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Microsoft Opens Windows 10 April 2018 Update to Volume Licensing

Microsoft this week made the Windows 10 "April 2018 Update," known as version 1803, available to its volume licensing customers via the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).

April 30 marked the official release date of the update, but Microsoft typically releases Windows 10 to volume licensing a few days after the official rollout. In the case of the April 2018 Update, that was May 7.

Organizations can license Windows 10 in its volume licensing form with as little as five "seats" (meaning they have either five users or five devices).

Microsoft's announcement also filled in some blanks regarding the availability of tools for IT pros that work with Windows 10 version 1803. Here is a list of what's currently available:

In addition, Microsoft earlier announced that it had released Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10.

New capabilities for IT pros using the April 2018 Update are described in a Microsoft Tech Community post and in a Windows IT Pro Center document. Quite a lot of the new additions involve the use of added Microsoft security services.

In terms for the tooling highlights, Microsoft notably added new DISM commands for rolling back and uninstalling Windows 10 feature updates. One of the DISM commands lets organizations specify how long they will have to roll back a Windows 10 update before it becomes finalized.  It's also possible to add customizations during the April 2018 Update upgrade using the new "custom actions" capability. There's a new SetupDiag diagnostic tool to determine why a Windows 10 upgrade has failed.

Microsoft now shows bandwidth utilization during peer-to-peer Windows 10 upgrades in its Update Compliance tool, which is part of Windows Analytics. Also, the Upgrade Readiness tool in Windows Analytics reports the state of Meltdown and Spectre patching for devices.

Microsoft plans to describe "what's new for IT pros in Windows 10, version 1803" in a one-hour Web presentation on May 22, starting at 10:00 a.m. PST. A Windows 10 IT Pro "Ask Microsoft Anything" Q&A session will follow at 11:00 a.m. PST on the same day.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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