News

Windows 10 Version 1803 Comes to Volume License Holders

• By Kurt Mackie
• 05/10/2018

The Windows 10 "April 2018 Update," also known as version 1803, is now available from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).

The update was officially released on April 30, though volume licensing releases of Windows 10 typically happen a few days after (in this case, May 7). Organizations can license Windows 10 in its volume licensing form with as little as five "seats" (meaning they have either five users or five devices).

Microsoft's announcement also filled in some blanks regarding the availability of tools for IT pros that work with Windows 10 version 1803. Here is a list of what's currently available:

• Administrative Templates (.ADMX) for setting Group Policy
• Security Baseline with Group Policy Objects and recommended settings, although the mobile device management settings may not be ready yet
• Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for customizing images in large deployments, with tools such as WinPE, Sysprep and DISM
• Windows Analytics Upgrade Readiness for assessing driver compatibility and application readiness for Windows 10 version 1803

In addition, Microsoft earlier announced that it had released Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10.

New capabilities for IT pros using Windows 10 version 1803 are described in a Microsoft Tech Community post and in a Windows IT Pro Center document. Quite a lot of the new Windows 10 version 1803 additions involve the use of added Microsoft security services.

In terms for the tooling highlights, Microsoft notably added new DISM commands for rolling back and uninstalling Windows 10 feature updates. One of the DISM commands lets organizations specify how long they will have to roll back a Windows 10 update before it becomes finalized.  It's also possible to add customizations during a Windows 10 version 1803 upgrade using the new "custom actions" capability. There's a new SetupDiag diagnostic tool to determine why a Windows 10 upgrade has failed.

Microsoft now shows bandwidth utilization during peer-to-peer Windows 10 upgrades in its Update Compliance tool, which is part of Windows Analytics. Also, the Upgrade Readiness tool in Windows Analytics reports the state of Meltdown and Spectre patching for devices.

Microsoft plans to describe "what's new for IT pros in Windows 10, version 1803" in a one-hour Web presentation on May 22, starting at 10:00 a.m. PST. A Windows 10 IT Pro "Ask Microsoft Anything" Q&A session will follow at 11:00 a.m. PST on the same day.