Anniversary Update is Now on 77 Percent of Windows 10 PCs

Anniversary Update is Now on 77 Percent of Windows 10 PCs

It looks like Microsoft has finally worked out the kinks: The Anniversary Update is now installed on 77 percent of Windows 10-based PCs. That’s double the figure from a month ago.

I first reported this surge in Windows Device Stats: Windows 10 Mobile and HP Elite x3 Both Stumble in October. But this bears a closer look, as many readers have asked about the slow deployment of the Anniversary Update.

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As you may recall, Microsoft released the Anniversary Update for Windows 10 back in early August, and those who do perform the upgrade will see that the OS has been upgraded to version 1607. For the first few weeks of availability, there was little indication that anything was wrong—a strange freeze issue notwithstanding—but then the problems started. (Microsoft finally fixed those freezes issues weeks later.)

Brad was among the first to report that the Anniversary Update was breaking webcams, an issue I later dubbed Webcamgate. Then, we discovered that plugging in a Kindle could Blue Screen a Windows 10 version 1607 PC.

When it finally became clear that the Anniversary Update wasn’t as bug-free as we had hoped, I called on Microsoft to halt development of Windows and enact a Reliability Initiative. I still feel this is needed.

But then a late August look at Windows device usage stats brought home what was happening with the Anniversary Update:Microsoft had quietly slowed down the deployment of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update specifically because of the problems it had experienced.

At that point, Windows 10 version 1607 was running on just 16.2 percent of Windows 10-based PCs. It September, it nearly doubled, to 35.5 percent. And this month, it did so again, hitting 77 percent. So it’s reasonable to think that the Anniversary Update will indeed be fully deployed by the end of November. That doesn’t mean 100 percent, of course: Some businesses will stick with earlier versions for whatever reason. But it means, I think, that the problems are finally behind us.

 

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Conversation 9 comments

  • 442

    21 October, 2016 - 7:30 am

    <p>Reliability needs to be a technology industry initiative.&nbsp; The number of problems lately have been a bit high to me.</p>

  • 5234

    21 October, 2016 - 8:26 am

    <p>"Microsoft finally fixed those freezes issues weeks later"</p>
    <p>I’m still seeing lots of problems. &nbsp;I upgraded a system yesterday that is used on a metered connection, but was offered the AU&nbsp;once it was connected to my Internet. &nbsp;It was a tablet. &nbsp;The AU removed drivers for the Bluetooth and wireless functionality (it’s a Broadcom combo chip), and it updated the touch screen driver with an incompatible version that is out of calibration with the screen touch matrix, and the accelerometer driver is showing as compatible, but doesn’t work (code 10 – device can’t start). &nbsp;The previous drivers were working fine, and any other time Windows 10 wouldn’t even get drivers from Windows Update unless you did a manual check via the Driver tab in Device Manager.</p>
    <p>I have seen numerous issues with AU where post-install updates cause the system to be completely slow or unstable before a necessary reboot too, going so far as where the Start Menu doesn’t pop up, or any "modern" apps, like Settings, don’t load, or clicking tiles doesn’t do anything. &nbsp;If these updates need a reboot, the user should be prompted to reboot immediately. &nbsp;Letting a system sit for 2 days in an unstable state, waiting for an optional reboot, is completely unacceptable.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>

  • 7041

    21 October, 2016 - 10:31 am

    <p>Apparently MS hasn’t validated it for use in enterprises yet, or so I’ve heard from someone&nbsp;at my employer who should know. I work at a law firm that is piloting Win10/Office365, and I’ve heard from multiple folks involved with it that despite it not being approved yet, they’ve gone ahead with testing the anniversary update, and they’ve said it’s a disaster so far — lots of crashes and stuff. We have so many apps, Outlook plugins, etc. that must work, and must work without issue. Hopefully they get all the bugs out soon.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Reliability has been a big issue since MS fired all the testers. Everyone I know running the preview versions uses VMs, so I don’t think MS is getting nearly the variety of hardware and software they anticipated when they started the preview program.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>

  • 5530

    21 October, 2016 - 12:00 pm

    <p>Reliability is so important. I miss the days of Windows 7 and even 8, where even Windows 7 RC1 ran fast with no bluescreens, and the Windows 8 developer preview was fast and fluid (yes I said it) despite all the massive changes to the OS, and it only got better from there. Windows 10 is nowhere near the benchmark the old Windows team had set for itself in the past. I am perfectly fine with a slower staggered rollout of major updates, just don’t screw up my PC. I use this thing everyday for work&nbsp;and I&nbsp;need this&nbsp;to stay alive.&nbsp;It just kills me to know that the Windows team knew about the webcam issue and still went ahead and shipped the build, even after insiders had reported it. These things are a no go.</p>
    <p>I hope Microsoft’s experience with the complexitiy of getting the Surface tablets to work reliably at the NFL gives them a picture of the reliability of PC in the wild and how the lack of&nbsp;said reliability affects everyone. Do whatever it takes, if it’s crappy drivers from Intel then stop giving them the WHQL certification and stuff. The Windows drivers that Lenovo uses for the Lenovo Yoga Book have also been found to work less reliabily than the Android version. I would say it’s Lenovo’s fault if it was just one device, but we see lots of cases with a similar trend, like the crazy reliability issues with the SP4 and SB. It’s just bad. No need to sugarcoat it, just recognize this problem.</p>

  • 728

    21 October, 2016 - 1:24 pm

    <p>After a year with Windows 10, I retrograded my PC to Windows 8.1 last night. Significant bugs, unwanted features, and a perception of being at Microsoft’s mercy&nbsp;were my chief motivations. Now I will see if 8.1 is as simple and stable as I remember.</p>

  • 4159

    22 October, 2016 - 4:27 pm

    <p>I own many Windows 10 tablets and PC’s and all are having some kind of issue. Thinking about downgrading (upgrading) to Windows 7 wherever I can…been&nbsp;like that for the last year, Windows 10 looks good, but is far from reliable. Feels like beta software. Microsoft needs to get their sh*t together. When asked, I never recommend the upgrade to Windows 10.</p>

  • 5534

    23 October, 2016 - 9:40 am

    <p>Even though this story is a couple days old, and my comment will be slightly off topic, there was another Insider release (14951)&nbsp;a couple days ago, and I haven’t seen any mention of it by Paul Thurrott. Anyway, I downloaded/installed the new build on my desktop and tablet with no problems, but&nbsp;on my&nbsp;Lunia 640&nbsp;(which is where I discovered the release in the first place), it says there’s an update available, and identifies the update, but it never starts downloading. I’ve tried about a half dozen times, and restarted the phone a&nbsp;few times, but it just won’t start downloading. Is this happening to anyone else (assuming anyone will even see this comment posted on a 2-day old story)?</p>

  • 7317

    28 October, 2016 - 7:02 am

    <p>I use Windows 10 Pro for work every day on three PCs that I put together. &nbsp;All of the hardware is at least 5 years old now and it was interesting to see how each one updated to the Annaversary version at different times. &nbsp;The last one finally updated about a week ago. &nbsp;All of the machines have been running fine with no significant problems, crashes etc. &nbsp;Could it be that running on older hardware is actually more reliable than the newer stuff at least for the time being?</p>

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