Windows updates will become leaner and quicker starting with version 24H2. To do this, Microsoft is modifying the notion of cumulative updates.
Microsoft intends to modify the structure of Windows updates with Windows 11 version 24H2 and Server 2025, delivering “cumulative checkpoint updates” for this purpose. According to a tech community article, the checkpoint updates will be provided “regularly” – Microsoft does not specify how often, although it is logical to presume every few months. The intermediate monthly updates appear as a type of incremental delta package, replacing just the material that has changed since the last cumulative checkpoint.
The idea behind this is to only annoy the network, the PC, and, most importantly, the users with the installation of rather large cumulative packages every few months. The subsequent updates will be distributed in smaller packages, which should allow them to be downloaded and installed considerably faster.
In the tech community piece, Microsoft also suggests that cumulative checkpoints should coincide with the release of function updates in the future, assuming that these do not arrive as complete in-place upgrades, but rather as a standard cumulative update with a so-called enablement pack.
The routine for administrators and users stays constant.
The new update structure should not affect admins or users. But there’s one exception. Microsoft notes that future updates received via the update catalog will comprise several packages: all checkpoints issued for the Windows version to date, as well as a cumulative package comprising all fixes added since the most recent checkpoint. The packages should be able to be installed sequentially using the current administration tools.
Microsoft has already experimented with installation and download technology. For example, since Windows 11, Windows Update has scanned which components of a cumulative update need to be downloaded. Microsoft has been able to minimize download volume in this manner, but the entire process generates a certain processing load to calculate the needed components of an update, which tends to result in an even longer update period.