Windows 10 November 2019 Update is seriously small, but Microsoft says not to get used to it

Windows logo under magnifying glass

When you download Windows 10 November 2019 Update (Windows 10 version 1909), you might be somewhat surprised at just how small it is.

At a ridiculous 180KB (yes, you did read that correctly) this is a tiny size for a feature update -- but it doesn't signal the way things are going to be moving forward. So how on earth did Microsoft manage to make this update so small? What's going on?

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What's different about the Windows 10 November 2019 Update is that it makes use of enablement packages. Rather than downloading a whole bunch of new features and options, the November Update largely just flicks a series of switches to enable features that were added in the May 2019 Update.

Many people will be happy to see updates that can be measured in kilobytes rather than megabytes or gigabytes, but Microsoft does not plan -- necessarily -- to use this method of update delivery in the future. The company has previously said:

Delivering the 19H2 feature update via cumulative update and an enablement package is a pilot program. There isn't a formal plan in place to deliver future releases in the same way. We are closely monitoring feedback and hoping to learn from this type of release to help influence our future plans

In fact, the delivery method has been roundly criticized by Windows Insiders so, unless Microsoft choose to ignore them or finds a way of improving things, it seems likely that this could be the smallest feature update we ever see.

Before the end of the year, we can expect to see Windows 10 20H1 finalized, with the global rollout coming in spring 2020 -- and this will probably be a full-size download.

Image credit: ANDRANIK HAKOBYAN / Shutterstock

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