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Earlier this year, Microsoft said it would work on fixing "pain points" in Windows 11. The first changes in that effort are beginning to appear, targeting one of the most painful points of all: Windows Update.
Everyone who's ever owned a Windows PC has a story about an update that insisted on installing at the absolute wrong time, usually just as you're getting ready to join an important online meeting or deliver a presentation.
Also: Microsoft's Windows Insider Program is no longer a confusing mess
The latest round of improvements, announced in a blog post titled "Your Windows update experience just got updated," should make those infuriating moments a thing of the past. But don't celebrate just yet -- they have to go through a full round of testing in the Windows Insider program before they reach the general public.
I've enabled the new Windows Update experience on a test PC running the latest build from the Windows Insider Experimental channel (formerly known as Dev), and I can confirm that at least one option is working now, although it won't be possible to see the rest of the changes in action until the next round of updates are available.
Here's what's coming.
1. You'll be able to delay updates for as long as you want
For years, Microsoft has offered the ability to pause updates for up to 35 days, using a drop-down menu on the Windows Update page with options ranging from 1 week to 5 weeks. But when that pause ended, no more delays were possible.
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