packs” that old Windows users will remember well. The arrival of Windows 10 changed the development model to a “Windows as a service” with two annual version releases planned as a continuous release or rolling release also used by GNU/Linux distributions.
It looked good to begin with, but this model has not worked and Microsoft has been testing new strategies and cycles to address the issue and the situation has improved in the latest releases, recovering the concept of “Service Pack” for the second annual update with the main objective of improving performance and stability.
Windows Feature Experience Pack is another step towards this new strategy, but with relevant changes. It is developed independently from the operating system itself. In theory, this means that these updates for certain applications and integrated functions can be implemented more frequently outside the normal Windows release cycle.
This could make major updates to Windows functions more efficient and easier to test, as they will focus only on the core functionality of the operating system. At the same time, this could make Microsoft more agile in addressing errors, as it currently does with security patches and drivers.
We will see. Microsoft doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record when it comes to rapid updates and addressing the errors that are inherent in the enormity of the ecosystem. Insider’s boss, Brandon LeBlanc, notes that “only a limited number of features are being developed at this time,” but the company hopes to “expand the scope and frequency of releases in the future. To receive this update, Insiders in the Beta Channel must have Windows 10H2 Build 19042.662 installed.
Hopefully, this Windows Feature Experience Pack will improve the feature updates of Windows 10 outside of the regular release and overall system software quality. This is something very necessary.
