Microsoft talks about the new Unified Update Platform (UUP)

Microsoft today announced the new Unified Update Platform (UUP), their next generation software update delivery technologies incorporated into Windows. This is now available with the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14959 for Mobile and PC which was released today to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Microsoft releases updates to millions of devices every month and they also release new builds to Windows Insiders nearly every week. Based on the user feedback to make updates to be more seamless, they have developed this new Unified Update Platform. UUP will offer more control over the timing of when updates are installed, it will require less local processing and thus improve battery life, and it will also reduce the update download sizes. They are rolling to this new update mechanism to Windows Insiders across PC, tablet, phone, IoT, and HoloLens.

New improvements in UUP:

• Enables differential downloads for all devices built on the Mobile and PC OS. A differential download package contains only the changes that have been made since the last time you updated your device, rather than a full build.
• They are reducing the update data sent to client devices as well as the amount of processing we are doing on devices, this especially important for devices built on the Mobile OS. Using UUP, when your device checks for updates, the Windows Update service will evaluate which updates are needed by a given device. The Windows Update service then returns these updates to the device for download and install.
• In the PC world, you can update to the latest build in one operation, regardless of what base build you are currently running, yet that’s not how it worked for the Mobile OS. On your phone, we would sometimes require you to install in two-hops (updates) to get current. With UUP, they are bringing PC-like logic to the mobile allowing you to update your phone in one-hop, just like the PC.

Microsoft is planning to roll-out UUP in stages – starting today for Mobile devices. We expect to start using UUP for PC Insider builds later this year and then IoT and HoloLens shortly after.