Microsoft won't provide full release notes for most Windows 10 updates

What’s in that update? For most Windows 10 patches, Microsoft isn’t telling. As highlighted by ExtremeTech, Microsoft has not provided patch notes for any of the Windows 10 patches it has released so far in an apparent shift in the company’s thinking.

Instead of providing specific details about each patch as it has in the past, ExtremeTech notes that the release notes for Windows 10’s cumulative updates released so far merely state, “This update includes improvements to enhance the functionality of Windows 10.” 

Not very helpful, is it? And if you’re a Windows user who cares about such details, you shouldn’t expect a return to more substantial release notes. A Microsoft representative tells The Register that the company will post knowledge base articles for each update, and that  it may provide additional details “depending on the significance of the update and if it is bringing new functionality to Windows customers.”

In other words, vague patch notes will the the rule, not the exception, with Windows 10.

Why this matters: Vague release notes for patches and updates are nothing new in the tech world, but they seem to be an increasingly common occurrence. For instance, Facebook rolls out a new update for its iOS app every two weeks, but the release notes for each update only state that the it “includes improvements for speed and reliability.” Not every user necessarily needs—or wants—to know the minutiae about every single update, but it helps to know why something suddenly stopped working after you installed a patch, and you shouldn’t have to dig for that information.