Windows 10 V2004: Defer Feature Update removedBorn's Tech and Windows World

[German]In the Windows 10 May 2020 Update (Version 2004), Microsoft removed the settings for delaying feature updates – officially, to avoid confusion. Here are a few details about that.

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I saw it this morning on several websites: The option to delay feature updates by 365 days has been removed from the settings in Windows 10 Version 2004. Martin Geuß of German site Dr. Windows writes here that hardly anyone noticed the issue.

First hints about removed option

The topic popped up in my blog at the beginning of June 2020 in the margin. In the blog post Windows 10 Version 2004: Forced upgrade without user consent. Quote:

Has MS removed option to defer feature updates for 365 days from Pro 2004?

I have just clean installed Pro 2004 (new iso today) on a pc and the option to defer feature updates for 365 days is missing.

Comparing registry with 1909, it is quite different and I have a suspicion you can now only defer feature updates on enterprise as the deferfeaturesupdate keyword has moved into a folder that seems only to apply for business users

I wrote at the time: "Something doesn't fit together anymore, front and back. Blog readers confirmed in their comments that the options were gone.

Microsoft's explanation for the panning shot

Via the above mentioned article by Martin Geuß, I then went into the subject again. The missing option to postpone function updates by 365 days is not caused by a bug. Mary Foley (after reading the reader's notes) on ZD-Net addressed it in this article. She found an explanation from Microsoft: In the article What's new in Windows 10, version 2004 for IT Pros, which was updated on 24 June 2020, Microsoft has provided clarification for the first time. The following text passage can be found there:

Update less: Last year, we changed update installation policies for Windows 10 to only target devices running a feature update version that is nearing end of service. As a result, many devices are only updating once a year. To enable all devices to make the most of this policy change, and to prevent confusion, we have removed deferrals from the Windows Update settings Advanced Options page starting on Windows 10, version 2004.

A year ago, with a lot of fuss, they introduced a feature 'delay of feature updates up to 365 days' to remove it in the 2004 version. This is announced so well a few weeks after the release – in an article concerning business users. They will still be able to set the delays using Group Policy. Here is the explanation from the relevant document:

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If you wish to continue leveraging deferrals, you can use local Group Policy (Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for Business > Select when Preview builds and Feature Updates are received or Select when Quality Updates are received).

But the users of Windows 10 Home somehow look at the tube – because the delay caused by the link 'Download and install feature update xxx' does not always seem to work – as I mention in the following blog posts. Or how do you see that?

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Windows 10 V2004: Defer Feature Update removed

First hints about removed option

Microsoft's explanation for the panning shot

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