(intense music)
- Welcome to Desktop Deployment Essentials,
our new series to help you prepare for your shift
to Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus.
So by now we've covered steps one through six
in our Modern Desktop Deployment Wheel
and in the next few minutes we'll walk you through
step seven as we explore the servicing models
for both Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus.
Now both Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus
introduce new servicing options, support models,
and update timelines.
These changes simplify the process
for staying current on the latest features.
Along with these updates are new configuration options
to enable servicing plans that meet your needs.
Updates fall into two main categories:
Feature updates and then Quality and Security updates,
which contain Cumulative Security, Reliability,
and Bug fixes.
In terms of Cadence, both Windows and Office
deliver a Semi-Annual Channel,
which delivers new features twice per year,
around March and September,
while quality and security updates occur monthly.
Additionally, unique to Office 365 apps
we deliver monthly channel updates
that are fully supported and contain
both new features and quality updates.
So okay, let's pause for a second
'cause you might be thinking,
'are these updates gonna be compatible?
'Will I need to keep retraining my users?
'And what are the risks?'
So let's break this down and explain some of the advantages
of the new approach.
First we've moved away from the model of the past
that would introduce huge waves of change
every three or so years to now more incremental,
smaller ripples of change with feature updates
twice per year.
Now with technology trends moving so fast
and rapidly evolving security threats,
this keeps you current.
Some of the security related updates,
for example, can't just be delivered
via monthly security patches.
They may require low-level changes to the platform
like with virtualization-based security.
Second, delivering quality in security updates
as a cumulative package corrects
many of the issues from the past.
It used to be that you'd pick and choose
sometimes from up to a dozen updates or more
each month for both Windows and Office.
As you can imagine, this creates nearly an impossible
set of test matrices for support.
Also, if you install a one or two-year old version
of Windows or Office, it might take hours
or even days to apply all the updates delivered
since that version was released.
So now you're always just one update away
from being current with cumulative updates,
and we've reduced the number of monthly updates
that you'll need to deploy.
Each update builds upon updates from previous months
and contains all the fixes that you need to get current,
this is especially helpful if a PC's been turned off
for several months because it's in storage.
Another advantage is that before we roll out these updates
for broad deployment we first release builds
via insider programs for Office and Windows.
And this allows us to gather telemetry and feedback
ahead of us releasing these updates broadly.
Now the insider programs are open to everyone,
so you can get ahead of understanding the updates.
By the time that we release updates
we'll have received telemetry from millions
of configurations so that when we do roll out updates
quality is now inherently more predictable.
And one more thing, because Office 365 ProPlus
insider builds reflect monthly channel updates,
if you are using Semi-Annual Channel for Office
to deliver feature updates twice a year
aligned to Windows you can now validate
these builds early as well using the Semi-Annual Channel
targeted releases.
We've also thought through
how to make the deployment of updates seamless.
System Center Configuration Manager Current Branch
is updated frequently to support the rollout
of these updates to both Windows and Office
and any new related capabilities.
Now let's shift gears to how you're
gonna roll out these updates.
For any release we recommend
three different deployment phases for IT.
Validation, piloting, and broad production deployment.
Once you're up and running on Windows 10
and Office 365 ProPlus you'll use monthly servicing
to stay current with critical security and quality updates.
Then you'll move to Semi-Annual Servicing for new features.
Let's start with monthly updating.
The service model is designed so that you can choose
to limit the rollout of new features to just twice per year.
And if needed you can even skip a semi-annual update
and continue receiving quality and security updates.
As I mentioned, the cumulative nature of monthly updates
means that each increases in size per month.
Using a technology called Express Updates in Windows
and Binary delta compression in Office,
we can reduce the size of the download significantly.
In both approaches, the update engines
compare what's on the PC and finds
only the differentials needed to update what's there.
Windows Update for Business
and Windows Server Update Services
have supported these Express Updates for a long time,
but now we've also added that support
to System Center Configuration Manager
so it can also use Express Updates.
Binary delta compression in Office
is only used if you're updating from the most recent version
of Office 365 ProPlus.
So to use this approach you need to be updating
from the previous build and can't skip updates.
Windows and Office update channels
can be managed by a Configuration Manager
using the standard approval and targeting process.
Additionally you can use policy settings in Office
and Windows to enforce update channels used
as well as related settings.
So those are your considerations for monthly updates,
but now let's move on to the larger semiannual updates.
As we covered in Device and App Readiness
you'll wanna begin your preparation for these larger updates
using the same readiness tools that we set up in step one
of the Deployment Wheel.
Now if you missed that episode
you can check it out at the link shown.
As for tooling, you can use policy settings
with Windows Update for Business,
software update management via a config manager or WSUS,
or update policies set by Intune.
And if you are concerned about network bandwidth,
check out episode two in our Essentials series
on Directory and Network Readiness
to learn about your options to reduce network traffic
by delivery optimization
or other peer-to-peer caching technologies.
Now while installing a larger feature updates
by a standard software update management routines
is a supported option,
many organizations are gonna opt
to use upgrade task sequences
using System Center Configuration Manager
or the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.
This option also allows you to create custom checks
prior to installing the feature update
and allows you to perform custom tests
after the installation is completed.
Post-update checks might include temporary
suspending services if needed during the update,
driver installation and replacement,
application upgrades or taskbar
and start menu personalization settings.
If you're already using task sequences
to migrate your Windows 7 machines to Windows 10
and are well-versed in those tools,
this is really a great place to start
and provides the ultimate control.
And while you can use a single task sequence
for the entire upgrade, it's often quite common
for organizations to use two task sequences.
One task sequence for making sure
that machines are ready for the upgrade,
that silently pre-stages all the required setup files
on target computers,
and another task sequence to do the actual upgrade.
This approach ensures that your user productivity
is less impacted.
And if you don't use upgrade task sequences
you can now run custom actions or apply driver files
during feature updates in the pre-install phase
before setup runs its compatibility checks
or in the pre-commit phase before the upgrade is applied.
So that was a run through of Windows
and Office as a service models
and what you can do to stay up to date.
Next up on our Deployment Process Wheel,
we'll cover what you can do to get your users ready
for Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus
with tips and resources for user adoption
and communication planning.
To learn more don't forget to visit
our Modern Desktop Deployment Center
and keep following our Desktop Deployment Essentials Series
here on Microsoft Mechanics.
Thanks for watching.
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