Windows 10 version 2004 vs 20H2 changes

[cov3rt]

so microsoft is planning on releasing the 20H2 version of windows 10 soon, and i was just wondering, is it possible to prevent the system from automatically updating to the newer version, as i plan on keeping version 2004 that i currently use that works fairly well. the reason why i don't wan't to upgrade / use the newer version, is because in 20H2, they are planning on removing the classic control panel, which is a big no no. i don't understand why they can't just implement the bug fixes / increased performance, without doing all these unwarranted / unnecessary / forceful changes on us. is it possible to do such a thing, or it's only one or the other? also, does anyone know the more specific details on what exact bugs are fixed / performance increases there are? i do not know what they've changed in all these different versions, but it almost seems like version 2004 might be the last "good" version, depending on subjective user experience and needs. the reason being is because people will / can use older versions for many years in the support cycle, at least according to wikipedia, so it seems like the newer versions aren't a significant difference, aside from version 2004 i should say which for me, has been the "best". 

[kosamja]

Resistance is futile.

[blabley]

Sure you Google'd this as well, but yes you can. Just look https://www.askvg.com/how-to-prevent-or-skip-feature-update-installation-in-windows-10/

[erpdude8]

On 9/29/2020 at 2:13 PM, cov3rt said:

 because in 20H2, they are planning on removing the classic control panel, which is a big no no.

I don't think so.  I'm using 20H2 on one of my PCs and M$ has NOT removed the classic control panel (appwiz.cpl) as I've tested this myself

MS may plan to do this starting with the 2021 versions (aka. 21H1 or 21H2)

Edited October 9, 2020 by erpdude8

[cov3rt]

On 10/4/2020 at 10:16 PM, blabley said:

Sure you Google'd this as well, but yes you can. Just look https://www.askvg.com/how-to-prevent-or-skip-feature-update-installation-in-windows-10/

no, i did not come across that guide up until now. i read through it briefly and it seems that the guide only works properly if you don't have windows 10 home, at least, one of the people who commented saying they had tried doing everything they could, his system still updated to the later featured edition, do note, his comment was in Sept. 14, 2019, it's unclear, if there would be difference now vs then. in all sense, i would probably test this out with windows 10 professional anyways. 

[cov3rt]

13 hours ago, erpdude8 said:

I don't think so.  I'm using 20H2 on one of my PCs and M$ has NOT removed the classic control panel (appwiz.cpl) as I've tested this myself

MS may plan to do this starting with the 2021 versions (aka. 21H1 or 21H2)

we'll if this is indeed true, then good to know, however, it may be advised to prevent feature updates from the guide that was referenced by blabley. 

[UCyborg]

I don't have 2004 anywhere, but on 1809 and 1909, I only have policies (gpedit.msc) Configure Automatic Updates set to Disabled and Turn off the offer to update to the latest version of Windows set to Enabled. The latter probably doesn't matter since I never open the store, used it maybe a time or two to install some extensions in the old EdgeHTML version of Microsoft Edge.

I don't get bothered with updates, just the 1809 version is showing an icon in notification area that I'm missing important updates.

I also had an opportunity to try setting the registry setting that is added by the first policy on Windows 10 Home (also 1809) - create key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU (create missing keys along the way as needed) - add DWORD NoAutoUpdate and set it to 1 - it seems to work.

[cov3rt]

22 hours ago, UCyborg said:

I don't have 2004 anywhere, but on 1809 and 1909, I only have policies (gpedit.msc) Configure Automatic Updates set to Disabled and Turn off the offer to update to the latest version of Windows set to Enabled. The latter probably doesn't matter since I never open the store, used it maybe a time or two to install some extensions in the old EdgeHTML version of Microsoft Edge.

I don't get bothered with updates, just the 1809 version is showing an icon in notification area that I'm missing important updates.

I also had an opportunity to try setting the registry setting that is added by the first policy on Windows 10 Home (also 1809) - create key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU (create missing keys along the way as needed) - add DWORD NoAutoUpdate and set it to 1 - it seems to work.

i guess it's a little early to tell or maybe there hasn't been enough testing to validate this from outside sources ( i'll test it when i can ), but it seems that if one wants to still receive all windows updates, EXCEPT for upgrading to the latest version of windows, then one could maybe follow the group policy (gpedit.msc) method you mentioned for only the "Turn off the offer to update to the latest version of Windows set to Enabled" portion", while keeping "configure automatic updates" to enabled, at least, i don't feel that it makes sense to disable ALL updates in windows 10 at least.

 ( windows 7 update process is a whole different story, i think i would usually use the download updates but let me choose when to install them option ), and i guess the only harm with disabling the automatic updates in windows 10 is you simply would need to do it manually here and there, no biggie, but i rather just kept it at default / enabled, but part of it is because i'm concerned about the way windows 10 manages these things, which is why i don't wan't to touch that setting specifically, but if you're disabling automatic updates completely with the intention of not even manually updating windows ( not version, just the stuff in it ), that doesn't make any sense, because you'd be losing out on actual necessary updates, security / bug fixes, etc. 

additionally, you might also need to use the registry settings mentioned in the below thread to disable windows version upgrade, mentioned under "METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor", which involves two settings, unless there is other things that would need to be done or if one or any of these don't work, it would be nice if someone can chime in to see what does work.

https://www.askvg.com/how-to-prevent-or-skip-feature-update-installation-in-windows-10/

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by cov3rt

[UCyborg]

Then perhaps the policy described here might be the best in the sense that it's exposed in gpedit.msc, so should be officially supported.

[UCyborg]

On 9/29/2020 at 11:13 PM, cov3rt said:

i do not know what they've changed in all these different versions, but it almost seems like version 2004 might be the last "good" version, depending on subjective user experience and needs.

One change I refuse to accept is Explorer with the new UWP search bar. It just looks out of place with its height IMHO and doesn't support search parameters. It's possible to revert it in Win10 1903/1909, but not in 2004+ AFAIK.

They didn't care about all the complaints on their own discussion channels when Windows 7 was released when Explorer stopped indicating shared files with an icon overlay, with Windows 8.1, they changed it so it doesn't logically group storage devices anymore and it's significantly slower at counting files since then (open properties of some big folder with files of various sizes and compare).

That's some of the problems that accumulated over time, some can be fixed by 3rd party software. Not related to Explorer, but what's the deal with the lag that occurs when you open the window for editing a task's trigger in Task Scheduler? That problem is at least 11 years old by now.