Microsoft dismantles its update naming scheme again, leaves unanswered questions

Late Thursday, John Wilcox – who’s become something of a lightning rod for unpopular Microsoft pronouncements – laid to waste the fiction of “Current Branch for Business,” which is now called “Semi-Annual Channel.” In his Windows IT Pro blog called Windows Update for Business and the retirement of SAC-T, he says:

In my post last May on Windows 10 and the “disappearing” SAC-T, I explained how we simplified and aligned our Windows servicing terminology with Office, reflecting that there are two Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) releases each year. I also explained that with Windows, there was never actually a Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted), or SAC-T, release; rather, SAC-T merely reflected a milestone for the semi-annual release…

Beginning with Windows 10, version 1903 (the next feature update for Windows 10), the Windows 10 release information page will no longer list SAC-T information for version 1903 and future feature updates. Instead, you will find a single entry for each new SAC release…

There will now only be one feature update published to WSUS [the update server], and this will occur at the time of release.

The first part I get – the SAC-T emperor never had any clothes, and it took Microsoft three years to admit it. Fair enough. The last part, though, has me scratching my head. What it says, to a first approximation, is that Microsoft will dump its new versions of Windows 10 without a clear “it’s ready now” announcement.

Or, if you like, the first appearance of a new version is all the announcement you're gonna get – take it or leave it.