Windows 10 May 2019 Update is now available – but only for some PCs

Image credit: Microsoft

We guessed that the May 2019 Update would be arriving this week, and Microsoft has indeed just kicked off the rollout of the next big upgrade for Windows 10.

While the May 2019 Update is now officially available, Microsoft is taking what it describes as a throttled approach to the rollout. Basically, you can check on your PC for the update, but it might not be available to all that many users initially.

The idea is to make it installable for the computers least likely to have any problems, and slowly increase the level of availability, while monitoring feedback from users and taking care that no major stumbling blocks are encountered.

In Microsoft’s words: “We will be taking a measured and throttled approach, allowing us to study device health data as we increase availability via Windows Update.”

As part of the process of analyzing the rollout, Microsoft has introduced a Windows release health dashboard, which highlights any known issues that have popped up, and their status (whether they are being investigated, or have been resolved). The good news is that there are no major gremlins in the works at present.

This move is another step forward in terms of transparency with these major updates for Windows 10, which is something else Microsoft promised recently, as well as the fact it was going to take far more care over these upgrades (following the disastrous October 2018 Update rollout).

Check yourself

If you want the May 2019 Update, and all the goodies therein, you can check if your PC can get the upgrade simply by clicking on the Start button, and heading to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, then clicking on Check for updates.

If the May 2019 Update is available, it will appear, and you can select to Download and install now. If you don’t see it, then your machine isn’t ready yet, so you’ll have to sit back and wait.

Eventually the update will be automatically pushed to PCs, no doubt, although those who want to delay the upgrade will be able to do so, even on Windows 10 Home.

That’s because Microsoft is introducing the ability to pause these major updates for up to 35 days, starting as of the May 2019 Update. Essentially, with this move – and the health dashboard – Microsoft is aiming to better cater for those who may be more nervous about installing the update, given the host of nasty bugs that plagued the October 2018 Update.

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).

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