Production PC Gets 1903 Upgrade
OK, I admit it. I got tired of waiting for Microsoft to offer my production PC the May 2019 Update (aka 1903 upgrade). Last Friday, I broke down and used the Update Assistant instead. Despite my original plan to wait for WU to make an offer, I caved. Here’s a brief chronology of events leading up to production PC gets 1903 upgrade:
5/21: MS publishes “How to get the Windows 10 May 2019 Update”
5/21 (and later): MS begins offering May 2019 Update to a limited set of PC through WU
5/22 & 23: I successfully use the Update Assistant to update 4 other PCs to the May 2019 Update
5/22 (thru May 31): I check WU daily to see if my production PC
5/31: I lose patience, and run the Update Assistant on the production PC, too
If you, like me, get tired of waiting for MS to clear one or more PCs for the May 2019 Update through WU, use the Update Assistant instead.
[Click image for full-sized view.]
OK: Product PC Gets 1903 Upgrade. Then what?
I confess: The history of upgrade offers for 1809 is what spooked me. Even with the May 2019 Update trickling out to certain PCs, some PCs are still running 1803. That’s because WU has yet to offer them the 1809 upgrade. And in fact — as I explain in a Win10.Guru story I wrote last week — for many such PCs MS Plans to Skip Over 1809 to May 2019 Update. The 1803 to 1809 transition demonstrated that an upgrade offer through WU could be months away. With my patience exhausted, I used the Update Assistant. Instead of waiting longer, I clicked the “Update now” button shown above. This let me upgrade on my schedule, having decided I was ready.
All this said, my upgrade experience with the half-dozen machines I’ve upgraded has been uniformly positive. I did encounter a couple of hiccups on two such installations — namely on my Lenovo T520 and X1 Extreme laptops. But ultimately, the install on both machines proceeded to a successful completion without anything more than a retry on the T520.
That’s because the Windows 10 installer incorporates some visible new enhancements and error-handling capabilities, as I reported in another Win10.Guru piece: May 2019 Update Shows Improved Installer. After the T520 fell prey to the well-known install failure that sometimes happens on PCs with SD cards or external USB drives attached, it asked me if wanted to pick up where I left off after I removed the offending device. Even more amazing, the X1 Extreme experienced a BSOD during Post-GUI installation, but automatically recovered itself afterward and the install proceeded to a successful outcome without any action from me.
As far as I’m concerned, unless MS specifically warns users of certain hardware or applications away from an immediately upgrade to the May 2019 update, it’s OK to take the plunge right now. All of my experiences have been good. Hopefully yours will be the same. If you’re in any doubt, check the Microsoft Known Issues List for Windows 10 May 2019 Update version 1903.