Wow, what a novel concept: ‘Extensive internal validation’
Is the Windows October 2018 update here again? Did it ever exist previously? Are we all in a feverish dream where the latest version, build 1809, is stable and fit for purpose, and Patch Tuesday was totally uneventful? Our finger hovers over the “no” button, but we live in hope of someone one day fitted a “yes” key.
In early October, Microsoft made Windows 10, Windows Server, and Windows Server 2019 build 1809 available for download, and within days pulled them after all kinds of terrible shenanigans started happening, primarily people’s files going AWOL .
After, fingers crossed, fixing up the bugs, Windows 10 build 1809, aka the October 2018 update, is today available again for installation via Windows Update. The roll-out will be staggered as usual, so don’t panic if you’re not immediately offered it, though you can manually check for it or get it from install media.
“In early October, we paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update as we investigated isolated reports of users missing files after updating,” said senior Microsoftie John Cable. “We take any case of data loss seriously, and as I noted on October 9, we have thoroughly investigated and resolved all related issues.
“In addition to extensive internal validation, we have taken time to closely monitor feedback and diagnostic data from our Windows Insiders and from the millions of devices on the Windows 10 October Update, and we have no further evidence of data loss. Based on this data, today we are beginning the re-release of the October Update by making it available via media and to advanced users who seek to manually check for updates.”
That takes care of the desktop flavor of Windows. Meanwhile, build 1809 of the server side – Windows Server, and Windows Server 2019 – is also today available again after being pulled amid the earlier 1809 fiasco.
The server team explained on Tuesday:
It’s almost as if the broken 1809 build never existed. You’re expected to forget the past, and start over with the new and improved 1809, restarting the 30-month support clock.
Server 2019 container images were, earlier today, available via this Microsoft Technet virtualization blog post… until the page was temporarily pulled in some kind of cruel tease. The document is now back online again, although its container images may not be immediately available. “Images are in the process of rolling out and will be available within a few hours. We will update the blog when this has completed,” Redmond’s scribes noted.
The updated and, hopefully fixed, server code is also available from Microsoft’s Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC), and it’ll be on the Azure marketplace later this week, we’re told.
It has been month of software snafus for Microsoft. Earlier this month many Windows Pro users found themselves being downgraded to Home licenses, owing to a backend blunder, and tens of people still hanging on to Windows Phones found their email no longer worked. That’s Microsoft’s “extensive internal validation” in action, right there.
“We recommend IT administrators begin to validate that apps, devices and infrastructure used by their organization work well with the new release before broadly deploying,” the Windows server team noted in the potential understatement of 2018. ®
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