# Windows 10 May 2019 Update



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

For those looking forward to (or dreading) the April 2019 update, it was delayed until May 10th. In fact, it's now dubbed the May 2019 update.

The link to install this version is supposed to show up automatically in the Windows Update section of your settings, but Microsoft is rolling out the update gradually. The link may not show up in your update section for some time. If you want to do it right away you can get it at this link (note that it's big, about 3GB).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

To view your version of Windows 10 right-click on the start menu button and select Run. Enter winver in the box and click OK. That will display the version details. The May 2019 version is 1903, so if you see anything lower than that, like 1803, 1809, or something even earlier, you don't have the latest version.

The big enhancement we've been promised with version 1903 is the ability to have a lot more control over which Windows updates we apply, and when they will be applied. We'll see how that goes...


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I suspect Microsoft is nearing the point where some installs of win10 wont be updated cause the hardware is too old and wont support marketing features they want to add. Way back they dropped support for netbooks and such with maximum of 1GB RAM. Dont be shocked to see 32bit version of win10 dropped entirely sooner than later. Ubuntu Linux already stopped offering 32bit version, all future versions past 18.04 will be 64bit. Though you can add support in them to run older 32bit only software. And there are small third party linux distributions that will continue to offer 32bit systems for forseeable future though availability of updated libraries and software for 32bit might get spotty.

Also look forward to some third party software setting its own hardware standards beyond those of the operating system. I was trying to install Anbox on Lubuntu 19.04 and the installer checked my processor and said Anbox couldnt be run on it. Lubuntu 19.04 was fine with the hardware and Anbox was fine with Lubuntu 19.04. But Anbox wasnt fine with my computer hardware. The juggling act just got more complicated.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> I suspect Microsoft is nearing the point where some installs of win10 wont be updated cause the hardware is too old and wont support marketing features they want to add. Way back they dropped support for netbooks and such with maximum of 1GB RAM. Dont be shocked to see 32bit version of win10 dropped entirely sooner than later. Ubuntu Linux already stopped offering 32bit version, all future versions past 18.04 will be 64bit. Though you can add support in them to run older 32bit only software. And there are small third party linux distributions that will continue to offer 32bit systems for forseeable future though availability of updated libraries and software for 32bit might get spotty.
> 
> Also look forward to some third party software setting its own hardware standards beyond those of the operating system. I was trying to install Anbox on Lubuntu 19.04 and the installer checked my processor and said Anbox couldnt be run on it. Lubuntu 19.04 was fine with the hardware and Anbox was fine with Lubuntu 19.04. But Anbox wasnt fine with my computer hardware. The juggling act just got more complicated.


Windows will still force an update if the current Windows 10 version is close to end-of-life.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

If it forces an update on hardware that cant support it, most likely it just commits suicide so booting your computer gives the blue/black screen of death. They didnt force update to kill off those win10 computers with only 1GB RAM. They were allowed to continue as they were, unupdated. Course I am not sure why anybody ever tried running win10 on computer with only 1GB RAM, but each to their own, it was officially ok'd by M$ at one time. Be honest, forget the operating system, a modern browser is just barely functional with 1GB RAM. Then add in all those background processes running in win10 by default.... Why it annoys me when some small linux distributions claim to run on some antique win98 computer implying they will make that computer functional. Well yea, they sorta will, least you maybe can boot to a minimalist desktop, but they cant run any large modern software. Software takes RAM too. Modern browsers are large and RAM hungry.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> If it forces an update on hardware that cant support it


That's becoming less of an issue, since Windows drivers have become much more standardized. It used to be that upgrading to a new version of Windows required very different drivers, but I'm finding Windows 7 (and even Windows Vista) drivers seem to work fine with Windows 10. I've never seen early Windows 10 drivers not working with newer versions of Windows 10.

But Windows 10 versions don't have long lives, with most versions being supported for about 2 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_version_history#Rings

Keep in mind that major Windows 10 updates pretty much require a complete reinstall from a 3GB download, so plan ahead accordingly. I'm not exactly sure what happens when a Windows 10 version reaches end of support, but they'll probably stop issuing feature updates.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

The new operating system by piecemeal gotta drive people that write software crazy. Explain to your customer that it needs certain version of win10 to run or rather a win10 with certain upgrades in place. I am curious to see how the end of win7 goes next year. It might be more difficult to kill off than XP. Nobody much cared about VISTA. Meaning its closer to win8/win10 than XP/VISTA so most likely can run uptodate browser until a poison pill is introduced into uptodate browsers. The way they killed off XP was the browsers started using some programming language in part that XP wasnt equipped for. Sure they will come up with similar trick drive a stake through heart of win7. Suppose its a proprietary programming language or somebody be tempted to have found way to add support for it to XP.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> I am curious to see how the end of win7 goes next year.


Yeah, and I'm interested to see how the end of RHEL & CentOS 6 goes next year. I know that I'm not ready for RHEL 7 yet. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

There's already an update for Windows 10 version 1903. It's about 200MB.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

https://www.howtogeek.com/402569/everything-new-in-windows-10s-april-2019-update/


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