Here's why you might not get Windows 10's Anniversary Update immediately

Windows 10

It probably didn't escape your attention that Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference was held over in Canada this week, and some interesting nuggets of information emerged on how Redmond will roll out the Anniversary Update.

Head of the Windows Insider program, Dona Sarkar, was quizzed about exactly how the big update will be deployed in an interview with Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley, and she confirmed that while the rollout will begin on August 2, it'll happen in waves.

Digital Trends reports that Sarkar said: "[The Anniversary Update rollout] is going to take some time. We'll start with PC and phone, and it's going to be a global rollout. It's going to take time. Everyone's going to freak out wondering 'Where's my update,' 'Is it time yet," and 'It didn't come.' So it's going to take a little while to roll out to everybody."

In other words, don't expect to be able to grab your upgrade on Tuesday morning. You may be in for a bit of a wait, which isn't surprising really, because there's obviously a lot of planning involved in rolling out a major OS update to a Windows 10 user base of closing on 400 million worldwide.

Small consolation

If you don't happen to be in the first wave of those who receive the Anniversary Update, then console yourself with the thought that those initial adopters are the ones taking the risk of suffering at the hands of any small glitch which could be left in despite all the testing.

Not that there should be any issues, but as we all know, these things can happen.

Speaking of testing, Sarkar was also questioned on when the Anniversary Update would be signed off for RTM, but wouldn't be drawn on the subject. Obviously enough, it should be very soon.

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update brings with it all manner of improvements including bolstered security, tweaks to Cortana, work on the Edge browser (extensions will finally be here, for starters), and much more besides.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).